Japan Food & Travel Tips: No Tipping, No Trash Cans, No Leftovers?!

Japan Food & Travel Tips: No Tipping, No Trash Cans, No Leftovers?!

If you’re planning your first trip to Japan, there’s a few things you’re going to want to know before you go. So, today I’ve compiled a list of 15 things that you should know before you come visit Japan. And some of these are going to be kind of basic, like starter information that you’ll want to know. And since we are a food channel, we’re going to be touching on quite a lot of food related things. But before we jump into it, please don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already so we can bring you more tips and tricks like this one or even more fun adventures in Japan because I know you love those. And don’t forget to hit that notification bell as well so you know exactly when a new video drops. Anyway, without further ado, let’s get into number one. Tip number one, be prepared to walk a lot in Tokyo. This is a walking city. So, people in Tokyo get a lot of steps in. And I think that that’s one key reason why people stay relatively slim here because every day you’re walking to the train station, getting on the train, upstairs, going downstairs. You get your steps in. So, be prepared to get some exercise. Wear comfortable shoes. There’s not always escalators and elevators available. They will have them somewhere. You can ask for assistance. And if you need special mobility, one other additional tip is you can actually adjust your Google Maps to the wheelchair setting and then it’ll actually show you where to get off on the train platform where the elevators are. That can be a game changer. It’s also good if you have a stroller. And if you do need a break, just pop into a cafe somewhere. I think that’s probably the shest way to have a seat, rest your sore feet, and then continue on your adventuring. Number two, use lockers. There are tons of lockers in Tokyo at the train stations. Not even just at the train stations. Sometimes you’ll find them at event venues. There’s a lot of places that offer lockers because honestly, Tokyo is just one of those places where people commute into the city from everywhere just to go to work. Even for me, too, I’m always carrying an extra bag of things that I might need throughout the day because I won’t be able to go back home easily. So, if you don’t want to be carrying your stuff all day, you just stash it in a locker at a train station. Lifesaver, especially if you have suitcases, just pop it into a train station locker. You can use a like digital train commuter pass called Suika or Pasmo to easily pay for it. Tip number three, you would definitely benefit from using a, as I just mentioned, one of those Sika or Pasmo passes, which are little commuter cards that you can get at the train station kiosk machines. You basically deposit, I think it was 500 yen, to get them to print you a new card. Those are convenient enough as it is cuz then you don’t need to buy a ticket for every station that you’re going to go to. You just tap the card with your pre-charged money. But even easier nowadays is there’s actually a digital version. So nowadays, they’re compatible with Apple Pay, which is great if you have an iPhone. So that’s also very convenient. And I’ve heard that they’re coming out with a new app that is meant for foreign travelers that has this digital train commuter pass card and like tips. Actually, this just in. I previously thought you could only have a physical card and then scan it to make it digitalized on your phone, but now you actually don’t need to do that. You can go into your Apple wallet and then you can actually add card and it shows up on the list of possible cards like in the transit section. You can just digitally add a Suika, a Pasmo or an EcoA without having previously owned a card. Also, you can use this to buy things at the vending machine. So, you don’t even need coins for that anymore. Just scan your sua and touch it on the vending machines and you can buy a drink or like a can of And tip number four, one really, really huge thing that I would say is a big point of contention for travelers in Japan is the fact that there are no trash cans. Well, there are trash cans, but they’re not everywhere. Like, they’re a bit hard to find. So because of that, my tip is to always bring a plastic bag around with you to carry trash specifically. Sometimes you have like food trash and you don’t want to get your tote bags dirty, then in that case, you’re going to want like a little baggie. This is literally a convenience store bag um that you can have folded up and then you can carry it around to just hold trash. Carry a little plastic bag with you. So, let me tell you a couple places where you can find trash cans. Um, one would actually be the convenience stores. Convenience stores are pretty reliable in having trash can. The other thing I would recommend is if you buy food at a food stand or just some kind of semioutdoor food shop, then that trash you can give it back to the shop and they will throw it out. That’s universally accepted in Japan. So, you don’t always have to carry your trash around with you. Lastly, some train stations still do have trash cans on their train platforms. Most stations used to have them, but the reason why they got rid of them was because there was a unfortunately a terrorist attack in the Tokyo subways in the ‘9s. And in order to kind of cut down on that kind of risk, they removed trash cans. So anyway, that’s a little info for you and tip to bring trash bags. Tip number five, in Tokyo, trains in Japan are excellent and they’re very timely. The trains and the buses. In other variety of different countries, it’s kind of expected that the buses will be a little bit late or not fully on time. Buses in Japan can be really on the dot. So, if you want to be on time for things, it’s pretty reliable to take the trains and take the buses, and they’re all very affordable. So, you can go all across the city for just a couple hundred yen. Trains can be a little bit higher than the buses in terms of cost, but very convenient and they’ll take you easily all across the city. I guess one other tip I would add is maybe avoid taking the train during the morning rush hour. So, if you can travel like midday, that’s the sweet spot. That’s my tip for you. Next tip number six. This one might be basic information, but it also might be something you you’d be surprised about. The tip is always carry your passport with you when you’re outside in Japan. You might wonder why. Like you, some of you might want to keep your passport in like the little locked security box, but actually you’re legally required to carry your passport with you in Japan. From what I’ve checked online, it’s meant to be also to assist you. Like if you’re having an emergency, they’ll be able to identify you, but also for security purposes. If a police officer ever asks you to show your ID or your passport, you do have to show it. And if you fail to do so, you will get fined. So, if you don’t want to be fined and you want to have a fine time in Japan, carry your passport. Now, let’s go on to some food tips in Japan. Our next tip is to watch some of our previous videos. actually, not only to just find good places to eat in Japan, but also our like tips on etiquette at restaurants and at izakayas. We have a couple of videos that we’ve done, so that’ll be on the screen somewhere. So, click and watch that. But one thing I’ll point out here is the otoshi, the table charge/appetizer that you will get at izakaya, you didn’t order, it’s usually meant to make up for a small table charge, so don’t be surprised or upset about that. This is like not a foreigner charge. It’s literally everybody pays for this. So yeah, just depreciate it. Maybe think of it as an alternative to tipping because in Japan there is no tipping. So that’s the other tip here. There is no tipping in Japan. So don’t leave any tips. It’s not required. My next tip number eight, this tip is something that you should do in Japan, and that is to slurp your noodles. I would also like to clear up another misconception that a lot of people have been spreading on the internet that slurping noodles is a sign of respect to the chef. It is not like that’s actually complete lie. Like I don’t know how this this information spread. The reason why they say that they do it is because if it’s a hot noodle, slurping it actually helps you to breathe in more air while you’re slurping the noodle, which cools down the hot soup and the hot noodles. So, you can eat hot soup and noodles while it’s hot, but quite quickly. So, it’s very efficient and it has a function of cooling down the noodles. And some people will go as far as to say that airrating the noodles by slurping it up like quickly with a lot of air enhances the flavor. This may be going a little far, but some people will swear by it. Like I’ve talked to Japanese people who who say that that’s why when in Japan because you can. Why not? Maybe you can’t do it in your own country, but you can do it here. It’s like when in Rome, right? So feel free to slurp your noodles, but it’s not because it’s a sign of respect. Tip number nine. So this tip is to maybe practice using chopsticks a little bit prior to coming to Japan. So I thought maybe I would show you guys a couple of like tips to holding or using chopsticks. Some of you might be very good at this, but I think some people also do struggle with it. One thing to note is that when you hold your chopsticks like this, can you see? So when you hold your chopsticks, it’s said to be more beautiful to hold the chopsticks further back, like further up like this. It looks very aesthetically beautiful, too, I think. And to explain a little bit more, this is how I think my grandmother taught me to do it when I was younger. Basically, the top chopstick you kind of hold in your hand like this. You’ve got your pointer finger on the top. You sort of hold it like a pencil except that your middle finger will go underneath the chopstick. So, you’re basically holding it with your pointer finger on top and your middle finger on the bottom and it just sticks in there and then your thumb to support it. And then you put in the middle the bottom chopstick and that’ll be supported by your ring finger which is hanging out here. So you just put it in in between the ring finger and the middle finger. And then you remove your thumb and just hold it all together like so. So the thumb will be supporting both of these like that. And the middle finger is just kind of sitting in the middle. And now that the middle and the top finger are supporting the top chopstick, you can use those fingers to move it up and down. So that’s my one tip. You can practice holding chopsticks in this way, picking up things and then you will be complimented for your excellent chopstick skills when you come visit Japan. And now tip number 10. Tip number 10 is that omakas is actually not just sushi. Just to clarify, omakas means to leave it up to you. In this case, the chef. Uh it allows chefs to choose dishes to serve you that are seasonally best or like the best of today. But you are missing out if you don’t do um acas at other kinds of restaurants too. Nowadays, you can find um acas at all kinds of restaurants like yaki tori, uh grilled chicken. Some restaurants like fancier ones will provide an omacas experience of things that they specifically recommend. There’s also tempura omacas. It even gets more unique. So these days people are getting more creative. There’s even a pizza um acas. So it can be worth a try. Anyway, that’s a little fun fact. Try a variety of omacas is my tip for you. Tip number 11. Breakfast. Breakfast outside is not very common in Japan. You’ll find that a lot of restaurants and cafes are not open very early, but they do exist. There is something called um morningu or morning sat in some cafes in Japan. This is a culture that started in Nagoya Prefecture um specifically at a cafe chain called KDA’s coffee which comes from Nagoya, but you can find it all over the place now all over Tokyo. and they’re a wonderful chain cafe that many, many years ago offered basically a free breakfast to go with a cup of coffee. Nowadays, they offer something a little bit better than just a boiled egg. Um, and they’ll charge a little bit more for it, but it includes the cost of the coffee. But basically, just a little breakfast dish or sandwich to go with your coffee. And I think it’s a very affordable way to get a little breakfast in in the morning. So, look for cafes that offer morning sets. Beck’s Coffee is usually at train stations. They also offer a morning set. Keep an eye out for those cafe chains. Um, and check near your hotel in advance if they actually have those around you from that early cuz some of them do open later depending on where they are. And number 12, book restaurants and experiences in advance online. I mean, I guess you could call too if you are able to, but book them online in advance because there are a lot of really popular restaurants in Japan that you might want to go to, but since they’re so popular, it’s just going to be almost impossible to get a seat. The other thing is that some restaurants are reservation only. So, you might rock up to one and they’ll be like, “No, sorry.” Like, so if you do want to book something in advance, why not check out our platform byfood.com because everything is in English. Nowadays, we also offer it in Chinese as well. So, there’s two language options and you can book everything in those languages, which makes it super easy because if you were to book fully on a Japanese website, I think that would be very difficult. So, why not take advantage? I think it is a very good way to make your traveling and travel plans a lot easier. Check it out. Not only for restaurants, but also just other fun food experiences like cooking classes, fun tours like my tour. By the way, I have a a tour on byfood.com if you want to book that as well. Tip number 13. If you have dietary restrictions when you visit Japan, I mean in general, if you have dietary restrictions when you visit Japan, there’s a few things you can do. So, for example, one, if you are vegan or vegetarian, you might think it’s a little bit difficult to find vegan friendly, vegetarian friendly options, but they do exist. They’ve actually really increased the number over the years, so it’s not as difficult as it used to be. There are some convenience stores, specifically if you find one called Natural Lawson, they tend to have some items that are more vegan friendly, glutenfree. If you um are looking for halal friendly food, there are also restaurants that accommodate to halal dietary needs, we do have videos you can check out for both vegan restaurants in Japan uh that we visited though. We’ll link those on the screen and we do have a halal video. So, if you have food allergies, this can be tricky. But probably my tip would be I’ve known some people with allergies to like print out a piece of paper that says in Japanese what you’re allergic to and you can show that to, you know, the staff at the restaurants, the cafes, so they know what your allergy is, and they’ll check into what they serve to make sure it’s okay. Or if you book on byfood.com, by the way, any restaurant, there’s actually a place you can type in some comments you want to let the restaurant know. If you write those in, um, a lot of restaurants can accommodate. Some cannot, but a lot can, so it’s worth keeping a try. Tip number 14, eating outside or while walking is generally a no. I would like to clarify that it’s not explicitly rude. It’s just considered to be sort of bad manners. I think the best way to explain is you look a little bit sloppy. And I think there’s also a bit of concern that you might make a mess while you’re walking. Japan is very careful about keeping the city and streets clean. So that’s another reason why you’d probably want to just stay still and eat at somewhere you can actually clean up your mess. Eating in trains is not explicitly banned. like there’s no signs that say you cannot eat in the train, but it also is like a, you know, like an unspoken rule that you’re not going to do that because it kind of would bother other people like with the smell of the food or just messy. If you buy something to eat, eat it where you bought it and make sure that you take care of your trash. But I should clarify that although you can’t eat in a regular train, you can eat on the Shinkansen or the bullet train. That’s a whole eating culture in itself. You’re actually they actually have tray tables on the trains and you’re meant to be able to eat a lunchbox called oento. In other words, actually there’s specific lunchbox oentos that are meant for the shinkansen called the ekib and you buy them at the train stations. Those ones you’re totally welcome to buy and eat it on the the shinkansen bullet train. And last but not least, number 15. Don’t expect to take your food home from restaurants because there are no doggy bags in Japan. It’s just not part of the culture. On the other hand, I would say that the portion sizes in Japan are very reasonable. Some people who come from abroad might think that actually the portions are too small. But personally, after living in Japan for so many years now, I’ve just adjusted to it and I feel that this is actually what they give you is maybe the healthy amount of food that you should be eating, if that makes sense. I think the portion when I go back to Canada, I feel the portion sizes are a bit excessive. My tip is try not to over orderer. order as you go. See how your stomach is feeling and try to finish your meal as best as you can, but if you can’t finish at all, I mean, yeah, it’s not it’s nobody’s going to be mad about it. But just be aware that you cannot take your food home. Take out has become a little bit more common in Japan since the pandemic. So, if you use a food app, then you can order a wide variety of takeout options to your hotel, your Airbnb, um, wherever you’re staying, you could try a variety of takeout. I hope this was useful for you in planning your next trip to Japan. and let me know in the comments down below if there was anything here that I mentioned that you were surprised about or that you just had no idea about even though you visited here a bunch of times. I’m always very curious to know. So, I hope you enjoyed the video. Once again, don’t forget to give us a like. Don’t forget to subscribe and we’ll see you guys very soon in another video. Bye, guys. Bye. If you enjoyed this video, click the photos on the left for more and click the one on the right to learn more about buy food and book your own Japan adventures. Bye.

📍 First time in Japan? Or just want to travel smarter?
From how to ride the train to what NOT to do with your chopsticks, these essential Japan travel tips will save you time, money, and potential embarrassment. In this video, we’re sharing 15 key things to know before your trip to Japan — including etiquette, transportation hacks, food dos and don’ts, and how to book restaurants without getting turned away.

Whether you’re planning your dream Tokyo itinerary or heading off the beaten path, these tips will help you travel like a pro.

🧳 Topics covered:
– What to do with your trash in Japan
– How to use Suica or IC cards
– Food etiquette (yes, you should slurp!)
– Why you need to book restaurants in advance
– Hidden breakfast culture tips
– Understanding “omakase” beyond sushi
– Navigating dietary restrictions in Japan
…and more!

Watch our previous guides:

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