- Visiting Tokyo DisneySea with a Picky Eater - 7 February 2025
- The ‘Suica Made Simple’ Guide - 6 February 2025
- Which USJ Express Pass is For You? Try Our Quiz to Find Out - 1 February 2025
Chances are you will be eating in many restaurants during your Japan trip, and when you do, there are a few things to know to ensure you don’t make a mistake. So, here’s what to be aware of.
Now, I’m not going into the etiquette points of Japanese dining here as I’m guessing you’re probably not taking your boss out to dinner on your holiday, so don’t need to be aware of the polite rituals associated with sake pouring, but instead, I’ll cover things that might confuse you in ways that mean you don’t have a good experience, or that might upset your host. So, here goes, 15 mistakes not to make when dining in Japan…

1. Assuming That Appetiser is Free
This is more if you’re eating in an izakaya (a Japanese pub), particularly one without many seats, but sometimes, at the start of your evening, you’ll be presented with a small dish you didn’t order.
Depending on your personality, you might receive it gratefully, assuming it’s a nice gift from the chef, or you’ll look at it suspiciously and push it to one side, thinking it’s too good to be true. Both of these things are correct!
The dish is called an ‘otoshi’ and, while it does come as kind of a welcome from the chef, it’s not free, even if you don’t eat it. Some smaller Japanese bars/restaurants might charge a seat fee per person to help increase their nightly takings, and the otoshi is in exchange for that.

If you receive an otoshi, expect an extra charge on your bill at the end of the night. This usually is around 300-400 yen per person, but it can go higher. It is payable even though you didn’t ask for the dish and it doesn’t matter if you eat it or not.
See our longer guide on otoshi for tips on how to find out how much it’s likely to be or avoid it entirely (without causing a scene).
2. Not Asking for Help
The wait staff in Japanese restaurants don’t usually disturb diners. But, many tourists don’t realise this and will sit there for 15 minutes wondering why no one is serving them, sometimes even walking out in a huff thinking the staff were rude. In fact, they’re trying to be exactly the opposite and give you your privacy.
In restaurants where they are used to tourists, they might come over to you, but if no one does and you’re ready to order, it’s perfectly fine to call over the waiter or waitress.
Sometimes there will be a bell on the table to do this, other times you’ll need to speak up. The word ‘sumimasen,’ which means excuse me, will do the trick.

3. Not Putting the Money in First
This applies if you’re eating at a restaurant that uses a machine to take your order. You often have to put the money in before pressing the buttons.
I have stood there many times pushing buttons and wondering why nothing happens until the person behind me in the queue points out my mistake! I still do it even after eight trips!
I know it’s not logical – after all, how do you know how much money you need to put in until after you’ve ordered? But if nothing happens when you push the buttons, try adding money!
For more tips on ordering from a Japanese ticket machine, including how to get the most popular dish on the menu, take a look at our longer post.
4. Ignoring the Small Numbers
I was in a restaurant in Asakusa a few trips ago, and a lady was getting very angry with the staff because her bill was 10 per cent higher than she thought it would be. The reason was that she hadn’t realised the menu had two sets of prices.
There is a tax for eating inside a restaurant in Japan. Most restaurants will include this in the price, and you don’t need to worry about it, but in some chains, particularly where takeaway is available, they show both prices.
The tricky thing is that the lower price is shown first, and the second price listed after it or in a smaller font. If you’re lucky, it will marked ‘with tax’, but sometimes you’re just supposed to know.
So, if you see two prices for a dish on the menu -and the second one is about 10 per cent higher than the first, that’s the ‘eat in’ price, so assume that’s what you’re going to be charged.

5. Sharing Dishes
We’re back to limitations of space again. Because there aren’t many seats in some Japanese restaurants, they may have a minimum order per person – for example, one bowl of ramen, so you can’t go in there and share a bowl.
It will be clearly stated but this can cause problems if you are someone who doesn’t eat much or who has a dietary restriction, which means they can’t order the main dish.
It’s tricky to advise how to handle this one. Some places will be fine bending the rules if the other person orders dishes and drinks to the same price as the main dish – others won’t bend the rules at all.
If you come across this and really can’t order one bowl per person, use Google Translate to ask if it’s okay to order a few smaller dishes instead. If they say no, then apologise and try somewhere else.
A lot of people wonder how this works with children who obviously have smaller appetites. Most of the restaurants with this restriction are those with just a handful of seats. If you’re dining there with a child and they are using a seat, an adult can’t sit down, so ask if it’s okay to order less for your child. If they say no, it’s really only fair that you compensate the restaurant for what an adult would have spent. You’ll find lots of big restaurants, family-style restaurants and those without such a restriction if you need them.
6. Putting Your Bag on the Table
I am guilty of this myself as in countries where it might get pinched I like to have my bag where I can see it (and also firmly tie it to the chair or table leg), and quite often go into autopilot – but, the bottom of your bag is seen as dirty (which makes sense) and so it’s bad form to put it on the table where you, and others, will eat.
In most restaurants, you’ll find a basket next to or under your chair for your bag. Place it in there.
7. Lingering Too Long
If you’re in a proper restaurant, it’s okay to spend a little time chatting after your meal before you get the bill – but in a more casual place, the rule is to move on once you’ve finished eating/drinking.
Obviously, read the room – if there are lots of empty seats, you’ll be okay to stay a little longer, but the seats are all full, and 100 per cent if there is already a queue, eat, pay, move on!

8. Chopsticks Mistakes
There are two things to really make sure you don’t do with your chopsticks in a Japanese restaurant. Stick them upwards in rice, or pass something to someone else with them. Both of these remind Japanese people of rituals for the dead.
If you have a chopstick rest, use that between bites, if not, lay your chopsticks flat across your bowl. If you want your dining companion to try something from your plate, pick up the food and put it onto their plate or bowl.
9. Not Clearing Your Plates
Again, this isn’t going to be the case in a proper restaurant, but if you’re eating somewhere a bit less formal – especially if you’re in a small restaurant with few staff, one of Japan’s chain restaurants or a fast food joint, you might be expected to take your tray and plates up to the counter when you’ve finished.
Just watch what everyone else is doing and copy them.
That also applies to paying the bill. Often, the bill will be placed on your table and you’ll walk to the counter to pay it rather than calling over the staff and paying them. Again, watch everyone else to see what they do.
If you don’t have a bill, then call over the staff using ‘sumimasen’ and ask for it. If you want to show off your Japanese use ‘okaike wo onegaishimasu’ – pronounced o kai ke woe o ne gai shi mas.

10. Not Turning Up or Being Late
If you are visiting a restaurant that requires reservations, don’t be late (even on time is slightly late in Japan), and absolutely don’t be a no-show. Tourists doing this is one reason why some high-profile restaurants in Japan will no longer take bookings from anyone without a Japanese address. Yes, plans change, but, if you can’t make your booking, cancel it.
If you’re looking for an easy way to make restaurant reservations, ByFood offers this service in English for hundreds of restaurants. It comes in particularly handy if you’re traveling in a larger group to see which take reservations for parties of your size and to get them locked in without the language barrier.
11. Just Bringing a Card
The use of credit cards has become more common in Japan, and if you’re eating in 5-star establishments or ordering elaborate kaiseki meals, you’ll be able to pay with a card, or someone will tell you in advance, but if you’re nipping into the local mom-and-pop soba joint or ordering by machine, then you might need cash.
Having a few thousand yen on you is always a good idea to avoid getting caught out.
Check out our guide to using cash in Japan for some other examples when you’ll likely need cash.
12. Wiping Your Face
If you’re given a cool or hot towel when you arrive at a restaurant, it’s just for your hands. Not your face, neck, table, glasses, or anything else that might need a clean!

13. Over Ordering
You’re often told not to leave food on your plate in Japan as it’s seen as rude. That’s kind of true. While it’s against Japanese culture to waste things, if you’ve ordered a normal-sized meal and the portion is simply too big for you, no one will chase you down the road with the naughty stick if you leave some of it.
However, what would be considered rude is ordering too much food than a normal person would eat and leaving lots of it, or leaving lots of your main meal and then going on to have dessert.
Some restaurants offer the option to order smaller portions, or half portions of rice/noodles, on the menu. If you are a light-eater, use these to cut things down in advance. It’s also easier to control your portion sizes in izakaya or yakitori joints, where you order a selection of small dishes, than, say, a ramen or tonkatsu restaurant, where portions skew larger and are served on one big plate.
And no, getting a doggy bag to take things away is not normally offered as an option.
14. Double Dipping
This only applies if you’re going to eat a type of food called Kushi Katsu, which is one of the must-eat dishes in Osaka.
Kushi Katsu is fried food on sticks, and you dip this into a sauce on the table – but only dip your actual skewer in once. Once you’ve bitten it, double dipping is a HUGE faux pas.
Instead, either use cutlery to spoon the sauce onto the skewer or, in more traditional places, you’ll be given cabbage leaves with your meal – these are used to scoop out the sauce.

15. Mixing Wasabi & Soy Sauce?
I thought I’d got this down. Mixing the soy sauce and wasabi together in a bowl in Japan was considered rude; got it. But then I went to a restaurant in Toyosu market and ordered the fantastic dish above which involved a tower of raw fish on a bed of rice. The instructions explicitly told me to mix the two! Mind blown!
So it seems my mistake was assuming this was a blanket rule.
For sushi itself, you shouldn’t mix the two (although, if I’m eating at a sushi train where the chef can’t see me, I’m mixing!), but for ‘don’ style dishes where sashimi slices or chopped raw fish is served on rice it’s totally okay. In fact, there’s even a name for it ‘wasabi joyu.’
After I published this, my friend Jonelle Patrick, who lives in Japan half the year, said there are also another couple of occasions where mixing wasabi and soy is totally fine, saying ‘It’s true that you never mix wasabi into the soy sauce for dipping nigiri sushi (the kind with fish on top of rice) because the chef has already put what they consider to be the perfect amount of wasabi under the fish (or none, if that kind of fish isn’t eaten with wasabi), but it’s okay to mix wasabi with the soy sauce for sashimi, or into your soba dipping sauce. Among the Japanese people I know, anyway!’
So, there you go – a few things to watch out for when dining in Japan to ensure you don’t fall foul of some cultural differences that might spoil your night if you aren’t sure what’s going on or that can just help you feel a bit more like a local. Don’t stress if you forget – as I said, I still break some of them, but, just try and keep them in mind.