Japan's unspoken rules, one situation at a time
Every guide below is what to do, what to avoid, and the phrase locals love — readable in about a minute, right before you walk in. Free, and every arrival-day claim links the official source it came from with the date we last checked it.
Your first 72 hours
📦Send your suitcase to the hotelJapan's stations were not built for suitcases. Escalators are narrow, lifts are hidden, and rush hour is unforgiving. The locals' answer is to not carry…
🔐Every coin locker is full. Now what?You land, or you check out, and you have six hours before you can drop your bags. At the big stations the large lockers are gone by mid-morning —…
⏱️Your first 30 minutes at the airportEverything is easiest inside the airport: English signage, staffed counters, short queues. Every one of these three gets harder the moment you board a…
🏧Get cash from a machine that will actually take your cardJapan is far more card-friendly than its reputation, but small restaurants, shrines, markets, older ryokan and every coin locker still want cash. The…
🏪Pay at the register without freezingYou will stand at a convenience store counter within an hour of arriving. The whole interaction is four seconds long and follows the same script every…
📸Kyoto: where you must not take the photoGion is the shot everybody wants. It's also somebody's street, in front of somebody's front door, and the residents' association ran out of patience…
🍽 Food & Drink
🍜Ramen shop etiquette in Japan: tickets, slurping, seatingBuy at the machine first, slurp freely, and do not linger once the bowl is empty.
🍣Sushi restaurant etiquette in Japan: soy sauce, ginger, handsDip the fish not the rice, what the ginger is actually for, and when fingers beat chopsticks.
🏮Izakaya etiquette: how to order and drink like a regularThe wet towel, the compulsory small dish, and why you never pour your own drink.
🏪How to pay at a Japanese konbini without freezingThe money tray, the two questions you will be asked, and exactly how to answer them.
🚃 Getting Around
🚃Japanese train etiquette: what not to do on boardNo phone calls, no eating, and how to survive rush hour without annoying anyone.
🚕Taxis in Japan: the door opens by itselfDo not touch the door, do not tip, and how to show the driver where you are going.
♨ Bath & Onsen
♨Onsen etiquette: the rules for a Japanese hot springWash before you get in, keep the towel out of the water, and the phrase to say on your way out.
🛁Sento etiquette: using a Japanese public bathThe neighbourhood bath, the small towel, and the rules that differ from an onsen.
🚽Japanese toilets explained: slippers, buttons and the flushWhich button flushes, why there are separate toilet slippers, and the mistake almost every visitor makes.
🙏 Etiquette & Places
⛩️Shrine etiquette in Japan: how to visit properlyWhere to walk, how to wash your hands, and the bow-bow-clap-clap-bow that everyone gets wrong.
🙇Bowing in Japan: what visitors should actually doHow deep, when, and why a small nod beats an over-enthusiastic bow.
🏯Ryokan etiquette: slippers, yukata, tatami and dinnerWhere shoes come off, how to wear a yukata correctly, and the timing of dinner.
💴Paying in Japan: cash, IC cards and the money trayWhy cash still matters, where cards work, and never handing money over by hand.
🚬Smoking rules in Japan: where you can and cannotStreet smoking bans, designated areas, and the fines that surprise visitors.
🌸 Seasonal & Fun
🌸Hanami etiquette: cherry blossom picnic rulesWhere to put your tarp, what you must not do to the branches, and taking your rubbish home.
🎆Japanese fireworks festival etiquette (hanabi)Arriving early, holding your spot, and the unwritten rules of a summer hanabi.
🎤Karaoke in Japan: how it actually worksPrivate rooms, ordering by phone, the time system, and nobody is judging you.