As an American living in Japan, your system sounds utterly stupid too. Here, it's simple: the restaurant has a menu. Items on the menu each have a price that

As an American living in Japan, your system sounds utterly stupid too. Here, it's simple: the restaurant has a menu. Items on the menu each have a price that includes sales tax. You order items and eat them. When you're done, they give you a bill with a list of the items, the advertised prices, and the total of those prices. You then pay the bill. The main exception (and it is annoying) is some places that have "otoshi", which is some small, cheap dish of something you didn't ask for that you get when you sit down, and they tack onto the bill. It's basically a table charge. But there's a warning on the menu about it.