Cultural etiquette in Japan
Bowing is an important part of Japanese culture – if meeting someone, thanking someone, taking leave of someone, asking for something or just being polite, one should bow. It's important to incline one's head with hands at the sides – the deeper the bow, the greater the respect being shown. It is considered impolite for a Japanese person ever to come out with a direct 'no’. Even a tiny hesitation or any vagueness in the response could actually mean 'no'.
With regards to doing business in Japan, it is particularly important to be aware of the role of seniority, which is measured according to age and not necessarily company status. It is also very important to make sure one has a substantial number of business cards made as soon as arriving in Japan (it might be a good idea to have English on one side and Japanese on the other), as the exchange of business cards is the first thing done in any business (or sometimes even private) interaction.