Table etiquette

Is it offending when you use western table etiquette in stead of Japanese etiquette?

Yes, depending on the specific situation, it can be irritating or even offending. Sometimes it is not possible, e.g. in a restaurant that has only tables to sit on the floor or has no Western style cutleries. Some Japanese dishes, e.g. ramen, cannot even be eaten in a Western style.

Some basic Japanese table manners:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2005.html

When you say Western table etiquette, what are you thinking of? Many things are the same, for example not talking with your mouth full or putting your elbows on the table while eating.

There are a few things specific to Japanese situations like not digging around in the food with your chopsticks or standing the chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice, but otherwise it's more or less common sense and you shouldn't offend anyone.

Wherever you go, Western dishes are eaten in Western ettiquette. Japanese dishes are eatn in Japanese etiquette. Chinese dishes are eaten in Chinese ettiquette. Simple as that. More specific questions are welcome.

In one of my visits to our Marunouchi office way back in the eighties, I told the Japanese secretary I would like to eat where average salarymen did. Initially, she was a bit reluctant to bring me there. She said in Tokyo people would line up for a quick lunch. They would pay and move away quickly after finished their meal because there were others waiting to take up the seat. In fact, from my observation in the later years, I found Japanese eat pretty fast. They hardly stay on after finishing their meal with the exception of eating at Izakaya or at formal function. In my country, most people would continue to occupy the table even they had finished eating. Other dinners can wait standing there if they care to do so. I guess that is the difference!

I think maybe Mara is thinking more about such activities as sharing plates/remembering to pour eachother drinks etc etc. I remember a meal I went to with my cousin and her friends in Osaka, there were 6 of us in total, and I completely forgot myself and ordered 1 plate of food for myself, thinking it would be enough. I didn't pay much attention to what everyone else ordered, and was taken aback for a second when my plate arrived, and everyone else dove straight in to eat it! I'm so used to ordering food for just myself, that I'd forgotten how things are done there. There tends to be many plates of food, with everyone in mind. Some westerners aren't so keen on sharing, but I quite like actually being able to try someone elses plate, instead of just looking and wondering what it tastes like!