The Hokkaido Tourism Organization, which represents Japan's northernmost island, published a downloadable brochure on its website, with polite instructions on everything from public bathing to using a Japanese toilet.
Helpfully, it even dedicated an entire section to protocol for avoiding bodily functions.
"Japanese etiquette is based on avoiding causing discomfort or nuisance to others," the guide points out.
"Accordingly, Japanese will avoid bodily functions such as belching or flatulence in public entirely, or perform bodily functions as discreetly as possible."
However, the Chinese-language guide - originally entitled Common Sense When Travelling in Hokkaido - upset a Chinese resident who angrily claimed the diagrams featuring examples of bad tourist behaviour were offensive, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.
The complaint prompted a new, foreigner-friendly version with softer explanations of Japanese customs.
In the updated guide available in Chinese and English, gone are the large 'X'-marks next to cartoon illustrations of tourists committing, from a Japanese perspective, embarrassing gaffes, such as putting used toilet paper into the waste bin - the general custom in China - instead of flushing it away.
Targeted at Chinese tourists
According to The Japan Times newspaper, the original booklet, first published last August and targeted at Chinese tourists, included a reminder not to open products before buying them when shopping, a habit also seen in China.
