5 Things You DON'T Want to Do When Eating SUSHI in Japan

“Thank you for waiting everyone… Finally, a topic about food that you were waiting for!”

I’m very sure that for many people, one of the things that you are drooling to eat in Japan, is sushi, right? Yes, sushi is one of Japan’s traditional cuisines with centuries of history, and they are of course one of the most delicious things you can eat in Japan.

However, because it has such a long history and can be regarded as a very luxurious meal, there are actually quite a lot of taboos and rules regarding eating sushi.

So today, as a Japanese man who could eat sushi every day, I will explain the 5 taboos related to eating sushi. The taboos will get more and more critical towards the end, so I hope you can check them all out!

By the way, my favorite sushi is sea bream(snapper) and salmon! If you have any favorites, please let me know in the comments below!

This video will be perfect for those who are willing to come to Japan someday, to learn more about the culture and enjoy eating sushi. As I always say in these “manner” videos, many Japanese people too don't know about these rules or make mistakes, and the purpose is just to reassure my viewers who are a little nervous about possibly being rude at restaurants. So please just keep the things I introduce today somewhere in your mind, and when you actually come, please just fully enjoy the meal as you like.

[Time codes]
0:00 Let's START!
1:59 1. Not Eating it immediately
3:02 2. Putting soy sauce on the rice
4:07 3. Putting "gunkan" in the soy sauce
5:30 4. Separating the fish and rice
6:20 5. Not eating it in one bite/Breaking the sushi
7:15 Today's conclusion

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#sushi #howtoeatsushi #japanesesushi #eatingsushi #sushiinjapan

[MomMomCubs]

When my daughter was a year and a half old, multiple sushi restaurants in my city have given her free sushi because they took such pleasure watching a child of clearly non-Japanese extraction enjoy her sushi so much, whilst unconsciously following the rules of conduct, except for chopstick use.

I freaking LOVE your channel!

[theodorehsu]

I like eel sushi myself. I will try to keep these in mind when I’m in a Japanese restaurant and I have a craving for sushi.

[ohauss]

That's easy to say "Not eating it immediately" and "breaking the Sushi". I had a Japanese colleague at a research institute in Germany. When he left, he ordered a huge plate of Sushi for all of us, but insisted that we eat it with chopsticks. That must have been one of the worst Sushi massacres the city had ever seen. Maybe he found the horde of clumsy gaijin fumbling around amusing :P

[theginganinjaofficial]

When I was in Tokyo at 14yo, I was given free sushi quite a bit. It was my first time eating sushi, and they absolutely loved sharing their culture with an obvious newbie/outsider.

Side note, it was the best sushi I had to date. Can't find anything like it here in the States. I got spoiled and didn't even know it

[KoopstaDhaggo]

Ive heard of 1 and 2 by a chef from Japan. But he finished his how-to/rule tutorial by saying the most important rule is to eat it how you like it. I wonder if other chefs may feel the same way.

[slimee]

The ginger trick with the soy sauce is pretty neat, will definitively use it from now on when eating gunkan
(Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOGO!!)

[Macrochenia]

Number 5 was the only taboo I was aware of and also the only one that I've broken. In my defense, the only time I did so was at a restaurant that served sushi rolls that were enormous: you'd need a mouth like a pelican to eat one whole.

[Darren_Xero]

Never thought those pickled ginger slices actually have its use to "brush" soy sauce on "gunkan" sushi. I'll keep that in mind for the next time I eat sushi
So yeah, #2 & #3 are expected to be the most common mistakes for foreigners eating sushi
Happy belated birthday, Shogo-san!

[Saintbow]

When I was much younger (20 something years ago) I was training to be a chef and during my apprenticeship, we had a chef from Japan come in and teach us for a few weeks. It was such a great time to learn from such a disciplined chef. His teaching didn't start when the food was on the board, it started when he stepped into the building. The knife work he taught, and how to read what your stock is telling you, was just mind blowing. We did some sushi, but sadly he was only there for 3 weeks and you really can't grasp the fullest extent of what he was feeling of the history he made for us. It's something only years of apprenticeship could do. Still an epic time though.

[kinoko]

I really appreciate you providing and encouraging the use of subtitles! I have an auditory processing disorder so speech can be hard for me to understand clearly sometimes. I’m glad you put in the extra effort to make your videos more accessible! :)

[petitknightcreations]

Aside from rule #1, I've definitely committed every other taboo. Especially breaking apart the sushies that are commonly too big here in Montreal. I've often mixed wasabi with my soy sauce to give it a kick and then dipped every sushi I had (nigiri and gunkan alike) haha. But I will try to incorporate this newfound knowledge! Thanks for the video!!

[JosephKerr]

Happy birthday! I'm sure many people are wondering "How will I eat one of those gigantic specialty roll pieces in one bite?" As much as I love such rolls, they represent Americanized cuisine that isn't made with this one-bite tradition in mind. I can't say that you would never find such complex rolls in Japan, but I'm sure the chef will take bite-size into consideration when making the rolls. Nigiri is more common because wonderfully fresh fish is the real star and having too many ingredients distracts from the intentionally proportioned fish and rice.

[Safferpsyche]

I LOVE sashimi! But I find some people here in South Africa make the sushi too large, it's really difficult to eat it in one bite without looking like a hamster🤣
I find something in sushi lifts my mood enormously when I get depressed. Dunno if it's the Wasabi, soy sauce or ginger. I think it's an ingredient in the powder wasabi

[jamison]

Regarding #4 - I was once in a running sushi restaurant here in Germany, and I dipped the rice of the nigiri into the soy sauce, so the chef actually advised me to separate the fish from the rice to apply the soy sauce instead. Didn't know that was a taboo as well ^^

[eric]

Very educational! Thank you.
White tuna is my favorite sashimi.

[youdontneedtoknow]

"Willing to come to Japan someday"
Yes

Able?
No

[LeonMc]

I'm glad that I already DO NOT practice most of these taboos, but I'm so glad I learned new things! Using the ginger as a soy sauce brush, and rotating the sushi on the side...genius! I'll be much better at eating sushi from now on

[thaiphanvevo]

In Australia, we have these little fish-shaped soy sauce containers that you can use to drip a bit of soy sauce onto the sushi.

[midevilgirl]

I love sushi and learned something new today. I never considered using the ginger as like a brush. I don't like overloading my sushi with soy sauce so I just never use it. This opens up new flavor savering for me.

[Darkstormsun]

I feel like this matters the most in traditional sushi restaurants where the chef serves it to you directly right after finishing it.