Language Barrier

I am planning to travel around Japan independently with a rail pass. Unfortunately I do not speak any Japanese and wonder how difficult this is going to be?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Language Barrier

it depends where you travel to and also where you stay. If you stay in international-style accommodation in large cities, there will almost always be staff on hand who can speak some English.

Signs are posted in English and Japanese, as well as train/subway/bus stations. Bullet train announcements are in English, too. Outside many restaurants are plastic models of the food, and on menus dishes are often pictured, making it easy to point and order.

However, there%26#39;s a simple object that can make your life and that of the locals MUCH easier-- buy a phrasebook before you go!!!!!! it angers me to see foreign tourists here approaching Japanese restaurant/transport/etc staff and just speaking to them in English, not even checking if they understand. Lonely Planet phrasebooks are very good, and there are other publishers whose names I forget.

Having used phrasebooks in other countries, they%26#39;ve made life a little easier, and locals appreciate you making the effort.

Language Barrier

Thanks for the advice! I always do make a point of trying to communicate with people in their native language - the problem I was really anticipating was understanding the ';written'; word. I think you will agree that Japanese script could be quite daunting for someone only versed in the simple English alphabet!!

When you communicate in English while in Japan, it%26#39;s best to stick to simple words or simple combination of words, combined with hand gestures, instead of asking questions in complete sentences. This is generally an effective method.

There is probably not much you can do about the difference in written words because Japanese looks nothing like English. Public transport and road signs usually have English though.

Even someone who speaks passable Japanese might not understand written Japanese without specifically studying the kanji. However, it is easy enough to memorize a few of the most useful kanji (exit, ladies room, etc.) before you arrive. When I first arrived, my oral comprehension was not so good and we were travelling a lot (way off the beaten path), so one useful phrase I memorized (esp. for trains and track numbers) was ';write it down';. It is also helpful that many restaurants have plastic food displayed in a glass case outside. If you need to, you can take the waitress out to the case and point........so you needn%26#39;t worry about going hungry. :-)

If you are not ethnic Asian (i.e. you obviously look like you are not Japanese) then you should be OK if you stick to a few fundamental ideas (as Sammy has outlined). Keep it simple, write it down (Japanese can read far more English than they can understand verbally) and have an open mind. Unless you%26#39;re really familiar with the flatness of spoken Japanese, it probably does more harm than good to try to use Japanese when trying to communicate because they won%26#39;t understand it with your accents. Westerners (except for native Spanish speakers in my experience) have a very difficult time speaking in flat syllables. It runs counter to most other languages in the world.

It is much, much easier with the development of the internet which enables you to find out a great deal before you go or even when you are in Japan.

My advice would be to forget about using Japanese apart from the obvious greetings, as your pronunciation will almost certainly be impossible for a Japanese to understand. Many years ago I asked a taxi driver to take me to the New Otani hotel, one of the most famous, and had to repeat the name about six times before he understood.

I have been a regular traveller to Japan for more than 20 years and would say the keys to travel are:

Allow at least twice the time you think you will need for finding stations, rail tracks, buses etc.

The Japanese are the world%26#39;s most helpful people but some will shake their heads in an embarrassed way if you ask if they speak English. The Japanese do not like to claim any skill, which they see as a kind of boasting, and then fail to deliver. Better to ask your question, speaking slowly and clearly. Usually best to ask young women who tend to have better English and enjoy talking to foreign men, who they perceive to be exotic and possibly interesting creatures! Even better if you can smile broadly and preface any enquiry by %26#39;sumimasen%26#39; (excuse me)speaking each syllable slowly and clearly. Don%26#39;t assume that someone who seems to understand some English knows more than a few words. I have often observed visitors speaking rapidly and at length to hotel staff who did not understand one word of what was being said.

Unlike many countries, no one will try to scam you in any way, so if someone offers to escort you to where you want to go you are 99% safe to agree to this.

Japanese attentiveness can be a bit wearing at times. I have done some long distance cycle rides and often felt rude because I could not accept all the offers of help, food and accommodation if I actually wanted to get anywhere. One form of help that was welcome, was when people bought drinks from the nearest vending machine, of which there are many millions, and handed them to me.

I am hopeless at learning languages but good at pronouncing them. I have learnt not to ask for help in Japanese as they then sometimes answer in Japanese, none of which I can usually understand.

Travelling alone in Japan is one of my greatest pleasures, although at times it can be a wonderful relief to be accompanied by a Japanese, someone who can understand, speak, read and write the language.

In April I am hoping to be back again in what is, by some distance, the world%26#39;s most civilised country.

I think that no matter where you go it%26#39;s always nice to know at least a few words of the language. I found it helpful to download japanese language podcasts -- there are several good, free ones -- and then listen to them whenever possible before our trip. I liked 1-minute Japanese and Surival Phrases (they also had good tips). It helps with pronounciation and you%26#39;ll even find that you can understand more than you thought if you just listen consistently.

We traveled in Tokyo and Kyoto and found that we were generally able to make ourselves understood, often with hand gestures. One waitress drew pictures of some of the ingredients in a dish we were unclear about. A phrase book is helpful for restaurants if there are no pictures/food models.

We also found that people were incredibly helpful. Our first night we were helped by an older man who had lived in the US and spoke perfect English. He found us a taxi and told the driver where to go. This type of thing happened several times.

No matter who you talk to, you%26#39;ll perhaps get to know the insurmountable language barrier does exisit when conveying nuances. Yes, your basic needs such as asking for directions will be fulfilled verbally or non-verbally.

Given the gap in the proficiency level among the Japanese on the language you speak: some are relatively at home in it; others are pathetic, and you never know what you can expect from them just by a glance, a memo pad will go a long way.

That said, if you output deliberately in the easiest possible manner, ten to one you%26#39;ll be understood...that at least by younger folks, though. When it comes to the crunch, look around for high school girls in uniform that look neat and smart. They will be of greater help than thought.

I totally disagree with LondonBob about forgetting any Japanese apart from greetings. This is where a phrase book can come in -- if locals don%26#39;t understand pronunciation, you can always show them the written form.

Japanese isn%26#39;t THAT hard to pronounce-- while pitch can be important, it%26#39;s not tonal, unlike some other Asian languages. The syllabry would take no more than 15minutes to wrap your head around- a i u e o, ka ki ku ke ko, etc. easy! The hardest thing for the visitor is the written script, which is easy to bypass as signage etc is also in English.

If you have time before you go, I%26#39;d recommend trying to learn the Katakana characters. Words adopted into Japanese from foreign languages (usually English) are written using these characters.

If you learn Katakana you%26#39;ll be able to read these %26#39;English%26#39; words which have been mapped onto the Japanese phonetic sounds (which can render them almost unrecognisable sometimes). It may not prove to be all that useful but it%26#39;ll give you a sense of achievement!