The Japan Etiquette Page to Send Every Client

Etiquette anxiety is the most common pre-departure worry and the least necessary one: Japan is famously forgiving of visitors who are visibly trying, and the handful of customs that genuinely matter fit on one page. This is that page — written to be forwarded to clients as-is, with the reasoning included, because rules people understand are rules people remember.

Shoes and thresholds

The clearest signal in Japan is the floor: a raised step, a rack of slippers or tatami matting means shoes come off — at ryokan, temples’ interiors, traditional restaurants and private homes. Slip-on shoes make the whole trip easier, and the separate slippers inside a toilet doorway are exactly what they look like: swap in, swap back, and the one memorable mistake of leaving them on is avoided forever.

The onsen in four rules

Hot-spring bathing runs on four rules and no more: wash and rinse thoroughly at the seated stations before entering the water; no swimwear — bathing is nude, separated by gender; the small towel stays out of the bath, folded on your head or the ledge; and hair stays out of the water too. Guests with tattoos should ask us in advance — policies vary, and a room with a private bath, as on our Hakone programmes, solves it completely. The ryokan will brief the details where we arrange it; clients only need to arrive knowing the four.

Money manners

There is no tipping in Japan — not in restaurants, taxis, or hotels — and attempts are politely declined because service is already part of the price. The habit to build instead is two-handed: cash and cards both work almost everywhere now, but small shrines, some rural shops and ticket machines still love coins, and money changes hands via the small tray at the register rather than hand-to-hand.

At the table

Two chopstick rules carry real weight because both echo funeral rites: never stand chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice, and never pass food from your chopsticks directly to someone else’s. Everything else at the table is enthusiasm — slurping noodles is normal, lifting the miso bowl is correct, and saying itadakimasu before eating is the easiest goodwill a client will ever earn.

The everyday small stuff

Public bins are rare, so pocket your rubbish until the hotel or a convenience store; queues form at marked spots on platforms and everyone honours them; escalators keep one side clear for walkers — stand left in Tokyo, right in Osaka; wear a mask if you have a cough, as locals do; and keep phones silent and voices low on trains, as covered in the shinkansen briefing. A small bow or a nod with thanks is always right and never expected to be perfect.

The one-page summary to forward

• Shoes off wherever you see a step up, slippers or tatami — toilet slippers swap in and out
• Onsen: wash first, no swimwear, towel and hair out of the water; tattoos — ask us ahead
• No tipping anywhere; use the money tray; keep some cash for small places
• Chopsticks never upright in rice, never passing food tip-to-tip; slurping is fine
• Carry your rubbish, queue at the marks, stand on the correct escalator side, quiet on trains

Clients do not need to be flawless; they need the ten lines above and the confidence that trying counts. Send the page with the final documents, and etiquette stops being a worry and becomes the part of Japan they end up loving most.