Manners at a glance

Hot springs and public baths

A big bath is a shared space, so every rule comes back to one idea: keep the water clean.

• ○ Before getting into the bath, rinse yourself with a few scoops of water and wash your body.
  It keeps the shared bath clean. Pouring water over yourself (kakeyu) also helps your body get used to the hot water.
• ○ Take off all your clothes. No swimwear or underwear.
  In the large single-sex baths, bathing naked is the rule. Swimwear is needed only in some mixed baths and certain facilities.
• × Don't put your towel in the bath water.
  It keeps the water clean. Leave your towel outside the bath or rest it on your head.
• ○ If you have long hair, tie it up before getting in.
  Other bathers find it unpleasant when hair goes into the water.
• × Don't take photos in the bathing area or the changing room.
  People are naked here, so it is an invasion of privacy.
• ○ If you have tattoos, check with the facility beforehand.
  Policies vary: some places turn tattooed guests away, some let you in if you cover the tattoo with a sticker, and some offer a private bath instead.
• × Avoid bathing after drinking a lot of alcohol.
  It can lead to accidents, and both the Japan Onsen Association and the Japan Tourism Agency ask people not to.
• ○ Dry yourself well with your towel before going back to the changing room.
  A wet changing-room floor is unpleasant for the next person and slippery too.
• × Don't add cold water on your own just because the bath feels too hot.
  At a sento (public bathhouse), the polite thing is to say a word to the people bathing with you before adding cold water.

Read more: Why Can Tattoos Keep You Out of Some Hot Springs in Japan? · Why Do Japanese People Take a Bath Every Night?

Shrines and temples

Before they are sightseeing spots, shrines and temples are places where people still come to pray. Respect matters more than getting every detail of the ritual right.

• ○ At a shrine, rinse your hands and mouth at the temizuya (the water basin for purification) before you pray.
  Purifying body and mind before praying is a custom that has been valued for a very long time.
• × Don't put your mouth directly on the hishaku (the wooden ladle) at the basin.
  The correct way is to pour water into your cupped left hand and rinse your mouth from that.
• ○ At the main hall of a shrine, pray with "two bows, two claps, one bow".
  This is the standard way at shrines across Japan. If a shrine has its own custom, follow that shrine's way.
• × Don't clap your hands at a temple.
  Clapping belongs to shrines. At a temple, don't clap; bow from the waist instead.
• ○ If you can, avoid walking down the very middle of the approach path.
  The centre is said to be the path of the gods. It is not a strict rule, so don't worry about it when it is crowded.
• × Don't step on the threshold of gates or buildings.
  Stepping on a threshold is considered rude. Step over it instead.
• × Don't photograph ceremonies in progress or people who are praying.
  It disturbs a place of prayer.
• × Don't write graffiti on, or damage, buildings or cultural treasures.
  The damage cannot be undone, and it can also bring penalties or fines.
• ○ Choose modest clothes.
  Some people are uncomfortable with revealing clothing.

Read more: Why Do Japanese People Bow, and How Low Should You Go?

Trains and buses

Many people ride these every day to work or school, so the key points are "keep quiet" and "don't take up space".

• ○ Put your phone on silent and avoid making calls on board.
  However quietly you speak, phone calls on trains and buses are often frowned upon.
• × Don't talk loudly or get rowdy.
  In a survey of rail users, this was the most commonly named nuisance by overseas visitors.
• ○ On the platform, line up beside the doors and let people get off first.
  It makes getting on and off smoother and helps prevent delays.
• × Don't stand still in front of the doors.
  When it is crowded, you block people getting on and off, which can also delay the train.
• ○ When you sit, move up to make room, and don't spread or stretch out your legs.
  "How people sit" ranks near the top of the rail companies' nuisance survey every year.
• ○ Give up priority seats to older people, pregnant people and people with disabilities.
  These seats exist so that the people who need them can sit down.
• ○ Store or send large luggage ahead, and avoid travelling with it during the morning and evening rush hours.
  Large bags are a burden on others in a crowded carriage. Coin lockers and luggage delivery services are handy.
• ○ If you have cold symptoms, be careful about coughing and sneezing on crowded trains, for example by wearing a mask.
  Coughing and sneezing without regard for others came first in a survey of nuisances in stations and on trains.
• ○ Before boarding a bus, check which door to use and when to pay.
  It differs by region and route: on some you board at the front and pay first, on others you board at the back and pay when you get off.

Read more: Why Are Japanese Trains So Quiet? · Why Do People in Japan Queue So Neatly? · Why Do People in Japan Wear Face Masks When They Aren't Sick?

Restaurants

Restaurants in Japan run efficiently on set routines. Once you know how things work, eating out becomes much more relaxed.

• × There is no need to leave a tip.
  Japan has no tipping custom.
• ○ At an izakaya (a Japanese pub), expect an otoshi (a small starter).
  It is a small paid dish that arrives automatically when you sit down, and works rather like a table charge.
• × Don't bring food or drinks bought elsewhere into a restaurant.
  The polite thing is to have what the restaurant serves.
• ○ Arrive on time for your reservation.
  Many places prepare your table and food and wait for you.
• ○ To call a server, press the call button or say "sumimasen" (excuse me).
  In Japanese restaurants, staff usually don't keep coming to check on your table.
• ○ Tell staff about allergies or foods you cannot eat as early as possible.
  Some places won't change their menu, but for allergies they will often try to help.
• ○ It's fine to slurp your noodles.
  Slurping noisily is a normal way to eat noodles. You don't have to slurp if you'd rather not.
• ○ With sushi, dip the neta (the fish on top), not the rice, in soy sauce.
  This etiquette matters at high-end restaurants. At conveyor-belt sushi and similar places, you can be far more relaxed.
• ○ Say "itadakimasu" before eating and "gochisousama deshita" when you finish.
  These are the basic phrases at a Japanese table, expressing thanks for the meal.

Read more: Why Do Shop Staff in Japan Say "Irasshaimase" When You Walk In? · Why Is It OK to Slurp Noodles in Japan? · Why Is Tipping Considered Rude in Japan?

Ryokan and Japanese homes

In a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) or a Japanese home, taking your shoes off at the entrance is the basic rule. Rules differ from place to place, so if in doubt, just ask the staff.

• ○ Take your shoes off at the entrance and put them in the shoe cupboard or line them up neatly to one side.
  The custom comes from a way of life spent sitting and sleeping on tatami (woven straw mats).
• × Don't walk on tatami in slippers.
  It is customary to take slippers off in tatami rooms.
• ○ In the toilet, change into the toilet slippers provided.
  Many homes and ryokan provide slippers just for the toilet.
• ○ Check with the inn whether you can go outside in your yukata and slippers.
  Some inns let you go out in your yukata (a light cotton robe), while others allow it only inside the building.
• ○ Stick to the dinner and breakfast times you gave at check-in.
  Ryokan meals are often made with seasonal local ingredients and prepared for a set time.
• ○ Check whether there is a curfew.
  Many ryokan don't let you in or out late at night.
• ○ Keep quiet at night.
  Other guests and neighbours are resting.

Read more: Why Do Japanese People Take Their Shoes Off Indoors, and What Are Toilet Slippers For?

On the street (smoking while walking, rubbish, escalators, queues and more)

Some street rules are more than manners: they are set by local ordinances and come with fines.

• × Don't smoke while walking. Dropping cigarette butts is also banned.
  Some local authorities ban smoking on the street by ordinance and have zones where they fine offenders. Smoke only in designated smoking areas.
• ○ Put rubbish in a bin, or take it with you if there isn't one.
  There are few bins on the streets, and taking your rubbish home is normal.
• ○ Sort cans and plastic bottles when you throw them away.
  For recycling, each type goes in a different place.
• ○ Don't walk on escalators: stand still and hold the handrail.
  Rail companies across Japan ask people to do this to prevent falls and collisions. Some local authorities, such as Saitama Prefecture, have made it an ordinance.
• × Don't jump the queue.
  At stations and shops, queuing in turn is taken for granted.
• × Don't stop or eat while walking in busy places.
  It gets in people's way. When you eat, step a little away from the flow of people.
• × Don't touch shop goods with hands you've just been eating with outside.
  It dirties the goods.
• × Don't use your phone while walking.
  It is easy to bump into people, and it is especially dangerous on station platforms.

Read more: Why Are There Almost No Trash Cans on Japan's Streets? · Why Do People in Japan Queue So Neatly?

Taking photos (temples and shrines, maiko, private land, drones and more)

Photos are one of the joys of travel, but the starting point is always to think of the people in them and the people who live there.

• × Don't photograph people without asking. That includes people in kimono.
  Many people dislike being photographed without permission. Events held for photography are an exception.
• × In Kyoto and elsewhere, don't stop maiko (apprentice geisha) or geiko (Kyoto's word for geisha), or photograph them without permission.
  They are on their way to work. Kyoto City and the Kyoto City Tourism Association also ask visitors to stop.
• × Don't go onto private land, railway tracks or farmland to take photos.
  It bothers the people who live and work there, and railway tracks are seriously dangerous.
• ○ Don't take photos where there is a "no photography" sign.
  Temples, shrines, shops, museums and so on mark where you can and can't take photos.
• ○ When taking photos, look around you and don't block the flow of people.
  In crowded places, stopping to take photos blocks the way.
• × Don't use a selfie stick where signs say they are not allowed.
  Some busy sightseeing spots and similar places ban them.
• ○ Before flying a drone, check the rules of Japan's Civil Aeronautics Act.
  Drones of 100 g or more fall under the Civil Aeronautics Act, and flying over densely populated areas and some other places needs government permission. Breaking the rules brings penalties.
• ○ Get permission in advance before flying a drone over private land or where there are many people.
  Each place has its own rules, so it is safest to check with the site manager or a koban (police box).