Focus on hygiene
-Floors are considered dirty in japan and purses or bags are often put on floors. Putting a purse or bag on the table is considered bad manners. Instead put it on a chair or the floor.
Place setting
-When home staying you might be expected to set the table. Most people don't care about proper place setting, but just put their chopsticks at where each person usually sits.
-Normal for people to eat things without anything to drink. Might be waiting for after the meal to drink tea.
-In restaurants if they can't serve everyone in a adequate amount of time. You might be asked to eat first so your food doesn't get cold. Because they bring food out as its made.
Manners
-Before the meal say ittadakimasu (thanks for the meal). Some people put their hands in a praying motion but it isn't always necessary.
-After the meal say gochisosama deshita (that was delicious). In restaurants after you've finished eating or after you've paid for the meal.
-Burping in Japan is considered really rude. If you have a runny nose you should leave the room to blow it. Some people often snort or sniff to avoid having to blow their nose.
-If you don't like the food. It is really rude to not eat the food someone has prepared for you. Usually the people that invite you over go over what main dishes they will make with you so they don't make something that you don't like.
-If you're home staying and the family is making meals for you everyday you should try your best to eat it. If you can't eat certain dishes , its best to tell them before they accidentally make it for you. Or tell them you are allergic which is not ideal but is okay sometimes.
-It isn't that rude to not finish your meal occasionally. However, you should always try to finish it. If you're with a friend you can get them to finish the food for you.
-You shouldn't give your host family a list of foods you don;t like because this gives them a really negative image of you. Being picky about things in Japan is considered rude and it is rude to inconvenience people with what you prefer. They will view you as someone who always complains about things.
Etiquette
-Typically your chopsticks are held in your right hand and the bowls with rice or soups etc. are held in your left hand. Bowls held with you thumb on the edge of the bowl and your fore fingers underneath.
-You can't pass food with chopsticks because chopsticks are used to pass the bones of the deceased. A bowl of rice with chopsticks stuck in it is left for the deceased.
-Bring the bowl up to your mouth while you eat so that the food does not drop onto the table.
It is considered bad manners for you to bend your head down to your plate or bowl because it resembles how dogs eat and bad manners.
Many meals have a dish where everyone eats from. traditional rules say to use the back of your chopsticks to get food from the dish because it's the most sanitary. In reality most people don't follow that rule. It depends on the types of people your with.
If the dish is nabe some families put the remaining soup they have back into the pot to make another meal for the next day. If they do this you aren't expected to eat it and they understand if you decline.
Eating sushi
The two most common sushi to westerners are the California roll and nigiri.
nigiri= rice (shari) with a topping (neta)
-Traditional rules say to dip only the topping in soy sauces, however it doesn't matter nowadays.
Some meals already come with it soysauce on top, if it already has soy sauce don't add soy sauce.
-Traditional rules say that you should eat sushi in one bite. However, it won't always fit in your mouth. You can just cut it in half with your chopsticks or just bite off half. It is more rude to shove too much food into your mouth by forcing yourself to eat too much food at once.
-In formal settings using both hands to use chopsticks is considered childish. However, it is okay if it is not a formal setting. Since your a foreigner it won't be treated as a big deal.
-Poking through food is also considered childish so it is best to try to pick up foods even if they are slippery.
And the video you found seems useful too.
Way of viewing food (western compared with Japanese):
"Food and language are the two pillars of every culture. There are other components -- religion, code of behavior, costume, games and rituals -- that interest cultural historians. But language and food are the most deeply ingrained features of everyday life in any culture, and, so, they appear so "natural" to the "natives" that their conventionality eludes them. To the Japanese, unless they have struggled with English, find <light> and <right> sound exactly the same, and they find nothing peculiar about answering yes when they mean no as when answering a negative question. Cross-cultural studies, indeed, raise questions about normalcy."
"In Japanese inns and restaurants in Japan, the guest is provided with a small wooden or lacquerware tub of rice for one or two customers, a bigger one for a company. In Japanese restaurants here in America, only one small bowl of rice is delivered to the table, already filled. This is Americanization. I always feel sheepish about asking for the second bowl but I do. I never ask for the third, however, even when I could use a little more. I don't because more often the okazu is oversized here."
http://www.swarthmore.edu/Humanities/tkitao1/japan/okazu.html
Hanami (flower viewing festival) food
Japanese New Year (Oshogatsu)
Making mochi
No comments:
Post a Comment