How to enter a room with bamboo mats, where to place chopsticks, what not to wear — these are just some of the essential rules of etiquette young professionals are learning from Michiko Noguchi, a veteran restaurant mistress whose seminars on table manners are growing in popularity.

"I first thought of running the seminar because I saw that young people these days don't know how to serve and entertain guests at formal business dinners," said Noguchi, the deputy manager at Soujuan, which serves "kaiseki ryori" (traditional Japanese multicourse dinners) at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku.

Noguchi began her seminars on "settai" (courtesy or entertainment) earlier this year. The courses, aimed at young businesspeople but attended by people of varying ages and occupations, are conducted in groups of about 20 in a Japanese-style room over a typical kaiseki dinner. They have become so popular that Noguchi had to add more sessions to the ones held in January and March.