Culture clash: 10 insider tips for visiting Japan

The Japanese are known for their politeness, so it’s only natural that visitors to Japan want to know what to do, or not do, to avoid appearing rude. Check out this list of little behaviors that you won’t find in your guidebook.

I’ve compiled a list of things to think about when visiting Japan based on my own observations living here. None of the violations here will single you out as being rude per se, but if you can avoid these faux pas, you’ll earn the praise of the Japanese for being polite. That’s a pretty high honor in the land of politeness.

Okay, here we go:

1. Don’t ask your host for something unless you really need it.

This may seem obvious at first, but you’d be surprised how often I hear someone at a minshuku (a family-run Japanese-style inn) say to their host: “Do you have some extra batteries (or whatever)? If you don’t, that’s okay, but I’d really like to use my electric shaver.” This request is perfectly okay in your own country, because the assumption is that if the person doesn’t have said object, they’ll say so.

The Japanese, on the other hand, find it very hard to decline requests; on the contrary, they feel obligated to fulfill them! If they don’t have batteries, they’ll either sacrifice the ones from their own TV remote control, or may even go down to the store themselves to buy some for you, which, while admirable, probably isn’t your intention when asking. If it’s something you really need, then by all means go ahead and ask, but if you follow it up with “If you can’t do it, that’s okay,” then you probably don’t really need it anyway and you’re better off not putting your host out.

2. When you have to ask for help…

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Source article written by Amy Chavez

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