Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan

2018 Foreword Indie Awards Winner Going to Japan? This unfussy modern guide guarantees you keep it polite and get it right! This guide to common courtesy, acceptable behavior, and manners is essential for any visitor to Japan. Japanese are unfailingly polite and will never tell you if you've crossed the line. But by knowing how to act in every situation you'll gain the respect of your hosts and in the end get even better service and enjoyment during your travels. Covered here are all the essentials—like travel, greetings, dining—plus subtle niceties like tone of voice, body language, cell phone usage, city vs. country styles, and attire (and what to do about your tattoos!). The author, a 25-year resident of Japan and tourist adviser who lives on the fabled Inland Sea, knows just what foreign visitors need and delivers it in a smart, compact, and delightfully illustrated package for quick use and reference. The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 ranks Japan 4th out of 141 countries overall, which was the best in Asia. Japan gained relatively high scores in almost all aspects, especially health and hygiene, safety and security, cultural resources and business travel. (Wikipedia/Tourism in Japan) Japan Times (Oct 19, 2016) reported: "Tokyo and Kyoto have been picked as the world’s best and second-best cities outside the United States, the U.S. travel magazine Conde Nast Traveler said Tuesday." "The total number of foreign visitors to Japan this year [2016] is expected to top 20 million for the first time. The government has doubled its annual target of overseas visitors to 40 million in 2020, when Tokyo will host the Olympics and Paralympics." (Japan Times)