Nervous about visiting Japan

[Guest]

Hello all

I would really like to leave my comfort zone of Florida and try Japan next year.

I’m so worried about the langue barrier, not understanding directions or being able to find something my fussy 11 year old will eat, buying train tickets.

Is anyone able to give me any tips or hints and general experiences?

Thank you so much!

[happytraveller]

Originally Posted by Mrs_O

Hello all

I would really like to leave my comfort zone of Florida and try Japan next year.

I’m so worried about the langue barrier, not understanding directions or being able to find something my fussy 11 year old will eat, buying train tickets.

Is anyone able to give me any tips or hints and general experiences?

Thank you so much!

See more...

Hiya, I went in 2018 as a single parent with an 10 year old at the time. We flew indirect with aeroflot and I was so happy at our bargain prices of 261.00 each in the school summer holidays, I probably wasn't worried until after we arrived.

We stayed in Tokyo and we had no issue real issue with the language barrier. If someone can help you-they will. We were there for 15 nights staying at the Sunshine Prince hotel Ikebukuro which was linked to the Sunshine Prince shopping mall. I could only really say please and thank you and we got by fine. In the train station there were English people from around the world as helpers there, they would help us with all directions. With their help we got to Disney. Our very owner Dibber, Kevin, I think it is, is really helpful with directions and has helped many on here with directions. Google Maps will also help you.

It is a bit of a culture shock, but it isn't as scary as you may think

Foodwise, my Son does like to try new stuff, but even if you didn't, there are Combinis, like 7-11s everywhere, but much nicer food and very reasonably priced. We had no issue at all with food and tried a lot of things. We did overdose on Youtube videos before we went though, so there was a lot of things to try. I would be very surprised, if he found nothing to eat, unless he has specific dietary needs. I was terrified to take the trains on my own at first, but once we got the hang of it we were fine. People will help you.

For train tickets, we looked it up on youtube. It's very easy and it's better to watch a video on it.

Please don't worry, you'll be fine. Have you watched any youtube stuff? I'll see if I can dig out who we watched, if not

[Gill H]

Watch YouTube videos - TDR Explorer (particularly for Disney and other parks), Cakeswithfaces for lots of general tips. Also ThisNatasha has lots of useful content.

We haven't been yet but planning to go November 2023 (put off twice already)!

[happytraveller]

This was a good one:

[Gill H]

That's Cakeswithfaces - she is great. She has a really helpful book available too.

[happytraveller]

Originally Posted by Gill H

That's Cakeswithfaces - she is great. She has a really helpful book available too.

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I thought she was Fab. There were a few others that really helped get me grounded, but I stuck to her for a while and then moved on. I found it all so fascinating I got information overload lol. But it really is so fascinating. If I'm honest, I appreciate the trip more now looking back, than when I actually took it

[Pumpkin Pie]

We went for the first time in 2019 and loved it. We are a retired couple so if we can do it anyone can! We did not have any language problems. It is easy to travel around. We were based in Tokyo and Kyoto and took several day trips, including Kyoto to Hiroshima all organised by ourselves.

The trains and stations have both English and Japanese signage. It was no problem shopping either - it’s amazing how easy it is to get by with pointing, nods and smiles. I learnt a few basic words and phrases before I went but even that was not essential. Staff at our hotels spoke English.

Food wise there are McDonalds, Outbacks, Italian food etc. if you don’t want to eat Japanese (at least in the cities). It is more expensive to eat like that than the Japanese food though.

If you want to travel around a bit it is more cost effective to get the tourist rail pass before you go. You then just flash the pass at barrier and no need to buy any additional tickets. It covers the Shinkansen (bullet trains) also.

[sky13]

I last went in 2015 which was some time ago so things may have changed!

Google maps was a complete lifesaver, it told me exactly which train to take to get between Disney and central Tokyo, and also told me exactly where to walk to get to where I wanted to go.

In 2015 Google translate did not yet have the "point the camera at words and get instant live translation" feature that it has now. I've been using this feature quite extensively since discovering it a few months ago on all the random Japanese food I buy and it works extremely well. Wouldn't be at all worried about reading signs or maps or words on packaging in Japan provided I had this app and it was working (either offline translation or with a data plan).

Not many people spoke English but they are very helpful despite the language barrier. As a note, Google translate and Apple Siri both have live voice translation now where you can speak to your phone and it auto-translates it. Not sure how well it works with Japanese/English but this feature works decently well when I tried it with the languages I speak.

So if I were to go to Japan now I don't think I'd be too worried about the language barrier provided I can have my phone translation apps with me!

Food wise, I really like Japanese food and snacks and all but not sure if that's just a side effect of where I live (lots of Japanese food here). I get the impression that quite a bit of Japanese food has western influences - there are cake shops that sell financiers and madeleines, for example! There's also fast food (including MOS burger which is a Japanese fast food chain - fried chicken and fries and burgers - and McDonald's and KFC) and Japanese chain stores selling things like cream puffs and doughnuts. So hopefully there should be something that your 11 year old will like if they're not a fan of things like sushi/sashimi/ramen/Japanese curry rice/etc.

[AntonyJ]

Originally Posted by Mrs_O

I’m so worried about the langue barrier, not understanding directions or being able to find something my fussy 11 year old will eat, buying train tickets.

See more...

This was me before the May 2019 trip we had.

I do not try new foods easily, am not a fan of fish and thought would eat at McD / KFC etc for every meal but that was not the case. The combini stores like 7-11 / Family fart sell hot and cold foods of such quality, they were so nice and reasonably priced. The egg mayo sandwich I got once was the finest I have every had for example. Read my other posts about how I was "shamed" into trying sushi and ended up loving it!

Language - as others have said a smile, pointing and holding up fingers gets you a long way. In preparation for Olympics, Tokyo stations, signs in general has been upgraded to be English and in Japanese and never had any issues in Tokyo. At Disney we had no issues and stayed when there at Tokyo Bay Hilton and they spoke English.

Google maps on my iPhone was a wonder, telling us which train to get, how to get to that platform in the station - in never let us down.

What sort of things will your 11 year old eat ?

[Pumpkin Pie]

Originally Posted by AntonyJ

This was me before the May 2019 trip we had.

I do not try new foods easily, am not a fan of fish and thought would eat at McD / KFC etc for every meal but that was not the case. The combini stores like 7-11 / Family fart sell hot and cold foods of such quality, they were so nice and reasonably priced. The egg mayo sandwich I got once was the finest I have every had for example. Read my other posts about how I was "shamed" into trying sushi and ended up loving it!

Language - as others have said a smile, pointing and holding up fingers gets you a long way. In preparation for Olympics, Tokyo stations, signs in general has been upgraded to be English and in Japanese and never had any issues in Tokyo. At Disney we had no issues and stayed when there at Tokyo Bay Hilton and they spoke English.

Google maps on my iPhone was a wonder, telling us which train to get, how to get to that platform in the station - in never let us down.

What sort of things will your 11 year old eat ?

See more...

Family fart. 😂 Was that the egg sandwiches?