Entering and sitting down
Many restaurants in Japan display plastic or wax replicas of their dishes at the entrance. They usually look very similar to the real dishes.
Show window displaying food replicas
When you enter a restaurant, you will be greeted with the expression "irasshaimase" ("please come in"), as it is usual in any Japanese store. Waiters and waitresses are generally trained to be extremely efficient, polite and attentive, and will usually immediately lead you to your table. If they don't, you can assume that it is okay to sit at any table.
While a majority of restaurants in Japan are equipped exclusively with Western style tables and chairs, restaurants with low traditional tables and the customers sitting on cushions on the floor, are also common. Some restaurants feature both styles side by side. In case of a traditional Japanese interior, you are usually required to take off your shoes before stepping onto the seating area or even at the restaurant's entrance.
A restaurant with traditional low tables
Eating
After you sit down, a glass of water or tea will be served for free and later refilled. You also receive a wet towel (oshibori) for cleaning your hands. If chopsticks are not already set, you can usually find some in a box on the table. Most often, they are wooden chopsticks that need to be separated into two before usage.
Please visit our pages about chopsticks and table manners for more information about eating in a proper way.
In case of some restaurant types, for example izakaya or Chinese restaurants, it is common for all people at one table to order and share various dishes. At restaurants that serve set menus, bowl dishes (e.g. domburi or noodle soups) or Western style dishes, on the other hand, each person usually orders and eats one separate dish.
Paying
The bill will be given to you upside-down when you receive the meal or after you finish eating. In most restaurants, you are supposed to bring your bill to the cashier near the exit when leaving in order to pay. Some restaurants, especially cheaper ones, have different systems for ordering and paying. At some stores, you may be required to pay right after ordering, while in others, you are supposed to buy meal tickets at a vending machine near the store's entrance and to hand them over to the staff in order to receive a meal.
In restaurants in Japan, it is not common to pay a tip. When leaving, it is polite to say "gochisosama deshita" ("thank you for the meal").
Restaurant with meal ticket vending machines
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