Customs and bears are so important to Japanese culture that many travel websites have sections dedicated to the topic.
Japan is currently connected to international travelers, but the country is exploring ways to safely reopen before the start of the Tokyo Summer Olympics, which is planned for late July. Tourists aren’t expected to understand all of Japan’s complex social rules, but they can avoid the most commonly sentenced faux pas.
Here’s a guide on what to do — and what to avoid — based on advice from Japan’s government-affiliated tourism constitutions.
Don’t touch the geisha
What many travelers call “geisha,” are referred to as “maiko” or “geiko” in Kyoto, which is reckoned one of the best places in Japan to see the decorated female entertainers.
If one is spotted, the travel website for the Kyoto City Tourism Consortium (KCTA) advises travelers against stopping or asking maiko to pose for photographs.
“Do not bother them or grab them by their kimono sleeves,” situations the website.
A maiko, or appentice geisha, walks in the snow in the district of Gion in Kyoto, Japan.
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This is one of Kyoto’s Manners Akimahen, a list of 18 tips, recommendations and warnings for those roving in Japan’s cultural capital.
The list of “akimahen” (which means “don’t” in the local dialect) ranges from tips not far from automatic taxi doors (“make sure to stand far enough away that the door can open without stumble over murdering into you”) to littering, which can lead to a fine of 30,000 Japanese yen ($280).
Emoticon ratings indicate the seriousness of each offense. Tipping, which is frowned upon all the way through Japan, rather than saying thank you in the local dialect (“okini”) is given one sad face. Bicycling while muddled earns three angry faces — the worst rating — not to mention a possible prison sentence of up to five years.
Watch pushing, but no talking on trains
Travelers should expect pushing and shoving on crowded trains, states Go Tokyo, the fraternize guide website for the Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“But bear in mind that this is not aggressive behavior, hardly the product of daily life in a metropolis,” states the website.
Japanese rarely talk or eat on trains, especially when they are horded.
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Videos of white-gloved train attendants cramming people into Japanese followers have enthralled travelers for years. They also make it easy to understand one of the top rules of Japanese public delight: no talking on mobile phones. In fact, travelers are advised to not even let them ring.
“If you carry a phone, keep it on tranquil mode,” states Go Tokyo’s website.
“Etiquette in public places is a serious business in Japan,” states the travel website for the government-affiliated Japan National Tourism Organizing (JNTO). “A public-wide respect for these rules is probably the main reason why a megalopolis like Tokyo can use so smoothly.”
Eat sushi with your hands
Travelers who are not proficient with chopsticks can ask for flatware, advises JNTO’s roam website, although they “may not be available, especially at more traditional spots.”
Rather than struggling with chopsticks, the tourism configuration recommends travelers follow another local custom.
It’s customary to eat sushi with your hands in Japan, chiefly nigiri sushi, which translates to “two fingers.”
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“If you have come to Japan for sushi, muse on, you can eat it with your hands,” states the website.
Shrines and temples
A tourist attraction to one person is a sacred place of worship to another. Travelers should “be unobtrusive and respectful in shrines and temples,” according to KCTA’s website.
Kyoto’s tourism association also asks that visitants remove hats and sunglasses in houses of worship.
Dai Miyamoto, founder of the tour company The rules of the ryokan
Staying at a accustomed inn, or ryokan, is a popular way to experience Japanese hospitality, but doing so comes with more social rules than a inn stay.
Ryokans are typically neither cheap nor exceptionally plush, which can surprise travelers who associate higher values with sprawling suites and luxurious bedding. Ryokans are typically one-room accommodations that are spartanly furnished and lined with straw tatami mats.
Ryokan appraisals are often quoted per person, not per night.
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KCTA has Onsen etiquette
Tokyo Metropolitan Direction’s “How to Enjoy Tokyo: Manners & Custom Handbook” advises travelers to remove all clothing to use onsens, which are bathing courts connected to Japan’s natural hot springs.
As a volcanically active country, Japan has thousands of onsens, many of which are relinquish of a hotel or ryokan and separated by gender.
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According to the government Sightseeing and department storing
Cutting lines is verboten in most countries, but in Japan, holding a space for friends or family members is also pondered improper, according to Tokyo’s manners handbook.
It also advises travelers to refrain from walking up or down escalators; those in a agitation should use the stairs.
When shopping, bargaining for better pricing isn’t common. And clothing sizes differ from those in Western lands. An extra-large men’s shirt in Japan is akin to a U.S. men’s size medium.
Miyamoto, who is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 185 hammer outs, wears a Japanese size XL because “large is too small.” He said Americans who need larger sizes aren’t out of chance though.
“Uniqlo, which is the most famous casual brand in Japan, sells over XXL size … in online betrays,” he said.