Japanese Food Etiquette: Rules You Didn’t Know

When it comes to food etiquette, the Japanese aren’t a particularly picky people, but unless you want to attract disapproving stares while dining in Japan, check out these seven rules of Japanese food:

1. Make noise while eating, especially noodles (Soba gold udon).

A noisy dining room enjoys food more, according to the Japanese. If you want to show how much you are savoring a plate of udon, slurp and hit to your heart’s content. On the contrary, if she is careful to eat quietly, her attempt at courtesy is considered a failure by her Japanese host: she failed to offer him tasty food that she can enjoy.

2. Don’t Dip Donuts: Don’t dip anything into your drink.

The Japanese do not dip cookies, donuts, or anything else in their namemonkey (drinks), from the feeling that the submerged item (cookie, donut, etc.) is soiling the drink with crumbs.

3. Not tipping in Japan.

Tipping is practically unknown in Japan. In a typical Japanese restaurant, if you leave a tip on the table, your waiter will likely call you as you leave and say “o-kyakusama, o-wasuremono desu me!” (“Sir, you forgot about this!”) If you want to insist that the waiter keep it as a tip, reply “chippu desu kara, o-uketori kudasai.” (“It’s a tip, so please accept it .” )

On the other hand, bellboys and other employees of large Western hotels in Japan have become accustomed to leading Westerners on tiptoe. They don’t expect a tip for the service, but they’re also unlikely to refuse an offered tip.

4. Don’t eat on the street, unless it’s an ice cream cone.

This custom is slowly changing in Japan, but most Japanese still avoid eating while standing, walking down the street, or waiting at a train station. The one exception is an ice cream cone, called sofuto kuriimu (“soft cream”) in Japanese. You are free to enjoy an ice cream cone on the street, but most Japanese still disapprove of eating ice cream inside train stations.

After boarding a Japanese train, the rules are just as strict: eating or drinking is a wrong move on most Japanese trains (the shinkansen the bullet train is an exception). However, as plastic bottles (“petto botoru“) have been popular, more young Japanese are seen sipping from a bottle of oh (green tea) that they keep hidden in a handbag.

5. Put your chopsticks down carefully.

When you have finished a Japanese meal, there is etiquette involved in how to put used chopsticks. If you have a chopstick holder (“hashi-oki“), place the chopsticks in it. If a chopstick holder is not available, place the chopsticks in the bowl, again side by side with no space between them. If they do not extend across the bowl, let the used ends ​​rest inside the bowl bowl, but try to keep the two chopsticks together.

The point is to avoid separating the two sticks. Never Stick your chopsticks upright into a bowl of rice: This is how rice is offered to the spirit of a deceased person, which is why the Japanese consider it the worst offense in chopstick etiquette.

6. Use a napkin only if necessary.

The Japanese are frugal with napkins. In many Japanese restaurants, the only “napkin” is the disposable hand towel you receive when you first sit down for your meal. The best restaurants may offer a cloth napkin, but the large paper napkins found in most American restaurants are rare in Japan.

7. Drink the soup straight from the bowl.

Japanese soups, such as miso-shiru, are eaten correctly by bringing the bowl to the mouth and drinking from the bowl. While holding the bowl of soup in one hand, you can use your chopsticks to stir the liquid or pick up tofu or other ingredients. The rim along the bottom of Japanese bowls (“chawan“) is designed to hold, keeping hot contents out of your fingers and allowing you to hold the bowl with just one hand.