How Difficult is Travelling Japan without Japanese? | Travel Tips

I stayed at a hostel in Osaka and asked the receptionist if there was a cat cafe that she recommended, she told me to go have a cup of tea and she would write down the details, I thought she meant the address and how to get there but instead she typed up a comprehensive guide to every cat cafe in the area including pro's and con's and what kinds of cats they had. That was when I realised that Japanese people generally are ridiculously helpful and kind! :)

When I went to K’s Hostel in Tokyo they were booked and they called another hostel, made my reservation, drew me a map, and when I said “I hope I can find it” the guy said “well she (another worker) is going home in 5 minutes and can walk you there if you can wait.” Customer service is crazy. It was amazing. I seriously love Japan.

My cousin was in the US Air Force for over twenty years, and he tells an impressive story about being in Japan. He was a pilot, and he flew into Yokota AFB a number of years back. He was only there for about two weeks, but wanted to see as much of Japan as he could. He and his co-pilot took a train some place, but I can't remember where he said it was. It was in the evening hours, and after about thirty minutes or so, it became obvious to them that they took the wrong train. There was a tired salaryman sitting nearby, and by the look on my cousin's face, the salaryman could tell that something was wrong. He came over to them and tried to find out what the problem was, but he didn't speak English. The salaryman eventually figured out that they took the wrong train. So, in a calming manner, he put his hands up, and just said, "ok, ok, ok." At the next stop, the salaryman took them to another train that was going back in the opposite direction to the station they had left. The salaryman rode with them! Once they got back to the station, he then made sure that they got on the proper train, and marked on a paper schedule what train they'd need to get back. So, this salaryman, who had probably just worked 16 hours at the office went WAY out of his way to make sure that these Gaijin got to where they needed to go. Very impressive I think!

Can't stress enough how friendly and helpful the Japanese are. Was in Tokyo and lost my wallet the day before traveling to Kyoto for a few days.
Stayed at the same hotel when I got back to Tokyo. As I was checking back in, they told me my wallet had been found. Drew me a map and wrote a full list of instructions in both English and Japanese, in case I needed to stop and ask someone.
Was reunited with my wallet (with nothing missing, obviously) within a few hours of being back in Tokyo.
I love that country.

3:11 Gotta love how in english it says "Welcome to Japan" but in Japanese it says "Welcome back"

During my visit to Osaka some years ago, I became slightly lost looking for a bus stop for a certain route. An old man with his cane walked across the block to help me because of my obvious dilemma. He walked me to the bus stop and waited with me. He confirmed the bus was the right before sending me off and heading back. What a nice man he was.
I had many friendly encounters in japan and felt very comfortable after some time.

I kinda feel sorry for them businesses which spent so much money preparing for tourists who would never come due to Covid-19.

I'm Japanese but this video is accurate and amazing.
I was surprised that it was not a matter of course.
（I'm bad at English so I'm using translation software.）

This is very interesting video even for Japanese people. It is amazing that he mentioned 外来語(foreign borrowed words). It is one of the most helpful things because we have numerous 外来語　such as hotel(ホテル,ho/te/lu ), road(ロード,ro/o/do),key(キー.ki/i), station(ステーションsu/te/e/syo/nn),ticket(chi/ke/tto), train(トレイン,to/re/i/nn), park(パーク,pa/a/ku)…well, almost all of nouns in English that refer to things in daily lives are also used as Japanese words, though there are some knacks when you pronounce them in Japanese way. So don’t hesitate to use English nouns that show objects like them, but be careful about his advice: use a single word at once instead of a long sentence.

Upon my arrival in Japan for the first time, I still didn't know the language and was having difficulty finding my hostel. (It was about midnight on a week night and the streets were nearly void of people.) A young man came up to me, and even though he didn't speak english, he made an effort to communicate with me using his phone. He helped by hailing a taxi for me, giving the taxi driver my address, and he even insisted on paying the fare. It was a very welcome and unexpected act of kindness, and I hope I can do the same for someone else in a similar situation someday.

When I went to Japan I was looking for a store off in the suburbs of Tokyo that I had absolutely no idea where it was. I walked into this quiet little restaurant and the owners drew out a detailed map for me and gave me free drinks with lots of smiles and nods to go along with it. Whilst walking there a cargo truck driver who happened to speak a little English asked me where I was headed, and even offered me a ride there.
Never in my life have I experienced the hospitality and selflessness of the Japanese culture. For sure it is a country to which I must return.

I will never forget the level of frustration I felt back when I visited the Omitsutori festival in Nara. It was so impressive and the hotel was lovely. Took a bath in the public onsen and listened to the locals and I got that they were talking about the festival and I really just wanted to partake ... but my japanese was literally so bad that I just stayed where I was since I already learned that I'm going nowhere with english. Made me realize on what you miss out when travelling without the language. Currently spending time each day to improve my japanese for when we can travel again ... your videos really keep me motivated :)

I’ve found that the staff in the shops in the train station can be VERY helpful when you’re not sure where to go. I fully agree with the suggestion to bring a notepad & pen with you - I’ve had quite a few people draw maps for me which is so helpful (and their drawing & writing is amazingly precise, in general). It is also very useful if you bring a card or pamphlet with your hotel or address on it (in Kanji) - then you can show it to people, shrug, and usually get help (or show it to a taxi driver so they know where you want to go). I’ve also resorted to holding my ticket up to the little station map inside the train to make sure I’m getting off at the right stop - find the symbol for Chiba, for example, count the number of stops and keep track in your head - that sort of thing. And I agree that just about everyone is very patient and helpful.

2 years ago I decided to travel solo for the first time and without a lot of planning I end up going to Japan (almost the other half of the world from where I live) I didn't know anyone there, I didn't know much about the country but I was excited to explore and learn about it! in 8 days I went to 3 cities traveled around and tried different things I didn't face any problem there, my English would help me a bit when I need something with a smile and some hand signs everything went smoothly! the language would differently help to be more open to the culture but even without it you can enjoy your time there and learn a lot at the same time.

From my own experience, it was extremely easy to travel through Japan in 2018. Everything is so well organized and many Japanese were interested to start up a conversation in a bar. Trains are amazing. Couldn’t imagine working there, but traveling is great.

We spent our (delayed) honeymoon (2.5 weeks, another few days in South Korea) in Japan without speaking a lick of Japanese. I was able to read most hiragana and katakana at least and know very, very few words, no kanji though. But without actually knowing words, that only barely helped. We still had mostly a comfortable experience, especially in more urban or tourist-y areas/locations.
In Tokyo there's a lot of English written everywhere. If a restaurant doesn't have a duo-lingual menu they often have either a specific printed english menu they can bring you, or they have a server who can speak english and help you.
We noticed this got less and less present the more "rural" areas got. It was great in Tokyo and Hiroshima, slightly less so in Kyoto, even slightly less so in Okayama and Naha. Still good though, because they're major cities.
We visited Innoshima (yes, Hikaru No Go) as well, which is VERY rural. There were barely people around during the day (working, school etc.) and there was NO english anywhere, not even in the Honinbo Shusaku museum, not even bus stations etc. We couldn't even tell which direction the bus was going, if it went towards where we wanted to go or further away from it.
Had a hell of a time getting back to the train station. Little bit of an adventure, but would not return without knowing more japanese.
We also used a Suica card and the JR Rail Pass, both helped A LOT getting around. Also had portable wifi, another AMAZING investment. Helps A LOT to have constant internet access so you can google stuff, look up maps etc. without having to worrying about roaming etc.
While we could get around with English, mostly, imho the stereotype of japanese people not knowing english very well, or at all, is NOT really wrong. Could also be that some *knew* english but were embarrassed and didn't want to use it, end result was still, we couldn't communicate in english with them.
We definitely wanna go back to Japan for vacation. I'd love to learn Japanese, would definitely help, but at my age and given the effort of learning it vs payoff (speak japanese on a 2-3 week vacation, maybe other future vacations, and read/watch manga/anime) I doubt I will. :/

“Japanese people tend to be petty shy and pretty reserve”, proceeds to show video of a Japanese guy swinging a katana in public.

When I went to Japan a couple years ago I had been studying Japanese in preparation for several months. In these months I was no where near fluent (obviously) but did have several dozen phrases and a relatively small vocabulary. I was at a restaurant in Kyoto talking with the owner/chef when my wife informed him that I had been studying Japanese to which he responded, "Why? no one speaks Japanese except the Japanese."
In my month long stay in several cities across the country, there was exactly one instance in which my inability to speak the language fluently made the situation any more difficult whatsoever. In fact one of the most surprising things I realized during my trip is just how little verbal communication is required in most of our daily activities. Beyond simple greetings, and our "please and thank yous" most interactions were handled through body language, mutually understood customs, and general non-verbal cues.

When I was in Japan most of the time my girlfriend spoke for us because she knew a little japanese. But one day I had to go to a theatre alone. I was incredibly nervous because no one had spoken english to us the entire vacation. When I arrived I realized that it's pretty easy to communicate even without a common language in most situations. But to be polite they brought one of their managers who was able to speak english. He was SO nervous and was blushing and sweating the entire time. I said that it's fine and that I will manage without help but he insisted on explaining everything to me in english. It was unneccessary but so sweet. In the theatre I sat next to an older japanese woman and she ignored me as best as she could. But at the end of the first act of the play the lights went on and we were both crying from what happened in the first act. We were both wiping our tears away while trying to protect our makeup when our eyes met. We both had to laugh and after that she offered me some lemon candy. When the play was over we kinda "talked" for a bit even though I didn't speak japanese and she didn't speak english. She showed me the way to the shop and I was able to tell her that I was from Germany. At the end we bowed and she waved at me until I was out of sight. So I learned that day that I can understand a good portion of a theatre play even without knowing japanese, that japanese people WILL help you (if you want it or not lol) and that you don't need to speak the same language to find human connection.
I really want to go to Japan again one day and I will work on my japanese until then. But I'm way less scared now because of the experiences I made the last time I was there.

First time I came to Japan, I got lost at the train station. As in: The station was so big, I had to go to the subway and had no idea where to go. I was just standing around, looking lost and a local came up to me and asked me in VERY bad English (but so sweet!) where I had to go. He was with his wife and kids. I pointed at a picture of a subway and he actually left his wife and kids behind, took me to the subway station (that was a few minutes away) and he went back.
THAT is how kind the Japanese are. This was also when I just got of the plane and took the train, so it was my first experience with the Japanese. I have loved it there ever since (travelling anyway, still too scared to pack up and move).

Top 10 KINDNESSES we experienced over 2 weeks in Japan...💗 1. We stayed on Miyajima Island for a couple of nights. The guy at the front desk drew us a picture of what the famous orange Tori gate in the sea looks like "so we could enjoy it" (as it's under scaffolding). After a long (stressful) day going across the country on trains to reach the island, his thoughtfulness was appreciated.
2. I bought some clothes from Isetan dept store in Kyoto, totalling almost 20,000 yen, and went across to Kyoto Tower for some souvenier shopping. Then went for icecream and before I even realised it was missing, the souvenier shop lady ran around the shops to find me, to return my Isetan bag!
3. We were on the bus to Koyasan for a temple stay and an elderly Japanese lady decided to pass around a bag of mandarines to share.
4. We were standing on the train from Kyoto to Osaka, with all our bags, and a girl came over to fold the train seat down for us so we could sit.
5. We were looking lost in Shinjuku Station and a lady came up, gave us a map and explained what was around us...food courts, dept stores, toilets, etc.
6. We lost a laptop at a garden and a hat at a bakery and got both of them back.
7. People gave up their seats in McDonalds for us.
8. We bought convenience store food and paid the 8% tax (10% is eat in) so went outside to eat as per usual and the shopkeeper said we could come back inside to eat at the table.
9. In Hiroshima almost everyone we spoke to (it seemed!) gave us a paper crane (for peace). 💙
10. As it was our 10 year wedding anniversary, hotels gave us beauty products, cards and postcards.
I found Japan to be very organised, thoughtful, clean, efficient, friendly, helpful, on time. Sometimes there was a language barrier, but I agree, speak slowly, with fewer words and you will be understood. Google translate is helpful, but doesnt always get it right. Learn some basic phrases before you go to enhance your experience there.

I was in Aomori, and we just got lost in the city for half the day and decided took the train back to Misawa in the evening. The train station we went too was just a platform with a small booth for tickets. The ticket machine broke (Not enough change for 5,000 yen), so we had to call someone to come fix it. The man was very professional and understanding, and helped us out no problem. It was one of the best experiences of my life just wandering the city and hitting up several locations, and everyone was very nice and patient with us. The Buddhist temple Showa Daibutsu was absolutely amazing and one of the most peaceful places I've been too in my life.

In 1976 I landed in Tokyo with no knowledge of the language. I bought a Japanese phrase book and hitch hiked practically the entire country North along the east coast to the far North to Aomori then South along the West coast to Kagoshima in the far South and back up to Tokyo in about 3 months. Never had a problem being understood and back then a lot fewer locals spoke English.

"for beef you can say "bi-fu" for pork you can say "po-ku" for chicken you can say "chikin" and.. for horse you can say "BASASHI!!"" ngl i fricking lost it when i heard that

I personally found it super easy to travel there without Japanese. The only difficulty I had was getting from the airport, to my hotel in Tokyo. I was told not to use Google maps at the time, so I wound up getting super lost and started panicing. Once I flipped on Google maps, traveling became a breeze. The train stations themselves are the only thing that's difficult...but thats due to the size of the stations and the fact they use multiple train companies in the same stations.

As a three times traveller to Japan since 2014, 2016 and last January 2020, i can further testify that the Government and the local business have really stepped up with the issue of conversing with foreigners in English. Even if the Olympics is suspended due to this pandemic, it has a huge impact in getting more and more people in Japan attracted to learn English (even at the very basic level).
Getting to many places isn't really a hassle, really easy to understand (even in remote places), many instructions as well. What i'm surprised more at the moment, they also are adding more Mandarin instruction. In some cities, it also included with Korean. To get by as a traveller, I can conclude that anyone can survive without really excelling in Japanese language. But travel is also about learning the culture of your host country, so learning at least basic Japanese before hand gives you an upper hand in most situation. The next time i'm in Japan after this pandemic ends (whether it'll be for work/school/vacation), i'll try my best in understanding better about Japanese language. It's always nice to converse with locals and learning many differences even in a place people feel very homogenous (the more times you spent in Japan, you'll be able to grasp where one person comes from within Japan from the way he/she speaks).
Additional Note: I totally agree with you on France.

I got in a wrong train when i was in japan and had to get out in small station. There was no one at the station. I asked the person looking after the station for way. He didn't speak English so he wrote names of stations where i should get out, which platforms should i switch, to reach my destination. Also 2 old ladies helped me while i was in the train. Japanese people where really nice and helpful ❤️

Got on an express train and got lost. A bunch of local who doesn’t know English tried to help us. So friendly and helpful even they don’t even know English. 👍 I left my handbag 👜 at the train station counter and it was still there when I ran back to get it 👏 . Missing Japan ☹️ can’t wait to travel again!!

i once asked a french guy (in french) do you speak English, he respoded with yes (also in french) i then asked him where the toilet was (in English) he then turned around and walked away.

Also, pre-download the map area for where you plan to walk around as it uses less data and loads faster when needing directions

I still remember one of my first trips to Japan in 2005 (using the flight benefits that I had at the time with United Airlines as an employee (First class each way was $160)), and I went shopping in Akihabara. Because I accidentally brought up a display copy of a manga to the counter (rather than a sealed copy for customers), the cashier took it back to get a sealed copy for me. However, upon their return, they re-scanned another book which they had previously scanned before going back to do the swap, and it took a few moments of trying to communicate to say that they were double-charging for one of the items, before the cashier finally looked at the register receipt and saw that they had done a double scan for one of the books. Meanwhile, I'd had a couple of girls in line start chuckling at the thought of a gaijin who clearly couldn't speak (at the time) sufficient Japanese to get their message across regarding the transaction, and yet they were buying a manga that was just written in hiragana and kanji (no katakana or eigo in that particular book).

Well done Chris from Abroad! I appreciate your insights regarding those who are thinking of traveling to Japan that do not speak their language. I know this video was posted three years ago and I want to say regardless of how long your videos have been posted it is still very informative and your videos are made with the highest quality. I hope that one day I will be able to meet you in Japan Chris! Keep up the good work! -Samurer12

ive had 3 trips to japan and i noticed each time it got easier. in 2013 i dont remember seeing many signs in english while in tokyo. in 2015 i saw more signs in english. in 2018 i noticed there were so many more plus my favorite restaurants had english menus when they didnt have them during my first trip

Thank you so much! This released a lot of anxiety. I have studied Japanese (and forgotten lots of it) but still retain a lot of basics and the ability to read and write. Given what you have said, I’ll just need one extra phrase for myself and I’ll be set. Thanks again.

Watching this video gave me flashbacks of my last visit to Japan. I was learning french at the time as a subject in university & I know some japanese phrases since I watch a lot of anime. But somehow my brain got confused & had a hard time communicating. I would accidentally speak french thinking I was saying something in Japanese haha

On our trip to Hiroshima, my husband and I got on the wrong bus and a local man actually got on the correct bus with us and made sure we knew where our bus change was before he left. When he left we realized that he'd taken that bus just to help us find our way and was traveling back to where we started to meet his friend. People we met in Japan were so extremely nice.

last time I was in Japan I spoke English the whole 3 days. everyone understood me and was very kind and friendly. very beautiful country, just kinda expansive. hope to be there soon after this covid blows over.

"BASASHI" made me laugh so hard xD You should have seen it :'D Wouldn't it be awesome if TheXvid gave people the chance to automatically record reaction videos for the videos they're watching? Like, little clips for specific scenes :) Similar to shadowplay by Nvidia!

This is actually true! When I visited Japan and was in an underground food market, I asked for the toilet and a staff member from a stand left her workpost and guided me

I love this channel because it's not so much Chris's Vlog Abroad in Japan, as it is Abroad in Japan & Friends. As I'm watching it I look forward to recurring characters like Ryotaro and Natsuki. I've been binging since I discovered it this week.

You hit all the marks with this video, especially about how kind and helpful Japanese people are. When I first moved the family to Osaka in 2012 as a 47 year old with a freshly minted TESOL certificate, I couldn’t find the station entrance I needed and a random guy saw my confused look and asked me if I needed some hell in English, and then proceeded to walk me for 2 minutes to my location. After being stressed out about learning to be a part time conversation class teacher, it was a moment of hope and exhilaration! I used Hyperdia in those days, but you’re correct, Google maps has revolutionized our Japan travel experience.

We got by and I only knew excuse me and thank you. Surprisingly a good amount of places we went to they know you're not a local and give you the alternate menu or actually speaks English. The good ol' universal of point to what you want on the menu to order never fails.
I'd avoid catching a cabbie if you do not have the name and location written for you by your hotel or someone fluent in Japanese and the area to give. They have a lot of seniors working as cabbies that might not be technologically savvy to use their GPS device and the one didn't know how to get to the train station despite it being a big hub.

Just got back from being in Japan for a month and not knowing any Japanese, and found this so relatable. I was surprised with how far out of the way the locals would go when I didn't know my way around. And a lot of them would apologize to me for not knowing much English when they knew more than I did Japanese, and I was the one on foreign soil.

Since im planning a trip to Japan in the near future this is absolutely helpful. Next is the budget video. Won't lie was scared on getting lost in translation but the simple sayings and 4 key phrases will help, might learn a few extra just to help myself and impress the family at parties XD

Honestly, when I visited Japan last year it was pretty easy navigating it via English. I do know some Japanese, but like just barely enough. I've traveled to a few foreign countries, and I've found that body language like pointing and nodding and smiling and hand signs work extremely well at getting the basic point across. Also, pretending you understand what someone is saying to you when they don't speak your language lol. Just nod and mirror their facial expression. And say sorry a lot if that doesn't work.

I went to Japan a couple years ago on holiday. So many people were so kind and at a Studio Ghibli shop, the person there thought we spoke Japanese when we said “Konnichiwa” and we laughed it off as they understood we didn’t. Since then, I have watched this channel and it has really been enjoyable. Thanks for being a really nice person to watch

"Japanese is typically only spoken in Japan"
Here in the U.S.A., American's can barely speak English....

Those "weird sounding English phrases" in Japan are often actually chosen specifically because they sound good or fun to the Japanese ear. Big companies have native English speakers who know what they are doing. It isn't usually just a mistake. This came from a few marketing people I talked to while I lived in Japan. Not sure on the validity of their claims, but it makes logical sense.

4:16 I remember when I went to Vienna I got some kind of week pass for public transport. At first I thought I would have to check in at the bus driver, but he just looked at me weird. Apparently everyone is allowed to just enter the bus without checking the tickets, though fees for gettjng caught without a ticket are MUCH higher than in my country. Those week tickets are absolutely amazing though, so convenient

When I went a couple years ago it was really easy to talk with people, the hardest thing was the appliances. Everyone I met in Tokyo spoke some rudimentary English and that was usually enough to get around. The oven, toilet, and street signs were brutal though.

When I visited Tokyo a while back, everyone was so nice. I tried to get help from people at stations to find how much to pay, some just looked down and said "No English" and shyed away but others were happy to help. In my broken Japanese I would say "doko ha desu ka?" Pointing at the station map.
The staff at the hotel were very nice and they found it amusing when I asked for my room key and said the numbers in Japanese.

日本人について的確すぎてクスッと笑ってしまいました☺️
わざわざ日本に来てくれたお客さんが「楽しかった」って言ってくれるのが嬉しいから日本人はおもてなしが大好きなんです。

The "Engrish" script on the t-shirt reminded me of my time teaching English in South Korea. Some of the parents would buy their kids t-shirts with English messages on them because they were viewed as being cool, but often they'd have no idea what the message on the shirt actually said. So I had a 10 year old boy come in wearing a t-shirt that was clearly too big for him, but his mum had bought it because it had English on the front. It said "Head down, ass up; that's the way I like to fuck". I spent the next hour of the lesson trying-and failing-to not piss myself laughing at him.

I've only spent a few weeks in Japan but I did have anxiety over language difficulties. That's just me.
Having paper and pencil with you is a very good idea for making notes.
In Europe at least, a lot of people can read a little bit of English even if they can't speak or understand.
Also, be sure to write in CAPITAL letters. That makes a big difference.
If the local person writes something for you, you may be able to read it.

Thanks for the video ! It's fine to have advices from a foreigner living in Japan. Don't judge french people on your experience please. We only loose patience when a foreigner is correcting every single santon we try to say in his langage without speaking ours ^^ (hope i didn't do any mistake in this comment...^^)

Omg! I’m totally with you there with France snapping at you. I tried to order food with beginner level language and the staff refused me service and served the person behind me Lol..

I am loving this video and your sense of humor. What you said about Japanese being a extremely helpful and selfless is true. If you are traveling there, you don’t need to know much Japanese at all. Although it will definitely help you to know the four words mentioned as well as male and female.

I went to Japan for a vacation in the summer of 2018 to see my family, and one night I decided to go to Tokyo tower by myself since I wanted an adventure. I used to be fluent in Japanese but since I moved to America I stopped using it, so coming back I only knew basics. So if I heard a normal conversation in Japanese I’d only pick up what is being talked about if I was lucky. Anyways, I went to the tower, stayed for a few, and I went down when it was night. It was around 7:30pm, I was heading to where I thought was the station. After walking a while I realize that I was in an area I never been in, and that I was lost. Looking around, I see a local coming out of his home and I, being that I was kind of freaking out, frantically went up to him and asked 駅はどこですか？(Eki wa doko desuka? Where’s the train station?) And he replied back, “Which station?” After that I told him the name, and he told me the directions. I told him thank you, and I thought that was the end of it. But to my surprise, he offered to walk me to the station (to which I realize it was the opposite way of where he was initially heading to and I felt bad) and on the way there he still tried to make conversation with me, even if his English wasn’t that good and my Japanese wasn’t that good either. While crossing the street to the station he made sure I made it into the building lol. All I could say was thank you 100x because back then I didn’t know how to really express my gratitude in a more coherent way. I am super thankful for that man, otherwise I’m not sure how I would’ve gotten home that night... even if he told me the directions, because honestly I didn’t remember what he said. Japan is a wonderful place with nice people, even with its cons. I’m looking forward to the day I come back again!

Thank you for your interest in Japan.
In fact, most Japanese know greeting English.
Rather, it should be noted that there is no word corresponding to "Yes / No" in Japanese, and "Hai / Iie" corresponds to "Correct / Incorrect".
And most Japanese misuse "Yes / No".
To avoid trouble, do not use negative forms when asking questions.
It's a trap when trying to communicate in a short sentence.

As someone who is Asian (American) my problem with going to Japan is that a lot of locals look at me and assume I’m japanese as well and start speaking Japanese really fast to me. I feel awkward just responding in English so I had to get really good at saying “Sorry, I don’t speak Japanese” in Japanese 😅

FACT: In the Japanese language "tatsu" has two meanings. "Tatsu" means both "sit" and "pass" in English. When you attempt to speak Japanese you may have to remember that the words "love" and "moon" are similar. As the Japanese word for "moon" is "suki" and the Japanese word for "love" is "tsuki"
Why do I know this? I love Japan and it is my destiny to live my life in Japan.

I lived in Japan for 2 1/2 years and only learned some basic Japanese while I was there. Kept telling myself I was only there for another few months and figured what I would learn wouldn't be super helpful in that time. What a mistake that was!

Out of all the videos I've watched recently, I don't why this one had me laughing UNCONTROLLABLY at the food translations. Always been a fan, somehow missed this gem!

"Nobody has gotten mad at me for not knowing Japanese" bro Japan is just a peaceful place. Most everyone is polite and trying to help you

Love your content. Im wanting to take a trip to Japan soon. Your channel has been helpful. And very entertaining.

thanks for this, glad I stumbled onto your channel. I do suffer from the fear that everything is super expensive and that language will leave me incredibly lost immediately.

Its our first time in Japan and we only speak very very very basic Japanese here (almost no Japanese) and every Japanese we came across is really understanding and have had no problem communicating ever! And yes, ppl here are so helpful! We got lost the first day here and had two lovely ladies approach us and spoke perfect English to help us get on the right train. Loving it!

わかる〜それ助かる〜！ってアドバイスばっかりだった✨
単語で聞いてくれる人はすごく分かりやすい！
お寿司屋さん🍣と焼肉店でバイトしてた時は
chicken？pork？って聞かれてbeefが咄嗟に出てこなくて
cowって言ったけど伝わらずツノのポーズしながら
「モー！👆🏻👆🏻🐄」って必死に伝えたら
「oh, beef !?」って笑って真似しながら理解してくれて
単語でも交流出来てめちゃくちゃ楽しかった覚えがある😂

In Nagasaki a lady left her little shop at the harbor to not only show us where the counter for the ferry tickets was, but also went to the ferry ticket people to explain what we want in Japanese. While during most of my travels around the world I have met super nice people, but this even caught me a bit off guard and left me speechless.

Was fun, when I got there I stepped outside Narita airport, and my Harem came along and showed me around the country for a month. They helped with the translations as whenever they spoke subtitles would appear, 10/10 would recommend.

I went to Tokyo in 2018 for 2 weeks. I used my phone to translate from English to Japanese. I really enjoy Japan and martial arts training.

"Gomenasai, watashi no nihongo wa totemo warui desu" (I'm sorry, my Japanese is very bad) was my main line used when travelling in Japan. Even knowing the SLIGHTEST bit of Japanese can help to defrost even the iciest of Japanese people.
I remember visiting an underground izakaya in Shinjuku with a friend in October of 2017. The waitress didn't seem too happy to have two white people walk in through her door so she rather arrogantly guided us to a sign saying that there was a seating charge (in English) obviously thinking that this would deter us, but alas we agreed and were shown to a table in the empty izakaya. She dumped two menus in Japanese on the table and was about to walk away when I piped up "Sumimasen, eigo menu onegaishimasu" (Excuse me, English menu please) at which point she turned around with a look of surprise on her face which turned into a genuine smile. After that she couldn't do enough to help us, even going as far as trying to use what little English she knew when we hit a communications road block.
EDIT: PS, if you EVER come across an izakaya that sells BBQ'd chicken hearts, TAKE IT WITHOUT A MOMENTS HESITATION! It is honestly the tastiest thing you will eat.

Keep in mind that even Japanese people don't necessarily speak perfect Japanese. As you say, language barriers exist, but we don't worry too much about them, because it is not so difficult to communicate with each other. There are a variety of tools that help us communicate including translation apps for smartphones. Don't hesitate to visit Japan. Have a nice trip!

"I don't speak [insert language]"
Japan: It's fine if you don't speak Japanese.
France: You're in France! Speak French!
America: You're in America! Speak English!
England: Mate... (pulls out cigarette) you want a ciggy, yes or no?

As someone whos been to japan without knowing Japanese, it's pretty easy. There's English everywhere and transportation and food is easy to comprehend

WOW. I googled the Suica card and the official website looks VERY similar to some pages on the Final Fantasy 14 Lodestone website in many ways... I wonder if there's an English friendly website template that some JP businesses use for English speakers?
EDIT: They are 100% using the same website template/design. I'm not a Japanese speaker, but I'm guessing it's the JP equivalent of using some kind of common Squarespace website template or something. Interesting coincidence I found. 😃

When I went to Japan, I got a bad sunburn and needed aloe vera. My japanese at the time was not good and I could only make simple, short sentences. I tried asking the clerk for aloe vera アロエベラー, but felt helpless when he couldn't understand. A nice woman came up to me and said that she would take me there. She took me to a medicine shop which was out of her way and even stayed to help me find it. Things like that are so uncommon in America, because people are busy and don't have time. I was very happy that day.

1) Through most of Japan, I found that people are great at using single words to communicate. When you get to the more remote areas, they get excited at the chance to use "thank you." Google Translate is fantastic, but definitely not perfect, and defendant on cellular reception.
2) A salmon, obviously. Who in their right mind would want to be a bagel? Both options provide the chance for being eaten. One provides the guarantee of being eaten or becoming stale and subsequently garbage.

"Even though we learn English for 6 years somehow we can't speak or listen" Yeh I know the feeling, I did French for 4 years and all I know is bonjour, baguette and omelet du fromage (yes, from Dexters Lab). The joys of dyslexia, learning English was hard enough.

This is an extremely useful video. Well done!

You don'T need to travel to Japan to lose yourself. When I was the first time in Poland outside the great citys I was also helpless.

What I like about Abroad in Japan is that not only is Chris' humor great, but so is the comment sections humor. They play off each other perfectly. I like this community. :D

that's reassuring, I want to visit Japan at some point next year if things are safer and while I fully intend on learning some conversational phrases but it's nice to know

I really want to visit Japan one day. I admire the culture. Respect from Turkey.

Very informative and funny 😁, i'll visit Japan the whole month of October and started learning the language a bit. 👍

I feel really convenient to travel in Japan being a Chinese. Though I barely speak any Japanese, I can always read the kanji on a map or a signpost.
But more convenient is the distance. It takes only 2 or 3 hour to fly from Shanghai to any place in Japan. I could vist one or two adjacent prefectures one time and save others for the future. That saves a lot of time and money on long distance domestic transportation, because cross-regional transportation could be really costly in Japan. That's why I've never been on a Shinkansen though I've been to Japan for 5 times.

Chris, I just got accepted into the JET program! I have to thank you for inspiring me to apply--I couldn't be happier(:

google maps is definitely your friend, it'll tell you what train to take, when to switch trains, and even how long before it arrives. Spent a month there and the only time I asked for directions was in Shibuya to find a train station (there was construction at the time and google maps was inaccurate). It went something like this
Me: Sumimasen, eto, traino station (pointing at my phone)
Random Asian Guy: (in perfect English) we're actually heading there now if you want to follow

Great video, made me laugh but also very useful. Nice job dude!

When in Hirosaki I asked directions at a garage. The guys all got running around talking and one of them bundled me and my wife in a car and drove us over to the place. People are awesome!

I've watched a guy on TheXvid spend 30 days in Japan who didn't know any Japanese hitchhike all over.
I think I'll be fine with the little I know from my 20+ years of Japanese obsession.
Also Chris you are tubby. Thanks for all the great videos.

*cough* France! *cough* YEP! I’ve traveled and lived all over the world, and France is the only country where it feels like people make no effort to understand you, even when you’re actually trying to speak the language- in fact they often just pretend they cant understand or purposely ignor you. My sister is married to a wonderful Frenchman who is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met- but the stereotype of French rudeness to foreigners is very true in my experience.

Knowing at least some of the language of a country certainly helps, and it's a good thing to at least make the attempt, but no sense in limiting yourself unnecessarily. Life is short and the world is big; see as much of it as time and money allows, I say, and if you can manage to pick of some of the language, all the more better.

I’ve been learning a lot of Japanese a lot and easily so I think I’ll do great, ありがとう！

I currently live in Japan, and about 3 of these tips work 😂

First time I went to Japan, turned up in Tokyo when it was dark. Couldn’t find hotel. A young woman with no English to ok our printed off email (this was 15yrs ago lol) with the address, disappears to find it. Twenty mins later turned up and then escorted us there. Amazing.

I imagine it must be extremely difficult to travel without Japanese. They're everywhere in Japan..

For foreigners, I highly recommend studying at least basic Japanese, reading and speaking!
For example, basic phrases like “Thank You”, “Excuse me”, “Help”, “Sorry”, and maybe “How much”
To read things, learn that 女 means Female and 男 is male (as he says in the video)
If you really want to go the extra mile, learn Katakana! It’s the writing system used by Japan for foreign loan words, so you might be able to make out *some* words
:3

I once went to Rio de Janeiro to introduce and train an engineer from the UK office to the data center I had supported out of the US as London management wanted that center on their books given how successful it had been. You had to direct the taxi drivers to the lesser known hotels and to the office and for some reason they had booked the Brit into a lesser known hotel so I directed the taxi driver there with simple directions such as turn left, turn right, turn around and it's over there. When I got back to the US, management was going on about how the UK office was convinced I was proficient with Portuguese which of course I am not, and if drunk I would just mix French, Spanish, English and Mandarin together with the Portuguese to get my point across (works surprisingly well or perhaps I would just be too drunk for it to matter, you'd be surprised how much street slang in Caracas is actually Mandarin words).

Some of my friends are too shy and run away when foreigners asked them directions,but plz don’t give up, others don’t.