Photo/Illutration Allowing someone to fill your glass is a time-honored custom in Japan. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

I wonder if author Masuji Ibuse (1898-1993) was having a pleasant drinking session or a melancholic one when he penned the poem that follows.

The opening verse, translated literally, goes: “We admire the harvest moon tonight/ This is the night for reminiscing about one’s first love/ We’ve all done our best to make time/ To drink alone at Yoshinoya.”

I cannot tell whether Ibuse was drinking with friends or by himself. This is indeed a strange poem.

The use of the plural “we” implies that the author was visiting a watering hole named Yoshinoya with at least one other person. But the last line indicates solo drinking.

That said, I might as well presume that Ibuse was practicing what is called “tejaku” in Japanese, which means to pour your own sake rather than having someone else do it for you.

The poem, titled “Itsudai” (Untitled), continues, “Haru-san, give me chopped ‘tako’ (octopus)/ Seasoned with salt/ And serve my sake hot.”

With the nation poised to start lifting pandemic-induced restrictions, the association that oversees the food service industry has issued a directive for restaurants that essentially encourages patrons to practice tejaku and refrain from pouring for one another.

Pouring a glass for a fellow drinker can help people become chummy during drinking sessions. But this is obviously not the wisest thing to do with the virulent novel coronavirus going around.

The government has lifted its state of emergency declaration in 39 prefectures, and industry associations are compiling guidelines to ensure that people will continue to exercise caution in their gradual return to “normalcy.”

Hotels serving buffet-style meals are asking patrons to refrain from serving themselves and allow wait staff to do it for them.

All members of wedding parties are to keep their face masks on until just before posing for group photos. And airlines are asking passengers to minimize in-flight conversations.

Some guidelines may verge on being unpleasantly intrusive, but we should actively embrace any that stand to reason.

Preventing infections and stimulating the economy should not be mutually exclusive. To achieve both, new rules are needed.

Once tejaku becomes the new custom, drinkers may be relieved to not have to be overly mindful of “traditional etiquette” and enjoy their sake more.

And each of us can always make up our own new rules.

We tend to become less talkative face to face because of what airborne droplets can do.

My new rule could be to speak softly but coherently when I greet or thank someone.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 16

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.