Interesting Social Observations Over a Bag of Chips

The Japanese, as I’ve often written, are a group-oriented people, and it’s interesting to observe the subtle body language that goes back and forth when people get together. If you have a bag of interesting chips that you want to offer to friends, the correct way to do it is to open it “party-biraki” style, placing the bag with the seal facing upwards, then ripping the entire bag open so that the contents sit on the opened wrapping. This makes it convenient for everyone to take some of the chips, but it also helps your guests get past their enryo block. The Japanese have a tendency to avoid taking something that’s offered, called enryo (translatable as restraint, reserve, or as a verb, to refrain from doing something), and it can be difficult to get people at a party to lighten up and have fun if they’re so busy being polite to each other. By opening the bag so that the contents will go to waste if your guests don’t eat, you give them an excuse to dig in. The correct way to encourage Japanese guests to eat.