Everything you ever wanted to know about beeru…

ビール一杯ください。
(If you find yourself in Japan, print the above out and point to it in case of emergency.)

Our Japanese friends were kind enough to school us in the proper beer-drinking etiquette in their country while we were there. First of all, please note that the Japanese word for ‘beer’ is ‘beeru’ (pronounced bee-roo). This word is so much fun to say that you may find yourself ordering beer you don’t even want just because you can’t stop repeating it.

• In Japan, beeru is often served in large bottles that are shared by everyone at the table, and it is drunk out of hopelessly small glasses. It is considered very bad form to pour your own beeru.
• When someone is pouring beeru for you, it is polite to put both your hands on your cup and say ‘oh thank you, you’re too generous’ and other crap like that to the person pouring it.
• If you find yourself out of beeru and wanting some more, it is a good idea to start refilling the glasses of the other people at the table, even if they are no where close to empty. If you are lucky, this action will prompt someone in turn to fill your glass.

Here’s a demonstration of how to pour beeru in Japan:

And here’s me showing how it’s done where I come from:

[You’ll never believe it, but by the end of the trip my drinking manners were indistinguishable from those of a Japanese businessman. Except I never tied a tie around my head (not in Japan, anyway).]