There are major differences between Japan and western countries, many of which are apparent in everyday life. Since the last thing you want is to be a nuisance, it\u2019s crucial to learn the basic dos and don\u2019ts beforehand.<\/p>\n
Bring some small gifts from your country to give people you meet. There\u2019s no need for these to be anything expensive \u2014 just something traditional from where you live (such as food or drink) is perfect. Bring enough to give the hosts at the places you stay, your travel guides, and people who provide an exceptional experience for you.<\/p>\n
Making a lot of noise is considered disruptive in Japanese culture. Keep your cell phone on silent and make sure you never talk too loudly in public places, such as on trains. Bear in mind that your normal speaking voice may be loud by Japanese standards \u2014 a good rule of thumb is to talk as if you were at a museum.<\/p>\n
Unless you\u2019re at a restaurant aimed specifically at tourists, you can expect the wait service to be different than what you\u2019re used to. If you want to order something else, flag down the waiter.<\/p>\n
Outside social events, avoid talking to strangers unless you absolutely have to. In fact, you shouldn\u2019t even smile at strangers. If you come from the kind of place where it\u2019s common to greet everyone you see as you walk down the street, this may seem odd; however, in Japan, smiling at strangers will make you appear to be suspicious of those around you.<\/p>\n
There are a few things to bear in mind to ensure you\u2019re using chopsticks politely. First, never rub them together \u2014 it\u2019s unnecessary (chopsticks don\u2019t give you splinters) and very rude. Also, never pass anyone food with your chopsticks (this would not be easy anyway), and never point your chopsticks at anyone. Finally, make sure you don\u2019t leave your chopsticks sticking straight out of your rice bowl, as this would be considered offensive to one\u2019s ancestors.<\/p>\n
Most taxis in Japan have doors that automatically close behind you \u2014 plus, you\u2019ll notice that doors open automatically when you approach. For this reason, you should never try to close taxi doors yourself.<\/p>\n
To offer an older adult or a pregnant woman your seat on public transit, it\u2019s a good idea to stand up to clear the space. Otherwise, the person may feel embarrassed about accepting.<\/p>\n
This is more important for purchases that you make outside Japan and bring into the country. If you don\u2019t know the meaning of the kanji, you could unwittingly be wearing clothing that says something offensive or ridiculous.<\/p>\n
This list of dos and don\u2019ts may be long, but they\u2019re all simple and easy to remember. You\u2019ll find that following cultural etiquette makes a huge difference in your stay in Japan \u2014 both for yourself and everyone you encounter.<\/p>\n
Karl Baron<\/a>, CC BY 2.0<\/a>, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are major differences between Japan and western countries, many of which are apparent in everyday life. Since the last thing you want is to be a nuisance, it\u2019s crucial to learn the basic dos and don\u2019ts beforehand. Do: Bring a Small Gift Bring some small gifts from your country to give people you meet. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-in-japan","category-miscellaneous"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4541"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50179,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4541\/revisions\/50179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![Karl Baron<\/a>,](\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:%E5%BE%90%E8%A1%8C_(14390453470).jpg\"){kind=link}