Long Island Japanese Cooking, Catering, and Japanese Cooking Classes









Japanese Dining Etiquette

  • Do not pass food someone using chopsticks. It is a bad luck because it is parallel to the passing the cremated bones of a deceased relative at a Japanese funeral.
  • When you share a plate, use the reverse side of chopsticks to avoid double dipping.
  • Do not bite into a piece of food and place back to a plate. You cut food on a plate and then picked up and eat all at once.
  • Use chopstick holder to rest your chopstick when you are not using it and place it directly in front of you parallel and holding side on a right.
  • Do no make wasabi soup with your soy sauce. Wasabi paralyzes your palette.
  • Do not dip sushi rice-side-down into the soy sauce, and let the sauce soak up into the rice. The soy sauce is not to flavor the rice but the fish. Dip the sushi rice-rice up in the soy sauce and carry to the mouth.
  • Do not wave chopstick to call somebody. Chopstick is for foods.
  • Do not chew the chopstick end. It is a bad manner.

Be sure to view our "How to use Chopsticks" information page.