Japanese Table Manners When first seated, many restaurants will provide you with a wet towel. Dont use the towel on your face or neck, instead use it to wash your hands then fold it and put it aside. Begin your meal by saying “Itadaki-masu” which means “I humbly receive.” Learn more Japanese language basics. Do not dump soy sauce directly on your food, especially plain rice; instead, pour a small amount of soy sauce into a bowl and dip your food into it. You can always add more soy sauce to the bowl, but avoid wasting any. When eating ramen or soup, you can sip directly from the bowl. Lift the bowl to your mouth with your other hand; avoid holding chopsticks and a small bowl in the same hand. Dont be surprised to hear slurping noises from around the table. Unlike in the West, slurping your soup is not only accepted, it shows that you are enjoying the meal! Cleaning your plate, even down to the last grain of rice, is considered proper Japanese dining etiquette -- never waste food that you have put on your plate. After the Meal When the meal is finished, offer a formal thanks by saying: “Gochisosama-deshita” or simply “Gochisosama” for less formal occasions. If you ate with disposable chopsticks, place them neatly back inside of the small bag and fold the end. Otherwise, leave them sideways on your plate rather than pointing them at the person seated across. Eating Sushi with Proper Japanese Dining Etiquette Sushi is the default for many business lunches. When eating sushi, pour only a little soy sauce into the small bowl provided; leaving a small pond of dirty soy sauce behind is considered wasteful. When dipping nigiri, turn it over so that only the meat touches the soy sauce. Leaving rice floating behind in your dipping bowl is bad form. Meals are often accompanied with sake -- dont drink alone! Wait on all glasses to be filled, then someone will give a toast or simply say kanpai! which means cheers. Raise your glass, return the kanpai, and then drink. Japanese often jump at the chance to pour drinks for each other; you should do the same. Top up the glasses of people seated around you, and never pour your own drink. Dont blow your nose at the table; instead, excuse yourself and go to the toilet or outside. Sniffling at the table to avoid blowing your nose is actually acceptable. Do not point at people with chopsticks or your finger while making a point. Although you should bring a gift if invited to someones home for dinner, avoid giving anything in sets of four or nine. The two numbers sound similar to the words for death and suffering and are regarded with superstition.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 05:12:11 +0000
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