It pays to be hungry in Japan—you should eat every scrap of food, as it’s considered bad manners to leave even a single grain of rice. Here are a few tips to help you enjoy your meal like a local.
If you’re eating a rice dish, hold the bowl in one hand and use your chopsticks to scoop the rice into your mouth. Never pour soy sauce or other condiments over plain rice—rice is meant to be a pure food and should be enjoyed as it is.
Sushi, on the other hand, should be eaten with soy sauce, but only in moderation. Pour a small amount onto a plate and dip your sushi lightly—soaking it in sauce is frowned upon. With your last pieces, try to soak up any remaining sauce, leaving a clean plate. Sushi can be eaten with chopsticks or fingers, but be careful not to remove ingredients or add anything other than soy sauce. Wasabi should not be mixed into the soy sauce but applied sparingly if needed. Sushi chefs are considered artists, and altering their creations can be seen as disrespectful.
Sashimi chefs expect the same respect. Avoid overloading sashimi with wasabi or ginger—these are meant to enhance the natural flavour of the fish, not overpower it.
Miso soup is best sipped straight from the bowl, like a cup. You can use your chopsticks to catch any floating pieces of tofu or seaweed.
Noodles are one of the few foods where making noise is acceptable. Slurping is fine, just don’t sound like the farmers pig. Match the level of slurping around you, and you’ll blend in. However, burping is offensive. The best way to enjoy noodles is to scoop them up with chopsticks while slurping them down. If no spoon is provided, it’s polite to drink the remaining broth straight from the bowl.
Japanese curries are best eaten with a spoon. You can use chopsticks for the larger ingredients, but a spoon is far more efficient.
One of the biggest taboos is leaving chopsticks stuck vertically in a bowl of rice, this is a practice from Buddhist funeral rituals, and doing it outside of a ceremony is considered extremely rude. Similarly, never pass food from chopsticks to chopsticks, as this mimics the way cremated bones are handled in funeral traditions.
In Japan, eating while standing or walking is considered bad manners—except at food stalls or designated standing bars. Fast food, including burgers, is eaten seated, and you’ll rarely see anyone walking down the street with a burger or drink in hand.
