1. Home
  2. Food & Drink
  3. Japanese Food

How To Eat Japanesefood

By Setsuko Yoshizuka, About.com

How to Eat Japanese Food

How to Eat Japanese Food

Photo (c) Setsuko Yoshizuka
You might wonder how to eat Japanese food. Don't be nervous. Let's learn basic table manners in Japanese cuisine.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 5

Here's How:

  1. When you are eating with Japanese people, it's important to say "itadaki-masu" before a meal and to say "gochisou-sama" after a meal. These phrases indicate the beginning and the ending of a meal and express appreciations for the meal as well.
  2. To eat a bowl of rice or soup, lift the bowl with one hand. It's proper to sip Japanese soup out of the bowl directly. Eat the ingredients with chopsticks, holding the bowl with one hand.
  3. To eat side dishes, you don't need to lift plates or bowls. Cut large pieces of food into small pieces with your chopsticks and move to your mouth.
  4. To eat from large serving plates/bowls, you may use the clean top ends of your chopsticks to pick food to your own bowl or plate, if serving chopsticks are not available.
  5. To eat sashimi (raw fish slices), mix wasabi (Japanese horseradish) into soy sauce in a small plate and dip sashimi pieces in the sauce. If you like wasabi, put wasabi directly on a sashimi slice and dip it in soy sauce to eat.
  6. To eat tempura, dip it in tempura dipping sauce.
  7. To eat sushi, clean your hands at first. Pick up nigiri-zushi (hand-pressed sushi) between your thumb and the index finger and the middle finger. Dip the end of the topping (not sushi rice side) in soysauce and bring the sushi to your mouth. It's good to eat the whole piece all at once if you can.

Tips:

  1. It is OK to make some slurping noises while eating noodles in Japan.
  2. Try not to eat soup all at once. It's polite to eat rice, soup, and other dishes alternatively.
  3. Don't dip a whole sushi piece in soy sauce. The rice part tends to fall apart.

What You Need:

  • Rice Bowls
  • Soup Bowls
  • Chopsticks
More Japanese Food How To's

Explore Japanese Food

About.com Special Features

Conquering High Cholesterol

Learn how you can reduce your your numbers with these nutrition and exercise tips. More >

Mornings Made Easy

Reclaim the morning and your sanity with these easy recipes, tips, and timesaving ideas. More >

  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink
  3. Japanese Food
  4. Table Manners &Tableware
  5. Japanese Table Manners
  6. How to eat Japanese food - Japanese table manners

©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.