Bowing is a way of greeting, a way to show respect to others. Although the bowing as the representative of the Japanese way of greeting is mainly seen in East Asia, the West is also using it.
礼三息(れいさんそく)
Bow includes “standing bow” and “seat bow”. According to the depth of the bow, it has 3 degrees of respect of “most salute”, “salute” and “normal greeting”. There is also a concept called “礼三息” which means aspirating while bowing from the waist forward, stopped breath, and again while breathing back to the original position. It gives people not only a very solemn impression but also stabilizes one’s mental state.
Showing friendly
Bowing is the body movement which gives one’s head forward. Such movement is to show people that one doesn’t have hostility. It says in the Nara Era (奈良時代, ならじだい), Japan imported such etiquette from China and introduced it to the public and then gradually made some adjustments eventually created the original Japanese style. The most serious way of greeting in Japan is to bow, but in recent years the handshake seems to have become more common due to the influence of the Western culture.
In the meantime, do not bow and shake hands at the same time. Bow by only lowering your head is not appropriate either because it is not able to deliver your respect. The “most salute” bow requires people to bow more than 45 degrees, 30-45 degrees for “salute” bow and 15 degrees for “normal greeting”. The “most Salute” bow is not very common in everyday life, but in the apology and expression of gratitude, and in the ceremony held in the form of the Buddhism.