5 Common Mistakes Travelers Make in Japan

Above, apartment buildings near the Sumida River in Tokyo. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Every so often, travel sites put up posts on etiquette mistakes that some visitors to Japan make. I have posted some here on occasion and it is always good to occasionally review them for old-timers and for newbies alike.

Condé Nast Traveler has five of the more common mistakes visitors make. These are easy ones to make and to overcome.

They begin their article with:

With its baroque rituals and ancient traditions, Japanese etiquette strikes fear in the hearts of even seasoned travelers. But no need to worry: It’s effort—not execution—that matters most to the Japanese. “Everybody understands you’re from a different culture,” says Yuko Ehara, a Tokyo-based tour guide and etiquette expert. “If you make a sincere effort to learn, we are appreciative and forgiving of mistakes.” Now, the Palace Hotel Tokyo has launched Cultivating Tokyo, a series of private etiquette seminars to help business and leisure guests avoid faux pas (81-3- 3211-5211; two-hour lessons from about $170). We asked Ehara to share five of travelers’ most common mistakes—and what to do instead.

To see the 5 common mistakes, go here.