Japanese Manners and Etiquette

Have been surfing the net about Japanese Manners and Etiquette but could not find any info regarding finishing the food you order. My stomach can't hold too much food and I get full quickly. Is it considered rude if i order something and can't finish the whole plate? is it normal to take out the leftover?

Is it considered rude if i order something and can't finish the whole plate?

If you know that it is too much and you order it anyways, many people will consider it bad manner. But it depends on the place and host. At places like McDonalds, few people will care.

But if you can't finish your plate because it is bigger than expected, it cannot be helped, and most people will be understanding if you can't finish.

If language allows, you are very welcome to explain your small hunger and ask for a smaller portion. Many restaurants can cater to such requests.

is it normal to take out the leftover?

No, it is generally not very common. But possible at some restaurants.

is it normal to take out the leftover?

I eat at all kinds of places high and low and according to my experience, it's actually possible at most restaurants and is even the norm in some parts of Japan.

Exceptions are summer times when food tends to become rotten fast and other times when there is an outbreak of food poisoning (which is usually around summer).

Lately, I am hardly turned down when I ask for my leftovers to be wrapped to take home. You can call the waiter, rub your stomach to show you are full, and point at your food(s) and say "tsutsunde moraemasuka?" (Could you wrap this for me?). Then the waiter may say that certain foods can't be wrapped (such as soup-y foods or raw foods) but this and that can be.

I notice that sometimes the staff seems like they're thinking about it, but when I suggest more specifically by saying that it could be anything such as "foil" or "saran wrap" (which are both pronounced the same even in Japanese), they usually tell me it's okay.

Thanks for your responses. I dont order large portion of food...it just that i get full very quickly and judging on the pictures of food in japan, they seem to be too much for me to finish. I love eating...just cant stuff too much food in my stomach :)

Actually servings of food at restaurants in Japan tend to be smaller than in most other countries. To be honest at most restaurants no-one is going to pay the slightest attention to how much of your food you eat, let alone be concerned about it. Both staff and customers are usually busy people with better things to think about!