Tipping in Japan Remains Taboo as Tourism Takes Off
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Japan
Tourism
Cultural Norms
The article discusses how tipping remains taboo in Japan despite the surge in tourism, highlighting the cultural differences in tipping customs; the HN discussion is minimal, but the topic touches on cultural exchange and understanding.
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Oct 4, 2025 at 3:07 PM EDT
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Are there countries outside of the US where tipping is functionally mandatory/very common? I know it was common in Europe before card payments were the default, but it was just to make transactions a bit easier by rounding up to something that's simple and easy, but that trend has disappeared in cases where you pay by card. Similarly, dark patterns (usually caused by imported US hardware/software) trying to maximise tipping ('you sure you don't want to tip 10%?' before actually getting to pay) is frowned upon by everyone I know, and the only cases anyone actually considers tipping is at well-established restaurants and we're a group of 8 or more people (and there wasn't anything to complain about), and even in these cases, the tip rarely breaks 10%.