Japanese unique hospitality: water is for free!

At a restaurant in Japan, You will see a unique omotenashi (service/hospitality).

It is "offering Oshibori and Ohiya."

Oshibori（おしぼり）＝a wet towel.
("shiboru" is a verb, which means "wring out"

Ohiya （お冷）= a glass of water

（"hiya" means cold)

お(o) in おしぼり and お冷や is a honorific prefix. It is written 御 in Kanji.

Here are examples: お酒(sake) ,お茶（green tea) and おはし（chopsticks)

In summer, you will be served a cold towel and in winter; a hot towel.

At some restaurants, they serve hot green tea instead of water.

but, you can also ask for a glass of water which is no charge.

It is said that elder Japanese men (ojisan) tend to wipe their faces

and even their pitfalls with the oshibori. hahaha.

(but, in fact, this is not a good manner.)

Or, children make a cute penguin by folding the oshibori

 (like making Origami) I did when I was a child.

In case, the waiters forget to serve them,

let's tell them like,

「すみません、おしぼりとお冷ください。」

　sumimasen   Oshibori to Ohiya kudasai.

Excuse me, can I have an oshibori and a glass of water?

「すみません、お冷をお願いします。」

     sumimasen,    Oriya wo Onegaishimasu.

Excuse me, a glass of water, please.

「すみません、おしぼりをもう一つください。」

   sumimasen,      oshibori wo      mo-hitotsu kudasai.

    

   Excuse me, can I have an extra hot towel?

   (mo-hitotsu means one more/ another one)

「すみません、お冷（お水）のおかわりください。」

   sumimasen, ohiya   (omuzu)no okawari kudasai.

  

　　Excuse me, can I have a refill?

Now, it's time to check the menu!

Do you like Yakisoba?

When you visit Japan, you will be surprised to see so many convenience stores.

One of the most popular Konbini is SEVEN ELEVEN.

I love seven eleven♡

Any snacks, hot meals, rice balls, ice cream are tasty.

The seven eleven company frequently launches new products and always improves the food quality.

Here are some items that I strongly recommend.

These are a kind of pastries ( but, some are salty)

No. 1 : fried noodle roll

Fried noodle is Yakisoba in Japanese.

Yaki=stir-fried

Soba=noodle

This is similar with chow main.

A roll is a kind of bread.

We call bread "pan" in Japanese.

So, this is called Yakisoba-pan（焼きそばパン）

On the cut roll, spread mayo and mustard (a little)

Put thick and rich taste noodles inside.

Red picked ginger on the top.

No way the taste would be bad!!

Now, I will teach you a math formula.

[carohydrate food+carohydrate food=so yummy!]

（炭水化物     ＋   炭水化物）＝うまい！

    tansuikabutsu  tansuikabutsu

No.2 Sweet melon shaped bread (bun)

This is called メロンパン(melon pan) in Japanese.

Even if we call this bread "melon",

this doesn't taste melons.

It just looks like a melon, you know.

That's why it is called melon-shaped bread.

This is a kind of cookie bread.

It’s soft bread covered with crispy cookie dough.

Enjoy the texture! 

Melon-pan sold in seven eleven is special.

It is very crispy outside and soft inside.

No. 3 curry doughnuts

This is called curry "doughnuts" in English because the bread is deep-fried.

We call Curry bread （カレーパン）in Japanese,

which is one of Japanese soul food.

Filling of this bread is literally curry.

The curry is spicy and sweet.

Curry-pan is good with hot coffee (^-^)/

The taste is better if you microwave it.

Sited from

When the restaurant is fully occupied...

In the afternoon, you and your friends are in Asakusa and feel hungry.
One of your friends finds an eel restaurant on the street.
You enter the restaurant, then...the waiter says,

申し訳ございません。（もうしわけございません。）
Moushiwake Gozaimasen.

ただいま満席です。（ただいままんせきです。）
Tadaima-manseki-desu.

Tadaima=right now, currently
満＝full
席＝seat

This means;

I am sorry, but we are full now. / I am afraid all seats are occupied.

Then, how do you respond to the waiter?
Here are two cases you might experience.


Case 1: If you really want to eat eel, even wait for in a line.


W：申し訳ございません。ただいま満席です。

You：そうですか、どれくらい待ちますか。
       so-desuka,   Dorekurai-machimasuka?
       (I see. How long should we wait?)

W：20分くらいです。
        about 20 minutes.

You：わかりました。ここで待ちます。
        (wakarimashita.  Kokode Machi-masu)
         OK. I will wait here.




Case 2: You are too hungry to wait in line, so leave the restaurant.


W：申し訳ございません。ただいま満席です。

Y：そうですか、ではまたにします。ありがとう。
　（so-desuka. Dewa-matanishimasu. Arigato)
        OK, maybe next time. Thank you.

At some restaurants, you will be asked to write down your name on a waiting list.
Don't worry, just write your name in English.
But, it's a good learning chance to write your name in Katakana.

If you really want to do so, please contact me through this blog.
I will teach you how to write your name in Katakana. (^-^)/

How to tell the number of your group at a restaurant

When you enter a restaurant (let's say, Denny's or GASUTO),

you might be asked by a waiter, like " いらっしゃいませ。何名様ですか。"

いらっしゃいませ。

I ra-sshai-mase. 

何名様ですか。

Nan-mei-sama-desu-ka?

In English,  いらっしゃいませ means "Welcome! " and "何名様ですか" means "How many (members are there in your group)?"

*nanmeisama:
nan= how many
mei= a formal way to count the number of people
sama = a polite way to address people

In Japanese, there are various ways of counting depending on objects. When we count the number of people, we use "-nin". But, make sure there is an exception. When we count 1 person and 2 persons, we say "Hitori" and "Futari" respectively.

 Then, you can respond;

From 1 person to 10

1. 一人です。= Hitori-desu

2. 二人です。=Futari-desu

3. 三人です。=San-nin-desu

4. 四人です。=Yo-nin-desu

5. 五人です。=Go-nin-desu

6. 六人です。=Roku-nin-desu

7. 七人です。=Nana-nin-desu

8. 八人です。=Hachi-nin-desu

9. 九人です。=Kyu-nin-desu

10. 十人です。=Jyu-nin-desu

 It is clearer if you use your fingers to show the number.

 Then, you may be asked "O-tobacco Suwaremasuka?", which means smoking? or non-smoking.
(English is much easier and more simple, haha)


If you catch the word "tobacco", it means the waiter asks if you smoke or not.
So just say in English, "smoking please" or "non-smoking please"

Welcome to my blog!

Hello,  I am Asuka, who currently lives in Tokyo.

I am an English teacher and have taught it at various places.  While I love teaching English, I am really interested in Japanese culture such as tea ceremony and comic books.

In this blog, I would like to introduce unique Japanese culture and useful Japanese phrases.
I hope many of you from other countries to have more interests in our culture and language.
What I would like to share with you here is the following;

1. Traditional Japanese culture : The way of tea / tea ceremony

2. Manga: Sazae-san, Chibi-maruko-chan

3. Anime: Anpan-man

4. Useful phrases for foreign tourists

5. Japanese FOOD!          and so on.

... and more!


I really hope this blog to inspire you and have more interests in our country!