ESSAY
Why don’t many American restaurants use photos on their menus? And why are restrooms often not freely accessible to customers? In contrast, American fast food chains like McDonald’s and Burger King commonly feature photo menus and open restrooms. Based on firsthand experiences from the 1990s, this article explores the differences between American and Japanese dining culture and the underlying logic behind these systems.
→ A Look Back at the Commercial and Service Culture of 1990s America
What Is “Standard”?
When I first set foot in the United States in the 1990s, the strongest sense of discomfort I felt came from two things in restaurants: menus and restrooms. There were almost no photos of the food, and restrooms were not open to customers. Yet even at that time, both were completely ordinary in Japan.
And then, when I later walked into an American fast food restaurant, I found a scene that felt like it belonged to an entirely different country. Photo menus, and bright restrooms open to anyone. This contradiction was not just a difference—it became an entry point for thinking about what “standard” really means.
Even this fast-food culture reflected the deeper differences between how American and Japanese society functioned.
→ What Actually Felt So Different About America in the 1990s
Why American Restaurants Don’t Use Photos
At the time, very few American restaurants included photos on their menus. Dishes were described in words, and customers were expected to imagine what they would receive based on those descriptions. It was less about “helping you choose” and more about assuming you already understood what you were ordering. In that sense, the underlying design philosophy was fundamentally different from that of Japanese restaurants, where visual guidance plays a central role.
→ American menus didn’t look appetizing.
Restrooms Were Not “Open”
Equally striking was how restrooms were treated. Even when they were inside the restaurant, there were often no signs, and they were not facilities you could freely use at any time. In most cases, access to restrooms was implicitly controlled.
In other words, restrooms were not considered part of the service, but rather facilities attached to a private space. This stood in clear contrast to the Japanese assumption that anyone can use them freely, at any time.
→ A restroom experience in 1990s America.
But Fast Food Was Different
Yet even within the United States, everything changed the moment you stepped into a fast food restaurant. Chains like McDonald’s and Burger King featured photo menus that allowed for intuitive ordering. Restrooms were generally open, and the barrier to using them was extremely low. What existed there was a completely different kind of space—one that anyone could use freely, unlike traditional restaurants.
Why Did It Take This Form?
This difference can be explained less by culture and more by business structure. For fast food, turnover is everything, which means creating a system where anyone can order quickly and without confusion. Photos accelerate decision-making and eliminate the need for verbal understanding.
Opening restrooms also lowers the psychological barrier to entering and staying in the space. In this sense, menu photos and open restrooms are not “services,” but mechanisms designed to maximize efficiency.
Japan Had Already Arrived There
What is particularly interesting is the case of Japan. Long before fast food chains entered the market, Japanese restaurants had already adopted photo menus and open restrooms as standard practice. In other words, Japan did not adopt these features under American influence, but arrived at the same structure through an entirely different context.
Meanwhile, in the United States, such ideas barely existed within traditional restaurant culture. However, as fast food expanded globally, it pursued a form that would be accessible to everyone. The result was a structure strikingly similar to what Japanese restaurants had already established. This is not so much a story of influence, but of different cultures arriving at the same conclusion through their own forms of rationality.
Where Does “Standard” Come From?
When you place traditional American restaurants, Japanese dining culture, and globally expanded fast food side by side, it becomes clear that there is no single definition of “standard.” At the same time, it reveals that under similar conditions, different cultures can converge toward the same form.
A “standard” is not something fixed—it is the result of environment and purpose.
Conclusion
Fast food originated in the United States, but its most complete form was not necessarily found there. At least, it did not exist in the America I first encountered in the 1990s.
Photo menus and open restrooms—these are ordinary scenes in Japan. But behind them lies not culture alone, but carefully selected rationality. The “normal” we take for granted is not universal; it is simply one possible answer among many.
The same way of thinking appeared throughout everyday American life — in supermarkets, fast food, and even vending machines.
→ Commercial and Service Culture in 1990s America
→ What Vending Machines and Pay Phones Revealed About American and Japanese Rationality
There were also unforgettable tastes and food cultures in America that stayed in my memory long after the trip itself.
→ My Experience With America’s Surprisingly Different Coffee Culture
→ The Freedom and Logic Behind America’s Doggy Bag Culture
→ Why “Fried Potatoes” Didn’t Work in America
→ Exploring the Food Culture Shocks I Experienced in 1990s America
Here is the central article that brings together many of my real experiences from 1990s America across different themes.
→ 1990s America Experience Archive — The Culture Shocks and Social Logic I Encountered Firsthand