Manners on Knocking the Door
Hello, everybody. Do you know how many times you have to knock on the door before entering a room or meeting?
Knocking is a basic etiquette before going inside a room. According to international etiquette, knocking 4 times is the standard. However, it is a bit different compared to the manner of knocking in Japan.
For Japanese people, some may feel uncomfortable when a person knocks the door 2 times. This is because knocking 2 times is done when going to the toilet and checking if it is vacant or not. As a result, knocking 3 times has become the common practice in Japanese business.
Why is the international standard 4 times, yet for Japan, it is only 3 times?
In Japan, knocking 4 times is believed to be too excessive. Thus, knocking 3 times has become the basic norm.
In business, knocking the door slowly 3 times before entering a meeting or a room is considered a basic practice. When hearing someone say [douzo], replying it with [shitsurei itashimasu] is the standard procedure. After, turn towards the door and close it.
Let us try to enter the meeting room while keeping these manners in mind to avoid troubling other people.
