A Yen for Tipping?

By Danny Choo

Just got back from dinner and this is some of what we had. After living in the UK for most of my life, arriving in Japan to be presented with sea urchin on rice didn't appeal to me.

While the red Ikura (salmon roe) tastes good, the light brownish goop-on-rice looking stuff (Uni - Sea Urchin) doesn't really have any taste so I stay away.

Todays topic is not about Sushi however and is about a subject that we were taking about over dinner. One of the annoying things that I enjoyed (not) when living in Seattle for 5 months - tipping.

I don't mind tipping - I just don't want to spend time to work out the amount to leave. The tip should probably be included in the bill to save everybody time.

Because of the tipping system, I found some of the waiters in the US to be creepy. Many waiters would use the "greet-you-with-hand-on-your-shoulder" technique to try and build a relationship with you or throw a joke at the beginning. While some of them are genuinely nice, some would look like a bad actor.

In the UK, if one pound in change was due back to me after a meal, the restaurant would make sure its 5 x 20pence instead of a pound coin.

Good thing that there is no tipping requirement in Japan, nor is tipping expected despite the usually excellent service. I remember my first trip to Japan in McDonalds - the cute girl at the till was so nice to me that I got all excited "She likes me!" but then I looked back to find that she gave the next customer the same warm friendly treatment... Was my first heart break.

When I relocated to Japan, I tried to give a taxi driver a tip and he wouldn't accept it. Leaving a tip on the table at a restaurant would just have a waiter running out after you with your money.

Wondering if there is anywhere else in the world which doesn't have a tipping requirement?