The American Restaurant Habit That May Confuse Your Waiter In Japan

In many places around the world, tipping is "always appreciated." Tipping is, of course, expected in most U.S. restaurants, amounting to 20% to 25% of the total bill, and it's become common in cafes and fast-casual venues as well. In many other nations, a service fee comes with the bill, so tipping is less requisite –– though guidebooks will almost always add that tips are a welcome expression of gratitude. Who doesn't like a little extra cash in their pockets?

Well, Japan doesn't work like that. Tipping is almost unknown in restaurants, and leaving cash on the table might even confuse your server. This abstention extends to taxi drivers and hotel staff as well. Casual tipping is just one of the things tourists should never do when visiting Japan. This might feel unnatural, and you may feel bad for the service worker, but rest assured that waiters and waitresses are paid a living wage and don't rely on your voluntary gesture to survive. Any effort to leave a tip will only complicate the situation, and the gesture may even come off as off-putting or offensive.

To ease this process, most restaurants in Japan will process your bill at a front-facing cash register, away from your table, just as Americans would pay at their local diner. This way, you can settle the bill and scoot without giving tips a second thought. That said, if the service really was fantastic beyond description — or perhaps the restaurant helped you in a special way, like calling a late-night cab or tracking down a lost item — there is a distinctly Japanese way of showing appreciation.

So what do you do in those special situations? Beyond service fees and strongly recommended gratuities, how do you let a service worker know that you really appreciated the extra effort? Foreign travelers may particularly struggle with this conundrum, as it's more likely that they don't speak Japanese and are just trying to be a considerate tourist while visiting Japan.

One thoughtful option is "kokorozuke," a custom that literally translates as "coming from the heart." This is usually reserved for major occasions, like a wedding or anniversary party, when a group rents out a venue or requests special accommodations. In this case, certain amounts of cash are placed in an envelope and even wrapped in colorful gift wrapping paper. There's a genre of paper pouches, called pochi-bukuro, that is designed for this purpose and sold in regular stores. Travelers might invest in a few of these, along with petty cash, to hand out when hoteliers and cab drivers go above and beyond the call of duty — perhaps retrieving lost luggage, making last-minute reservations, or driving around in search of a misunderstood address. Kokorozuke is less a "tip" than a sincere symbol of gratitude.

Still, kokorozuke is pretty unusual in the restaurant industry, and it's hard to imagine giving one to a host or barista unless they found a misplaced smartphone or performed the Heimlich maneuver. The minimum amount you should give is about 1,000 Japanese yen, or around $7. Now that you've gotten tipping out of the way, you're ready for a good meal — right after you learn the wet towel rule in Japanese restaurants.