Seiza (正座) is a traditional formal/polite way to sit on the floor in Japanese culture. To sit seiza-style, one must first be kneeling on the floor, folding one’s legs underneath one’s thighs, while resting the buttocks on the heels. The ankles are turned outward as the tops of the feet are lowered so that, in a slight “V” shape.
As far as I’m concerned, even though in western cultures people rarely sit on the floor (if at all) the popular way of doing it is sitting cross-legged, while in Japan seiza (formal or semi-formal, with buttocks moved down to the floor) is the go-to pose for sitting on the floor. How common is it? Do people use it, and if yes is it used frequently/on a mundane basis?
Thank you in advance for the answers!
よろしくお願いします！
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/xbwzfk/how_common_is_it_to_sit_in_seiza_正座/
4 comments
>The ankles are turned outward as the tops of the feet are lowered so that, in a slight “V” shape.
You might be thinking about what is called とんび座り.
>while in Japan seiza (formal or semi-formal, with buttocks moved down to the floor) is the go-to pose for sitting on the floor.
Men are free to sit cross legged in most informal occasions. We women may put our dignity before comfort but it depends on the situation. I wouldn’t mind doing it in front of my childhood friends and same-age cousins if I was wearing a long skirt.
My first stay in Japan was at a tea-ceremony teacher’s house in Kanazawa so I naturally over-estimated it, next I was there as a uni student, often frequenting some Izakaya where one sits cross legged (same if enjoying some cool ryokan etc), usually in most restaurants one sits on stools, though; all in all, trad seiza is pretty rare, actually, in my estimate.
I’ve come to think of it as a seated version of the bow. There is the ceremonial function, of course, e.g. tea. If you’re the waiter at a restaurant with kotatsu seating, if you work at a ryokan, if you are visiting somebody’s house to make a sale, or if you’re hosting people who are higher up on the esteem ladder and it’s all rather formal, you sit like that. Some people seem to like it/are so used to it they do it like it’s second nature. I would say the trend is older and female there. I’ve been here a decade and have avoided it successfully. Also because I am convinced after ten minutes I wouldn’t be able to get up again.
It depends. On a lot of factors.
Essentially, if there is any event that requires you to sit cross legged you can bet that some people are in 正座. If it’s something formal then most everyone will be, if it’s semi informal, like with students sitting in a gym, some
will and some wont. In a kendo club most will be sitting 正座 but not all. In a music club that is for some reason sitting on the ground maybe half will, if that. It depends on area and context.
As a foreigner you are not expected to sit in this way, really in any context. It will be appreciated and commented upon if you do it, but it’s likely you won’t be able to bear it for the requisite time. If you can, awesome. Japanese people do it from a young age, so we shouldn’t hope to match them in this style when many foreigners do it for the first time
When they move to japan. If you havnt tried it before, or feel self conscious about it, go ahead and give it a try. You can, over a few months, get used to it by slowly building up the time in which you can sit in this position. It’s not easy, especially for “larger” people. But it’s fun!