12 Unspoken Rules NOT to Break in Japan

12 Things to Avoid Doing in Japan that are often overlooked and typically unspoken.

Edited by: David Parish & Marcus Canning

00:00 1. Eating
03:25 2. Being Critical
05:38 3. Disciple
08:50 4. Money
11:34 5. Taxis
14:31 6. Rice
16:06 7. Gifts
18:05 8. Phone calls
19:46 9. Clothes
22:03 10. Escalators
23:26 11. Hands
24:10 12. Personal Items

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**EQUIPMENT I USE**

[AbroadinJapan]

NOTIFICATION SQUAD: A lot of effort went into this - special thanks to Natsuki for taking part in the 11 sketches!
What did we miss though? What unspoken, unwritten rules did we forget? Let us know below!

[abxorb]

Natsuki's acting skills are great in this! 😃

[CaptainKremmen]

Escalators shocked me in Japan, for several reasons:
1) Many of them are incredibly slow.
2) Some have signs saying to only stand on them, not walk, despite them being excruciatingly slow.
3) Despite usually being sticklers for rules, many Japanese people ignore the prohibition against walking on esclators.

[ASeventhSign]

"Early is on-time, on-time is late, and late is unacceptable."
This piece of advice has served me well.

[Beautiful-ModelBarbara-Hut-sj]

For the Taxi door thing, as I understand, it started in the 70s as a kind of novelty in one particular city, maybe Osaka. It was such a hit that it expanded to the rest of the country and became ingrained in Japanese modern culture.

[ombeod]

As someone who wants to visit Japan these kinda videos help alot. I don't wanna be seen as a disrespectful tourist so these kinda ettiquete videos help alot!

[lapidator]

The rice sketch is the best one in this video. Natsuki's reaction is just brilliant. I totally understand that Chris showed it multiple times and kind of broke character while filming.
Edit: timestamp 15:40

[andremoura]

About eating while walking, a little story of my first trip to Japan might shed some light. When walking in Kyoto to meet a colleague, at some point I felt a large thump on my head, as if someone had hit me with a large object. My instinct was, maybe some kids were playing football, and I got hit by a stray ball. But as I looked right, I saw a large raptor (bird of prey) flying off, which then proceed to loop around, stabilize at the height of my head and then proceed to have another go at me. I started running, which luckily discouraged the beast from its attack, but he kept stalking me across the streets of Kyoto. Strangely, no-one seemed phased by this. Eventually, the bird gave up, but when I met my colleague I told him this story. "Oh, that was a black kite. Were you eating something?" Confused I said "Yes, I was eating an apple. How do you know". "Black kites are very common in Japan, but they are unusual among raptors, because they are scavengers. They are also very bold, so they are not shy of trying to take food from your hands. Thats what hapoened to you, a black kite tried to steal your apple. That's why in Japan, we don't eat while walking in the street." 😮 Of course, in places like central Tokyo, there are no black kites, but get out to more rural areas (like Kamakura), and there are plenty. In fact, several temples in Kamakura have written warnings in English advising to look out for them if you are eating outside.

[incyphe]

One time at Osaka station on my way to Wakayama, I was eating McD on an empty train awaiting departure. One girl walked in, saw me munch, became disgusted and walked right out. lol.😂

[Dejanao]

Envelopes:

red: marriage
yellow: dead
black: dead
gold: marriage

Got it!

[martineo]

This is so fun, most of those rules I grew up with. And that was in kinda rural Netherlands.
Especially as a young person you would nevere point at anyone older, glasses are rude, you would never be loud in public. Phones were not yet in exhistance (the mobile ones ) but had they been you would never have dared to pick it up in public. A lot of those rules were unspoken but once learned it made life relaxed and easy. You knew where you stood. I liked it to be honest...

[kkiimm]

Funny how Japan has some of the more brutal online reviews of restaurants. The polar opposite of how it is face-to-face.

[jamesprumos]

I love how Chris still uses pictures of Boris Johnson whenever he's describing British people even though he's been out of office for two years now.

[KulinaryAdventures]

For #2, I have a personal theory that this is the reason why online reviews for restaurants in Japan are usually rated much lower compared to other parts of the world. People can never complain in public but when it's somewhat anonymous then people can be scathing! You can hardly find a place in Japan with higher than a Google 4.5 star and many places with a 3.something are absolutely amazing (well your Lost Bar seems to be the exception, well done mate!)

[overthecounterbeanie]

Video summary:
1. Do not eat or drink while walking
2. Do not complain about the food in restaurants
3. Do not be late
4. Do not use the wrong envelope when giving money
5. Do not open / close doors of taxis (they will open for you)
6. Do not add soy sauce or other flavorings to plain rice (add it to the side instead)
7. Do not forget to buy souvenirs for all your family, friends and colleagues when you travel
8. Do not answer your phone inside restaurants / bars / cafes / train compartments
9. Do not wear sunglasses if you don't want to appear rude (also no shorts if you are an adult)
10. Stand to the right /left (depending on the city) of the escalator and leave space for people to walk past you
11. Do not point with your fingers
12. Do not assume unattended items are lost or forgotten (they are used as placeholders to indicate "occupied")

[mwalker]

The shorts rule is not absolute - foreigners generally get a pass on it, and you do see the occasional Japanese person wearing shorts. However, usually only if they are exercising or otherwise would be perceived as a bit 'lower class'. The reality is that as a foreigner you get judged regardless, so being also seen as a bit lower class, isn't really a big deal and isn't really 'rude' or majorly taboo.

[cbrown]

I loved the taxi doors in Japan. I wasn't expecting it so it was a nice surprise, plus added to the drivers wearing a chauffeurs hat and white gloves it made the journeys feel a bit fancy.

[Jobunseph]

I can't get over how each of Natsuki's face of indignation are legendary. 20:01 my favorite

[xdmtea]

In London, the the right-hand side of the escalator is for people who want to stand still, the left-hand side is for people walking up or down. You will get told to move quite quickly by people trying to get past if you're in the way.

[christiangeimke]

When I was in Japan as a german I found it very pleasant that so many people actually followed the rules. Since we are pretty stereotypically german me and my partner actually strategically planned our journey and also learned a lot of the rules in advance. I loved how tidy and orderly everything was and I especially loved it that people were quiet on the subway and actually knew how to properly use an escalator. Because as a german its in my genes to feel anger towards people who block an escalator by standing on the wrong side. One side is always reserved for people who are in a hurry. And unlike Japan here in Germany we are very direct so theres a good chance you will be roasted for not obeying the rules. Especially by senior citizens.