Oshibori Oshibori An or hot towel in English is a wet hand towel offered to customers in places such as restaurants or bars, and used to clean one's hands before eating. Oshibori has long been part of Hospitality Culture in Japan: in "The Tale of Genji" era it was used for visitors; during the Edo period it was used in Hatago (); later it started to be used in many restaurants. It eventually spread to worldwide use. Cold oshibori are used in summer, and hot oshibori in winter. In Japan, October 29 has been observed as the day of Oshibori since
Japanese cuisine 1980s, and thus sparked Japanese food's – more precisely, sushi's – global popularity. In 2014, Japanese Restaurant Organization has selected potential countries where Japanese food is becoming increasingly popular, and conducted research concerning the Japanese restaurants abroad. These key nations or region are Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. This was meant as an effort to promote Japanese cuisine and to expand the market of Japanese ingredients, products and foodstuffs. Numbers of Japanese foodstuff and seasoning brands such as Ajinomoto, Kikkoman, Nissin and Kewpie mayonnaise, are establishing production base in other Asian countries, such as China, Thailand and