Staying at a Japanese home
When you arrive at a Japanese home, you take your shoes off in the porch. Your hostess will ask you in, and offer you a snack and something to drink – maybe green tea.
Later, when you sit down to eat dinner, say "Itadakimasu." It is like saying, "Thanks, and good eating!" Try as many of the foods as you can. Don't worry about slurping your soup, or making a noise with your noodles. In Japan, that shows you are enjoying the food. When you use the toilet, there will be slippers just inside the door. Wear them, but remember to take them off as you come out. It is bad manners to wear toilet slippers anywhere else in the house. If you take a bath, remember that using soap in the tub in Japan is a no-no! Japanese people like their bath water clear and clean and hot. So you wash while sitting on a stool on the bathroom floor. The floor has a drain, so it doesn't matter about water spilling. When you have washed and rinsed, then you get into the tub for a good long soak. One good thing: no one growls if water overflows on to the floor. After you've finished, the water will still be clean. Put the cover over the tub to keep the water hot for the next person. Your room probably looks quite bare, but don't worry. When it's time to sleep, your hostess will take a futon (a soft mattress) from a cupboard, and lay it on the floor. She will cover it with sheets and a quilt. This will be your bed. "Oyasuminasai!" means "Good-night!" |