Japan Food Etiquette & Konbini Tips

At a Japanese convenience store, ask staff to heat your bento, expect to pay for plastic bags, and put cash on the small tray at the register. Buy your coffee cup at the register before you pour, and if you need yen, 7-Eleven ATMs accept many foreign cards.

Covers: Ask for your bento to be heated · Plastic bags aren't free · Put cash on the tray · Buy the cup before you pour · Get yen at 7-Eleven ATMs

At a Japanese convenience store, order hot snacks like fried chicken at the register, because they sit behind the counter. If you plan to eat inside, tell the clerk, since the tax can be different, and ask before you use the restroom.

Covers: Order hot snacks at the register · Tell the clerk if you eat in · Ask before using the restroom

In Japanese restaurants, the oshibori (wet towel) is for wiping your hands. At many ramen shops you buy a meal ticket from a machine before you sit, and busy shops may seat you only when your whole group is there.

Covers: Use the oshibori for your hands · Buy your ticket first · Wait as a group

The two main chopstick taboos in Japan are standing chopsticks upright in rice and passing food from one pair of chopsticks to another, since both resemble funeral customs. Rest your chopsticks on a holder called a hashioki instead, and slurping noodles is fine.

Covers: Don't stand them up in rice · Rest them on a hashioki · Don't pass food chopstick to chopstick · Slurp noodles, say itadakimasu