Japanese culture rewards visitors who watch first and copy: shoes off at the step, voices down on the train, wash before the bath, say thank you instead of tipping. Nobody expects you to bow perfectly or know the shrine ritual, and a polite “sumimasen” repairs most mistakes. This guide covers the customs you will actually meet, from Shinto and Buddhism in daily life to onsen tattoo rules, the 2024 Gion photography ban, how to get sumo tickets and the phrases that make everything easier.
The customs that matter most#
Remove shoes at any raised step (genkan) in homes, ryokan, temples and some restaurants. Slippers are provided; never wear them on tatami.
No phone calls on trains, phones on silent, conversations at a murmur. Eat at the stall or on the shinkansen, not while walking.
Service is included everywhere. Put money in the small tray at the till rather than handing it over, and say “gochisosama” after a meal.
Wash thoroughly at the stools before entering an onsen. No swimsuits, no towels in the water, tattoos covered or hidden where asked.
Line up at platform markings and shop tills. Stand on the left of escalators in Tokyo, the right in Osaka.
Public bins are rare. Carry a small bag and empty it at a convenience store or your hotel. Sort into burnable, plastic and cans where asked.
Shinto, Buddhism and how to visit a shrine or temple#
Most Japanese people are both Shinto and Buddhist without calling either a religion: babies are blessed at a shrine, funerals are Buddhist, and the New Year shrine visit (hatsumode) draws three million people to Meiji Shrine alone. Shrines (jinja) have a torii gate and house kami, the spirits of places and ancestors; temples (-ji or -dera) have an incense burner and a Buddha in the main hall. The two often share a site.
At a shrine, bow once at the torii and walk along the edge of the path, leaving the centre for the kami. At the water basin (temizuya), take the ladle in your right hand, pour over your left, swap and rinse your right, pour a little into your cupped left hand to rinse your mouth (spit beside the basin), then tip the ladle upright so water runs down the handle. At the hall, drop a coin in the box (a ¥5 coin is lucky because “go-en” also means good fortune), ring the bell if there is one, bow twice, clap twice, pray silently and bow once more. At a temple, skip the clapping: offer a coin, put your hands together, bow, and waft incense smoke towards yourself if there is a burner.
Small purchases are part of the visit: omamori cloth amulets for health, exams, travel or love (¥500-1,000, never opened), omikuji fortune slips (¥100-300; tie a bad one to the rack), ema wooden wish plaques (¥500-1,000) and goshuin, hand-brushed calligraphy stamps written into a goshuincho book (¥1,500-2,500) for ¥300-500 each. Photography is fine in the grounds but usually banned inside halls, and never photograph people praying. Fushimi Inari, Senso-ji, Ise Jingu, Izumo Taisha and Todai-ji are the busiest; arrive before 8am.
Bowing, shoes, chopsticks and no tipping#
Bowing is the all-purpose greeting, thanks and apology: a 15-degree nod for shop staff and casual hellos, 30 degrees for a proper thank-you or sorry, 45 degrees for a serious apology. Staff will bow to you constantly; a small nod back is plenty.
Shoes come off at the genkan, the sunken entrance of homes, ryokan, temple halls, some izakaya and most fitting rooms. Step out of your shoes directly onto the raised floor without putting a sock on the lower level, then turn your shoes to point at the door. House slippers are provided but come off again at tatami rooms, which are walked on in socks. Separate toilet slippers wait inside the bathroom door; forgetting to swap back is the classic visitor error. In a ryokan, keep luggage off the tatami and sit on the cushions, not the futon.
At the table, say “itadakimasu” before eating and “gochisosama deshita” to staff as you leave. Do not stand chopsticks upright in rice or pass food chopstick to chopstick (both are funeral rites), point or spear with them, or rub disposable ones together; rest them on the holder when not in use. Lift rice and soup bowls to your mouth, slurp noodles freely and pour drinks for others rather than yourself. Eating while walking is frowned on, and Kyoto, Kamakura and Nara’s deer park all post signs against it.
There is no tipping anywhere in Japan, and staff will chase you to return coins left on the table. Pay at the till by the exit, placing cash or card in the small tray (karuton) rather than into the cashier’s hand. Izakaya add a ¥300-500 seating charge (otoshi) served as a small appetiser; it is normal. To thank a ryokan or guide, a small wrapped gift from home or a handwritten note is the right gesture.
Onsen, sento and the tattoo question#
Communal bathing is one of Japan’s great pleasures and the rules are strict because the water is shared. Undress completely (swimsuits are banned), carry only the small towel, and sit at the shower stools to wash and rinse thoroughly, hair included, before entering. The towel never goes in the water: fold it on your head or leave it on the side. Tie up long hair, do not swim or dunk your head, keep conversation low and leave your phone in the locker. Baths are 40-43°C, so ten minutes at a time is enough; red curtain for women, blue for men.
Tattoos remain the sticking point. Because of their association with organised crime, perhaps half of onsen and many hotel baths still refuse visible tattoos, though the number falls every year. Cover small ones with a waterproof skin-tone patch (¥500-1,000 at drugstores), book a kashikiri private bath for 45-60 minutes (¥2,000-5,000, often free in ryokan), or pick a tattoo-friendly town: all seven public baths in Kinosaki Onsen accept tattoos, as do many in Beppu, and neighbourhood sento (¥500-550 in Tokyo) are generally relaxed. Ask at reception; no offence is taken. Many public pools, water parks and some gym chains apply the same ban, so bring a rash guard or tape if you plan to swim or train.
Trains, escalators, smoking and rubbish#
Japanese trains are quiet and the rule is to keep them that way: phone on “manner mode”, no calls, conversation at a murmur. Eating is fine on shinkansen and limited expresses, where ekiben lunch boxes are part of the trip, but not on commuter trains. Give up the priority seats, hold backpacks in front of you, queue at the painted platform marks and let passengers off first. Women-only carriages, marked in pink, operate in the morning rush.
Escalator etiquette splits the country: stand left in Tokyo, right in Osaka and most of Kansai. Saitama (2021) and Nagoya (2023) have ordinances asking everyone to stand still, and Tokyo stations post the same request, so when in doubt stand rather than walk. Smoking on the street is banned in most central wards of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka outside marked booths, with on-the-spot fines of ¥1,000-2,000, while some small bars still allow it indoors.
Rubbish is the daily puzzle. Street bins were removed after the 1995 subway attacks; you will find them beside vending machines (cans and bottles only), inside convenience stores and at stations. Carry a small bag, sort into burnable, plastic, cans and PET bottles where bins are labelled, and never leave rubbish at a shrine, park or hanami spot. Blowing your nose in public is considered unpleasant; find a bathroom.
Reading the room: honne, tatemae, time and gifts#
Japanese communication prefers harmony to bluntness. Tatemae is the polite public face, honne the private feeling, and a direct “no” is rare: “it is a little difficult” (chotto muzukashii), “I will think about it” or a tilted head and a sucked breath all mean no. Accept it gracefully. Complaints are made calmly, loud anger achieves nothing, and apologising first (“sumimasen”) solves a problem faster than demanding a manager.
Punctuality is non-negotiable: trains run to the minute, tours leave on time and five minutes early is normal for any appointment. Business cards (meishi) are exchanged with both hands, read, and left on the table, never pocketed. Omiyage, boxed regional sweets, are brought back from every trip for colleagues, and a wrapped gift from your own country will delight any host. Give and receive with both hands, expect a modest refusal before acceptance, avoid sets of four or nine (the numbers sound like “death” and “suffering”) and do not be surprised if your gift is not opened in front of you.
Convenience is a cultural value too: 55,000 convenience stores with clean toilets, foreign-card ATMs and good meals, and some four million vending machines, one for every 30 people, selling hot coffee in winter and cold tea in summer for ¥130-180. Everyone uses them.
When your request is met with “ah, sou desu ne…” or a sharp intake of breath, you are being told no. Smile, say “wakarimashita” (understood) and ask whether there is another option.
A dozen phrases cover most situations:
| Japanese | Say it | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| すみません | sumimasen | Excuse me, sorry, getting attention. The most useful word in Japan. |
| お願いします | onegaishimasu | Please (requesting something); hand over a ticket with it. |
| ありがとうございます | arigato gozaimasu | Thank you (polite). |
| いただきます / ごちそうさまでした | itadakimasu / gochisosama deshita | Before eating / after a meal, to staff as you leave. |
| 失礼します | shitsurei shimasu | Excuse me (entering or leaving a room, interrupting). |
| お邪魔します | ojama shimasu | Entering someone’s home. |
| 大丈夫です | daijobu desu | “I’m fine” or “no thank you” (bag, receipt, refill). |
| 結構です | kekko desu | No thank you (firmer). |
| わかりました | wakarimashita | Understood. |
| よろしくお願いします | yoroshiku onegaishimasu | Ending an introduction or request; “I’m in your hands”. |
| お疲れ様です | otsukaresama desu | Acknowledging someone’s effort; staff, guides, fellow hikers. |
| ごめんなさい | gomen nasai | Sorry (personal apology). |
Geisha, Gion and overtourism manners#
Kyoto’s geiko and apprentice maiko work in five hanamachi districts, of which Gion Kobu around Hanamikoji Street in Higashiyama and Gion is the most famous. They are professional artists, not tourist attractions, and blocking a maiko’s path or grabbing her sleeve for a photo is harassment. After years of complaints, in April 2024 the Gion district council closed its private side streets to tourists, with signs threatening a ¥10,000 fine. Hanamikoji itself stays open, but photographing people without permission anywhere in the district is now explicitly discouraged. To see geiko properly, book a performance: Gion Corner stages a one-hour sampler of dance, tea ceremony and bunraku most evenings, the Miyako Odori dance festival runs through April at the Gion Kobu Kaburenjo theatre, and hotel concierges arrange ozashiki dinners with a maiko for ¥20,000-50,000 per person.
Gion is one of several flashpoints created by record visitor numbers. A black screen went up in 2024 to block the viral photo of Mount Fuji above a Lawson store in Fujikawaguchiko after tourists blocked the road; Fushimi Inari posts multilingual signs against touching the torii and leaving the path; and Shibuya ward banned night-time street drinking around Shibuya Crossing year-round from October 2024. The manners that help are the same everywhere: visit famous spots before 8am or after 5pm, stay out of roads and on paths, keep noise down in residential lanes, feed the Nara deer only the official crackers, and buy something from the shop whose street you are photographing.
Festivals, ceremonies and the Japanese year#
Matsuri are Shinto festivals in which a shrine’s kami is paraded through the neighbourhood in a portable shrine (mikoshi), with drums, food stalls and plenty of beer. Most of the great ones fall in summer: Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri all through July with float processions on the 17th and 24th, Osaka’s Tenjin Matsuri on 24-25 July, Aomori’s Nebuta on 2-7 August, Sendai’s Tanabata on 6-8 August and Tokushima’s Awa Odori on 12-15 August, where visitors can join the open “niwaka” dance groups. Asakusa’s Sanja Matsuri on the third weekend of May is Tokyo’s rowdiest. Buy a ¥600 beer and a ¥700 plate of yakisoba and stand behind the ropes when the mikoshi comes past.
The ceremonial calendar is gentler. Hanami picnics fill the parks from late March to early April (see the cherry blossom guide). Obon in mid-August is when ancestral spirits come home: families clean graves, towns hold bon odori circle dances anyone can join, and Kyoto lights five giant bonfire characters on its hills on 16 August. Shichi-go-san, on and around 15 November, brings three-, five- and seven-year-olds in miniature kimono to shrines for blessings, with Meiji Shrine the best place in Tokyo to watch. Hatsumode runs from midnight on 31 December to 3 January, and Coming of Age Day, the second Monday of January, fills the streets near shrines with twenty-year-olds in furisode kimono.
Traditional arts and where to see them#
- Tea ceremony (chado): Kyoto’s Higashiyama lanes and Uji offer 45-60 minute introductory sessions in English for ¥3,000-5,000: watch the host whisk matcha, learn to turn the bowl, eat a seasonal sweet. Tokyo’s Hamarikyu Gardens teahouse serves matcha and a sweet by the pond for about ¥1,000 without ceremony.
- Kabuki, noh and bunraku: The Kabuki-za in Ginza runs two programmes a day most months. Full tickets cost ¥4,000-20,000, but single-act “hitomaku-mi” tickets (¥1,000-2,000, sold on the day) buy one act of 60-90 minutes; rent the English earphone guide. Noh, slower and masked, is best at the National Noh Theatre in Sendagaya or Kyoto’s Kanze theatre; bunraku puppet theatre lives at the National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka.
- Sumo: Six 15-day tournaments a year: January, May and September at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, March in Osaka, July in Nagoya and November in Fukuoka. Tickets go on sale about five weeks ahead on the official Ticket Oosumo site; second-floor chair seats start around ¥4,000, four-person box seats (masu-seki) run ¥40,000 and up, and weekends sell out within days. A few same-day general-admission tickets are sold at the Kokugikan from 7:45am; the top division fights from 15:30 to 18:00.
- Ikebana and calligraphy: The Ikenobo school (Rokkakudo temple, Kyoto) and Sogetsu in Tokyo run visitor workshops; calligraphy classes cost ¥3,000-5,000 in Kyoto and Asakusa.
- Kimono rental: Shops in Kyoto’s Higashiyama, Asakusa and Kanazawa’s Higashi Chaya district dress you for a day for ¥3,000-6,000 including hair; return by evening. Left side over right (the reverse is for the dead).
- Crafts: Kanazawa for gold leaf, Kyoto for Nishijin weaving and Kiyomizu ceramics, Arita in Kyushu for porcelain, Takayama for woodwork. Workshops of 60-90 minutes cost ¥2,000-5,000 and you keep what you make.
Pop culture, nightlife and LGBTQ+ notes#
Akihabara is Tokyo’s electronics-and-anime district, with multi-storey arcades, figure shops and maid cafes; Nakano Broadway is the collectors’ mall for vintage manga and toys; Ikebukuro’s Otome Road caters to female fans; and Harajuku’s Takeshita Street is where street fashion starts. The Ghibli Museum in Mitaka sells timed tickets (¥1,000) on the 10th of each month for the following month and they go within hours; Kyoto’s International Manga Museum holds 50,000 volumes you can read on the lawn. Arcades such as Taito Station and GiGO charge ¥100-200 a go for crane and rhythm games, Nintendo has official stores in Shibuya, Osaka and Kyoto plus Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan, and karaoke boxes (¥1,500-3,000 for two hours with a drink order) are the standard end to a night out.
Japan is safe and generally welcoming for LGBTQ+ travellers, if quiet about it. Same-sex marriage is not yet recognised nationally, although several high courts have ruled the ban unconstitutional and most big cities issue partnership certificates (Tokyo since November 2022). Hotels do not question same-sex couples sharing a room. Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ni-chome has around 300 bars in a few blocks, the biggest gay nightlife district in Asia, Osaka’s Doyama is the Kansai equivalent, and Tokyo Rainbow Pride parades through Shibuya each April. Public affection is muted for everyone: holding hands is fine, kissing on the street is not, whoever you are.
More Japan guides#
Japan travel guide · Best Time · Cherry Blossom · Costs · Food · Getting Around · Itineraries · Nightlife · Shopping · Trains · Visa · Where to Stay
Japanese culture and etiquette FAQs#
What should tourists not do in Japan?
Do not tip, talk on the phone on trains, wear shoes past the genkan step, eat while walking, stick chopsticks upright in rice, enter an onsen without washing or photograph geisha and maiko without permission. Smoking is banned on most city streets outside marked areas. Loud behaviour in residential lanes such as Gion is the complaint locals make most often.
Is bowing expected from foreigners?
A small nod is appreciated but nobody expects a formal bow from visitors. Return staff bows with a nod and a thank-you. Shaking hands is fine in business settings when offered. Do not bow with your hands clasped in front of your chest; that is a Thai or Indian gesture, not a Japanese one.
Can I go to an onsen with tattoos in Japan?
Often yes, with planning. Roughly half of onsen still refuse visible tattoos, but you can cover small ones with waterproof patches, book a private kashikiri bath for ¥2,000-5,000, choose a ryokan with in-room baths, or go to tattoo-friendly towns such as Kinosaki Onsen and Beppu. Neighbourhood sento bathhouses are usually relaxed. Ask at reception before undressing.
Do you tip in Japan?
No. Tipping is not practised in restaurants, taxis, hotels or bars, and staff will return money left on the table. Pay at the till using the cash tray. If you want to thank a guide or ryokan staff, a small wrapped gift or a thank-you note is the accepted gesture.
What is the proper way to pray at a Japanese shrine?
Bow at the torii, rinse your hands and mouth at the water basin, then at the hall toss a coin into the box, bow twice, clap twice, pray silently and bow once more. At a Buddhist temple, do the same without clapping and light incense if a burner is provided. Keep to the sides of the main path.
Can you take photos of geisha in Kyoto?
Not without permission, and not at all in the private lanes of Gion, which were closed to tourists in April 2024 with signs threatening a ¥10,000 fine. Geiko and maiko walking to work are busy professionals; stopping or touching them is harassment. To photograph them properly, book a performance at Gion Corner, the Miyako Odori in April or a dinner through your hotel.
How do I buy sumo tickets in Japan?
Tournaments run for 15 days in January, May and September (Tokyo), March (Osaka), July (Nagoya) and November (Fukuoka). Tickets are released about five weeks ahead on the official Ticket Oosumo site; chair seats start around ¥4,000 and sell out quickly for weekends and the final days. A few same-day general-admission tickets are sold at the venue early each morning. Arrive by 15:00 for the top division.
Is Japan LGBTQ+ friendly?
Yes for visitors: it is safe, hotels accept same-sex couples without comment, and Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ni-chome and Osaka’s Doyama have large, open gay scenes. Same-sex marriage is not nationally recognised yet, though most large cities issue partnership certificates. Public affection is low-key for all couples, so follow local habits.