KKyoto

That awkward moment when your mess makes the waitress look bad

  • October 15, 2025

I just need to rant a bit about what I saw this morning at Hotel Cross Kyoto during breakfast. There was this European couple sitting nearby ane both of them got up to get more food, but the way they left their table messy and scattered, really looked like they had finished eating and left. They even left a bag of their stuff on the table.

The poor waitress probably thought they were done, so she kindly cleared the table and kept their bag safe for them. When the couple came back and realized their bag was gone, they got all pissed off and rudely demanded to know where it was. When the waitress returned it to them (still being super polite), they just gave her a death stare without even a word of thanks.

Moments like this make me understand why Japan is getting fed up with some foreign tourists.

by Sad_Ranger1986

12 comments

  2. I have been in Japan since start October – in Tokyo and now Kyoto. My boyfriend and I have been embarrassed to be a turist soooo many times. The way some people act is just sad. It’s basic human decency and unfortunately a lot of tourists lack this….
    The people here are amazing and so polite! The least we can do as visitors is to do the same.

  3. I feel like this is a really Japanese thing. Literally yesterday in Tokyo, I got up from my seat to go pay for the meal. A waitress comes up to me to bring me my glasses which I supposedly forgot. I didn’t. I literally left my bag underneath the table. I don’t just leave after paying. I go to the restroom to wash my hands first. I might sit a few more minutes after that. This wasn’t a thing where I’m from. We could pay in advance and not worry about the waiters cleaning the table while we go to the bathroom or something. But in Japan everybody is in a rush to see you out after you pay.

  4. Many different flavors of “European”. I wonder which nationality they were

  5. TikTok/instagram morons are ruining it for the better quality tourists.
    I haven’t been to Kyoto in years, I stick to lesser known places and I likely won’t be back, which is sad.

  7. Being rude was unnecessary. But when at a buffet, you can get up and get more food, or even go to the toilet, and it is always a pain when you realise your table has been cleaned and all stuff removed while you left your spot. A buffet is set up so that you go up and help yourself, so this would happen with many tables… This is common at buffet breakfasts, and has happened to me many times, though not in Japan. I go up with the kids to help them get more food, of course they leave the table in disarray, but they are not done eating and we will be back… And when we are back the table has been wiped out and we need to ask for cutlery… they even take away the tea that was cooling down. I worked in the F&B industry for a while, and it is part of the job to be more attuned to cues, or leave some time for people to go back before cleaning up. The fact that a bag of personal stuff was left on the table should have been a give-away that people would be back. I would say 50/50 on this one. The customers could have showed their disappointment without being rude, but the staff could also pay more attention…

  8. I’m joining your rant – The disrespect and disruption from tourist we witnessed in Japan was shocking! Especially in Kyoto!
    I tried to buy a couple of things from a drug store but came across a large group of drunks blocking the aisles and getting into the personal space of a staff member asking for hangover medication.
    Tourist talking loudly on public transport.
    And treating shrines like playgrounds and photo backdrops. FaceTiming to show them the shrines.
    I almost lost it at parents encouraging their kids to ‘bunny hop’ around the Okazaki Shrine in Kyoto and do a mini family photoshoot in front of the haiden.
    And I can’t forget the tourist getting aggressive for being beeped at by a car, he was walking in the middle of the road!!
    We gave up and ended up avoiding the heavy tourist areas and activities. Japan is beautiful.

  9. Must admit, compared to when I was last in Kyoto in Oct of 2016, it just feels very much like Disneyland anywhere I go. Went to climb Mt. inari this morning, we left our hotel at 6am, got the climb and return journey done by 9am, and it still was just so embarrassing watching people just ignore every cultural aspect of that particular shrine. Sad.

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