JAPANESE ETIQUETTE
Here are some handy etiquette tips for a faux-pas-free Tokyo trip. Business Cards When presented with a business card, accept it with both hands and look at it before putting it away. Don’t fold, play with, or write on the card. Eating Consuming food and drink on public transport, and while walking is frowned upon […]
Here are some handy etiquette tips for a faux-pas-free Tokyo trip.
Business Cards
When presented with a business card, accept it with both hands and look at it before putting it away. Don’t fold, play with, or write on the card.
Eating
Consuming food and drink on public transport, and while walking is frowned upon in Japan. If you need to eat your food outside, it’s best to stop close to the point of purchase and eat it while standing still.
Eating and drinking is allowed on long-distance train and bus journeys, but commuters are asked to avoid consuming foods with a strong odour.
Some Japanese restaurants require customers to remove their shoes upon entry. Be sure that your socks don’t have holes in them!
Upmarket sushi restaurants sometimes have a ‘no perfume’ rule. Strong scents can overwhelm the dining room and upset other patrons.
Mobile Phone Use
Never talk on your mobile phone while using public transport and set your phone to silent or vibrate mode. Text messaging is allowed.
Photography
Always ask permission to take a photo at a venue and be aware that most Japanese people do not want to be photographed by a stranger. Always ask ‘may I take a picture?’ (shashin oh toh te moh ee dess-kah?)
Smoking
In principle, Japan banned indoor smoking in April 2020, but smoking is still allowed in designated rooms inside restaurants and bars and inside some hotel rooms.
Be sure to specify a non-smoking room when booking your hotel and a non-smoking table at restaurants and izakayas.
Tipping
There is no tipping in Japan. Not at restaurants, hotels or in taxis. However, in lieu of tips, many bars and restaurants offer an otoshi (a small appetiser) ranging in price from 300 to 1,000 yen per person.
The charge is added to your bill and cannot be removed, even if you don’t eat the otoshi. Bars may also have a requirement that each patron purchase at least one drink or charge a cover fee.
Trains
When boarding a train, wait until the departing passengers have left the train before getting on board. Refrain from talking on your mobile phone and set your phone to silent or vibrate mode. Do not eat or drink on the train.
There are priority seats on every train that can be sat on but should be offered immediately for the elderly, disabled, pregnant women and people with infants.