A small guide to Japanese culture. This time, about Table Manners and Japanese traditional restaurants and cuisines. Learned from a visit at うなぎ割烹一二三 (Unagi Kappo Hifumi)

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Table Manners at
Japanese Traditional
Restaurant: Kappo
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Muhammad Reza ZainiMuhammad Reza Zaini

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Muhammad Reza Zaini would like to thank:
Unagi Kappo Hifumi うなぎ割烹一二三 The Hifumi Family 一二三家族
Table Manners at
Japanese Traditional
Restaurant: Kappo
Muhammad Reza Zaini (L) and Mr. Hifumi (R)

3. GREENTEA
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• Eating at modern restaurants in Japan usually aren’t very
different with those outside Japan –But not if you were
eating at traditional restaurants in Japan.
• Japanese society could be divided into two cultural
“layers”: The Tatemae ( 建 前 ) and Honne ( 本 音 ).
Tatemae (lit. facade) is the “exterior” of the Japanese
society, which is modernity. However, honne (lit. true
feelings) is the true “character” of Japanese society,
which is their traditional way of living.
• Although Japan seems to be very modern in outlook, its
contemporary society still holds into their traditional
norms and values. Therefore, eating at traditional
Japanese restaurants, such as the Kappo, requires some
understanding regarding Japanese table manners and so.
• What are the common norms at such restaurants?
Japanese Table Manners at Restaurants

4. Ordering and Being Served
• When your foods are served on your table, it is customary to say Itadakimasu ( いただきます ) to those
who served you. The phrase means “I humbly receive”, a gesture of thankfulness to the people who grow
or serve the foods and to the living things “willing” to give their lives to become your foods.
• Additionally, the waiter will usually serves complimentary green tea or ocha ( お茶 ) –Free of charge.
• The waiter will give you the warm wet napkin or oshibori ( おしぼり ). The oshibori is used to wash the
hands. Using it to clean the face is considered to be rude.
• When you are using the wooden chopstick, cleaning it by rubbing the chopstick with each other is
considered to be a taunt to the owner –It’s like saying “Your cutleries are cheap”. Also, when eating from
shared dishes, it is customary to use the end of your chopstick for taking and moving foods –The part of the
chopstick considered to be the most hygienic. Remember, Japanese culture places consideration to others
or koryo ( 顧慮 ) as an important part of their everyday life.
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• Some traditional Japanese restaurants use tatami floor. If you were eating at such restaurants, you can’t
wear your shoes inside.

5. Eating
• When eating, chopstick should be held on the right side of hand. Do not stick the chopstick vertically to the
rice bowl, it is the way the Japanese people make offerings to their deceased ones during funeral
possession or soushiki ( 葬式 ).
• Japanese meals are usually served in separate bowls or chawan ( 茶わん ) –Rice, side dishes and food
seasoning (such as soy sauce) are served separately. Do not pour the sauce into the rice bowl or mix all the
side dishes into the rice bowl, the gesture is considered to be taboo.
• It is customary to bring your rice bowl up so that rice would not spill on the table. Japanese culture consider
taboo to bow your head to the bowl while eating –Resembling a dog eating its food.
• Slurping or zuruzuru ( ズルズル ) is encouraged, it shows that you enjoyed the meal and wanted to please
the restaurant owner –However, burping is considered to be rude.
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• Other “correct” ways to use chopstick or hashi ( 箸 ) include: Not to directly pass food from your chopstick
to somebody else’s and not to point somebody with your chopstick.

6. Paying and Leaving
• Also, tipping is considered to be very insulting in Japan. However, Japanese restaurant owners usually
accept gifts from guests –But not money.
• When you are leaving the restaurant, the Japanese host will usually show their hospitality by looking to you
from the entrance door until you are out-of-sight. Do not consider this as a “violation of your privacy” –This
is a typical Japanese manner.
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• After finished eating the meals, it is customary to say Gochisousama deshita ( ご馳走様でした ), literally
means “Thank you for your meals”.
• Place your payments over a special cash tray or genkin torei ( 現金トレイ ) on the cashier. Do not expect to
give your payments from your table, it’s considered to an egoistic manner in Japan.

7. New Vocabularies
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1. Oshibori (Hand napkin)
2. Ocha (Japanese tea)
3. Itadakimasu (“I humbly receive”)
4. Chawan (Bowl)
5. Soushiki (Funeral)
6. Hashi (Chopstick)
7. Zuruzuru (Slurping)
8. Gochisousama deshita (“Thank you for the meals you had served”)
9. Genkin torei (Cash tray)

8. 2
• One of the traditional-styled restaurant in Japan is called the
Kappo (sometimes Romanized as Kappou). Kappo could be
characterized with two short descriptions: “Traditional fine
dining restaurant” and “Social intimacy with the chefs”.
• Beside serving traditional and fine Japanese foods, the
central concept of Kappo is where the visitor can have deep
appreciation to food preparation process –Therefore, most
Kappou placed its chefs in front of individual chairs to enable
the guests to observe them cooking their meals.
• So, what exactly are the Kappo? If they are traditional
Japanese restaurants, how do they differ from the sushi or
ramen restaurants?
Japanese Kappo

9. History and Etymology 2
• What does Kappo means in English? The Japanese Kanji for Kappo consists of two characters: 割烹 . Both
Kanji characters are verbs:
割  To cut; to divide
烹  To cook; To fry
• Therefore, Kappo literally means to cut and cook, or “cutting foods using kitchen knife and cooking it in fire”
–Referring to the traditional method of serving Japanese dishes.
• Kappo-styled restaurant began to emerge in the Kansai region of Japan around the 19th
century, during the
Meiji Restoration Era or Meiji Jidai ( 明 治 時 代 ) –Thus Kappou is a relatively “new” Japanese cultural
heritage. It began to spread to other parts of Japan in the 20th
century and still maintaining its trademark as
a restaurant where the visitors can have social interaction with the chefs.

10. Recent Japanese Kappo 2
• What are the menus offered at Japanese Kappo? There’s no specification or limitation; but they serve only
dishes considered to be “fine cuisine” or joushitsuna ryouri ( 上 質 な 料 理 ). However, since Kappo is
traditional Japanese restaurant, it only serves traditional Japanese dishes.
• Some Kappo specializes on unagi dishes –Usually family-owned and is inherited from generation to
generation.
• Most Kappo enables the visitors to watch the chefs or kokku ( コック ) prepare the food right in front of
them –Even interacts with the chefs. This is a novelty only found in the Japanese Kappo, where visitors
could experience social intimacy with the chefs.
• The food ingredients are usually served immediately right when the visitors arrived –Which makes the food
preparation quite longer than those at modern restaurants.

11. New Vocabularies
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1. Kappo (Traditional Japanese fine cuisine restaurant)
2. Meiji Jidai (Meiji Era, an era spanned from 1868 to 1912 where
Japan was rapidly transformed into a modern society)
3. Jidai (Era; Period)
4. Joushitsuna Ryouri (Fine cuisine)
5. Kokku (Chef)

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• As mentioned earlier, some kappo specialize on unagi dishes.
• What is unagi? To give a brief answer, unagi is Japanese-
styled grilled eel served with soy sauce and other side dishes
–Particularly vegetables.
• Just like sushi or ramen, unagi is considered to be Japan’s
most favorite delicacy –Also one of the most expensive.
The Unagi

13. What is Unagi?
• The unagi ( うなぎ ) is Japanese-styled grilled eel and is very popular during the summer or natsu ( 夏 ), as
it’s believed to boost stamina drained by hot Japanese summer. In fact, it has been eaten in Japan for more
than 5,000 years. Unagi itself is as popular as sushi or tempura in Japan.
• To make unagi, live eels are filleted just before cooking to preserve the taste and texture. The bones and
inner organs are then removed.
• The fillets are then grilled and steamed to remove any fatty tissue from the flesh. After being steamed, the
fillets are dipped into Japanese sauce and grilled again for several times until the flavor seeped well into the
fillet.
• FYI: Unagi chefs are usually trained for at least 8 years to be able to serve unagi dishes –This indicates the
high level of difficulty in serving unagi.
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14. Unagi Servings
• Popular side dishes include Japanese pickles or oshinko ( お新香 ) and eel liver soup or kimosui ( 肝吸い ).
• Farmed eels are generally used as the prime source of unagi. However, because of the steep decline of
Japanese eels due to overfishing, many restaurant began to use farmed eels breed from aquaculture farms.
This explains why unagi dishes are generally expensive nowadays.
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• Unagi is usually served on a rice bowl and has its side dishes served on separated bowls.
Oshinko Kimosui

15. Eel: The Main Ingredient
• Unagi eels live both in freshwater and saltwater. They migrated upstream during the mating season.
• Eels used to teem among Japanese lakes and rivers. Traditional way of catching eel by using bamboo traps
is still practiced today in Japan.
• However, the eel population began to decrease rapidly due to overfishing –Japan’s ell consumption ranked
no.1 worldwide. The modern solution for this problem was to breed the eels through inland aquatic farming
with modern technology.
• The Japanese began the mass consumption of unagi beginning in the Edo Era or Edo Jidai ( 江戸時代 ) in
18th
century.
• Lake Hamana just off the Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka Prefecture is considered to be the habitat of Japan’s
best unagi eels.
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16. Unagi and Japanese History
• Katsushika Hokusai’s (1760-1849) woodblock or ukiyo-e ( 浮世絵 ) painting depiction of Japanese eels and
its significance in the everyday cuisine.
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17. New Vocabularies
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1. Unagi (Grilled eel)
2. Natsu (Summer season)
3. Oshinko (Pickles)
4. Kimosui (Eel liver soup)
5. Edo Jidai (Edo Era (1603-1868), a Japanese era preceding the Meiji
Era. This era was marked by Japan’s isolation from the outside
world)
6. Ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock painting)

18. Muhammad Reza Zaini (L) with Mr. Hifumi

19. Muhammad Reza Zaini (L) with Mrs. Hifumi

20. 一二三家族にありがとうございました
Muhammad Reza Zaini (Linkedin): https://id.linkedin.com/pub/muhammad-reza-zaini/55/834/987