What happens if you try KISS Japanese? 

Being hafu myself and growing up in Japan. Kisses are definitely a bridge too far for friendship. I remember watching my uncles and aunts sometimes sneaking holding hands. And both of them, pleasantly smiling. I observed growing up in Japan that Japanese people wanted more physical touch to connect with others but it's not part of the cultural practices for most. It's nice to know that some Japanese today are able to accept plutonic physical touch.

In Belgium it's common to give a kiss on the cheek but usually only with friends. A hugh usually means a deeper friendship here in Belgium because it's so much closer contact.

The kissing of cheek here is called a “beso” and it’s a normal greeting here in the Philippines (mostly for friends and family) but we do it only once and typically the cheeks touch.

I've never seen people kiss as a greeting in the USA, unless they were family. Maybe it would work for girls, but if guys did it, it would not end well.

In Argentina we greet each other with a kiss if it's not a formal meeting, also it depends of each person, I mean, you kinda feel the ambient so you greet with a kiss or a handshake naturally. • Also, it's not a big deal to greet with a kiss in the first met (always informal meetings) • We usually greet with a kiss between mens too (that's even surprising for other countries with kiss greetings 😂) • In general, it's NOT an actual kiss in the cheek but you touch your cheeks each other while at the same time you kiss to the air (with sound, don't forget the sound! 😂) Maybe some people do kiss your cheek with their lips, but it's pretty rare... • Generally is only one kiss in Argentina (some people do two) ------------ Oh and, *generally,* if I go to a country like Japan and I know the basics of their culture, I won't try to greet them with a kiss, that's common sense and be respectful with them. If a tourist in Japan try to kiss a Japanese it's probably innocent ignorance in the best case 😅

I think there's differences in kissing on the cheek. If it's not someone you're close to you kiss the air, but if it's a friend or family you directly kiss on the cheek.

I watched this video being french and it came to my realisation that since COVID many people stopped "la bise" (the kissing "in the air" as you called it) for greeting. I think it's for the best, then I don't have to get too close of guys I don't really like and to ask myself "how many kisses?" everytime I meet someone, depending on the region it could be up to 4 "bises".

I’m laughing so hard at that dude’s tiny mic right now

(like many europeans country)In france it's common too to give "kiss cheeks" but we do that only with family or friends, I think in the south it's 3, in the north it's 4 and in the east it's only 2. Sometimes when you meet someone like a friend to a friend it can be seen as a "social test" for an integration into a group. But a hug means you're very close to a person.

Ha, " la bise " in France :) i swear seeing those Japanese all awkward while doing it, is the cutest thing ever 😃

In Italy, before covid, we used to lightly touch cheeks while doing the air kiss. One side or both, depends. I've always found it way less intimate than hugging somebody. The two air kisses and light hugs are for someone you met before, but you're not really super friends with, then the big bear hugs and real kisses on the cheeks are for very close people like family, old friends.

In Brazil, kiss on the cheek is basically the norm for informal greetings: men greets women and women greets women like that (well, a lot of gay men I know also greets everyone like that). It happens most in situations with family and friends, but not exclusively - at parties, bars and social events when someone introduces you to other person, the kiss on the cheek is pretty normal as well. In some regions of Brazil, it's just one kiss; in others, a kiss on each cheek. For us, it's not a big deal at all. Oh, and be careful: we hug too.

here in Ukraine with really close friends, it goes like that: hug + kiss on the cheek.

In Brazil, we touch cheeks, but not the lip, and also just one kiss, usually the right cheek (but that's not a rule). Girls only hug and kiss with everyone, guy or girl, while guys have the option of shaking hand among ourselves and maybe hugging if they're closer. Almost everytime I give my hand to shake a girl's hand, she's kinda weirded out and we just end up hugging. Hugs don't need to come with kisses and kisses don't need to come with hugs. Kiss only, you can just touch the shoulders for support and touch cheeks with kiss noise. With hugs, what changes is the intensity according to how much you like the person and are intimate. I usually hug tight, when I want to show warmth and come off as friendly, even when I don't quite know the person, and it's always welcommed (I wouldn't do that with a random, complete stranger out of nothing haha. Context matters a little bit). Though, the longer the hug, the more intimacy you have. Long hugs would be awkward if you are not intimate and friendly.

In Chile I had different experiences normally people don't blow kisses in the air but put their cheeks together (while keep talking). But some people really do give big, wet kisses on the cheek (that's what traumatises me everytime 😂). (I'm half chilean - half german. So I only experience this during visits.)

I like how the Japanese always pat when they hug. It is like comforting "everything is okay" gesture.

In Argentina you can kiss directly in the cheek for both, women and men. But only one kiss, both will turn their head towards their right. It could be with strangers if they're women but for men, most likely needs to be from a known group of friends, coworkers, etc and is ok.

10:45 Loved this part

As a swede, I would say kissing on the cheek is more common in the south of Europe, either hugs, hand shack or fist bump is the normal way here, kissing might be more for the girls here, but more of the friends circle.

In Brazil kissing our cheeks is a common greeting even with stranger because it's culturally polite to do so. I guess we do only handshakes as well in some situations, like if it's a really formal setting, or if it's two males greeting, or if that's how that one person usually greets everyone... But we generally opt for kissing the cheeks. Always in "the air" as well, actually kissing the skin is reserved for showing affection towards family, close friends and partners. There can even be some differences on how many kisses (1 or 2) we do depending on where exactly you're from, for e.g people from São Paulo only kiss one cheek when greeting, and in Rio de Janeiro people kiss both cheeks just like Cathy did.

A light hug (touching arms and shoulders) and a double half-air half-cheek kiss is the acceptable greeting. A single kiss on the cheek with a hug, is reserved for close friends, family ana partners. In France, it can be up to three kisses on the cheek, which feels like forever to me. Fact: The air kiss is for not ruining makup/creating lipstick marks.

Always love seeing everyones reaction 😂

cheek kissing from my family is what men do to women that are typically related, just a small sign of affection, and it is contact. This can expand out to dear friends that you aren't really romantically interested in. girls can (and usually do) kiss other girls on the cheek, and guys will only kiss girls on the cheek...typically. This is the way.

Those little back taps were cute as heck 😂

Kissing on the cheek as a greeting we called it cipika cipiki in indonesia 😅 definitely only to the people you are close to

some friends I hug, some friends I just say hi etc, depending on person and if they like hugging. I am from Finland

My Dutch cousins do the air kissing thingy but American culture is so heavily influenced by British culture that is normally not comfortable with even air kissing. I don't know why Japanese think Americans do it a lot.

I find Cathy Cat's videos interesting, because she always tries to convey a certain joy among the Japanese, as we only see that in anime and manga.

In latin america it's pretty common to give a kiss in the cheek to girls, and even to boys, I'm chilean and in Argentina even strangers greets you with a kiss in the cheek, it's more common with close friends but usually if a person offers you to join a group, he/she traits you like one more of them. Note that wherever the country is, the kiss is not really a kiss, not the lips touching the skin, it's rather touching both cheeks skin and the kiss to the air...well unless they are very close friends. Something like that.

she didn’t ask let’s try lips to lips kiss 🤣

Yeah I'm even starting to pick up non- subtitled words! I heard and recognized the kawaii comments!

Here in Ireland we lick the tip of each others noses and then punch each other in the genitals shouting "there can be only ONE!!!!!". It's considered the height of ignorance and an insult to not punch as hard as possible.

it depends mostly we hug here in Sweden if it's more casual with friends if it's more formal like for a job interview we shake hands.

Here in Latin America we can kiss each other on the cheek both to the right and to the left in my country it is common, in my country unknown men and women can kiss each other, in the case of women they also kiss each other, In Argentina men also kiss each other but in my country they don't

In South America is very common for us to kiss our friends on the cheeks or family members. But, I definitely think is way more common between women... I dont often see men kissing, even if they're close... mm.. probably, only family members but in friends is very rare.

Wow i was really surprised finally RU-vid algorithms do justice with you guys now.. I'm wishing you all the best❤. Ganbatte 💪

Excellent video thanks for sharing.

I'm so used to the kiss that it doesn't feel especially friendly or close anymore. But, when I see the Japanese bowing, I feel warm... Why? 😮 🇦🇷 🇪🇸

In PR we say hello to friend to each other with kisses but its only to the opposite sex and your checks touch while kissing the air. Double kisses is not common.

In Mexico we slap our friends behinds as a greeting, They usually hit you back and insult you until they feel better, which usually happens within a few seconds.

I am not surprised many of the Japanese people were hesitate to give Cathy a kiss. If something went wrong, Cathy could potentially be their first kiss.

I think it depends on the culture. For me being from Spanish background everyone gets a hug but only girls get a kiss on the cheek. As for friends hugs only boy or girl.

In the middle east, the males shake hands, hug and kiss the air near the cheeks.

I fell in love with the girl on 2:43 😬

This was a really fun video to watch 😂😂

i know she lives there, and i've only visit. But i know well enough that Japanese people would never act like this off camera, or at least most won't. they are just being polite on camera. we asians don't hug random asians we don't know, only those we know lol and so do japanese lol. SO KISSING IS WAY OUT OF THE PICTURE.

外国人：挨拶の仕方を考える 日本人：もっと可愛い奴出せやw

You get thrown into jail if you are male kissing a female in Japan

all this confusion about greetings is why I stick with either a bow or a knuckle bump. I would be too nervous to hug any stranger let alone try the air cheek kiss.

Im living in Europe my whole life and mostly got full lips on the cheek experience rarely in the air almost never. worst is when they wanted to kiss on lips that was a big no haha

And fellas that's y culture is dynamic 😂

My Japanese husband pushes me away every time I want to hug or kiss me!!!!

robot hug

Not uncommon to see kiss on the cheek in Quebec, Canada (the French part of Canada). Although you generally kiss the air and not the cheek but checks tends to touch (cheek to cheek). I think there are debate whether it's 2 or 3 times. I haven't been back in 3 years but I feel like memory is telling me that it's 3 times. I've only done this in Japan with my friends from Quebec.

Kathy, here in Costa Rica we actually kiss directly on the cheek. At least, we touch cheeks.

After being in Japan around one week, I went out one night and had such a great time I tried to give a goodnight peck on the cheek to one of the girls. She totally freaked out. Never tried that ever again.

10:46 😂😂😂

Ha ha yes, here in France kissings on both cheeks happened commonly. It's just literally nothing special and mean absolutely nothing in our French culture 😂 not a big deal 😅 just a way to say hello 👋 (I have to say I kinda don't like it sometimes when it's people I literally see for the first time 😝😭😅)

Nice - spoiling Kawaikochans

❤

Where i'm from, firm hand shake amongst men and kiss on the cheek amongst chicks, if they know each other. Men and women kisses each other only if they are close friends. Hug amongst men does not exist. Women hug each other all the time. Men and women hug if they are close friends or drunk and want to shag...(pardon my french!)

As a European, for me this is second nature and it's funny to see how other monogenous, introverted, collective cultures struggle in giving a 'Air Kiss.' Man...France was an adventure. 🥲

お年は、解りませんが、可愛すぎる。無茶古くからやられてますよね。もし日本語でやれば、登録者数は２倍にはなると思いますよ。( ^.^)

:O

💯❤️

In Spain we also meet like that, but changes depending the situation. It's usually a formal way, so only touching cheeks with strangers and actually kissing in family meetings. Here, a hug feels a lot warmer.

I remember kissing all the new japanese students when my group and theirs met up for an outing (I'm French and we were in France). It was only far later I realised I just rocked their world haha (and don't worry, many of them became great friends and wanted to greet with kissing on the cheek all the time :) )

In Hawaii it is quite commonplace to hug and kiss on the cheek. It is a part of Native Hawaiian culture. It is how we greet our elders whether they are family or not. We also have a older custom where we touch noses face to face and sniff, culturally this unites us in spirit. The showing of physical affection, hugging and kissing on the cheek is something we are taught from a early age.

As an American, i would say a hand shake is used as a formal greeting normally with business interactions. Used with the initial meeting and upon leaving. We use this in place of bowing. Sometimes a slight bow is even used while shaking hands. Huggs are used with close loved ones and friends in 3 ways: upon meeting, before leaving, and to comfort the other person.

I'm in the USA. I don't think kissing on the cheek is at all common here. Maybe among family members, like grandparents with their grandkids; but that would almost certainly be an actual kiss and not an air kiss. A hug as a greeting is pretty common, especially among friends or family.

This gave me immense secondhand embarrassment but I somehow still watched the whole thing

Here in brazil is very common greeting with kisses and hug. Even in some formal situations and with unknown people. Not everyone like to do this (me, including), but in general everyone does it

Definitely a regional thing, I’m mexican-american born in the usa and have greeted hugged-kiss-on-cheeked and even mouth with people I barely knew. Mostly family, distant family, and family of friends of friends of my family. Even on the first meeting i’ve been kissed by an aunt of my friend with a big embrace. I live in the south (kentucky) tho where stuff like this isnt uncommon.

In Australia, it's usually a hi or g'day mate (or some variation), maybe a hug for people you're closer with or known a long time, a handshake is probably more common for us (especially strangers). One time a woman I just met kissed me on both cheeks when we first met. It really surprised me because that's something we don't do (girls who are close with each other might though). I'm not sure what country she was even from.

....I think Cathy just wanted to kiss some cute girls

I feel like it REALLY depends on a person's cultural background and what they're comfortable with, even in the States. There are some really good friends that I've never hugged, and there are some distant relatives that I've done the kiss on both cheeks with. It's such an interesting cross-cultural experience, both at home and abroad.

omg in america we definitely don't kiss as a greeting haha xD i would be SO shocked if anybody ever tried doing that to me :') sajdasjhdahs

Thanks! This is so funny especially when it’s not people’s culture, really great comments from the people in the video love the reaction

In the 2000's, it was a highschool trend in Germany to greet everyone with an actual kiss on the lips. Like everyone. ... Until people got herpes, then the trend died. lol

my aunt was italian, greetings from germany

For the cheek kiss, we do not directly kiss the cheek as you said but the cheeks should touch ... It's like cheek against cheek and kissing the air

i really love how japanese girls react always. its just so cute and adorable. From my personal experience i know, that ppl in italy or mexico do actually kiss on the cheeks while greeting

A hug and a kiss are common in Latin America culture, but it's usually just one cheek air kiss. I struggle with not giving a hug when I'm in Japan and see my Japanese friends.

見知らぬ人とキスしないでください！I hope Nihonjin don't think we kiss as a greeting in America. Americans don't kiss each other as a greeting. We don't hug strangers as a greeting either, because we only hug to show that we feel emotionally close to each other. In America, if anyone tries to hug you as a first meeting then they are definitely trying to get romantic with you. Definitely run away from a stranger that tries to kiss you! edit: OMG Cathy don't be weird! Nobody does that kiss greeting with strangers, that is embarrassing just to watch! 😣🤢

In Belgium we give kiss on the cheeks to family, friends but also like friends of friends when we meet for first time. A hug for people we know or if we say goodbye to everyone. And ofcourse the "broshake" for close friends!

I love these video because it helps learning Japanese and they are so funny :) Where I leave (Belgium) we usually kiss cheek-to-cheek. Kissing in the air is fine but with no skin contact it feels awkward and fake.

A bit awkward 😅

In Japan, touching a stranger is one of the most repugnant acts. If you suddenly hug a stranger or someone with whom you do not have an intimate relationship, you may be accused of harassment or indecent exposure. Please be careful.

Where I'm from, Quebec Canada (a French part of Canada), we do the cheek kissing... some people do one cheek (actually more air next to cheek) and some do 2 and I find I'm always awkward because I don't know if it'll be one or two. In Ontario, where I live now, cheek kissing happens much less frequently. It's more handshakes and hugs and stuff.

In Chile, with your female family and friends, kiss on the cheek and hug, with your male friends and family, hand shake and hugs, with grandpas and granmas, kiss on the cheek is mandatory. In the work place, hand shake with almost everyone, but if you have a longer time relationship with the collegues, it could evolve to hugs and even kiss on the cheek with the female. But also, with a total stranger female that you just met, it is totally normal to do the kiss on the cheek

"La Bise©"

Wow you are prettier each day! Great channel and videos!

In Russia depending on the region and on the age people kiss directly or just the air around. As you said in your video, grandparents usually kiss directly the cheek. Young people prefer longer hugs rather than kiss but there are some exceptions. Some times when people don't do well with each other but in public they have to be friendly, they kiss the air quiet far from the face))) Depending on the face expression this greeting kiss may show disgust or love and happiness It is common instead of kiss just put your faces very close so your cheek can touch the cheek of the person you are greeting. Hugs are the most popular way to greet people. Hugs between to males and to females are a little bit different. But when a male and a female hugs, they use the "female tipe". It's very common to hug people at the end of your first meeting

This is like introducing Asia to the wheel or to fire for the first time. They are being very suspicious for nothing. It's no wonder the Philippines are much more popular than Japan is possibly for this very reason. Most Filipinos are open to hugs and kisses. Yeah no, taking a Japanese person on a date will never be fun because every time you want such affection, the person keeps pushing you away.

in argentina we kiss on the cheek upon meeting even if it's with strangers, lol. So interesting how different cultures see physical contact

They are all so cute and lovely ❤

I'm German, and I greet family and friends with a friendly, not too tight hug, and strangers with a handshake. But when I feel cool and confident enough, I do a fist-bump, lol.

I believe you are alluding to why Japan's population has diminished. 2030 is just around the corner. Nihon society has to make an abrupt change.

In Venezuela (I think is the same for spain and most countries of latin america) you kiss but usually young people don’t even do the sound, just barely touch the person cheeks with their lips or close to their lips.

I thought you do the 'kissing of the cheek' by having both persons cheeks touch while kissing the air besides them. This has happened to me only once in my lifetime if I recall correctly and it caught me off guard. Since the most common greeting here is just hugging, whether it's a stranger/friends/family, etc.