Japanese cuisine after the meal and the restaurant staff when leaving. Before eating, most dining places provide either a hot or cold towel or a plastic-wrapped wet napkin ("o-shibori"). This is for cleaning hands before eating (and not after). It is rude to use them to wash the face or any part of the body other than the hands, though some Japanese men use their "o-shibori" to wipe their faces in less formal places. Accept "o-shibori" with both hands when handed the towel by a server. When finished, fold or roll up the oshibori and place it on the table. It is
Oshibori 2004. The word oshibori comes from the Japanese word , meaning "to wring", with the honorific prefix "o-", which is added to several types of nouns, including many nouns related to washing or food; onigiri/omusubi (お握り and お結び) "rice ball" follows the same pattern – see honorific prefix usage. In Japanese script, the word oshibori is normally written in hiragana (おしぼり), seldom using kanji (お絞り or 御絞り). Oshibori are also known as "o-tefuki"; "tefuki" refers to ordinary handkerchiefs, and these derive from the Japanese (hand) and , to wipe. In mājan parlors, the words "atsushibo" and "tsumeshibo", from the Japanese