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The story
Talent Atsushi Tamura posted a video on X showing himself eating at Uosei, an eel restaurant in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, while wearing his hat — and after facing backlash, he pushed back, saying “No one complains when you eat with your hat on at a beef bowl chain.” On 5ch’s Geinou/Sports Breaking News+ board, comments clashed between those who didn’t understand why taking your hat off indoors is considered proper manners, and those who argued that keeping a hat on without the restaurant’s permission is simply rude — the debate spiraled into differences in upbringing and discipline. Many also pointed out how odd it is that the reaction changes depending on the type of restaurant.
Talent Atsushi Tamura updated his X (formerly Twitter) account on the 21st. After facing criticism for eating at an eel restaurant while keeping his hat on, he responded with a rebuttal.
It all started with a video Tamura posted on the 20th.
Tamura wrote, “For everyone who loves eel — this is a place you have to visit! I finally managed to get a reservation and enjoyed it ♪(´ε｀ )” and shared footage of himself enjoying a meal at Unagi Uosei, an eel restaurant in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo.
Source: ggtnews.net / Original article here
What people said
they just don't bother saying anything every time.
Can't you tell that without being told?
The restaurant probably couldn't care less, right?
No way anyone's actually asking "Is it okay if I keep my hat on?"
That doesn't change based on what you're eating.
Sure it's indoors, but plenty of people keep their hats on in food courts, and that's never a problem, right?
Showing off a bald head is the real manners violation.
Exactly, it ruins people's appetite.
The self-appointed photo analysts online rated it as him savoring the meal with real soul.
They also got him with Friday while he was browsing AV (adult videos) —
classic filler story for a slow news day.
Does the restaurant even have a reason to want hats off?
This is exactly the kind of thing that reveals your upbringing.
Are you Noritake Kinashi? (comedian known for his laid-back, rule-breaking image)
Exactly, lol.
Taking your hat off indoors is just basic etiquette.
I want to know that too —
chefs get criticized if they DON'T wear a hat.
People who get bothered by this were probably raised by overly nitpicky parents.
People who aren't bothered by it were probably raised by thoughtless parents.
Guess that's how it looks to an old man like you.
What kind of upbringing did you have?
We're talking indoors here lol, so a beef bowl place shouldn't be okay either.
This is entertainment, right?
I think Tamura knows exactly what he's doing.
It comes from the West — hats themselves originally came to Japan from Western culture.
Even in elementary school, you might wear a hat indoors or on your way to school, but you take it off for class, right?
That's the (indoors = hat off) rule a lot of people question.
Guess you just don't know what "datsubou" (taking your hat off as a sign of respect) means, huh.
Even I know it, and people often tell me I have no common sense.
Why is it common sense though?
Just follow manners yourself and live your life.
I'm not into nitpickers either, but hats are a different story —
most Japanese people find it genuinely off-putting.
You're the one being pushy about other people's opinions here.
Manners police have bad manners too.
If you're going to post yourself eating in public, getting some flak should be expected.
If you don't want that, just eat quietly and keep it to yourself.
I genuinely didn't understand what was embarrassing about it.
Upbringing and discipline really do vary a lot from person to person.
Just say it in your head — you're the embarrassing one.
It's basically in every TV drama though —
I don't get what's supposed to be embarrassing about it.
When I see someone quietly put their hands together and mutter "itadakimasu" and "gochisousama" (thank-you phrases said before and after meals),
I think, "this person was raised right."
Background and Key Points of the Debate
The custom of treating “take your hat off indoors” as a basic manner is said to trace back to the fact that hats themselves were introduced to Japan from Western culture, and it isn’t codified in any law or store policy. That’s why the thread never quite reconciled two positions: pushback against the logic that “not being told off means permission was granted,” and the view that “you should be able to tell without being told.” The differing treatment — tolerated at beef bowl chains and food courts, but scrutinized at upscale places like eel restaurants — also became a point of debate, but this reflects unspoken differences in expectations based on a restaurant’s class and clientele rather than any unified rule, which makes the whole issue easy to misread. The thread also saw a clash between people defending the practice by citing hiding baldness, and critics invoking upbringing and discipline, with the conversation often sliding from manners into judgments about the other side’s character. Conflicts over “manners” like this tend to escalate emotionally precisely because, the less codified the rule is, the more the standard varies depending on each person’s upbringing.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Breaking News+) thread “Atsushi Tamura Eats at an Eel Restaurant Without Taking His Hat Off — Amid Criticism, He Says “No One Says Anything About Wearing a Hat at a Beef Bowl Place,” “Random Manners Police Are Annoying”“.
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