No Tipping Culture
Be aware that there is no tipping culture here in Japan. There was a case when a foreign customer supposedly left a tip of 100 yen on the table and the server thought that it must have been forgotten by mistake. The server took the trouble to chase after the customer just to deliver it. The reason why tipping
is not observed here is because Japanese restaurants and hotels charge you a “service fee” and it is automatically included in the bill.
In addition, Japanese people are proud of their work, so their work ethics does not change whether they receive a tip or not. Their way of thinking is that you do not give good
service for the purpose of receiving tips. If you happen to give tips to servers who hold the same principle, you might make them feel uncomfortable. Let us be careful when going out shopping in Japan.
