During Tokyo's acceptance speech for the 2020 Olympics, this lady started talking about "omotenashi".
Omotenashi is one of those seemingly infinitely numerous words that simply don't translate into English very well.
Basically it describes the infamous Japanese hospitality of 'doing whatever it is required to make sure the guest enjoys themselves." It is going above and beyond what is merely necessary. Literally bending over backwards for your guest. An example would be if you went to a restaurant and said to your dinner partner 'wow those fries were amazing, i wish we had more. oh well' And the waitress happened to overhear you and would soon simply replace your basket of fries on your table free of charge without a word. In some restaurants you take your shoes off before going inside, and they will take your shoes and polish them for you and put them in a locker for you, only to put them back ready to wear as you start to get up from your table to leave. Those are really superficial examples, but it extends far deeper into the psyche here especially in some areas.
We recently had the 'English Speech Competition' where 2nd years deliver a speech entirely in English for 4 minutes by 100% memory. Judged by the city board of education, the mayor and other high figures, it's a highly competitive affair. While the value of such a competition is arguable in terms of English progression in the country - what is really interesting is the content of these speeches that the students write. They often have an opportunity to speak their mind about certain topics and where they want the future of the country to go. This year, the topic of 'omotenashi' was extremely popular with about 3 speeches all talking about it. One student talked about how the Omotenashi spirit is slowly dying in Japan, another talked about the importance of showing other countries what it means.
I really liked the idea of Omotenashi. I don't think Australia could really work with Omotenashi. But employing similar concepts in your own daily lives is not so far fetched. If you make someone a coffee, it's not so much extra effort to include a marshmallow or something with it. If you clean the dishes, it's not so much to clean the benches or kitchen. It's about going one up above what you were already doing. There's no word for Omotenashi in English, but the concept shouldn't be so hard to grasp.
How could you employ the spirit of Omotenashi in your life?
