Western table manners Japanese don’t know about
AdvertisementThis short ranking survey from goo Ranking looked at Western table manners that Japanese just don’t understand very well.
Demographics
Between the 19th and 22nd of November 2010 1,171 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.2% of the sample were female, 11.3% in their teens, 19.1% in their twenties, 29.0% in their thirties, 23.4% in their forties, 9.6% in their fifties, and 7.6% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.
Much to my surprise, “all of them” is not the top answer! Most of the Japanese I know have rather poor table manners overall (and even here and there their Japanese table manners leave something to be desired), but this survey seems to be dealing with finer points of etiquette. Personally, not being female I don’t know number 4, and I’m not 100% certain on finger bowls, but I think I’ve only once been at a meal where they have been present.
Ranking result
Q: What Western table manners do you just not know very well? (Sample size=1,171)
Rank Score 1 How to choose wine 100 2 How to excuse yourself from the table 89.9 3 When to go to the toilet 87.4 4 Where to put my bag 77.9 5 How to choose from the menu 75.7 6 How to eat fish 71.6 7 How to place the napkin 63.3 8 How to eat rice 61.7 9 How to use the finger bowl 61.3 10 How to distinguish the appropriate knife 53.3
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I practically know NONE of these myself.
I wonder how this guy manages in such situations?
…how is “choosing from the menu” a matter of etiquette? =_=
- It’s rude to order a dish that costs much more than your host’s
- It’s rude to order an appetizer if nobody else at the table is ordering one (best to order some for the table).
- If you are only going to get a salad or soup or something cheaper than an ordinary entree, increase your tip to the server appropriately.
and so on.
I think this is a case of zooming in on something too much without a look at the bigger picture. I think it’d be much more interesting to hear about more everyday/everyman situations.
Slightly flawed survey, I think. How can you ask someone to outline what they don’t know? It’s asking someone to be both aware and ignorant at the same time… It would be better to ask Westerners what table manners they feel Japanese don’t know.