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I'm new here so I don't know if it's been done before, but I just havr to say something, because I've been subjected to this tonight.

 

You know how in Japan, eating and drinking is accompanied with very exaggerated and very loud and annoying noises. It seems to be worse with older people too. And burping over the dinner table. Some people have tried to explain this away to me by saying it shows appreciation for the good food and drink.....

 

Is this acceptable or what? Anyone else really annoyed with it. I don't know why, it just makes me mad. mad.gif

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CherryBoy, what exactly do you mean?

 

I've eaten with Chinese people who purposely burp to show appreciation, but I never noticed Japanese people making excessive or theatrical noises while eating.

 

Are you referring to loud boisterous behavior designed to show enthusiasm and good cheer (usually linked to alcohol consumption)?

 

Or are you talking about purposely exaggerated chewing and swallowing noises?

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Middle-aged and old men who suck their teeth when they've finished so that everybody around can hear make me so mad I could kill. Who wants to hear that when they're eating? And is it really necessary? The moments of silence waiting and wondering if Koumon-san has finished sucking are filled with a mounting sense of rage and hostility.

 

I also don't like seeing people using a toothpick and daintily covering it up with their hands as if it were the most repulsive sight in the world. It's not. And that 'hiding' gesture draws far more attention than simply getting on with it would. These people remind me of bad shoplifters.

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In my opinion asian people are people that know how to eat! They donT have to be all frikkin prissy by using the right spoon, fork etc. Just dig in make some noise and enjoy it! love to slurp the noodles, when my mum visits she tells me not to do it but mum....you're in japan...

 

Personally I prefer to eat with my fingers like the Indonesians do. less washing up!

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An English friend of mine in Osaka lived alone for so long that his eating habits went all to hell, and his eating got so noisy I could hardly stand to eat with him. Also he was slumped all over the table which didn't help.

 

I didn't want to start mothering him, saying stuff like 'Eat with your mouth closed' and 'Elbows off the table'.

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My lady friends father. I like him, but I just can't stand eating with them.

 

He lets out huge burps over the dinner table (at the beginning), and even in restaurants;

 

He makes huge noises eating everything, not just noodles, oh no. Give him a small mouth sized piece of cake and there's a huge slurping kind of noise to go with it.

 

Once it's been consumed, there's a huge sigh kind of sound.

 

It drives me up the wall.

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OK, I am not one that thinks a good burp or fart at dinner is a good thing, but slurping your ramen/udon etc is not a bad thing. But i hate gulping (like on all beer commrecials her!)

I think western eating styles are anal. Have you seen the J TV shows where they are eating with knife & forks so daintily as if they are frikkin high society? Food is supposed to be enjoyed. Who is to say that they western sytle of eating is right? like mummy said.."Don't eat with your fingers, use your knife & fork" Blah blah blah...

yeah **** off!

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I am not saying that it is 'wrong' as such, I am just saying I HATE IT.

 

And I think "using a knife and fork properly" is a different topic altogether from "making obsene noises when eating".

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Indosnm, that prissy eating they do on J TV is just that, prissy eating. There's nothing inherently 'Western' about that. Putting your hand over your mouth in a dainty gesture while you chew, and thinking for 20 seconds before saying the original line "Mmm, oishi desu ne", is not a 'Western' habit either.

 

It's a Japanese aping of manners, that's all.

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"Elbows off the table"?

 

I haven't heard that one since I was about 7.

 

What is the effing point of it? Is there any practical or intrinsically polite value to this rule? Or is it simply one of those nonsensical archaic legacies like neckties and "bless you" after a sneeze?

 

My elbows are on the table most of the time. Otherwise, I'd have to hold them artificially pinned to my sides, or uncomfortably suspended in mid-air as if they were wings hovering over the table.

 

confused.gif

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What those talento have is mannerisms, not manners. The point of good manners is not to draw attention, whereas the opposite is true of what the food program talento do. I used to enjoy that food and wine program where they had the slightly blousy-looking tart and the balding sommelier guy and they'd all get pissed and talk about the past with their guest. There was something thrillingly voyeuristic about watching a pretty woman drinking herself red in the face and saying stupid drunken things on TV. If I recall aright, she had manners rather than mannerisms. The somewhat similar show sponsored by the Rice Marketing Board of Japan is nowhere near as good because the tart on that show isn't blousy, and doesn't get drunk (plus on every show they interview a nutrition expert who every time opines that Japanese = eats white rice).

 

I did cringe a bit when I wrote "Elbows off the table". I once asked my mum what the point of it was, and she said it was to stop people slumping all over the table or hunching over their food like a vulture. I find that I can comfortably rest mine on the table without doing that. So I do.

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