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Watch out on your Japan trip. A few things we might not think twice about doing at home, or even in another holiday destination, are just not done in Japan, and we’re (often inadvertently) upsetting the local people by doing them. Here’s what to be aware of so you don’t make the same mistake.
Article by Helen Foster. Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links. See our Affiliate Disclosure.
1. Getting on the Bus In Kyoto With Suitcases
Kyoto has a train system, but it doesn’t necessarily go where we tourists are staying, which leads many people to arrive at Kyoto Station and attempt to get to their hotel via a more convenient local bus. The problem is that the locals also need to use the bus to get to work or do their shopping, and with a large population, the buses get crowded at the best of times, let alone adding a suitcase to the mix. Contributing further to the problem, Kyoto buses have you board in the middle but get off and pay at the front, which means people must walk down the bus to get off, making it harder to avoid any luggage that’s in the way.
How to Be a Good Tourist
Consider alternative transport. See if there is a station a short walk from your hotel or take a taxi to it. These are plentiful outside Kyoto Station, and there are even services with English-speaking drivers if you’re nervous about making yourself understood – look for the queue that says ‘foreigner-friendly taxi.’
Or, even better, take your bags out of the equation by sending them via the luggage shipping service that transports bags from hotel to hotel. Most Japanese use this when traveling, which is one reason why they don’t get why we’re lugging giant bags all over the place. It really is a much nicer way to travel.
You can send it from the hotel you’re staying at before Kyoto (see our guide to luggage shipping between cities), or, if you want your bags to be guaranteed to be at the hotel that day, use the Kyoto Lug Thru service from Kyoto Station. This includes a taxi to your first sightseeing spot. You go and look around, and that taxi will then take your luggage to your hotel for you.
2. Don’t Dump Large Items in Your Hotel
Japan has a very strict rubbish removal system, and large items need special arrangements and extra payment to pick them up. Some tourists are leaving broken suitcases or strollers that they’ve brought specially for the trip but don’t want to take back with them in their hotel rooms, which then costs the hotel money to remove them.
How to Be a Good Tourist
If you have something you don’t want to take home, speak to the hotel about disposing of it.
Some will be happy to take it off your hands. Unseen Japan recently wrote about how one hotel in Tokyo has started using some left-behind suitcases to grow vegetables in! Or, if it’s broken, they might suggest somewhere to get it mended or point you in the direction of a nearby suitcase store that offers a service to get rid of your old case when you buy a new one.
Some hotels will offer to dispose of the larger items for a small fee, but smaller hotels might ask you to take the items with you. If you do leave it, it’s becoming more common for hotels to charge the fee they incur to your credit card – so don’t be surprised if that happens.
3. Being Noisy on Trains
A recent study on etiquette on trains found that almost 52% of Japanese people said that people being noisy on trains was the number one thing that bugged them when traveling.
Japanese trains are generally very quiet – people are on their phones, but they’re not talking on them, and if they are watching videos, they are doing it wearing headphones. When people are traveling in a group, they tend to speak quietly.
How to Be a Good Tourist
You don’t need to take a vow of silence on the train, but try to keep your voices down when you’re chatting among your group.
If you need to use your phone, wait until you are off the train, and wear headphones (or keep the volume off) when scrolling your socials. This link also has the rest of the list of things we do that upset fellow travelers, so you might want to check it so you can really be on your best behaviour.
4. Doing it For the Gram
Influencers who swing off torii gates, somersault across the Shibuya Crossing, get on the women-only cars on trains when male, or swim in the water at teamLab Planets are giving all of us a bad reputation. The above might be extreme examples that none of you are going to do, but also be respectful generally when taking normal holiday snaps.
How to Be a Good Tourist
Japanese shrines are beautiful, but they are also a place of worship, so consider how you’re posing in them. For example, many tourists are now visiting the smaller bamboo grove in Adashino Nenbutsu-ji shrine in Kyoto. However, this shrine is the resting place of hundreds of people who died without family, and some areas shouldn’t be photographed, so please read the no photo signs carefully.
Also, don’t take pictures of children – or adults without their permission. On which note…
5. Respect the Geiko
One of the highlights of a visit to Kyoto, or one of the other geisha districts in Japan, is seeing a geisha (or geiko as they are called in Kyoto), or one of their apprentices, a maiko. But, because this is so special, people have been chasing geiko to get pictures, grabbing them for selfies, or even touching their hair and clothes.
The result is that new laws have been brought in that mean you could be fined up to 10,000 yen for taking an unauthorised picture of a geiko, and some roads in the Gion area of Kyoto are completely off limits to tourists.
How to Be a Good Tourist
If you do see a geiko, admire them from a distance and don’t take photos. If you want to get up close to a geiko, then book one of the many experiences to see them dance, play games, or have tea with them.
6. Sitting in Doorways or Pathways
One thing you’ll realize when you get to Japan is that there are not a lot of benches or seats to take a rest, and, when you’re walking 10-15km a day, chances are at some point your legs will get tired and you’ll want to sit down! However, avoid sitting on doorsteps, by the side of the road, or anywhere else that isn’t a designated seating area, as again, it’s not something local people would generally do.
And before anyone mentions that drunk salarymen will sit or sleep anywhere, I’m aware of this, but maybe let’s not use that as an example of stellar behaviour either!
How to Be A Good Tourist
Take rests when there is a natural opportunity – for example, sitting down for lunch, grabbing a coffee for a rest, or, on the rare occasions when you do see a bench. I recently took a few trips to Japan when suffering from a pain problem, which meant I needed to take breaks, and these were the rules I used.
If you do need to sit down more often due to health reasons (or might need a bit more support or understanding in other ways), look into getting the Japanese Help Mark tag. This is a small red tag with a white cross on it that you can add to your bag or belt, which alerts people that you might need to sit down more often or need help in other ways.
7. Be Careful With Rubbish in Nara and Miyajima
There are few rubbish bins in Japan, and most local people will carry rubbish home with them if they need to. Following this rule is polite all over Japan, but in Nara and Miyajima, it’s even more important to dispose of your rubbish well, as the famous deer will eat it if you don’t – and it’s making them sick.
The deer aren’t just a cute addition to the park. They are considered to be messengers of the gods and are deeply revered in Nara and Miyajima.
Bins were removed from Nara Park forty years ago to prevent deer from eating rubbish. However, while most tourists take their rubbish home, some throw it on the ground or near already full bins, making it easy for deer to eat.
The park has now installed compacting bins and has a team of staff patrolling the park to pick up any rubbish that might harm the deer. But some environmental researchers have gone so far as to say that tourists shouldn’t be allowed to interact with the deer if they can’t follow the rules that protect these sacred creatures.
How to Be a Good Tourist
Carry rubbish with you to take home. If you do find a bin, put the rubbish well inside so the deer can’t get at it. Don’t just leave it by a full bin.
You should also not feed the deer anything but the official deer crackers sold in the park, and, hopefully, it goes without saying not to kick or hurt them.
Also, don’t tease the deer or run around them – this is when they are more likely to bite. Lastly, take the warnings about not approaching fawns or male deer during mating season seriously – they are still wild animals and tourists have been hurt through not following this advice.
8. Asking for Changes in Restaurants
Japanese restaurants take pride in their craft, often specialising in a single dish that they have spent years perfecting. Then, we come along and ask for it without this or with extra that. Making refinements like this is normal elsewhere in the world, but generally, it’s not done in Japan.
How to Be a Good Tourist
If you are a more restrictive eater, check the menu online for the restaurant you’re hoping to visit and ensure there is something that works for you.
If you have allergies or need to avoid certain foods for medical or religious reasons, learning how to explain this in Japanese can help smooth things over when asking for changes (my friend Jonelle has a post on how to explain allergies in Japanese on her blog).
Most will be accommodating in this case, but please understand if the particular restaurant can’t adapt to your needs. Most of the time, it’s not personal – perhaps they can’t change something in the recipe because of the way the dish is made, or they might be worried about something getting lost in translation and serving you something that might make you sick.
Don’t Make This Mistake in a Ryokan
One place to be particularly aware of the menu is in a Ryokan. Being served a home-cooked Japanese meal is part of the experience of staying in a Ryokan, but usually, you don’t choose the items served, and it’s often not the type of Japanese food tourists are used to. Reports suggest this is seeing people cancelling meals halfway through their stay, once the supplies have likely been purchased, or leaving large amounts of food, which again, isn’t making us very popular.
If you are a less adventurous eater, staying in an all-inclusive Ryokan might not be the best choice for you. If you have any allergies or other food restrictions, make sure they know about this well in advance. Or, you might want to look at staying in a hot springs hotel, which can offer a less formal, but still traditional experience.
And that’s it. School teacher mode switched off. I’m aware that vacations are places where you can usually take time off from rules, but these unwritten elements of behaviour are one reason why Japan is so nice to visit. If you’re the type of tourist who can stick to the rules, you’ll be more likely to have one of the only-in-Japan moments with people that make visiting this country so special.
