How do I tip a concierge?
 

I know one doesn't tip in Japan, but how does one reward a hotel concierge for a job well done? Are they indeed offended by tips? Without going into detail, the concierge has done an extraordinary amount of work for us and when we were provided with similar service at our hotel in London we were told by an associate who lives in London that a $US 100 tip was not out of line.

I think a gift might be more appropriate. Big departments stores will have gift sets available.

I agree -- a gift set would work better. Also there is another way -- you can always wrap some yen up in one of those discreet gift evenlopes to thank the hotel staff in question for their extraordinary effort.

Writing this as I am at the Prince Shinagawa hotel in their newly renovated rooms.

Sanosuke!

Thanks

OK, so it's ok to give money just as long as it's wrapped nicely?

What is a "gift set" and are they really appreciated?

I'd be weary of giving cash wrapped or otherwise.
I got a small flower arrangement for front desk worker before.

Typically it's beer or coffee or sweets in a box, nicely wrapped. If you give money it's always nice to have a new bill. There's a special kind of envelope (a "shugibukuro" according to Mrs VB) for monetary gifts. You can get them at convinience stores

It's hard to set one up better than this. ;)

If your wallet allows, you could always go this route:

(press the blue button if you're interested in the comments that were posted in relation to this one - post 18/19 onwards in the linked thread)

EDIT: Having just re-read them, I'd recommend this - the subsequent posts are among the most succinct and useful information I've ever seen on this topic - re Japan.

- And the en has also finally dropped as to why a certain contributor might tear out their guidebook pages after using them; they make excellent 100yen notes - great for confusing poilte bellboys with (or perhaps this belies a rather keener understanding of the culture than we may have expected, what he's really done is taken the concept of 'nazoraeru' to a whole new level in the modern world)

I continue to be amazed by some FTers evidently burning desire to tip in countries where it is not appropriate, e.g., Japan and China.

Take a look at this both amusing and agitated threat about tipping in China. http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthrea...hlight=tipping

If the Japanese culture says don't tip ... why do it?

They've been at it again!?!?:(

I thought this topic had been well and truly exhausted in this China Forum thread: http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=580724
As this original tipping debate involved an Okura Hotel in China (Japanese owned), I emailed them. The response is in post #57. Even with an official response as to a hotel's policy on tipping, some people just know better and are determined to pursue their own course of actions.
And to continue to keep on encouraging others to do the same as them in a brand new thread.... sigh....

I really hope we don't get into a simillar war over on this forum. I believe the thread I linked to in my last post is pretty comprehensive... even covering etiquette at special times of the year like Xmas/New Year (I got a lovely thank you note in return for the modest gift of shortbread BTW).

I've never tipped anybody in Japan. I have, however, on occasion given someone who has regularly done something especially nice for me a small gift from the States or a box of sweets, etc.

In Japan, though, tipping for normal service (and even extraordinary service) isn't at all necessary. I've heard a story of a man who tried to tip the bellman at a hotel in Tokyo (forget which one). The bellman accepted the money, but at checkout, the man found that his tip had been deducted from his bill. The bellman didn't refuse the money, since that would be rude, but just took it down to the front desk and had them take it off the man's bill.

In Japan TGI Friday's has a 10% service charge . All of the money goes to the company.

The best way to thank some one for a job well done in Japan is to give that person a hand written card, delivered in person. Failing that, an email or fax will do, but also cc his/her boss.

Only in Tokyo?

2nd to allset2travel.

Most Japanese hotel/restaurant workers are nice to guests not for the money or gift, but solely for the goodwill. I would suggest writing them a letter after you return from your trip.

Not in Osaka or Kyoto either? ;)

I couldn't resist.

Sanosuke!

in japan you can tip
 

if you want to, but its not necessary.

there is a huge difference to the us.

on my last visit to the us i was wondering why a taxi driver is asking me for a 2 usd tip on a 4 usd ride.

he didnt know the way so we had to tell him where to go, and when we gave him 5usd, he jelled something like, give me more tips.

so in the US you are forced to give tips even the people DO NOT DESERVE the TIP. the argumentation of my friends didnt satisfy me. well i understand that the
people in the service industry are not earning a lot. so if i was them and i want TIP, i would try to serve my guests so they are really satisfied and want to give me tips.

well i think that 10% of my bill is a nice tip , for example we spent 500usd in a restaurant and had to tip 20% on top which in my eyes is insane. if i eat with 2 persons for 500usd and didnt get the best service (which i would expect for this price) i would normally maybe tip 10% but not 20%.

on the other hand i can understand that a lot people from the US want to tip the japanese waiters even a 30% tip as the service you know from the US is so bad compared to the japanese service, that you feel like you are stealing from these guys if you do not tip them more than 20% .

but guys, in japan the hotels always have a 10% service charge which is indeed for SERVICE. so there is no need to tip .

so my friends told me, if there is no service they tip 10% , service is good 20% and service is outstanding they tip 25%.

so maybe its my friends who are tipping unusually but i dont get it...

the service in the USA as bad as the service in china and i hope that people stop tipping for NON-Existent service in the US.

anyway, in LA the service at SKYBAR was outstanding so we tipped an 25% which was ok for me.

dp

I'm moving to Japan and will be living in an apartment building with valet parking. (Self-park is not possible in the garage.) Nice to know I won't need to tip every time I drop off or pick up my car.

What about annual bonus or gift (for New Year or some other festival?)? Is it customary to hand a small gift or money to service staff (building manager, receptionist, gym attendant, parking attendants, etc.) once a year? In Hong Kong, for Chinese New Year, we'd have to hand out numerous 'lai see' (lucky money) envelopes to everyone who's served us during the year.

yes
 

this is totally ok.

in japan it is often comen to buy beer vouchers to give them to people or fruit baskets etc. but you can be creative and give them something when ever you feel they deserve a little token.

usually when i go to a business trip i buy some staff like candle or other stuff and give it to my staff or sometimes to hotel managers.

last time i have bought champagne and presented it to my hotel contacts at 4-5 hotels in tokyo as a christmas present.

cheers dp

To hand a gift to someone causes themn to incur a feeling of responsibility to return the favor. That is not the goal. So to achieve the goal of expressing thanks while simultaneously avoiding their incurring any debt, the culturally appropriate thing to do if giving a gift is to give a gift that person can share easily with their whole team. The fact is all people here work in teams. A building manager does not see the building being satisfactory to you as his doing alone. Rather he would see it as the successful integration of the efforts of all staff associated with the bulding functioning properly. The same is true of gym attendants, parking attendants, receptionists, etc.

Suggestions include senbei (rice crackers), cookies, chocolates, or other similarly individually wrapped or delineated within a larger box items from wherever you have returned recently. Home town specialties are very good too because it shows a bit of sharing of yourself with the team. Which in turn is in and of itself team building.

To give any gift at all is not necessarily customary, nor even expected, but if done within the parameters of the culture, very well received.

Mike

Thanks for the insight. Yes, being from a Chinese culture, I totally get the teamwork mentality, and the instinct to take credit for the group as opposed to as an individual, so gift-giving to the entire team does seem to be a good way to go.

As far as timing, is it customary or expected to do this gifting to service staff once a year, at New Year's? Or should it be done shortly after receiving extraordinary service?

Thanks.

Deleted - too sarcastic

:)
 

you can give them a little gift newyear but if you gift anything because you got extraordinary service you have to do a lot tipping in japan.

compared to europe and us the service is good, unless you want something which is not written in their guidelines...

and if you tip a japanese as you read above , the put the other person in a situation in which she/he has to return the favour.

so better you dont tip or make presents .

a thank you , smile, is enough.

at years end , christmas or newyears eve you can present the whole crew some gifts which can be shared.

and if you liked on eperson veyr much, you could always buy a small godiva or other chocolate products etc.

dp

There are exceptions to this rule as with anything else. When you stay at a ryokan, it is customary to tip the hostess who take care of you once you get to you room, in a nice envelope of course.

We stayed at the very nice Kagaya at Wakura Onsen on the Noto Hanto (Noto Peninsula) in Kanazawa prefecture. They assigned us a hostess with fluent English. Of course we did not know to tip but she took care of us at every turn anyway, from waking us in the morning to settle us in for the night.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...l&pagewanted=3
http://www.jtbgmt.com/japannow/zoom/index64.asp
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lear_sh...7594107031046/

You can see the English speaking Masako san in the last URL (not our pix).

Where did you get this information from? Please explain your source.

There is such a practice and I have previously reported on my experiences of this in this forum. Long story short - I attempted to give an envelope to the ryokan hostess in Miyajima. She smiled and very firmly refused the envelope.

I would guess that the ryokan gratuity is a dead (or nearly dead) tradition.

I remember - but I'm extremely interested in learning from which kind of sources this advice is still sprinkling from.

Good grief ... It's in dozens of guidebooks. I doubt that anyone can tell you the source ... the source might be an edict from a tokugawa era shogun for all I know...

Try googling for "kokorozuke" - I get a pretty good description on Ikyu (an online hotel reservation site):
http://www.ikyu.com/spcl2/kntat/vol13.htm


[See section on "the use of pochi envelopes"]

Guests staying at a ryokan always prepare a pochi envelope and some uncreased notes and pass it over unobtrusively.

This info came from a Japanese friend after the Kagaya stay. He asked me whether I tipped or not. It makes sense. It makes sure you get a super treatment. The service at these ryokans put all western style hotels in Japan to shame.

I was starting to think the hostess Masako san never sleeps. When we were in the room, even asleep, the door was never locked so she can slip in and out. You only lock the room when you are out. Our stay was in winter time and the snow was coming down as I sat in the outdoor pool. We also visited the Kenrokuen garden in Kanazawa to see the famous snow scene.

At the JR Wakura Onsen station, the hotel vans were waiting for their guests to arrive. I missed my station and the hotel sent an unscheduled van.

I guess it's because I've never looked too deeply into staying at "TOP LUXURY ryokans". http://www.jnto.go.jp/syd/arrange/ac...ons/index.html None of my (British) guidebooks encourage me to tip.

Perhaps it would be more helpful to try and figure out what percentage of ryokans are 'top luxury' ones, and how much they usually cost so one can recognise them.

That should stop anyone who might get concerned with tipping doing so needlessly.

What are the tell tale signs of a 'top luxury' ryokan where this sort of practice may or may not be expected?


EDIT TO ADD: Just seen SJUAMMF's reply. I was wondering which guidebook/website you might have seen this in, but this makes sense (to me at least :)). Thank you very much!

Not quite sure, we were just intrigued with Noto Hanto and stumbled upon the Kagaya. There were a line of these hotels along the shore and some may even be more exclusive.

Masako san said that there are very few Westerners who came to Kagaya but around a hundred Taiwanese every year. As you recall, Taiwan was ruled by Japan upto WWII.

I learned a lot of tidbits from her. Such as the belt on yukata is worn below the belly for men and below the bosom for women. So I was wearing the belt like a woman before.:)

Here's more from the Japan Ryokan Assoc.
http://www.ryokan.or.jp/english/pdf/...y_of_terms.pdf

Thanks! - that should be authoritive enough
(bolding mine)

(There have been some viscious fights over this subject on the China forum, I'm just hoping to 'contain' it here so it doesn't get out of hand)

Err thanks....

BTW - Pochi-Bukuro (spelling).

Depends what you mean by "this subject"
I know that the China forum has seen disputes about whether it is right to tip in China. But I doubt the folks there have ever been locked in a dispute about whether there is a tradition of presenting gratuities in Japanese Ryokan. Since the tradition of gratuities in ryokan is a pretty straightforward point of fact rather than an opinion, I don't know how long anyone could sustain an argument about it...

But FT is full of surprises like that, I suppose.

Which guidebooks are British?
TimeOut, Wallpaper City Guide...

rough guides

I was being lazy. I should have been more specific and said:

"none of my (bought in British bookstores or borrowed from British libraries) guidebooks encourage me to tip"

or better still

"none of the guidebooks I've consulted (bought in British bookstores or borrowed from British libraries) have encouraged me to tip"


Putting 'British' in was to point out that I am unfamiliar with certain publications that might be popular in other countries.

what about tipping movers?
 

I get that, in general, there is no tipping in Japan. However, someone also mentioned there are exceptions.

What about movers? I just relocated to Tokyo. Will I need to tip the movers who will be unloading and unpacking my furniture and household goods? In all the other countries where I've moved to/from, the movers all expect to be tipped generously. Perhaps not in Japan?

A tip is not needed or expected. HAving said that, any group of people sweating in this heat will definitely appreciate cold drinks now and then. If the volume of stuff is massive, a couple of times offering them cold drinks in individual containers they can take and drink by the truck will likely go over very well.

Mike

Quite right, and you might include some snacks too. I often buy indivdual 500ml bottles of tea and soft drinks and let them choose (what Mike has stated is also applicable to other workers that come and spend some time at your home).