Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyororin
A really odd one that no one seems to know (until they`ve been here and scolded for it) is to make sure you use *both* hands while eating. Don`t leave the plate sitting there and just pick things out of it - actually pick it up, or at the very least hold it still (even if it is big and doesn`t move) while you`re eating. Don`t move your hands out of sight below the table while you`re eating.
I am not really sure of the origins or reasons for this, but having come from a family where we never put the hand we weren`t using on the table, and picking up a dish was taboo - I was scolded quite a few times in the first month I was here.
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Yeah this is true. You should pick up the plate you’re eating off of and bring it closer to you when you eat.
Also, NEVER pass food from chopsticks to chopsticks. This is only done at funerals when chopsticks are used to pass the deceased’s bones from one family member to the next. It is very rude. Be careful!
Another thing, if you’re sharing a plate of food, don’t eat directly from the communal plate, but take a bit for yourself and place it on your own little plate (which they always provide you in Japan) before eating. When taking your bit from the communal plate, it’s polite to turn your chopsticks around and use the ends (where you mouth has not touched) to take your bit of food.
In any case Japanese people are generally very tolerant when gaijin’s do something out of the ordinary, and would let you know kindly if you have done something weird.
Oh and wipe your hands with that towel thing they give you at restaurants before eating, not after. (Maybe its just me who does it after, lol).