いらっしゃいませ! Irasshaimase!: Quick glance at Japanese and their eating culture

I love Japanese foods so much!

My friends said my eyes always turn shining and sparkling with loves deeply engraved in my eyes when people talked about Japanese foods. I didn't realize it. But I feel so much better after eating a lot of sushi when I'm moody.

People said, nice foods are the cure for a bad mood. Indeed! Nice foods always work on me!
One of my wishes is - become a successful career woman that can afford to eat Japanese cuisine EVERYDAY in the future. *crazy girl you think?* *mugging* *wink wink*

Before moving on to Japanese foods, I'm gonna introduce a bit about Japanese and their eating culture.
It is always good to understand other's culture before commenting on something. Learn and live!

Japan is renowned as a land of courtesy and propriety ever since ancient times. Their people are humble and polite. When talk about how well-mannered is a Japanese, I must think of their bowing. Bowing is common among Japanese to show their respect towards people.

Here I found something interesting about bowing in Japan.

Different angles of bowing bring out different meaning.

Retrieved from: http://www.tofugu.com/2010/07/12/bowing-in-japan-japanese-etiquette/

The nod-bow:

A casual bow between close friends. Just a little nod of your head.

Greeting bow, Eshaku, 15 degrees:

For people that you've met before but not so close.

Respect bow, Keirei, 30 degrees:

Respectful bow. Showing respect to your boss or someone that is higher ranking than you.

Highest respect bow, Saikeirei, 45 degrees:

Truly apologize to someone or to Emperor.

Kneeling bow, touch your head to the floor:

We seldom see this kind of bow these days. Unless you're seeking for forgiveness after you did something really bad. Like, really horrible!

Some people even naturally apt to bow on the telephone in Japan! Learn how to bow is a must before a trip to Japan. Do as the Romans do.

Eating Manners & Culture

As I mentioned before, Japanese is polite and modest in common. They've created a series of table manners as guidance to appropriate behaviours during eating time.

Saying itadakimasu (I gratefully receive) before eating, and gochisosama deshita (Thank you for the meal) after finishing the meal are to appreciate the host for giving you such a delightful meal.

Few rules/taboos that you need to remember when having meal(s) with Japanese.

No burping. However, you can make noise 'slurps' when eating noodle or drinking soup to express your satisfy and appreciation to the chef.
Do not play around nor move plates or bowls around with your chopsticks. Like what Chinese people practice, Japanese people are not allowed to stick their chopsticks into rice and pass food directly from your set of chopsticks to another's because these only happen during funerals.
Use serving chopsticks or the opposite end of your chopsticks when eating from shared dishes. You don't want to taste each other's saliva, don't you? *having French kiss indirectly :p*
Quickly empty your glass and hold it towards the person when someone wants to serve you drink. Serve each other rather than only pouring beverage for yourself.
Put your dishes back to the same position just like what you received initially.
Use chopsticks to separate big pieces of food or give a small bite and then put it back to your plate.
Only takes one bite to finish your sushi. Separating a piece sushi into two usually leads to destruction.
Japanese generally don't need to add wasabi into soya sauce because the sushi pieces may already contain it. (Or it will be eaten plain.) Use only small amount of wasabi if wanted so you won't offend the sushi chef.