5 Things Not to Do in Japan

Japanese people usually don’t ask much to foreigners but there are things they don’t like foreigners to do while visiting Japan. Here are top 5 things they don’t want to deal with.

1. Using Chopsticks for the Purpose Rather Than Eating.
Chopstick Manners are very imortant; when I was little, maybe 5 or 6, I remember my mom would tap my right hand if I was not using the chopsticks correctly.  How you use the chopsticks shows your upbringing. There are not many occasions that you would use chopsticks outside of Asia, and the chopstick manners may not be easy to understand. And there are so many rules! Below are the most important things to avoid.

• Sticking your chopsticks upright in your rice (like the picture above).  In our culture, we offer a bowl of rice to dead ancestors along with flowers and sake at a little shrine in the house. And we stick a pair of chopsticks into the rice upright for the ancestors to eat the rice. - For Japanese people, only dead people eat rice with chopsticks sticking upwards!

• Passing food from chopsticks to chopsticks. After cremating a body in Japan, family members will pick up the bones with chopsticks and put them into a pot. This tradition comes from the fact that both the words chopsticks and bridge are pronounced ‘hashi’, and this gesture means bringing the soul to heaven. - You don’t want to remind them about cremation!

• Pointing people or things with your chopsticks. - Basically don't use the chopsticks for any other purpose other than eating (picking the food and carrying it to the mouth, that is it). This gesture makes you look very arrogant and rude!

2. Talking loudly in any closed area, like in a train, elevator, or restaurant or anywhere.
Japanese people respect and care for the people around them.  It doesn’t really bother me to hear people’s noises in America because it is my every day life, but I can’t help but hear foreigners talking loudly near me in Japan. 

3. Sitting on the Ground or Floor
Sitting directly on the ground or floor is considered a very dirty and vulgar behavior. Simply, vulgar and dirty.  It is filthy. For the same reason, don't touch your shoes. Don’t show or face the bottom of the shoes to others. The ground is dirty, and shoes touch the ground, which means that shoes are dirty, too. This is the reason why we take shoes off at home. I remember when I visited Japan for my son’s first birthday. He liked to sit on the stroller with his feet up on the handle, drinking a bottle with one hand looking like a big boss ruling the world. And everytime when I had to walk through a narrow aisle on a train or somewhere, his foot / shoe touched people’s arm who were sitting on their seat. Every single one of them looked at his shoe then gave me a dirty look. I was so embarressed and telling my son to put his feet down, though it was not like he would listen or understand, he was just 1 year old.

4. Barefoot on Tatami Mat Floor
I am sure most of people know that Japanese people take their shoes off at home. But many don’t know about this.  Tatami mats are made from straw and other natural materials which cannot be cleaned with detergent. Once it gets dirty, it would need to be replaced.  So do not step on it with dirty feet.  Basically it is best not to be barefoot anywhere indoors except right after a bath, so always keep a nice pair of socks with you. We must wear socks when we walk on tatami.  Tatami mat floors are traditional floors and still very common in Japanese style houses and ryokan style hotels.  Growing up, I had 2 tatami rooms on the first floor and my mother’s bedroom was also a tatami room (and she put her bed on it lol), the rest of the house had a wooden floor. 
5. Rude Japanese
Japanese people appreciate and encourage foreigners to learn Japanese. However the Japanese language has a strict line between formal and casual speech. We even have levels of formalith that use different words.  I personally, had never learned or had a chance to use the most formal words as I have never met any imperial family member but I have heard news reporters using those words while talking about Emperor’s family. Be careful what you say using the words you learned from Manga or Anime not knowing exactly what they mean. Otherwise you could sound very impolite, and you would make Japanese people very unpleasant and uncomfortable. 

Now You are an expert. Visit Japan and Enjoy your stay!