How Much Eye Contact Should You Make in Japanese Interviews and Conversations?

In an interview, the basic rule is to look the other person in the eyes while you speak. If making eye contact is hard for you, it is fine to rest your gaze on the bridge of the nose or the space between the eyebrows. However, staring the whole time and looking down the whole time can both keep your message from getting across well.

*This scene is fictional, based on situations that are common among learners.

Amir is taking a mock interview at his university's career center. The interviewer is played by a staff member, Mr. Yamamoto. Because Amir learned that he should "look people in the eyes when he speaks," he looks only at Mr. Yamamoto's eyes from beginning to end as he answers. Even when Mr. Yamamoto glances down at the papers in his hands, Amir keeps looking at his face.

Afterward, Mr. Yamamoto says, "I could tell you were enthusiastic. But you were looking at me the whole time, so I felt a little nervous." Amir is at a loss. He did it because he was told to look people in the eyes.

In an interview, looking at the eyes is the basic rule

A guide from Sapporo Hello Work for New Graduates (Hokkaido Labour Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) explains that the reason people are so often told to "look the other person in the eyes and speak" in interviews is that it is also a way of signaling "I want you to listen to me" [1]. Another guide from the same Hello Work office also recommends turning your gaze toward the interviewer who asked the question and speaking while making eye contact [2]. Job-hunting guides from Senshu University and Kyoto Institute of Technology likewise recommend looking the interviewer in the eyes while speaking [3][4].

When there are several interviewers, you look mainly at the person who is asking you questions. If another interviewer nods or looks at you, it is considered acceptable to shift your gaze to that person briefly [1].

For selection processes in which you submit a recorded video, Senshu University's guide explains that looking at the camera is the equivalent of "looking the other person in the eyes" [3]. In online interviews too, if you keep looking at the other person's face on your screen, your gaze can appear to be lowered from their side. When you speak, look toward the camera.

Where to rest your gaze when eye contact is difficult

For people who find it hard to speak while looking at someone's eyes, guides from public institutions and universities list ways of looking near the eyes.

• Around the nose [1]
• The space between the eyebrows or the nose [2]
• The space between the eyebrows or the knot of the tie [3]
• The area from the forehead down to the knot of the tie [4]

All of these fall within the range from the face to the collar.

Hattori's 1987 paper comparing how Japanese and Americans use their eyes introduces the view that Japanese children are taught at school to direct their gaze at the Adam's apple or the knot of the tie of someone of higher status [5]. The knot of the tie is also a spot that appears in the guides above. If you are unsure, the space between the eyebrows or the nose, which are close to the eyes, is a safe choice.

Both staring and keeping your eyes down can be a problem

As in Amir's scene, if you keep looking the other person in the eyes the whole time, they may feel uneasy. Hattori's paper states that Japanese children are taught by their parents that looking straight into someone's eyes is impolite [5]. Interview guides recommend "speaking while looking at the eyes," while this paper says people are taught "not to look straight into the eyes." It is no wonder if you find these two instructions contradictory.

The same paper states that Americans and Japanese differ in the amount of gaze that is allowed and in the rules about when gaze occurs [5]. However, that does not mean "Japanese people do not look at the eyes." The paper also notes characteristics common to both Japan and the United States. People look at the other person more when listening than when speaking. They look at the other person when they finish speaking. They look away when they are thinking. This is the result of observing, for two weeks at Joetsu University of Education, two Americans talking in English with Japanese students, faculty members, and others [5].

Considering this observation, even when you are told to speak while looking at the eyes, it seems you do not need to keep looking from beginning to end. While you are listening to the other person and when you finish what you are saying, you turn toward their face. While you are thinking, it is not unnatural for your gaze to drift a little.

Conversely, keeping your eyes down the whole time is also not good. Sapporo Hello Work for New Graduates lists keeping your eyes down so that you do not make eye contact as a bad example [1]. In its explanation of posture, Kyoto Institute of Technology's guide also says that people who tend to look down in everyday life need to be careful [4]. When you enter the room and walk to your seat, you are also advised to keep your gaze forward rather than looking down [2].

Words to add when you look away

It is natural for your eyes to drift while you are thinking. However, if you silently look away, it can seem as though you are avoiding the answer. So add a short phrase.

"Let me see..."

"Well, may I take a moment to think before I answer?"

When you are listening, adding "yes" to your nod lets the other person know you are listening through your voice as well. Hattori also observed an English conversation seminar held in Kanagawa Prefecture (American assistant English teachers and others with Japanese high school English teachers and others), and reports that Americans responded with their eyes far more often than Japanese did, while Japanese used verbal backchannels more often than Americans [5]. What your gaze does not cover, your words can make up for.

References

1. "一次面接通過のコツ｜札幌新卒応援ハローワーク," 厚生労働省北海道労働局（札幌新卒応援ハローワーク）. https://jsite.mhlw.go.jp/hokkaido-hellowork/list/sapporo/shinsotu-colum4.html
2. "おさえておきたい面接マナー｜札幌新卒応援ハローワーク," 厚生労働省北海道労働局（札幌新卒応援ハローワーク）. https://jsite.mhlw.go.jp/hokkaido-hellowork/list/sapporo/shisetsu/shinsotsu-column3.html
3. "面接試験｜専修大学生のための就職活動ガイド," 専修大学. https://www.senshu-u.ac.jp/career/Job_Hunting_Guide/practice_06.html
4. "京都工芸繊維大学生のための就職活動情報誌（75/92ページ）," 京都工芸繊維大学. https://www.kit.ac.jp/placementbook2025/pageindices/index75.html
5. Takahiko Hattori, "A Study of Nonverbal Intercultural Communication Between Japanese and Americans – Focusing on the Use of the Eyes," JALT Journal 8.2, JALT Publications, 1987. https://jalt-publications.org/sites/default/files/pdf-article/jj-8.2-art1.pdf