Customs and etiquette in Japanese dining

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Customs and etiquette in Japanese dining are observed behavior table manners while eating in the country Japan. Though they adopted eating tools like chopsticks and spoons from ancient China, Japan have developed their own technique of eating food. 13th century monks developed these etiquette rules based on the idea that dining should not be accompanied by the unpleasant sound of clinking utensils, and the idea of bringing food up to the mouth, instead of vice versa, was considered good manners, since it was the opposite of how animals usually eat:.

Setting, Tabling and Arrangements

Photo of a tatami setting in a Japanese restaurant

Though the majority of restaurants in Japan have Western style tables and chair, the low traditional tables with cushions to sit on the floor are commonly called zashiki style floors. These traditional meals are taken sitting on the tatami, a reedlike mat insert in the top part of the floor. If the restaurant is zashiki style, customers remove their shoes at the entrance to the restaurant or before stepping into the sitting area.At formal traditional dining events, customers may be sitting in a seiza position (on one’s heels with the legs tucked underneath the buttocks). The host or hostess may suggest to get comfortable. It is customary to never spread one legs directly out in front of themselves. The most honored position is at the middle of the table, with the second most important person seated next. The host sits at the middle on one side of the table, and the honored guest sits across in the middle section, opposite the host. The honored guest sits on the side of the table farthest from the door

Customs Before Eating

When entering a restaurant, customers are greeted with the expression “irasshaimase”(いらっしゃいませ), meaning “welcome, please come in”. The waiter or waitress will ask the customer how many people are in their party, and then lead them to their table. Rarely, customers are expected to seat themselves. With hand towels, the customers wipe their hands with the towel provided, not their face, and the customers do so before they touch any of the food, not after the meal.

Chopstick Rules

Chopstick on a dish

Using chopsticks is the one the biggest part of Japanese dining etiquette. There are various rules that involve use chopsticks, such as the following:

• Do not use the chopsticks like a sword and "spear" the food. The Japanese consider this behavior rude. If the food is too difficult to pick up (this happens often with slippery foods), use a fork instead.
• Instead of handing it off food to one and another — having the other person use their chopsticks to take it from within your chopsticks — move the food from plate to plate. It is considered rude to pass food from one set of chopsticks to another.
• Family-style dishes and sharing is common with Asian food. Make sure to take the appropriate portion of food with a service utensil without offending anyone. If no serving utensil is provided, customers use chopsticks to move food to their plate. Use the larger end if they are dining with people you do not know well; the customers can use the thinner end when with close friends and family. Do not just eat off the larger serving dishes.
• It is not customary to stick the chopsticks into the bowl of rice.This is considered very rude, especially if the chopsticks are standing straight up. This is what is done during a ceremony to honor the dead, so this is not appropriate to do in any Japanese restaurant.
• Never rest the chopsticks on the bowl. Use the chopstick wrapper as a placeholder for the chopstick. If there is no wrapper, rest the chopstick on the side of the tray or other similar items on the table.

Dining

There are important things to consider when eating out in Japan. Customers should never raise their own food above their mouths. The mouth is the highest point their chopstick should ever reach. Especially if noodles are involved, slurping is a sign of appreciation. It signifies the customer’s enjoyment of the food and also cools down the noodles. Aside from slurping, try to eat as noiselessly as possible. Avoid clinking utensils together or speaking too much when eating. Additionally, customers should be conscious of how much soy sauce they pour, since over serving soy sauce is considered bad manners. Also, as common courtesy, customers should return all their dishes to how they were started at the beginning of the meal.

Specific Course

Assorted sushi plate

There are various etiquette when eating a certain kind of food

Rice

When eating a ricebowl with toppings (tempura, teriyaki chicken, etc.), do not mix the rice with the other foods. Only foods such as curry and raw egg can be mixed in with the rice. If you want to have more rice, leave a single mouthful of rice in the bowl. This signals to the server you want more. Emptying your bowl is a sign that you are full and finished with a meal.

Sushi

When eating sushi, mix a little wasabi-a pungent green herb that tastes like horseradish-into the soya sauce bowl with the chopsticks provided, and stir a bit, slowly so it does not splash. No soy sauce should stain the tray, the tablecloth, or the mat, and wasabi should never be eaten by itself, or spread directly onto the fish.

Sashimi

Pour some soy sauce into the small dish provided. Put some wasabi on the sashimi piece, but be careful not to use too much as this will overpower the taste of the fish. Dip the sashimi pieces into the soy sauce. Some types of sashimi are enjoyed with ground ginger rather than wasabi.

Miso Soup

Drink the miso soup out of the bowl as if it were a cup, and fish out the solid food pieces with a chopstick.

Noodles

Using the chopsticks provided, lead the noodles into the mouth. The customer may want to copy the slurping sound of people around you if you are dining in a noodle shop. Rather than being bad manner, slurping noodles is considered evidence of enjoying the meal and enhances the flavor.

In case of noodle soups, be careful of splashing the noodles back into the liquid. If a ceramic spoon is provided, use it to drink the soup; otherwise, lift the bowl to the mouth and drink from it directly.

Curry Rice

Japanese curry rice and other rice dishes, in which the rice is mixed with a sauce (for example, some domburi dishes) can be difficult to eat with chopsticks. Large spoons are often provided for these dishes, instead.

Big pieces of food (e.g. prawn, tempura, tofu, korokke)

Separate into bite sized pieces with the chopsticks (this takes some exercise), or just bite off a piece and put the rest back onto the plate.

Drinking habits

Everyone at the table must wait until their drinking glasses are filled first. Once everyone has a drink, the phrase used to start drinking is “kampai!” (乾杯（かんぱい)- which means “cheers: in Japanese. It is considered good manners to pour someone else’s drink before ones own which will often result in them reciprocating the gesture.

It is considered bad manners to become drunk in a formal restaurants, for example high-end restaurants that serve kaiseki ryori (Japanese haute cuisine); however, the same is not true for other types of restaurants such as izakaya, as long as you do not bother other guests.

If someone does not drink alcohol, it is not impolite to say so and request for other beverages instead. Non-alcoholic beverages that are usually available include alcohol-free beer, tea, juices and carbonated drinks.

Ending Dinner and Billing

If customers want to show their appreciation that they enjoyed their meal, there are several ways they can show their appreciation to the chief, servers or host. If the server comes by and ask how the food is and the customers thinks it really good, the common phase to use is  "Oishi desu." (おいしい：美味しい).. The phrase means, “It’s delicious.” The second phrase to know is at the end of the meal. As the customer is leaving, they should say, “Gochisosama deshita” (tごちそさま でした”); It is a polite way to thank them for the meal

After the meal is done or the customer are receiving the check, the bill will be presented face down.. In most restaurants, the customers are suppose to bring the bill to the cashier near the exit when leaving, as it is not common to pay at the table. Customers most commonly pay with cash, although more restaurant now also accept credit card or IC card such as Suica

The one who arranged and invited the guest for dinner usually pays for the bill, but sometime, other circumstances determine the payee (such as rank).

Tipping

Compared to other countries worldwide, tipping in Japan is not considered good etiquette. Leaving a tip cause the restaurant server or host to follow the customer out of the venue holding the cash they left. Prices in these restaurants set on any menu are fair and reasonable, and anything left in addition could come across as insulting, if not entirely unnecessary and confusing. However, even if tipping is usually not done, if the customer wants to tip, 10 percent if sufficient.

See also

• Etiquette in Asia
• Japanese cuisine
• Customs and etiquette in Chinese dining

References

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