"The growing number of foreign visitors has been big news in Japan this year, along with headlines picking out the small minority who attract locals' fury for misbehaving. But even well-behaved tourists from North America and Europe are a source of irritation or confusion for many locals in Japan due to the very un-Japanese habit of tipping. More than 21.5 million foreigners visited Japan in the first half of 2025, a record high and on track to surpass the 40-million arrival mark for the entire year."
"Quite often when I'm handing a bill to people I suspect are in Japan for the first time, I make a point of politely saying that one of the wonderful things about Japan is that tipping is not required, which immediately cuts out any awkwardness," said Andy Lunt, a UK national whose Japanese wife's family have run the Shin Hinomoto "izakaya" restaurant in central Tokyo since the late 1940s."
"Many first-time visitors are befuddled by Japanese customs and norms; everything from taking one's shoes off at the entrance to a home to bowing and eating with chopsticks. There are also unwritten rules about how money is handled and offered that Japanese instinctively know, including that gifts of cash must be in a special envelope and that payments are not exchanged by hand but always placed in a tray."
More than 21.5 million foreigners visited Japan in the first half of 2025, a record high and likely to pass 40 million arrivals for the year. First-time visitors often struggle with Japanese customs such as removing shoes, bowing, and using chopsticks. There are unwritten rules about handling money: cash gifts must be in special envelopes and payments should be placed in a tray rather than handed directly. Tipping remains rare and many Japanese do not want Western-style gratuities to become the norm. Some hospitality workers explicitly tell customers that tipping is not required and see good service as part of their job.
Read at www.dw.com
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