5 Japanese Etiquettes That You Haven’t Heard Of

From wearing a mask in the train to bowing at a 45 degree angle when meeting customers, Japan can have a lot of etiquette that one needs to know before coming to Japan. Here are some mannerisms that you probably haven’t even heard of and will give you that extra edge compared to other foreigners in your school or work in Japan.

1. Appointment Mannerism

For work, you should arrive 10 minutes before schedule. Whether it is for regular work or if you are visiting a business partner or customer. However, if you are visiting a friend’s house, you should actually be 5-10 minutes late. This only pertains to meeting at a friends home and not to meeting up somewhere like a restaurant or station. You should meet up with your friend on time or arrive earlier 5–10 minutes.

The reason that you should be late is to offer additional time for your friend to get ready so that way they do not have to rush. Many Japanese people like to clean their house, make food, etc before their friend comes over.

2. Celebration Money

When you are giving money (cash bills) as a celebration gift, you should only give only new bills especially if it is a wedding. This also includes friends as well. I recently bought some exercise bands from a friend and I gave her 2,000 yen (two 1,000 yen new…