All about Japanese sushi rituals

> Before eating: don't forget to wash your hands!

The Japanese are very committed to cleanliness, especially when they eat. One of the Japanese customs on which this generally-accepted view of the Japanese is based is the ceremonial hand washing ritual before they take a meal. Traditionally, when the Japanese invite guests over to dine, they hand them a warm, moist cloth called oshibori to clean their hands.

> Eating sushi

Sushi is eaten cold. It is generally served on wooden platters together with a bowl of soy sauce that has a little wasabi (hot green horseradish) stirred into it. Traditionally, sushi is eaten with Japanese chopsticks and simply dipped into the soy sauce and wasabi mixture. When you eat nigiris, dip the topping side and not the rice side into the soy sauce. Remember never to pour the soy sauce over the sushi! You can pick up larger pieces of sushi and eat them as finger food. Between each sushi, it's a good idea to eat a piece of pickled ginger (gari) to neutralise the taste of the last one.

Before starting a meal, the Japanese don't say 'bon appetit', but 'itadakimasu'. Literally translated, this means 'I'm going to start eating'. After the meal, the Japanese thank the host by saying 'Gochiso sama deshita' or 'Thank you for the food'.

> What other things are served with sushi?

The Japanese often drink sencha tea (Japanese green tea) with sushi. Sometimes they serve sake (Japanese rice wine) instead of green tea, either as an aperitif before the meal or with the meal itself. The Japanese replenish each others' glasses and make a toast by saying 'kanpai'. They always make sure that their fellow diners have full glasses, though it would be considered impolite to refill their own. Miso soup, the classic Japanese soup, is also a must at any sushi meal. It is prepared with tofu and soy bean paste, and eaten either before or after the sushi.