Etiquette Guide to Japan: They Want You to Stop Burping in Public

The Hokkaido Tourism Organisation wants tourists to behave appropriately when visiting their country — a great step in efforts to reach their 2020 tourism goal. They’ve updated their old etiquette guide to include some new unspoken rules pertaining to being too loud in public, bodily gas, and not eating up your meal. Did you know that packing your leftovers at restaurants is frowned upon?

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This is said to be an answer to the unruly behaviour displayed by many tourists abroad. Thankfully though, China has disclosed their plans to punish such travellers upon returning back to the mainland. Some airlines event want to deny badly-behaved travellers from boarding their flights.

The guide reads: “Japanese etiquette is based on avoiding causing discomfort or nuisance to others. Accordingly, Japanese will avoid bodily functions such as belching or flatulence in public entirely, or perform bodily functions as discreetly as possible.”

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But if you do need to let one rip, the board advises that you do so “as discreetly as possible”. Some other “rules” include not wearing your pyjamas outside of your hotel room and how to use those fancy Japanese toilets. 80,000 copies have been printed out and will be sent around to tourist attractions, restaurants and pubs in Hokkaido. data2_file_18-page-005 data2_file_18-page-006

Arigato!

 Photo credits: Main and Japantimes.co.

Diandra Soliano

Our resident Wander Woman with a passion for languages, big cities and bronzer. When she's not listening to The Smiths a little too loudly at the office (after hours!), she can be found singing along to the soundtrack of Les Miserables with her two cats for an audience.

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