Guide · 2 min read ·
Eating Out in Japan, and How Locals Choose
Eating out in Japan follows a pattern: a wet towel, chopsticks with two rules, slurping allowed, and the bill paid at the till. Choosing where to eat is the harder part.
In short
- Two chopstick don’ts: never upright in rice, never food passed from chopsticks to chopsticks.
- Slurping noodles is fine. The wet towel is for your hands.
- Pay at the till by the door. No tipping.
- Choose on Tabelog: 3.5 and above is already very good there. Use Google for hours and directions.
How to use chopsticks without a faux pas
Most chopstick rules are about not pointing or waving them. Two are about funerals, and those are the ones people notice.
Do
- Rest them on the stand, or across your plate, between bites.
- Put a bite on the other person’s plate to share it.
- Use the serving chopsticks for a shared dish, if there are any.
Don’t
- Stand chopsticks upright in rice.
- Pass food from your chopsticks to theirs.
- Point, wave or pull dishes with them.
At the table
You’ll be handed an oshibori, a wet towel, when you sit down: it’s for your hands. Food comes quickly after that.
- Say “itadakimasu” before eating and “gochisōsama deshita” after.
- Slurp your noodles: it’s fine, even expected. Miso soup too.
- Lift the rice or soup bowl in your other hand to eat from it.
- Call staff with the button on the table, or a polite “sumimasen”.
How locals do it: In ramen shops you often buy a ticket at a machine by the door first, then hand it to the cook. Pick by the photo, and keep coins and ¥1,000 notes ready.
How to pay, and why no tip
Take the bill from your table to the till by the exit and pay there. Water and tea are usually free.
¥0 — The tip. It isn’t expected, and leaving one usually just confuses people.
How locals choose: Tabelog, not Google Maps
Tabelog is the review site people in Japan use, and its scale is strict. 3.5 and above is already very good: in 2017 only about 4% of listed places scored that high.
| Tabelog | Google Maps | |
|---|---|---|
| What it’s for | Choosing where to eat | Opening hours, the way there |
| A great score | 3.5 and above; 4.0 is rare | Often 4.5, in tourist areas often from visitors |
| Who reviews | Mostly people in Japan | Many visitors |
Tip: Tabelog’s Hyakumeiten names a hundred top places for each kind of food, for some kinds by region. Many good restaurants take bookings on Tabelog or on TableCheck.
Booked and can’t make it? Cancel ahead: for a small place a no-show is a real loss.
Sources
- Table manners in Japan — JNTO
- Tipping in Japan — JNTO
- Tabelog
- Where in Tokyo scores highest on Tabelog — Toyo Keizai, 2017
- Tabelog Hyakumeiten
- TableCheck
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