Eating with hand in Japan

I am not used to eating with chopsticks, so it ok if i directly use my hands to eat like we do in India or will it be considered rude in Japan.

Also do we need to ensure that plates are empty after eating [In some countries it is considered bad]? For example, in sushi plate we need to finish all of wasabi and ginger.

depends on the dish I would say.
Sushi you can do with your hands.

Another option is to ask knife and fork

Unn...
Eating with hand is rude, depending on the food.
For example, Bread is OK, Fries is OK, Rice is NO, Curry is NO.
Please tell the clerk "Ohashi no kawari ni Fork kudasai masen ka?"
The meaning of this Japanese is " Please give me a fork instead of chopsticks."
Chopsticks = Ohashi
no kawari ni = instead of
kudasai masen ka =please give me


it is considered good style to empty your dishes to the last grain of rice.
However, it's OK when you are full, when you dislike it, when you can't eat more.

You don't need to empty your dishs at all in sushi plate.
Everybody leave wasabi and ginger on the plate.
Japanese think that it is OK to leave spices and vegetables for decoration.


I will have to be excused for my poor English.
Hope this helps :)

Apart from sushi I would say that other things are generally not okay to eat by hand. You ideally would just bring your own set of fork ( and knife) with you or in most places you are likely to go you can ask for some. You could obviously also look at some YouTube tutorials and give chopsticks a try.

Depends on where and what you eat, however, why don't you ask for a spoon or fork? Most of eating places, even takeaways and convenience stores, have a few kinds of cutlery.

Also - most Japanese dishes can be lifted to the mouth, so with chopsticks a sweeping in motion is acceptable. And curry always has a spoon supplied.

@OP

I have been to India several times and I do love the dishes and I understand why you ask.
But for example, Indian curry is totally different from the Japanese (more liquid based)

I didnft know there was a lot of hand eating in India. People scoop up aloo gobi and tikka masala with their fingers?

I know that you are probably not going to Japan to eat Indian food - but there is a reasonable amount of Indian food to be found in most places in Japan. This is my way of saying that if you want a break from eating with chopsticks or a knife & fork, this will also be available. Just don't expect it to be anything too spectacular.

Note that it's also common in some restaurants for people to offer a knife and fork as a sign of being nice and accommodating.

I think it is better to ask the restaurant staff to bring you a fork and knife. Japan has lots of watery foods, eating sushi with hands should be fine, but japanese curry is a big NO, like many others such as Ramen, Soba, Udon, Okonomiyaki, Shabu-Shabu, Sukiyaki, etc. Most foods have brooth, or other liquids, eating with hands would cause discomfort to others around you, cause you will have to dirty your hands, it will be simply no pleasant.
But since your going to Japan, why not practice the use of chopsticks? It would help you a lot. I was two weeks in Japan, and used chopsticks all the time, most restaurants and specially traditional ones only have chopsticks available. I only ate with a fork and knife once, but it was a western food restaurant. I also ate one grilled fish with hands for breakfast at a ryokan because I had a hard time to take out the fish bones with chopsticks, but no one was watching because I ate in my room. So it was ok.

Easy to pack from home your set of spoon and fork & knife. If metal make sure itfs in your checked in luggage. Otherwise plastic is an option tho not great for the environment but easier as you donft have to wash them.

It always depends on the food that is served.