Sumimasen, the Bill, and the Dish You Did Not Order: Five Japanese Habits for a First Trip
Japan is one of the easiest countries to travel in without the language, and one of the easiest to get quietly wrong. Nobody will correct you. The waiter simply will not come, the little dish will stay on the bill, and the ticket gate will slam shut. Five habits explain most of it, and each one has a phrase you can learn in a minute. All five are part of the free Japanese Trip Kit, fifty phrases in five days with pronunciation.
"Sumimasen" does three jobs
Sumimasen (su-mi-ma-sen, four even beats, no stressed syllable) is the most useful word in the country. It means "excuse me" when you call a waiter or stop a stranger, "sorry" for a bump, and "thank you" when someone has done you a small favour. Calling "sumimasen!" clearly across a restaurant is normal, not rude. Waiters in many places wait to be called, and busier restaurants have a button on the table for it. For a real apology the word is "gomen nasai", or to staff, "mōshiwake arimasen".
On a packed train, add what you are doing: "Sumimasen, orimasu" (I'm getting off) at the doors and people part. In a narrow shop aisle, "sumimasen, tōshite kudasai", please let me through. And a small trap for the escalator: stand on the left in Tokyo and on the right in Osaka, and never block the walking side.
Thank you, and the reply you will not hear
Arigatō gozaimasu (a-ri-ga-tō go-zai-mas) is the full form, for staff and strangers. Bare "arigatō" is for friends and children. The textbook reply, "dō itashimashite", is rarely heard in shops. Staff answer with a bow or "arigatō gozaimashita", the past tense, thanking you for what has just finished. There is no tipping in Japan, ever. Coins left on a table will be chased down the street after you. The bow is the tip.
The bill often arrives with the food
In many restaurants the bill comes with the meal, in a small tray or clipped to the table. When you are done, you carry it to the register by the door. Where it does not come, say "O-kaikei onegai shimasu" (o-kai-kei o-ne-gai shi-mas), or cross your index fingers into an X, the Japanese "check please" gesture. Put your cash or card in the little tray, not in the cashier's hand. Splitting by item is rare, though "betsu-betsu de" (separately) works at chains.
The dish you did not order
In an izakaya a small dish arrives with your first drink. You did not order it and you cannot really refuse it. That is the otōshi (o-tō-shi), a compulsory seat charge of about 300 to 600 yen per person, printed on the bill as お通し or 席料. It is not a scam. Hotels and smarter restaurants add a service charge of ten to fifteen percent instead. Menu prices are marked 税込 (tax included) or 税抜 (tax excluded, so add ten percent).
Coffee is a hot filter coffee
Kōhī (koh-hee, both vowels long) on its own gets you a hot drip coffee, black, with milk and sugar on the side, and you will be asked "hotto ka aisu?", hot or iced, all year round, because iced coffee is standard rather than a summer thing. For a milky coffee ask for "kafe ore" or "kafe rate". The cheapest good cup is the convenience-store machine at around 140 yen. An old-style kissaten charges 500 yen or more, but the seat is yours for as long as you like.
Tap the same card on the way out
There is no ticket stamping in Japan and no inspector with a fine. The system is tap in, tap out, and the fare is worked out at the exit. The trap is that you must tap the same card at the exit gate that you tapped in with, or the gate slams shut, beeps, and you are stuck until a staffer resets it. A short balance stops you too; top up at the fare-adjustment machine by the gates. Suica and PASMO both work on your phone, and the phrase on every gate is "IC kādo o tatchi shite kudasai", tap your IC card.
The rest of the fifty
These phrases are spread across days one, two and four of the Japanese Trip Kit. Ten phrases a day, each with a readable respelling, a tip like the ones above, and audio, for five days. Day one runs in your browser without an account, and the sheet prints on three pages if you would rather carry paper.