Comments on: sushi etiquette

By: pj

pj — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 01:20:41 +0000

Sushi “etiquette” is not a valid subject–if it ever was–nowadays..

By: pj

pj — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 02:12:27 +0000

Why is there so much fuzz as to chopsticks handling etiquette when we deal with raw fish placed on rice (or standing-alone) by guys who just came out of hidden urinals and blow their noses clean with those same hands. Come on, enjoy “clean” Japanese food as you chew on an equally “clean” burger by Wendy’s–the latter is easier to bite without chipmunks cheeks and minus chopsticks.

By: pj

pj — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:17:26 +0000

I put a little dab of wasabi on the fish, then dip the sushi fish side down into the soy sauce very quickly

By: pj

pj — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 01:44:58 +0000

“Respectable” chefs at respectable sushi bars will not voice objections as to size specifications, but they might infuse unwanted curses into the dish during its dish preparation. Better be cautious as to these serious things!

By: jg

jg — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 01:37:53 +0000

I don’t like a huge mouthful of sushi, so I always ask that the roll be cut into smaller pieces. No chef has ever objected.

By: pj

pj — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:26:50 +0000

The missing “s” is attributable, I guess, to this wasabi-laden soy sauce I now face on my table, and for which I shall repent !!!

By: pj

pj — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:20:30 +0000

Saw that surplus ” l ” ? It was fingered before I recovered conciousness.

By: pj

pj — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:18:51 +0000

The “typos” were caused by my frantic efforts to manage what I sensed was a fatal result of trying to masticatel, in one single bite, a humongous morsel of spicy shrimp sushi with its attendant sea leaves. I love sushi but this “sushi etiquette” stuff is nonsensical at best.

By: pj

pj — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:03:21 +0000

Having just one bite at those big sized sushi pieces is something designed for GODZILLA or the chipmunks mentioned by another reader. If that is the etiquette for japanese citizens who do not tend to have big mouths or ample cheeks, the give me a break for that nonsrnse rule of “etiquette”

By: tokyoben

tokyoben — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 02:20:17 +0000

I’ve read etiquette rules like this here in the US for years…and the one thing I want to point out-even though everyone tells you its “correct” to eat either with your hands or with chopsticks, I’ve NEVER seen businessmen eat with anything but chopsticks during lunch in Tokyo. No one eats with their fingers…although they will tell YOU its “ok” :p

By: WebProject | Web Design | Web Development|

WebProject | Web Design | Web Development| — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:47:31 +0000

Great Post ! I enjoyed reading it... | Web Design | Web Development | WebProject |

By: Best Sushi MN

Best Sushi MN — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:20:06 +0000

This is really interesting. I had no idea there were so many etiquette rules when it came to sushi. I will have to be sure to try them the next time I am enjoying sushi.

By: Mie N

Mie N — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:35:30 +0000

Is everybody over-reacting? I am half-Japanese and have lived in Japan. I think the sushi eating etiquette posted is correct and there IS a proper way of doing things. That said, if you don’t like to do it that way, don’t. Most Japanese people don’t expect foreigners to know how to eat Japanese food the correct way anyway.

Love the illustrations. :)

By: shreya

shreya — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:47:05 +0000

hey i wanna eat sushi i lyv in ashok vihar plezzz tel me any near by restauran were i can order sushi

By: shreya

shreya — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:45:15 +0000

hey i wanna eat sushi i lyv in ashok vihar plezz tel me any nearby restauran were sushi is found

By: Adley

Adley — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:25:24 +0000

I think the whole point is that this being Japanese culture, the right way to do it is EVERYTHING.
Keep in mind, this is the very same culture that brought us the samurai and seppuku, along with a myriad of other things that have a distinct “right” way of doing things.
Yes, they opened up to the West and have become generally more lenient as a culture in general, but there is still the right and wrong way of doing things.

As for small details, have you seen anything that’s been made and packaged in Japan? They care about the smallest of details in everything.

By: honey living

honey living — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:46:59 +0000

why does there have to be one right way to eat sushi? i feel like as long as you’re not being rude or a slob, these small details don’t matter.

By: Scott Burton

Scott Burton — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:51:10 +0000

I was taught to eat sushi by Japanese people, in Japan. Some of this information is incorrect, notably the chopstick-rubbing and the wasabi-soy mixing.

I suspect the latter is based on the common practice outside of Japan of using too much soy sauce in the dish. This leads to sloppiness and horrifies most Japanese. A small amount of wasabi mixed with a small amount of soy sauce is acceptable and commonplace.

By: Chad

Chad — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:42:47 +0000

“if the sushi chef would be so kind as to refrain from making Giant pieces, i will refrain from biting it in two.
if the sushi restaurant would kindly stop buying the shittiest splintered chopsticks, i would kindly stop rubbing them together to avoid pulling splinters out of my mouth.”

Um, if you would be so kind as to not pick the the worst restaurants…

By: matt

matt — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:46:43 +0000

I am reminded of the scene in Tampopo in which a teacher is teaching a group of girls in a restaurant that, on the Continent, people never slurp their noodles. Then they see a European slurping his spaghetti, and one by one start slurping too.

I did make the the rubbing chopsticks mistake in Japan, was duly laughed at, and thereby missed my chance to be mistaken for Japanese.

By: buddy

buddy — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:09:57 +0000

if the sushi chef would be so kind as to refrain from making Giant pieces, i will refrain from biting it in two.

if the sushi restaurant would kindly stop buying the shittiest splintered chopsticks, i would kindly stop rubbing them together to avoid pulling splinters out of my mouth.

By: Lee

Lee — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:36:40 +0000

I have to bit the pieces in half, although I hold the second piece in my hand as a chew. However, octopus and tobiko are impossible to bite in half and I end up chewing, looking like a chipmunk for 4 minutes.

I eat with my hands too. I see many who do not. Sushi is, after all, finger food. Delicious, wonderful finger food.

By: nach

nach — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:01:52 +0000

hey, japanese don’t follow that rules! ( at least not lots of them )

By: chad

chad — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:11:01 +0000

Apparently we’re supposed to be learning how to have dinner with the Emperor or with an educated family in west coast rural Japan.

…Never engage in ‘Edokko’ practice.. you know, the fun stuff.

By: Caravelle

Caravelle — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:58:15 +0000

What ? I live in Japan and every japanese person I’ve eaten with stirred the wasabi into the soy sauce. What gives ?

By: Mike Stearman

Mike Stearman — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:27:54 +0000

A Japanese friend told me when I was living in Tokyo that putting soy sauce on rice is akin to using the salt shaker on a slice of plain bread.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:14:47 +0000

Pfft…I live in Japan and have eaten at plenty of sushi places. I’ve broken the etiquette plenty of times and I’ve seen Japanese people do the same. It’s not strict unless you’re at a really super fancy restaurant or something. The only thing you’ll always get yelled at for is if you leave your chopsticks sticking up in a bowl of rice. It’s very taboo.

By: Derek

Derek — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:00:24 +0000

Fantastic, fun post. One point of disagreement, however:
I learned to mix my wasabi and my soy sauce in Japan, and saw it happen at some reasonably classy places there…though as another commenter has suggested, perhaps I was just dining with Japanese folks who don’t have upper-class etiquette.

By: A.Alaalas

A.Alaalas — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:16:27 +0000

Never,ever go to Japan to each sushi unless on business. Best to make your own (but use traditional recipe) and eat as you please. Cultural norms are a box to live in, pick your box!

By: Tim-san

Tim-san — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:12:59 +0000

My wife is Japanese. I live in Japan half the year. I’m at our mansion (that means condo) outside Tokyo right now. New Year’s Day in Ginza was cool.

Many many people here put wasabi into the soy sauce.

Also, there’s no need to choke yourself stuffing the whole thing in your mouth.

And if there are splinters on your o-hashi (chopsticks), you can discreetly rub them off. (It’s true, better places won’t give you cheapo sticks, but there’s no need to swallow splinters.)

Those parts of the cartoon are whacked.

The rest pretty much matches my observations of the past 15 years.

By: bob

bob — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:26:40 +0000

As far as rubbing your chopsticks together, at least if you’re eating in NYC at a non-superlative place, ignore this advice, or be prepared to go home with lip splinters.

By: Joanne

Joanne — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:58:45 +0000

Go live in Japan for a while. And do as they do; you learn fast. I
ask the server to make sure the pieces are cut thinner that they usually serve. Saves a giant lump in your mouth. Also, never put your hashi (chopsticks) sticking up out of a bowl of food. Only done when the contents are someone’s ashes.

By: Jorgo

Jorgo — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:50:15 +0000

The Japanese people I go out with don’t care about at least 50% of these rules above. They apply to very formal meals only, if at all.

By: David

David — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:03:37 +0000

Is a dead fish.

By: Provincianas

Provincianas — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:42:07 +0000

Great! Genial! Wow!!

By: Even

Even — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:48:05 +0000

By the way, proper etiquette and “I saw some japanese people doing that so it must be ok” is not the same!

Proper etiquette is what you would do when dining with the emperor. This does not generally mean it is the way most people eat sushi; even in japan.

Not everyone in England drink their tea in the “upper class” way, but that does not make it any less of the “proper way to do it, according to established etiquette”.

The same way that the above instructions, while correct, are not necessarily the way you would choose to eat your sushi. It is just what one could aspire to..

Just my 2 cents…

By: Adley

Adley — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 08:35:37 +0000

“In Japan sushi is a staple.”
I hate to break it to you, John, but sushi is not, and has never been, a “staple” in the Japanese diet. The staple of the Japanese diet, rather, would be rice and/or noodles, depending on the region, much like China, the same way potatoes are the staple of the Irish diet, etc.
Rather, sushi is and always has been more of a “special” dish, and certainly more expensive. That is, until they created the conveyor belt sushi restaurants, where the fish isn’t nearly as fresh, the chefs as talented, or the patrons as cultured.
Granted, I will admit that I am not Japanese, and have not spent any extended amount of time in Japan. My mother was born there, though, and lived there for 16 years before her family moved to the US, and despite being 100% Chinese, whenever they gather as a family they speak to each other in Japanese and tend to prefer eating in Japanese restaurants. So make what you will of my knowledge on the matter.

By: Emily

Emily — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 08:35:32 +0000

“I don’t know why you’d say they never do it so emphatically.”

After three years in Japan and not seeing a single Japanese person rub their chopsticks together–not even when the food was purchased from a convenience store, and there was no one to insult by the rubbing–I jumped to the conclusion that nobody does it. If you have seen it done, then I need to retract my emphatic “never” and replace it with “infrequently,” or “rarely in rural Western Japan.” That I can stick to, and you are still free to disagree.

Locals break the rules, and so can you, but you may want to know the implications first. A good bit of advice I heard once, regarding moist towels used at many restaurants in Japan: “Use them to wipe your hands; don’t use them to wipe your face. You may see some Japanese men wipe their faces with their cloths, but they know they look like peasants when they do it.” As long as you’re okay with that, then go ahead. Just know who you’re modeling yourself after. You may not recognize right away the fine line between “cool” and “douchey.”

But I’m just talking about eating sushi in Japan. At US restaurants, pft, do whatever. Unless you’re trying to impress your new Japanese boss/significant other/significant other’s parents.

By: John

John — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 07:07:58 +0000

This may be true in the very high end places, that a typical Japanese person can’t afford. In an ordinary Sushi joint, the locals break most of these “rules”, and you can too. In Japan sushi is a staple. There’s not need to be precious about it.

By: Adam

Adam — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:57:40 +0000

White in Japan I saw people doing all of these, both the do’s and dont’s.

I personally stick to the “no wasabi in the soy sauce” rule. I put a little dab of wasabi on the fish, then dip the sushi fish side down into the soy sauce very quickly. I want to taste the fish, not the soy sauce.

I also had fugu sashimi in Asakusa, it was very good!