12 Unspoken Rules to NEVER Break in Japan when you are over 50

📖 Buy the book: "Before You Land in Japan" : 37 years at the concierge desk, every question a first trip asks → https://marikoaono.com It's your fourth morning in Japan. You're on a full train on your way to a temple you've wanted to see for thirty years, and the carriage is completely silent. You do something small and ordinary, something you've done in public your whole life, and nobody says a word. But the quiet changes, you can feel it on the back of your neck, and neither you nor your husband can say what went wrong. Please don't feel bad. It isn't your fault. In Japan nobody will ever tell you, they simply stay polite and absorb it. For thirty-seven years I stood at the concierge desk of a big hotel in Tokyo, and the kindest American guests came down on the fourth morning and asked me, very quietly, whether they had done something wrong yesterday. So today I count down the twelve rules nobody writes down, right down to the one you broke on that train, the most common of them all. In this video: 12. The little tray at every till, and why your money never goes into the cashier's hand 11. Eating while you walk, and the day trip town from Tokyo that asks visitors not to 10. The drink you should never pour for yourself, and the small move that wins every table 9. The taxi door you must never touch 8. Chotto: the word that sounds like a little and means no 7. The hug that lands as a shock, and how to say thank you so it's understood instantly 6. Where your handbag goes in a restaurant and on the train 5. The second pair of slippers, and the doorway strip that catches a toe 4. The one thing never to do with chopsticks, because it comes from a funeral 3. Why three minutes late is late, and the bullet train figure that explains the whole country 2. Your camera, and the Kyoto lanes where a photo can cost you ten thousand yen 1. The rule almost every American over fifty breaks in the first two days Before you go: · Rules change. Check the signs in Gion and any local notices before your trip. · Arrive fifteen minutes early for anything with a time on it: tours, dinner at the inn, last entry. · Good socks with some grip and no holes: you'll be in your socks on tatami more often than you think. Which of these twelve would have caught you? Tell me in the comments, and tell me where you're watching from and when you're hoping to go. I read every single one. If you know someone planning their first trip to Japan, send them this video before they pack. 🧳 What I tell every guest to sort out before they fly: 📱 Phone that works the minute you land (Japan eSIM): https://airalo.tp.st/qjjb87ms 📱 Or Yesim, if you want one eSIM for several countries: https://yesim.tp.st/rSkZxvF4 🚗 A driver waiting at the airport, luggage included: https://gettransfer.tp.st/NJrA92Cc 🎟️ Tickets, day trips and rail passes: https://klook.tp.st/S6nUi326 🏨 Hotels near the station (my short-walk picks are in the hotel guide): https://trip.tp.st/3HbSRK1n Some of these are affiliate links: if you book through them, the channel may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. #japantravel #japantips #travelover50