Japan

Things to avoid:

Japanese people understand that visitors may not be aware of the intricacies of Japanese etiquette and tend to be tolerant of blunders in this regard by foreigners. There are four serious etiquette breaches, however, which will meet with universal disapproval, even when foreigners commit them, and these should be avoided at all costs:

* Don't walk on a tatami mat wearing shoes or even slippers.
* Don't blow your nose in public, even discreetly. This is considered extremely boorish.
* Don't leave your chopsticks standing upright in a bowl of rice. This is how rice is offered to the dead.
* Don't enter a bathtub without washing up first. (See Bathe for details.)