Tips for First Time Visitor to Japan?

AlanN

So I'll be going to Japan for the first time in about a month. I'm going to try to get through as much of Platinum as possible, but I'd also like a few basic survival expressions.

Also cultural survival tips! I know that tomes could be written about that, but just the real basic things, especially related to language. For example, in the US, it's fine to walk into a store and say 'hello' and even 'how are you?'  What's do you say to someone at a store, or a restaurant, or other public places when you arrive? Is a simple greeting enough?

I'd like something a bit more courteous than 'Do you speak English?' I'm sure I won't be fooling anyone, but maybe, 'May I speak English?' That seems less presumptuous. 

This is a big topic, so I'm not asking for everything all at once! Small bits here and there will help. Arigatoo!

Sakura

I could write a whole book (or at least a book chapter) talking about this topic! (^-^)

That said, let me give you some language/culture tips little by little on this thread. I'll start by answering your first question here.

When you go to stores in Japan, you don't say anything. You really don't. People at stores will say いらっしゃいませ Irasshaimase "Welcome" to greet you. But you don't say anything in response. If that makes you uncomfortable, and if you want to at least show some acknowledgement, then you can bow, very lightly -- almost like just nodding. 

If this is not enough for you, and if you really want to "say" something, you can say どうも Doomo, very lightly and casually. どうも Doomo can mean "Hi", "Bye", "Thanks", etc. depending on the situation. 

You can use どうも Doomo in many other situations! Very useful! For example, when your waiter brings food, you don't really say ありがとうございます Arigatoo gozaimasu. That's too much. You can just say nothing, but if you really want to say something, then you can use どうも Doomo. Likewise, when you buy something at a store, you never say ありがとうございます Arigatoo gozaimasu to the store clerk. Again, this is too much. Instead, you can casually say, どうも Doomo. In general, clerks and waiters are supposed to say ありがとうございます Arigatoo gozaimasu, but customers are not.

It is also useful to know that どうも Doomo could mean "Bye". In many situations, さようなら Sayoonara sounds a bit too formal. And also you can't use じゃあまた Jaa mata "See you later", if you know that you are not likely to see this person again. 

I can introduce you one nice polite expression you can use when you leave a restaurant. That is, ごちそうさまでした Gochisoosama deshita. This expression doesn't really translate into English, but it basically expresses gratitude for the food having been provided. I always say this as I leave a Japanese restaurant. 

This thread WILL continue! Stay tuned!

AlanN

This is perfect, thanks! It's exactly what I mean. I'll just have to fight the urge to say a hearty Konnichiwa! Ogenki desu ka. every time I walk into a store or restaurant. I'm sure people will see that I'm a foreigner, but still, I want to try to be as aware as possible of what's expected.

Sakura

Exactly! I understand that, as an English speaker, you'll get this big urge to say something back to store clerks when they say Irasshaimase to you. 

Here's a funny story I can share with you. This happened when I took my American husband to Japan for the first time. We went to a department store right when it opened, at ten o'clock in the morning. When you enter a Japanese department store right at the opening time, you see all the clerks standing in front of their own sales counters to greet the first customers of the day. As you walk by, everybody will say Irasshaimase with a bow. So you'll get showered with this greeting as you walk along; something like one greeting every two seconds. What do you do? You just look straight and keep walking to your destination. You can't respond to every greeting; it's impossible. However, my husband, not being able to walk by without showing some acknowledgement, he kept bowing to every greeting person as he walked along. He looked like a bowing machine. It was quite funny and cute. So I really understand the urge to respond to a greeting!  

This is kind of an extreme example; you only get into this situation when you go to a department store right at the opening time. But it shows you that it is quite okay to say or do nothing to store clerks.  

HeatherPhillippe

Alan, arigatoo gozaimasu for starting this thread! I've been wondering about things like this as well, and I'm sure the tips will come in handy for me as well. Are you learning kanji as well? One thing I found upon getting to Okinawa last month is the abundance of kanji characters on signs, menus etc. I guess myself, didn't expect to see as many of them given that it takes so long to learn them. I thought I'd be good for now having the 2 kana alphabets down...at least I'd be able to look up words in the dictionary. Luckily here, most important signs (roads, tourist sites, police etc) are also in English. I'm not sure if that will be the same where you're going or not, but thought I would throw it out as a heads up at least. I have a "Japanese Kanji and Kana...Complete Guide to the Japanese Writing System" book by Tuttle. It has all the kanji that you can look up 3 different ways and get the meaning, pronunciation and a few sample words that use it, that I have found helpful as well.

AlanN

Konban wa, Phillippe san! You've been in the last two eTutor sessions with me! I'll be redoing the one on Essential 6-7 tomorrow, so maybe I'll see you there.

I have to admit that I'm only okay at hiragana, I haven't really tackled katakana yet, and I know like three kanji! (Well, more if you count a few numbers.) I have a bunch of apps for all of them, and I'm using the guide from Platinum, but I'm focusing on speaking for now.

Thanks for the Tuttle recommendation. I'll look into that! I was planning on spending some time on the flight over cramming my head full of as many basic kanji as possible.

HeatherPhillippe

Konnichi wa Nash san! Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend the session on Friday, but maybe I'll catch you on Lessons 8-9. 

Sakura

Thank you Phillippe san! I wish I were in the beautiful and sunny Okinawa right now! 

Yes, learning kanji is a very challenging experience. As a native speaker, I started learning kanji in grade school (i.e. 7 y.o.) all the way through high school (i.e. 18 y.o.). Even native speakers spend over 10 years learning kanji, so I can only imagine how overwhelming it seems when you start studying Japanese as a foreign language. 

There's no magical trick for learning kanji. Here's how we learned kanji in grade school: every week, we get a sheet of paper which lists several new kanji characters of the week; each entry provides its on-reading, kun-reading, stroke order, a few word examples, and some blank area for practice writing. Then we get a kanji quiz every week. I'm sure this is basically how you learn kanji as well; there's no other way, except that nowadays you can get all these great online learning sites or apps which are really convenient. I wish I had those when I was learning kanji! 

My advice to you for learning kanji is, 1) take it slow, and 2) write write write write.....  

1) Don't overwhelm yourself by learning too many characters at once. Remember, even native speakers take over 10 years to learn. Set your goal, such as "two characters a week". 

2) Writing kanji over and over again really helps to ingrain it into muscle memory! Make sure you follow the stroke order. Your character looks better if you follow the correct order, and it also helps when you look up characters in the kanji dictionary. As you probably know, there are three ways to look up kanji in the dictionary: 1) by its reading; 2) by its radical; 3) by its stroke number. You know the correct stroke number only when you know the correct stroke order; therefore, knowing the correct stroke order is important! 

Sakura

Announcement: 

I think it is important, when you are in Japan, to know different ways of saying "Thank you". It's not just ありがとう Arigatoo! I started a thread on this topic. So please check it out (and please contribute if you can)!

Sakura

Here are two very useful expressions which mean, "Please". 

It's always nice to be polite in Japan. (^-^)

どうぞ Doozo 

"Please." (making an offer)

お願いします Onegaishimasu.  

"Please." (asking for something.)


Examples:
どうぞ。お先に。Doozo. Osaki ni. 

"Please. After you." 

はい、どうぞ。いいですよ。Hai, doozo. Ii desu yo. 

"Yes, please (go ahead). That's fine."

プレゼントです！どうぞ！Purezento desu! Doozo!

"Got you a present! Here you are!"

コーヒーはいかがですか。Koohii wa ikaga desu ka. 

"Would you like some coffee?"

はい、お願いします。 Hai, onegaishimasu. 

"Yes, please."

タクシーを呼びましょうか。Takushii o yobimashoo ka. 

"Shall I call a taxi for you?"
はい、お願いします。Hai, onegaishimasu. 

"Yes, please."

Sakura

We are all about "language" here at Living Language, but we understand that non-verbal communication is very important, too! (^_^)

That said, please check out my blog post from about a year ago; you'll get to learn how to bow like the Japanese!

Remember -- when Japanese people meet (first time, second time, or whenever), they don't hug, they don't kiss, and they don't even really shake hands!  

When in doubt, just keep bowing. (^o')/

Sakura

Japan has an efficient public transportation network, especially within metropolitan areas and between the large cities. 

Here are a few websites that might be useful when you visit Japan:

• JR (Japan Railway)

• Tokyo Metro

• Tokyo Transfer Guide 

A great trip planner! Just specify where you are starting from and your destination. Then it gives you what your trip will be like in detail!  

• Japan Rail Pass

If you're traveling long distance while in Japan, you may want to consider getting a Japan Rail Pass. Depending on your itinerary, you may save a huge amount of money. You can even ride bullet trains with this pass! This pass is something they offer for only foreign travelers, so take advantage of it! Note that you cannot buy this pass in Japan. So apply for one (online or through a travel agency) before you leave home.  

Happy traveling!

HeatherPhillippe

Question on ごめんなさい (gomennasai)... I came home the other day, they were doing consrtuction by my apartment, and it was lunchtime. One of the workers had his scooter parked half in front of the carport spot for our apartment and looked to taking a little nap laying in the parking spot in the shade. Not a big deal so I was going to back up and park along the street. He noticed me and got up and moved so I could park. When I got out I told him arigatoo gozaimasu. He replied with gomennasai. Now, in the U.S. I would've said something along the lines of no worries, not a problem, don't worry about it, etc. What would be an appropriate response? I imagine this could also happen with sumimasen.

HeatherPhillippe

I was thinking perhaps いい です (ii desu).

Sakura

Hi, Phillippe san! Thanks for the great question. As you said, in English we say, "No worries", "Not a problem", "Don't worry about it", etc. as a response to "I'm sorry". In Japanese, we basically say the same sort of things. I think you'll be fine if you remember the following three expressions:

いえいえ。 Ieie. "No, no"
大丈夫ですよ。Daijoobu desu yo. "It’s all right."
気にしないでください。Kinishinai de kudasai. "Don't worry about it"

You can say just one of the above, or you can say two or even all of them at the same time. So if you want, you could say, "Ieie, daijoobu desu yo. Kinishinaide kudasai!"

But, be careful with いいですIi desu, because it is sometimes used to mean "No, thank you".  

HeatherPhillippe

ありがとう, Sakura san! Good information to have & I'll stay clear of いいです in that scenario.

AlanN

There are so many great vocabulary words and useful expressions on this message board. I'm going to have to go through everything and make lots of flashcards. At least it's a long flight to Narita!!

Volk83

Hi Alan!!! This is an awesome thread you started and well once you start going there you will keep coming back.

Well a few helpful pointers I realized that may or may not be trivial but I just noticed.

The first is the trash recepticles, this was one thing that caught me as a surprise coming from the states. There is not one on every corner like back in the states, and when you do find one more often than not it is split between combustables and non combustables.

The other thing I noticed was going up and down any stairs or escalators, is that you stand on the left side and you pass on the right.

Where in Japan are you going to? I hope you have a great time and believe me going there will make you even more interested in the language and culture!!!

AlanN

Arigatoo, Volk san! Tokyoo ni ikimasu, sore kara Kyooto ni ikimasu. I also want to visit Kamakura, because I've always wanted to visit the Daibutsu there. I'll only be there for about ten days, so I think those are the only three places I'll visit.

Its funny you mention the escalators - I read that in the Fodor's Japan guide that I got.

Someone else told me that it's considered very impolite to blow your nose in public. I hadn't heard that. Any other little pieces of information like that I should know??

Thanks for the advice and the information! This will be my first visit to East Asia, so I'm really thrilled about it!

Sakura

Thank you so much for posting those great tips, Volk san! 

I would add a few things:

Re: trash - you wouldn't find trash receptacles around on the street, but if you really need to get rid of something, look for a convenience store. Usually, a convenience store provides trash cans right at the entrance area (outside). 

Re: escalators - the "pass on the right" rule applies in Tokyo, but actually not in Osaka. In Osaka, the "pass on the left" rule (i.e. same as what we do) applies. I'd always thought this is a "East vs. West" thing, but I did a little research just now, and it seems like that's not really the case. For example, in Kyoto (which is close to Osaka), there is no specific rule. 

Alan san, since you're going to Tokyo and Kyoto, you can remember that in Tokyo the "pass on the right" rule applies; in Kyoto, there's no specific rule. Kamakura.... I don't know! You will have to observe what the locals do and let us know later. 

When you first arrive at Narita airport, I think you'll have to take many escalators and moving walkways before getting to the immigration. Narita is not in Tokyo (it's in Chiba), but Tokyo's "pass on the right" rule applies. 

Re: blowing nose - I've never heard of that rule, but I think you can just follow your common sense. I certainly wouldn't blow my nose at the table when I am having a dinner at a nice restaurant. I would go to the bathroom instead, and I think you'd do the same in the U.S!

 

AlanN

I suspected the nose-blowing thing was a bit of hyperbole. Thanks!