Bowing is an important form of social communication in Japan. Whether it’s a short sumimasen accompanied by a brief lowering of the head at someone for bringing you a cup of coffee (which essentially means “sorry for inconveniencing you” in this case, even though we’d just say “thank you” in English in the same situation), or a gomen nasai said with a deeper bow for communicating a more serious apology, Japan’s culture of bowing is interesting to observe. The ultimate form of a bowing is the dogeza, when a person places their body on the lowest level possible, literally touching their face to the ground. This is done in many cases to ask for forgiveness for something, but also to make an important request of someone. In ToraDora, Ryuji is taken aback when Minori suddenly prostrates herself in front of him, asking that he take good care of her friend Taiga. She had gotten the mistaken idea that the two of them were dating, and she wanted to beg of Ryuji that he make Taiga happy.
