Yet again....eating and walking question

As for smoking, it's illegal now in Japan to smoke on the street.

Only in a small number of busy city districts, e.g. Shinjuku, it is forbidden to smoke on the streets. In most of Japan, it is not illegal to smoke on the street. But walking and smoking is considered bad manners especially on busy streets. Often violated.

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

But if you do it in public, I recommend to discuss it in a way that is free of cultural condescension. Otherwise, it will anger or insult other people and detoriate the image of expats in Japan. I believe that it can be discussed without calling the other culture "flawed", wrong or inferior.

I don't really understand what the fuss is here.

Even in Western countries, it had always been bad manners in the old days to rush or walk while eating.

Even in Japan, younger people today complain about how inconvenient it is to be frowned at about eating and walking at the same time.

I think the original poster (if you can still see his post) was being an adult by asking the origin of the custom rather than arguing about it.

I'm glad you guys took your time to write down your meanings, even though this topic is allready finished.

I had no intention of arguing needlessly, but i was getting the idea that there was nothing but black/white rules of "correct" behaviour and what is considered wrong.
And i was more concerned about the acceptance factor of people in general, rather than the topic itself.

Thank you all for granting me a glimpse of clarity in this matter :-)

To whomever writes the English language articles about Japanese etiquette:
You repeatedly use the term ''bad manner''. That is a mistake.

The correct English term is ''bad manners'' (the plural, ''manners'', is a synonym for ''etiquette''; the singular, ''manner'', is not.)

doesn't change the fact that this was written more than a year ago...
by the way, are you British?

But let's say it's a really hot day and you're about to take a really long ride in the subway and you don't want to risk dehydration. Is it ok to bring along a cold drink on the train or is that still considered rude?

It never cease to amaze me that so many people find Japanese customs strange when in fact Caucasians people have been doing the same for centuries. Eating while walking, for example, isn't usually done in Europe either. The main reason by far is that people like to enjoy their meal, even if it is just a snack, and the best way is to sit down somewhere. Another reason is that shopping streets in Europe are crowded, as in Japan, and there is the risk of spilling things on oneself and others. I am sure that some Europeans do eat pastries in the street but very few as it makes the person look like he/she can control him/herself.

Recoil, the subways are air-conditioned anyway, but as long as your drink is in a bottle, it's not an issue at all. Japanese people do the same.

Actually, just yesterday on my way to work (so it was morning!) the man sitting opposite me on the train cracked open a can of beer...

I know that this thread was started a long time ago, but I thought I would mention something I learned from an exercise with my former students called ''Pet Peeves''. To make a long story short, no one that I asked had a problem with people standing/walking/siting on the train and eating foods with NO SMELL. So seeing people walking and eating onigiri, conbini sandwiches, icecream and the like didn't bother any of my students.

However, none of them wanted to be around someone in a public area not designated for eating if that person was eating something with a strong smell. One of my students even said he hated that people eat popcorn in movie theaters because the smell is so strong. He said it was because it smelled delicious and he wanted some but the movie had already started and he couldn't go get any or he would miss the movie. I guess the same would be true for the train- the hamburger the person across from you is eating makes you hungry and you want one, but you can't get off the train.

That being said, people do walk and eat all the time, especially late at night/when drunk. And while I can't say that it won't attract any attention, I've certainly never gotten any nasty looks for it.

Although you might see a few people doing it, most refrain from doing so--even in Tokyo. Those that do eat on trains are ignored but people consider them rude.

The manners section said that one doesn't eat on buses or trains. But I thought the whole idea of the bento box was that one could eat it in transit.
If not, where does one enjoy one's bento box?

Bob,

The manners section said that one doesn't eat on buses or trains. But I thought the whole idea of the bento box was that one could eat it in transit.
If not, where does one enjoy one's bento box?

There's no problem eating on long-distance trains. It is just eating on suburban trains and buses that is frowned on.