How Difficult is Travelling Japan without Japanese? Travel Tips

[yuiyoshida]

[msongs]

1. was in tokyo 3 days en route to singapore. not many probs tho did not have many conversations

with the locals. used my cell phone to show pix of places I wanted to go and that helped. took a day to figure out the trains but after that getting around was easy. stayed in shinjuku district near the station

[vercetti2021]

2. This is sound advice

I plan on taking a trip to Tokyo in the next 5 or so years for my dream vacation. My Japanese is beyond awful.

[EveHammond13]

3. IMO most important stuff: know how to use subway, how to buy a Suica card

then customs about basic personal interactions

do not hand money or credit cards directly to anyone, use tray
if you are exchanging business cards - also know how to hand these to someone
bowing
don't put your purse on the floor anywhere ever
don't close the taxi door yourself - it's automatic. driver will not be pleased if you close it yourself.
subway étiquette - and don't be loud
etiquette for chop sticks - don't use them for pointing when talking, know how to put down when dirty
know how to eat sushi, even large pieces, nothing worse than dipping and having the whole thing fall apart in front of sushi chef
be ready to order more than a California roll, perhaps from a menu you can't read (lots of places have, oddly, plastic displays of food on the menu)
no tipping
Japan is a huge gifting culture. Learn a little bit about that as well before you go.