Yet again....eating and walking question

I have read the other threads about it but a few things were not cleared up.

1. Namely, why is it considered rude to walk and eat at the same time, what is the history behind it? Drinking, smoking, enjoying ice-cream while walking are ok so why not eating? Is the background religious, philosophical or just practical?

2. And is it really that strict, I have seen documentaries and travel videos where a few Japanese eating while walking down the street/forest and noone is taking notice of them.

3. I am a cyclist so most of the time I eat outside while traveling, I guess it is ok to sit on a bench/in a park and eat as long as I clean up properly?

Cheers

why is it considered rude to walk and eat at the same time, what is the history behind it?

This is just my guess, but I think it is due to practical and philosophical reasons. Practical, in order not to spill food on passing pedestrians. Philosophical, in that you should show respect towards food, i.e. properly sit down and enjoy the food without distraction or doing something different at the same time.

Drinking, smoking, enjoying ice-cream while walking are ok so why not eating?

No! Drinking, smoking and enjoying ice cream while walking are also considered bad manner!

And is it really that strict, I have seen documentaries and travel videos where a few Japanese eating while walking down the street/forest and noone is taking notice of them.

Of course, people without proper manners exist in Japan, as well. Furthermore, there are some situations, when it is common to eat while walking, for example, at festivals.

I am a cyclist so most of the time I eat outside while traveling, I guess it is ok to sit on a bench/in a park and eat as long as I clean up properly?

Yes!

Hi Uji,

cheers for clearing that all up, makes sense really.

Take care.

I guess historically in any parts of the world people sit when they eat. I am not quite sure where this eating while walking came from, but I suspect it is from USA. For Japanese, the existant of ''sit-down meal'' IS surprizing. Just have a seat when you eat; it is much less messier and you don't need to worry about dirtying other people's clothes in crowded Japan.

I eat some kind of jank food even riding bycycle. Indeed I don't care someone doing like this. Someone may blame me,but I think in my mind,"if someone doesn't bother you directly, just don't care and mind yourself!"
I'm not a kind of bad guy.

I eat some kind of jank food even riding bycycle. Indeed I don't care someone doing like this. Someone may blame me, but I think in my mind,"if someone doesn't bother you directly, just don't care and mind yourself!"
I'm not a kind of bad guy.

Eating while on a bike?
I would not call it something related to the freedom of your mind.
You cannot pay full attention to the food and around you at the same time.
If you are paying full attention to the people around you or traffic, you are likely to spill some food, which is public nuisance.
If you are paying more attntion to your food, then you'll become a public menace!

If want ride a bicycle while eating, please do it where there's no one else.

And (this is not addressed to my previous poster only) those who eat/drink while walking/running/cycling tend to throw away the wrapper or left over or tins/cans around, just like those walk smoking throw around cigarette buts everywhere.
I hate such behaviour.

Seeing somebody to violate good manners and the potential dangerous action of eating while cycling, directly bothers many people around you.

I hope you were only flaming.

Ditto.

I suppose it's more healthier to sit still while digesting.

You can also focus on your food if you sit still. Cuisine is not only about making your tummy full, but about enjoying the taste, scent and appearance of the food.

So not only should you sit, but you should sit and eat at a place where you're supposed to. A bench at a park is on problem, but a noisy train station platform or a corner on the pavement is not ideal.

I really don't meant offend or threaten somebody else.
I agree with you my behaver is not acceptable in the point of social view,althoug I couldn't help bicycle-eating when I hangry and need to ride.
Once I lived in the US. It doen't seem so bad.
Of course I won't throw away things.
But somebody mind it. It's not to say nice thing.
I ride in the dusty chemical air. It doesn't have to with manner.
Sorry Everyone for my wrong apperad mention in this forum.

I walked past the new Krispy Kreme shop in Shinjuku - guess what no one even bothered to open up the box on the spot and eat a fresh one straight away, when its at its best.

If this walking = no eating rule is really related to 'concentrate, respect and exjoy the food ala Ichiran Ramen style' then I don't see it being applicable here. Although one could argue KK is low end junk (diabetic inducing) food that is capitalising on Japan's crave for anything American...

I really have a problem with buying a fresh Kurobuta Tonkatsu and Ebi-fry only to find it stone cold by the time I find a discrete place to consume it in privacy. *_*

Usually, restaurants which sell tonkatsu and ebifry, will have tables and chairs for people to sit down and eat the food in an as fresh and hot state as possible. What kind of places do you buy your kurobuta tonkatsu from? Don't they have any tables to sit down? How about Krispy Kreme?

Well put it this way. Say for example, if I have a few places I hope to visit for the day and I happen to come across a shop which sells interesting food items for takeaway, that I don't see anywhere else. Or I visit the food section of a high end department store which doesn't have outlets near where I live. I can't always carry it back to the hotel/home and heat it up again to eat.

The answer is also no, most of the time, the shops don't have a table nor seats for me to enjoy the food in its best state because I'm not going into a restaurant. This include renowned cakes you could only buy at certain Shinjuku or Ginza outlets. At Krispy Kreme Shinjuku and as at many other international outlets, the queue is really long and any seats and tables are long taken. Where I live in Melbourne of Australia and the us monkeys don't have manners, at least we could gobble down a few in the car or during the walk to somewhere else when they're still fresh. Saving the rest for later.

I try not to look like a fool not respectful of the Japanese unspoken rules, walking and eating on the streets, though in reality it does bring some inconveniences.

On this point of view and disregard of my manner behavior, I agree with you. First some out-door food shops expect people to eat their foods eaten in fresh. And at Matsuri in Japan people are eating foods even drinking in a crowd. That doesn't any trouble unless you don't touch others. Some strange about manner about walking eating.
Do I miss the point again?

I don't think you miss the point at all. Its like you pointed out, slightly contradictory for out-door shops wanting to give ya great fresh food yet you have to take it home to eat it in a stale state.

The matsuri example is a good one. There isn't much trouble being caused by doing that, I mean, what are the actual chances of you getting food spilt on you compared to tripping over someone sleeping on the street or being pissed on by drunk men when walking past some dark streets of Shinjuku at night? It (the food spill) doesn't happen overseas, why should it happen in Japan unless they have shaky hands and messier food than hamburgers with sauce?

If you think about this subject DEEP UNDERNEARTH, you could see the obvious flaw in the way Japan treats this issue.

Most Japanese shops try to be PERFECT in their cooking and gives you the best ingredients, best cooking preparations, perfect packaging, great serving staff, etc.

They then also strive to be PERFECT in being respectful of others and adhere to their manners as well and so if you buy good TAKOYAKI from a shop you can't eat it there or when walking down the street.

As you can see, in both instances they're just trying hard to make everything politically perfect because that is the Japanese method. Unfortunately you can't have your cake and eat it too (at least not on the spot lol), as they ultimately conflict one another in principle. So personally, I bend it slightly my way but without making myself seem like a disrespectful baka-gaijin in the process. I hide in the first corner I see and I do whatever I want there.

And here they go on arguing that the Japanese customs are flawed and their own are the right one...

"I am not an animal"...that is why one doesn't eat whilst walking.

You have seen Japanese people do it? On a documentary? DId they walk up to the camera and say "I am Japanese!"?
Maybe they were and maybe they weren't, but if one person does something, does that mean it's ok for everyone to do it?
As for smoking, it's illegal now in Japan to smoke on the street. I think the fine is about 100 bucks. In places like Tokyo, the difference between last year and now is HUGE!
So good luck with your time here and try the soba...it's excellent!

Somewhat Off topic

On several occasions i've reached for my backpack, eaten, even taken off and on my sweater and jacket.
At the same time as i was bicycling.

This i actually do consider dangerous, but if you take your surroundings and personal skill into consideration, why not?

But drinking while on a bike is'nt too bad, at least i do'nt think so.
You're still sitting down actually.

(Note that i live in Norway, not been to Japan just yet. Maybe later this year?)

I don't see if a problem exists by discussing how we feel about certain customs.

As I already mentioned numerous times, I respect it and try to follow it in order to not appear like I want to break their rules and prove myself correct.

It is just a matter of inconvenience.

Perhaps I was a bit off-track previously, because I don't normally walk and eat in any country I visit. My core complaint is that, there actually isn't even a space or table for me to quickly finish off the food and be on my merry way again. This will actually solve the walk and eat problem at the same time.

My Japanese husband often buys yakisoba or okonomiyaki from the yatai outside Yoyogi Park. If there is a free seat at the couple of tables they have there, he sits down to eat it. If not, he stands and eats it- maybe carrying it into the park somewhere.

Generally speaking Japanese people prefer to sit and eat their food, but it's not offensive if for some reason you don't- especially in Tokyo, where pretty much anything goes these days.