Seiza — what this tradition is and how it is practiced

What seiza is and where people still sit this way

Seiza is a way of sitting on the floor, lowering yourself onto your knees and resting your pelvis on your heels. The back is straight, shoulders relaxed, hands on the thighs, gaze directed forward. Men's knees are slightly apart, women's are together. From the outside it looks like a resting pose, but it feels closer to standing at attention: the body is held collected, not relaxed. The norm took hold in the Edo period and since then has been considered a formal way of sitting — you take this position where you need to show respect for the place, the person, or the occasion.

• Tea ceremony — guest and host sit in seiza for almost the entire event; changing position is possible only with the host's permission.
• Buddhist temple and home altar — during services, memorial rites, and sutra chanting.
• Dojo — lining up and bowing at the beginning and end of training in kendo, kyudo, aikido, karate, and judo; in kendo there is a separate command "seiza."
• Official occasions — matchmaking, introduction to elder relatives, reception in a traditional house, negotiations in a tatami room.
• Funerals and memorial services — the longest and hardest occasion for someone unaccustomed.
• Classes in traditional arts — ikebana, calligraphy, koto playing, recitation; the student sits just as they did a hundred years ago.

Where the custom came from

Before the Edo period, people in Japan sat in various ways: cross-legged (agura), with one knee raised (tatehiza), or on one side. Seiza as a mandatory pose for a junior before a senior took shape together with the etiquette of the warrior class and the spread of tatami in living rooms. It became a universal norm in the Meiji era — through schools, the army, and manuals of good manners. So calling this tradition "ancient" is a mistake: it is about four hundred years old in its narrow class-based form and about a hundred and fifty years old in its current universal form.

Seiza, agura, and other Japanese sitting positions

How to sit in seiza: the order of movements

1. Stand straight in front of your place, feet together, arms relaxed at your sides.
2. Lower yourself onto your left knee, then your right. In the dojo and tea room the order is exactly this, and you will need to rise in the reverse order.
3. Place the tops of your feet flat on the floor. The big toes slightly overlap or simply touch — this makes the heels spread a little and the pelvis settle between them.
4. Sit on your heels, distributing your weight over the entire lower leg, not just the ankles. Back straight, the crown of the head stretching upward, shoulders relaxed.
5. Spread your knees one or two fists apart if you are a man, and bring them together if you are a woman. On a hard floor, place your knees on the edge of a zabuton, not on bare boards.
6. Place your hands on your thighs, palms down, fingers pointing slightly inward. In the tea room, hands are placed closer to the knees.
7. To stand up, lift your toes, shift your weight forward, and rise from your right knee. There is no need to stand up abruptly after a long sitting: your legs give out more often than you think.

What not to do

• Stretch your legs forward, especially toward the altar, the scroll in the tokonoma, or an elder person — this is outright rudeness.
• Change position silently. First you say "shitsurei shimasu" or wait for the host's permission, and only then sit differently.
• Step on the threshold of the tatami or on the border of the mat when approaching your place — an old rule that is still observed.
• Endure until you lose feeling out of politeness. A numb leg gives way when you stand up, and falling in the middle of a ceremony will cost more than asking to change position.
• Sit in seiza in a tight skirt or stiff jeans if a long ceremony is ahead: the position requires freedom in the knees and the instep.

Words that are heard while everyone is sitting

What the name literally means

正座 is made up of two characters: 正 "correct, straight" and 座 "to sit, a place for sitting." Literally — "correct sitting," where "correct" is closer to "straightened": 正 depicts a stop at a line, that is, straightening, not a moral judgment. Neither of these characters is in our set of writing exercises, so there is no stroke order to analyze here. But the reading is worth listening to: "seiza" sounds shorter and drier in Japanese speech than in English transcription — the second syllable is almost not drawn out.

Check your pronunciation of the word 正座 and the phrase about numb legs — the second will come in handy sooner than you think.

Seiza in anime

• Rurouni Kenshin — conversations in Kaoru's house almost always take place in seiza, and by who relaxes their legs first you can see the hierarchy in the room.
• Demon Slayer — the trial of the Hashira over Tanjiro: the accused sits in seiza, and the pose works as part of the verdict.
• Gintama — seiza regularly turns into a punishment: the guilty one is made to kneel and left to think, and he honestly suffers for the whole episode.
• Your Name — scenes in Mitsuha's house with kumihimo braiding and family conversation show the everyday, not ceremonial, variant of sitting.
• Natsume's Book of Friends — tea gatherings with older people; seiza here marks respect for the host of the house, not the strictness of the setting.

FAQ

What is seiza?

Seiza is a Japanese kneeling position: the pelvis is lowered onto the heels, the back is straight, hands on the thighs. A formal pose of politeness, obligatory in the tea room, temple, dojo, and at official ceremonies.

Where in Japan is it still obligatory to sit on your knees?

In the tea room, at Buddhist services and memorial rites, when lining up in the dojo, in classes of traditional arts, and in formal family situations — matchmaking, meeting elder relatives, being received in a house with tatami.

How long can one sit in seiza?

Without practice — five to fifteen minutes until numbness. Japanese people who grew up with this pose can endure half an hour or more, but even they use a seiza-isu stool during long services, which takes the weight off the lower legs.

How is "seiza" written in Japanese?

正座, read as せいざ. The first character 正 means "correct, straightened," the second 座 means "to sit" and "a place for sitting." Together it means "correct sitting" — a description of posture, not an honorary status.

How do you politely ask permission to sit differently?

Say "shitsurei shimasu" and briefly explain: "ashi ga shibiremashita" — my legs have gone numb. Usually the host replies "dōzo ashi o kuzushite kudasai," that is, allows you to sit freely. It is not customary to change position silently.

What types of Japanese sitting positions are there besides seiza?

Agura — cross-legged, domestic and informal. Yokozuwari — knees together, feet to one side, a women's variant of rest. Tatehiza with a raised knee is found today only in theater and historical films.

In which anime is seiza shown?

Most often in historical and slice-of-life series: Rurouni Kenshin, Natsume's Book of Friends, Your Name. In Gintama the kneeling position is turned into a punishment, and in Demon Slayer — into part of a trial scene.

Sources

• Urasenke — tea ceremony school
• All Japan Kendo Federation
• Japan National Tourism Organization — etiquette in traditional houses
• Kotobank: 正座