A business manners page of the meeting room site Kaigishitsu.com explains the seat of honor in other settings. In a Japanese-style room, the seat in front of the tokonoma, the alcove, is the kamiza, the seat of honor. In an elevator, the place in front of the control panel is, as a rule, the masseki, the lowest seat.
Order of Speeches
The guide site All About sets out the order of speeches at a company welcome or farewell party. The opening words come from the person in the highest position. At a farewell party, the toast falls to the direct superior of the guest of honor. At a welcome party, it falls to roughly the third-ranking person. The closing words and the tejime, the closing clap, fall to the second-ranking person.
Rooms at Edo Castle
At Edo Castle, daimyo waited in rooms assigned by the standing of their houses. The Ii family, which could provide the great elder, waited in the Tamari no ma. Lords of houses related to the Tokugawa and former senior councillors could also be ordered there.
Old hereditary vassal houses, the korai fudai, had their seats in the Teikan no ma. Other hereditary vassals waited in the Kari no ma and on the veranda of the Kiku no ma.
Tiers of Dolls
For the Girls’ Festival, families display hina dolls on tiers. A page of the Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta lists them from the top: the imperial couple, the three court ladies who serve at the palace, the five musicians, the two guards known as the Ministers of the Right and the Left, and the servants.
The Minister of the Left is an older man and sits on the viewer’s right. The Minister of the Right is a young man and sits on the viewer’s left.
The Title Holder’s Seat
In a shogi title match, the title holder sits at the kamiza, the seat of honor. In a report on the Ōshō title match, the magazine Bunshun described kamiza no taitoru horudā, the title holder in the seat of honor, Fujii Sōta, leaning forward and gripping his fan.
Seats in the Diet
In the chamber of the House of Representatives, members sit by parliamentary group. By custom, the groups are seated from left to right as seen facing the Speaker’s seat, starting with the group with the most members. Two rows of seats flank the Speaker’s seat on each side. The front row is for ministers, and the prime minister’s seat is on the left, nearest the Speaker.
First Guest and Last Guest
At a tea gathering, the guests have set roles. According to the Japanese culture magazine Waraku, the shōkyaku, the main guest, sits near the host in the most important position. The shōkyaku enters the tea room first and is the first to receive the sweets and the tea.
The tsume, the last guest, enters last and is served last. Waraku calls it an important position as well, because the last guest takes care of the waiting area and of the tea utensils after use.
The Order of Introductions
Japanese business manners fix who is introduced to whom first. The person closer to oneself comes first: Jisha no hito to okyakusama nara, ika naru toki demo jisha no hito ga saki desu. Between one’s own colleague and a client, one’s own colleague is always introduced first.
Between people of the same closeness, position, title and age decide. The person of lower standing is introduced first.
Seat of Honor
The most senior person is shown to the kamiza, the seat of honor. In a meeting room with chairs on both sides of a central table, it is the seat farthest from the door.
The order applies in a taxi too. The seat of honor is directly behind the driver, followed by the seat behind the front passenger and then the middle of the back seat.