Manners in Japan, and the reason for each one

Five habitsLearn these and you will fit in anywhere

Almost nothing on this page is a rule you can break. They are habits, and behind each one is the same idea: a lot of people live close together here, so small considerations are taken seriously.

Follow the person in front of you. Staff will show you what to do if you get something wrong. But getting two or three of these right changes how a day goes — not because anyone comments, but because you stop standing out in a way that makes you feel awkward.

If you remember only three things

1. Be quiet on trains. No phone calls. This is the one people notice most.

2. Bins are few, so a small bag in your pocket is handy. There are almost no bins in the street, and that is not an oversight.

3. Wash before you get in the bath, and take your shoes off where the floor changes.

Out and aboutHabits, with the reason attached

On trains and in the street

Quiet carriages: Conversation is fine, low. Phone calls are not. The idea is that the space belongs to everyone in it
Queues: Marks on the platform, lines outside shops. Let people off first
Backpacks: Off your back and held low when it is crowded
Escalators: Stand on one side, walk on the other — and the side differs between Tokyo and Osaka. Watch what everyone else does
Smoking: Often banned in the street and allowed indoors or in marked areas — the opposite of many countries
Bins: Very few. Convenience stores and stations have them. Carry your rubbish until then

Eating

Chopsticks: Do not stand them upright in rice, and do not pass food from chopstick to chopstick. Both belong to funerals
Noise: Slurping noodles is fine. It cools them and it is not rude here
Walking and eating: Generally not done, except at markets, festivals and streets like Nakamise in Asakusa, where it is expected
Water: Brought free, cold, without asking. So is tea in many places
Finishing: Eating everything is appreciated. Leaving a little is not an insult
Tipping: None. Say thank you instead — that lands better

Shoes, baths and floors

Shoes off: At the entrance of homes, inns, some restaurants, temples and changing rooms. A step or a change of floor is the signal
Slippers: Provided. There are often separate ones for the toilet — leave those in the toilet
Tatami: Straw matting: socks or bare feet, no slippers, no suitcases
The bath: Wash at the shower first, then soak. The water is shared and stays in
Tattoos: Some bath houses do not admit them. Ask at the desk, and ask about a private bath in the same question

How an onsen works

Photographs, shrines and other peopleThe part that actually causes upset

Photographs

People: Ask first: “Picture OK?” — understood everywhere, and it takes two seconds. This includes people in kimono, who are not there as scenery
Inside shops: Ask.
Temples: Grounds usually fine, inside the hall often not. Look for 撮影禁止
Children: Do not photograph other people’s children. It is the fastest way to cause real offence anywhere in the world, and here too
Trains, platforms: Fine, but stay behind the line and out of the way of people working
Drones: Restricted in most cities and at most sights. Assume no unless posted

At a shrine or temple

The gate: A shrine gate marks the boundary. Walking through it is the point; a slight bow is normal and entirely optional
Washing: Rinse your hands at the basin. One ladle does both hands
Praying: Coin, bow twice, clap twice, bow once. Izumo in Shimane claps four times
The centre: The middle of the path is traditionally left clear at some shrines. Walk to one side and you cannot go wrong
Fortunes: A bad one is tied to the rack and left there. That is what the rack is for
Quiet: People are praying. Whatever else, keep your voice down inside the grounds

Shrines & temples

The whole page in one line

Leave a place as you found it, and leave the people in it undisturbed. Everything above is a version of that, and nobody here will ask more of you than that.

Manners, and whyマナーと、その理由