In today's video, we're going to talk about 11 things you should never do in
Japan. What is going on YouTube?! Greetings for my apartment here in Cape
Town South Africa. It's been 12 months since I left on my full time travel
journey and I've really enjoyed doing the video series called never do this in
certain countries. So I figured I'd go back and do videos about what not to do
in countries that I lived in for at least 30 days. In today's video we're
going to talk about Japan. I reached back to my Japanese friends Luke and Yukako tell
me put this list together and they helped me come up with 11 things you
should never do in Japan so if you don't mind go down to the comments and say
thanks Luke thanks Yukako for helping Kevin put this list together the first
thing you should never do in Japan is never cross the street until the
crosswalk indicator says you can even if there isn't a car within 20 miles don't
cross the street if you do some old lady on the other side of the street is
either gonna give you a little X or she's gonna be really mad and give you
the big X letting you know you did something wrong
seriously there is absolutely no jaywalking in Japan
the second thing to never do in Japan is never wear clothes in a Japanese onsen
many tourists want an authentic Japanese experience so they go to an onsen onsens
our bath houses similar to roman baths the biggest difference is you never wear
clothes in an onsen never they're absolutely not allowed the bath houses
are separated by gender if that matters to you and another little side note if
you have tattoos you probably won't be allowed in an onsen unless you can cover
them up the third thing to never do in Japan is never pass food chopstick to
chopstick I could probably do a whole video series on what not to do with
chopsticks in Japan one of the main rules is never pass food chopstick to
chopstick the proper way to do it is to let them reach over with their
chopsticks and pick up the food that you're giving them another related item
when you're sharing food you never transfer the food
from the shared plates to your mouth you set the food on your plate and then you
pick it back up and put it in your mouth the fourth thing to never do in Japan is
never wear your shoes indoors this is a popular rule in most of Asia and Japan
is no exception you also shouldn't wear your shoes and some hospitals hotels
shop dressing rooms and religious shrines a good rule of thumb is if you
see a bunch of shoes stacked up you should probably take your shoes off at
that point the fifth thing you should never do in Japan is never expect
Western sized hotel rooms and apartments Japan only has so much land so
consequently they are very efficient with how they use it Japanese hotel
rooms and Airbnb rentals are much smaller than you were used to and most
likely your beds gonna be smaller than a queen-size that's normal so just be
prepared the sixth thing to never do in Japan is never eat food while transiting
in Japan it's rude to eat food outside of designated areas even if you get
street food you should eat in the area designated for eating near the food
stall the same applies to drinking beverages there are tons of vending
machines in Japan the proper etiquette is to drink the beverage near the
vending machine and then deposit the bottle in the recycle bin next to the
vending machine every vending machine has a recycle bin next to it the seventh
thing to never do in Japan is never use the hot towel you get at restaurants on
your face I did this this is a big faux pas those tiles are just for your hands
and people will look at you weird Lee if you use it for your face believe me I
know I did it the a thing you should never do in Japan is never leave a tip
this is kind of an odd one because even in places where tips aren't customary
they're usually appreciated that is not the case in Japan tipping is considered
an insult and any service charge will be added to your bill if you leave just a
little bit of change on your table the server's gonna chase you down on the
road to bring it back to you another little side note about Japan you
never pay at the table you pay on your way out at the cash register the ninth
day to never do in Japan is never serve
yourself alcohol you can serve your companions alcohol but never serve
yourself that's considered selfish and rude after you feel your companions cups
they should return the favor the ten thing to never do in Japan is never hand
items like money and credit cards with only one hand that's the custom in Japan
use two hands to pass items from one person to another the 11th thing to
never do in Japan and probably my favorite rule is never be late to things
unlike other countries I visited where timeliness is it really valued Japan
runs like clockwork things happen when they say they're gonna happen so make
sure you're on time okay so those are the 11 things to never do in Japan if
you enjoyed this video make sure you hit that like button and subscribe and
thanks again to Luke and yukako for helping me put this list together if you
have anything to add make sure you comment form thanks for watching