Episode 22: Japanese Food Etiquette

In which we try not to get kicked out of Japan, refer to dates as
"yesterday" when in fact they happened nearly two months ago, and
take shoyu shots (try saying that five times fast). It's been
(ahem) 6 weeks since our last episode went up. Yeah... it was
supposed to go up a week after our last one, but it turns out
Rachael has a full-time family, Allison had a big deadline she had
to meet, and oh right - we went to Japan! So yes, while we had all
the best intentions of having episodes recorded, edited, and posted
for the entire time we were gone... that definitely didn't happen.
Instead you get them now! So when we refer to things such as the
Diablo III launch happening yesterday or our Japan trip as
"upcoming" rather than "already happened and we miss it already"...
you'll know why. Most etiquette you'll run into in Japan is fairly
common most everywhere. For example, wait until everybody is served
to start eating. Don't talk with your mouth full. (But it is okay
to slurp your ramen noodles! Who knew?) If you aren't given a
spoon, it's totally okay to pick up your bowl and drink your soup
from it as if it's a cup. At the beginning of a meal (and at the
beginning of our podcast!) you say "itadakimasu!" (いただきます) It
means, "I humbly receive," and is a way of paying your respect and
giving gratitude to everything that went into the meal you're about
to eat - from the person who prepared your food to the living
organisms that gave their lives so you can eat. When you finish the
meal, you say "Gochisōsama-deshita" (ごちそうさまでした) - literally, "You
were a Feast (preparer)." You're honoring the person who prepared
the meal for you. Presentation, as many of you know, is hugely
important in Japanese culture. Because of this, they often arrange
the dishes they give you (if you're getting your own individual
dishes, as opposed to eating family-style) in a very specific way.
So while you're eating, you should try to avoid moving the dishes
around and destroying the visual arrangement that was originally
there. Also, you should spread out your eating among all the little
dishes you are given, instead of eating one dish all at once. Take
a bite of rice, then a little of this, then another bite of rice,
then a little of that. (Rice is seen as a palate cleanser.) When
you're eating a meal where you'll get a lot of these little dishes,
you should wait until everyone is served ALL of their dishes before
eating. (Except for kaiseki, Japanese food usually isn't eaten in
courses.) Often, when eating anywhere in Japan, you'll be given an
oshibori - either a hot, damp hand towel, or a wet towelette in a
plastic wrapper. This is your napkin - most restaurants won't give
you napkins (although we have seen little waxy napkins that are
completely not helpful, or tissues). You're not supposed to eat
while you're walking. (Some people don't even think you should eat
while in public, but that rule is broken quite often.) Don't pour
shoyu on rice. (Er... yeah. We've both been breaking this rule our
entire lives.) No getting blatantly drunk in restaurants. But if
you are drinking, make sure to pour for others, but not for
yourself. So if you're out drinking, you're supposed to keep an eye
on your friends' glasses and top them off when appropriate, and
they should do the same for you. (We're not sure if this is the
case for non-alcoholic drinks, but we're guessing it's okay to pour
water for yourself.) No belches. Please. We've all heard there are
some Asian cultures where loud burps are considered a sign of
appreciation of the meal, however Japan is not one of them. So
there you go. Now you know how to NOT get kicked out of Japan for
etiquette transgressions!