ちょこん – Sitting in Japanese
The word to sit in Japanese is 座る (すわる). With the innovation of computers, most of us probably end up spending much of our lives sitting down. Before computers, though we have been sitting since the beginning of time. Here are the main styles of sitting in Japanese.
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正座 – Seiza
正座 (せいざ), This is the traditional formal style of sitting in Japan. You kneel down and sit on your legs with your feet behind you. It can get painful after awhile though. If you ever find yourself in the situation where you have to sit in a Seiza position and your legs start to hurt, don’t worry most people will understand if you have to change positions.
胡坐 – Sitting Cross-legged
胡坐 (あぐら), This is the way in the United States kids used to be forced to sit in gym class. It is also called Indian-style.
https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/体育座り – Gym Class Style
In Japan, kids in gym class sit holding their knees. The name of this style is 体育座り (たいいくずわり). The word literally means Gym Sitting.
うんこ座り, ヤンキー座り – Poop or Yankee Style
If you ever used a traditional Japanese style toilet, then this is probably the way you were sitting. Pretty much you just squat down low. It is called うんこ座り (うんこずわり) meaning Poop sitting.
This is also called ヤンキー座り which translates to Yankee Sitting. ヤンキー or Yankee, does not refer to Americans. It is the word used for troubled youth having issues with authority. When people think of ヤンキー they think of people squatting in the convenience store parking lot poop style. Hence the name of the word ヤンキー座り.
