Cutlery and Chop Sticks

Are there western style cutlery served in dining places (ie spoon, fork, knive) I fear if I rely on chopsticks I will starve, as I cannot get used to these implements. Should we bring our own set of cutlery?

In a high class western style hotel or restaurant or in a restaurant ( department store ) serving western dishes you will have cutlery. In a ramen, udon, sushi aso restaurant only chopsticks.

most places seem to have a few knives forks and spoons stashed away. When I first visited Japan with my brother he was often offered western cutlery after they�fd noticed him struggling with chopsticks for a few minutes. You certainly won't starve!

Not only high class western restaurants but also cheap family restaurants and basic pasta places etc there are always knives and forks- in fact depending on the kind of food served there may not be any chopsticks.

If you go to a sushi restaurant don't expect there to be any forks on hand- and expect some odd looks if you break out a knife and fork to eat sushi with!

Western-style dishes are served with Western-style cutlery and any restaurants that serve Western fare will have forks and spoons on-hand if you request them.

That said, especially in rural Japan and small neighborhood restaurants -- if the fare is largely Japanese (or Asian), you will be expected to use chopsticks. Forks and spoons can be tough to come by and table-knives are few and far between ~ especially in Japanese-style fast-food joints like kaiten-zushi, Yoshinoya and noodle shops.

Chopsticks aren't tough to figure out... you might want to try learning them at home before you go on your trip. But if you absolutely -must- have a spoon: you should probably bring it with you, just to be sure.

Many japanese eat Sushi with their hands (more often at a kaitzen sushi than in a Sushi-ya)... so don�Lt be surprised if you end eating it like that!!

I am sure you won't starve to death, besides if you give chopsticks a chance, you WILL get used to it, i promise - its not really that difficult, after 1-2 days you will be able to use them. (just look at it as a fun part of the trip, trying something new - isnt it what travelling is all about?)
Enjoy your trip.... uhm... meal! ;-)