Do you consider this rude: Japanese waiter opens door and just says "how many"?

Question:

My friend and i were having this discussion and i would like to invite you to give your opinion:

Someone i know went to a Japanese restaurant in England and the waiter opened the door to let them in - and the waiter just said "how many" as in he wanted to know how many needed to be seated - to which the customer said "just one" as she was alone. The waiter didn't have a nice welcoming smile on his face or anything.

Do you think it was rude to just say "how many" - as opposed to "how many please".

Answer:

I don't think all restaurants in the world would ask you "how many please?". I have visited restaurants in English speaking countries and they said "how many?" So was that so unusual for you?

Anyway, there is no equivalent of "please" in Japanese. So it's no wonder he did not say it.