Entrance

Principles

Chopsticks

Basics

Sushi

Phrases

Glossary




  • Some restaurants provide an o-shibori, or damp hand towel, to wipe your hands before eating. Although you will see some men wipe their faces with them, women should only wipe their hands. When you're finished simply fold the towel and put it back on its tray.

  • Don't eat directly from a communal dish. Whatever you take must be set down on your own plate before you put it in your mouth. (If you already read the chopstick page, you know that you should be using the other ends of your chopsticks to take things from a shared plate and you need to reverse your chopsticks before you can eat from them anyway.)

  • Alternate between dishes. Have a bite of fish, then a bite of vegetable, then a bite of rice rather than just starting with one dish, finishing it, and then moving on to the next.

    Do you want more specific information about beverages, rice, soup, or noodles?

  • At a good Japanese restaurant, a great deal of care goes into what you will be served and how it will be presented. This is not the time to ask for a number of special requests or substitutions.

    Japanese Characters for Etiquette

  • For those of you lucky enough to be eating at a restaurant in Japan, remember that it is considered extremely rude to blow your nose at the table. Excuse yourself and take care of this in the rest room. Blowing your nose is considered a private hygiene matter and would be something akin to someone cleaning his ears at the table here in America.

     

Entrance

Principles

Chopsticks

Basics

Sushi

Phrases

Glossary