Etiquette in Japan been used. In Japanese restaurants, customers are given a rolled hand towel called "oshibori". It is considered rude to use the towel to wipe the face or neck; however, some people, usually men, do this at more informal restaurants. Nonwoven towelettes are replacing the cloth "oshibori". In any situation, an uncertain diner can observe what others are doing; and for non-Japanese people to ask how to do something properly is generally received with appreciation for the acknowledgment of cultural differences and expression of interest in learning Japanese ways. When using toothpicks, it is good etiquette to cover one's mouth with
History of the Japanese in Houston Japanese American community in Houston had about 3,000 people, and that, as paraphrased by Minh Dam of the "Houston Chronicle", is "a relatively small number compared to other Asian-American communities in the area". A few Japanese, mostly working as laborers, were present in Houston by 1900, and due to a lack of required English knowledge some Japanese in Houston opened small restaurants that catered to working-class people and served inexpensive American meals. In the 1890s a man named Tsunekichi Okasaki, who took the American name "Tom Brown", opened a Japanese restaurant in Downtown Houston, which employed many recently arrived Japanese