Feb 5, 2026
Living on Japanese time?
Do you eat with your family at a particular hour? My interactions with neighbours and friends suggest their dinner time is much later than mine. I tend to aim for 7 p.m. Tell us about your dinner hour and the constraints of your work hours, family schedule. Gratuitous pic of summer soba prepared by my Japanese ojisan neighbour.
Best Answer
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on Feb 6
We eat around 6.30 pm. It was earlier when the kids were smaller. My Japanese husband used to eat earlier growing up too, because he went to bed by 7.30, which was very common in his day. But I agree, that Japanese people may eat later now (and they definitely go to bed later), because I know from observation and my Japanese friends and my kids friends that there families often eat after 8 pm. Sometimes I go to the supermarket just before 8 pm and I am always amazed by the amount of my neighbors who are there, with their elementary aged school children, buying that night's dinner. I have also noticed that in my neighborhood many people seem to have their bath before dinner. I never understood that!
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on Feb 6
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on Feb 6
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on Feb 6
@BigfamJapan My impression from talking to families (and hearing the neighbour's kids doing bathtime karaoke!) is that they bathe at 7 p.m. and dine around 8 p.m. Wow, I'm surprised your husband's bedtime was so early. Did he have a very early school day start? At the private school I teach at, our kids have to be in homeroom by 8:15 a.m.
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on Feb 6
@genkidesu Nice schedule! Most working days, I'm up at 6:45 a.m. and at work by 8:15 a.m. Fortunately, I have a relatively short commute, just 35 minutes each way. I can get in at 5:30 and get dinner on the table by 6 p.m., but I usually dawdle until 7 p.m.
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on Feb 20
6 Answers