I was reading Japan Probe and I found an article on “Dogeza” which is written using 2 kanji we learned this chapter.
As taken from Wikipedia:
“Dogeza (土下座, literally to “sit down on the ground”) is to sit directly on the ground and to prostrate oneself, bowing while sitting. An element of Japanese manners, it is used to show deference to the most highly-revered high-class person, as a deep apology, and to express the desire for a favor from said person.”
Degawa Tetsurou (出川哲朗), a comedian, goes to America and is thrown into situations in which his only defense is broken English and dogeza. Here, he apologizes for breaking someone’s window:
Here, an American woman calls her boyfriend and tells him that there is an intruder in her hotel room:
There’s a good chance that the Americans are actors but it’s still funny.
