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  • in this video I'm gonna share with you guys my top 10 things to know when

  • eating in Japan Japanese food is pretty awesome as you guys already know from

  • watching some of my previous videos but in this video I wanted to share with you

  • guys some Japanese restaurant and Japanese eating tips if you guys think

  • any of these are weird disagree or agree let me know in the comments section oh

  • and if you want to help support my channel check out my sushi girl merch

  • I'll leave a link in the description of the video alright let's do this so let's

  • talk about sharing food in Japan so Japan has kind of a weird standard when

  • it comes to sharing food so it really depends on the situation in some

  • situations it's not okay to share while other situations it's okay to share and

  • in some other situations you're expected to share it yeah it's really confusing

  • right first of all it's not okay to share here are some examples so ramen

  • shops with limited counter space is it generally not okay to share the reason

  • why it's not okay is one they have limited space and two they usually have

  • a high turnover rate for customers and they want to get customers in and out

  • and that one seat is really important for them to be able to make money on so

  • if you take up one of those seats and you don't buy a ramen bowl that's one

  • seat wasted for them but this just doesn't only apply to ramen shops

  • generally if a restaurant has a set meal places that also have limited spaces or

  • whatever when there's actually a long line and people are trying to get get in

  • especially during lunchtime and you're probably gonna not want to share oh and

  • even nicer sushi restaurants expect you to order your own meal on the

  • other hand where it's okay to share your food is place is like fast food

  • restaurants family restaurants and cafes so coming from the u.s. it is generally

  • expected when you go to a restaurant with friends that you go there and you

  • order your own meal at the end of the meal you just pay for what you ordered

  • but in Japan it's quite the opposite when you go to a drinking restaurant

  • also known as an Izakaya, they expect you to share your food and at the

  • end everyone just splits the bill or person of the

  • most money sometimes pay if you're lucky now if you have children it gets a

  • little bit more tricky it's okay to eat in the places that I mentioned above but

  • again you have to really consider what the restaurant thinks my friends with

  • kids what they do is they actually call in advance to the restaurant to see if

  • it's okay to share maybe that's gonna be a little bit harder if you don't speak

  • Japanese but that's what Japanese people do so if you don't speak Japanese then

  • you're just gonna have to go into the shop and ask when you arrive basically

  • it's rude to go to a restaurant order food and not finish most of it not

  • finishing sides you get a pass but it's considered extremely rude to not finish

  • the main course there is some gray area here so for example if you eat a ramen

  • bowl take down a lot of it and you're super cool but there's still quite a bit

  • left might be considered rude because it's still the appearance of not eating

  • that much food on your plate but if you're concerned with not being able to

  • finish your meal you can ask them to reduce the portion size whether it be

  • reducing the noodles or the rice and they're happy to do it

  • it's completely fine oh and one nice thing though is if you can't finish all

  • your food this is one time it's okay to share the food just as long as the person

  • you're with also ordered their own meal what do you guys think Japan is too

  • strict all right so let's talk about a Western pastime customizing your meal at

  • a restaurant customizing a meal in Japan is not very common like requesting

  • no meat in your dish or to take out all of the onions in general Japanese people

  • tend to not request changes to their meal because they think they'll offend

  • the chef but if you have an allergy you should definitely tell them don't

  • say allergy they won't understand say ah-re-ru-gi and then what you're allergic to

  • The reality of it it's difficult to do it in Japanese as well so my

  • Japanese friend who doesn't eat any meat she always has trouble at restaurants

  • for example she asks a server whether or not the dish has any meat in it if it

  • does she tries to ask if they're willing to take it out the first problem is the

  • server doesn't really know what's in the menu when it comes to a lot of the

  • ingredients so they'll have to ask the person who's making the food people that

  • are making the food are often just regular workers so they're not able to

  • change the menu up is so easily they just follow one recipe for that

  • particular dish as you can see just going back and forth

  • between the server the cook and yourself and just trying to figure out what's in

  • the meal what they can actually change is a lot of work just in Japanese so if

  • you're gonna try to do this in English then you're gonna be fighting an uphill

  • battle and even though they agree to give my friend what she wants or what

  • she ordered when the dish comes it's actually not what she wanted and there's

  • meat inside so all in all you can try to customize your meal but more than likely

  • you're gonna have issues just like my Japanese friend one caveat if you go to

  • the really nice restaurants like for example a nice sushi restaurant and when

  • you place your order with a server they will ask you whether or not you have any

  • allergies or if there's anything you can't eat so maybe another option is just

  • paying a little bit more and going to a restaurant that will accommodate your

  • allergies or your diet all right now here's some tips for my vegan fans just

  • so you guys know many Japanese dishes use broth that include meat or fish even

  • some veggie dishes use broth that has a meat or fish there are restaurants

  • though that do advertise a vegan menu and those are the ones you should

  • definitely look for otherwise if it's not advertised then more likely they're

  • gonna have broth with meat or fish although kind of a funny thing I've gone

  • to restaurants with my vegan friend and he's told him that he's vegan and it

  • actually asked him if fish was okay the thing is Japanese just don't have a lot

  • of education when it comes to vegetarians many are unfamiliar or

  • simply don't understand Western diets my best suggestion for you is to do your

  • research before going to any restaurants the information is out there what do you

  • say before a meal in all of the streets videos people are always asking what is

  • Maiko saying Itadakimasu

  • Itdakimasu

  • she's saying it-ta-da-ki-masu which literally translates into receiving so

  • basically Japanese people say this when they're receiving the food for the first

  • time before they eat the thing is Japanese people are not saying it for

  • any spiritual reason or they're really thankful that they're receiving the food

  • they just say it because that's what they've always done that's what they

  • were taught when they were kids and it's just the thing to do so if you want to

  • be more like a local in Japan then say itadakimasu before you eat all

  • right let's talk about the unwritten drinking rule in Japan so when you go to

  • a restaurant especially at dinner they actually expect you to order a drink

  • whether it be alcohol soda or even tea so when you go to a restaurant and you

  • order water it might be a little bit surprised although it's not the worst

  • thing in the world it's just kind of weird

  • in fact when I go to restaurants sometimes I just order a water when I

  • don't feel like drinking the kids just got ice cream actually

  • this might be a good thing they're gonna be quiet for a second so we can

  • finish this alright let's continue and now when you guys go to restaurants and

  • you see small water cups and the fact that they don't serve you water very

  • often during your meal you might know the reason why so at the end of the day

  • if you want to be more local then do the local thing in order a drink alright now

  • let's talk about slurping this one is probably something you already know

  • but it's worth covering anyway slurping noodles or soba in Japan is completely

  • okay in other cultures that may seem rude but it's not a problem here in

  • Japan but unlike what a lot of people believe it doesn't mean that you're

  • showing the chef that you really like their food it's just what Japanese do

  • like Westerners using a steak knife to cut a steak let me know in the comments

  • section if that's what you were told because I'd really like to know now

  • let's talk about takeout boxes aside from fast food spots takeout boxes are

  • not very common in Japan at the end of your meal don't expect to be able to get

  • a doggie bag to take home your leftovers in Japan portions are served relatively

  • small so there's really never a case where you're gonna order way too much

  • food unless you just really go overboard but Japanese people usually don't do

  • that that's maybe why Japanese have created the word toriaiezu

  • toriaezu means good for now when ordering in a restaurant so when the server asks

  • you if you'd like to order anything else you can always say I'm good for now by

  • saying toriaezu. all right so let's talk about this one what you do at the

  • end of your meal at fast-food restaurants including ramen shops you're

  • expected to put away your plates and throw away trash when you're done for

  • trash sometimes you'll see a very involved process to throw away your

  • items liquids go here plastic goes here paper goes here please go here plates go

  • here mugs go here cups go here and spoons and

  • forks go here you can't just throw everything away and one bin and for

  • ramen shops it's always good practice to return your bowl at the top counter when

  • you're finished if the shop has a return area then it's always nice to return

  • your plate and your trays there all right now let's talk about money paying

  • at the register many restaurants ask you to pay at the register instead of paying

  • at your table when you finish your meal don't worry there's no tips to worry

  • about in this one well one thing you should know is that there's usually a

  • tray that's right next to the register where you're supposed to put your money

  • or your credit card some Japanese and don't like to transfer money by hand

  • because they don't like being touched so they prefer you using the tray instead

  • it's not necessarily rude to do so but some people just prefer it I personally

  • handed over cash to cashiers and they've had no problem with it while at other

  • times I've had cashiers directly point to the tray and asked me to put the

  • money on the tray at the end of the day it really depends on the person but if

  • you want to play it safe then always put your money or your credit card on the

  • tray plus in Japan the smallest bills are a thousand yen so you're dealing

  • with a lot of coins so it does help to put the coins on the tray to help keep

  • you from fumbling around with a change when you're handing it over to the

  • cashier all right so that concludes my top ten but something to keep in mind

  • these are generalizations there's always going to be exceptions to the rule not

  • all restaurants and not all Japanese people are like this

  • so you just got to use this kind of as a guide and play it by ear when you're in

  • Japan so after hearing my top ten what do you guys think is it weird is it

  • something that you guys do in your country or is it completely the opposite

  • but if this video did help you out let me know by hitting that like button if

  • you want to see more of my adventures in Tokyo or Japan hit that subscribe button

  • and that Bell button and I'll catch you guys in the next one

in this video I'm gonna share with you guys my top 10 things to know when

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