A question, if I may… my family is looking to travel to Japan. How necessary is it to be fluent in the language? More from an “I don’t want to be an asshole” standpoint as opposed to a “I’ll be lost forever” standpoint.
It’s not at all necessary. Google Translate works super well, and a lot of Japanese also speak English. Pretty much all the important signs are also in English.
Much more important than learning the language is learning the culture of politeness. I highly recommend looking up non-clickbaity youtube videos that talk about how to behave in Japan for your first trip. The cultural differences are pretty strong.
Had a similar experience in Hakone. The village wouldn’t have been much to look at, yet I spent a good couple of hours extra there, just enjoying the ambiance and the people. Exactly the way I pictured it when reading Murakami when his main characters visit a village.
Another unexpected delight was Aomori. It was nowhere near as cold as I expected, and we had the best fucking ramen I’ve had anywhere in the world, at this tiny little shop.
Strangely enough, a city I found absolutely and unexpectedly delightful was Himeji, on Honshu in Japan.
A question, if I may… my family is looking to travel to Japan. How necessary is it to be fluent in the language? More from an “I don’t want to be an asshole” standpoint as opposed to a “I’ll be lost forever” standpoint.
It’s not at all necessary. Google Translate works super well, and a lot of Japanese also speak English. Pretty much all the important signs are also in English.
That’s good news… I’d love to not be the stereotypical “ugly American”
Much more important than learning the language is learning the culture of politeness. I highly recommend looking up non-clickbaity youtube videos that talk about how to behave in Japan for your first trip. The cultural differences are pretty strong.
That makes sense, we’ve started studying it just a bit along with basic language lessons. Thanks for the advice though!
Even apart from the castle? Okay, that’s it, I’m moving up the castle (and the region) higher on the to do list :)
We didn’t go to the castle, we just wandered around in the city, and just found it delightful.
Had a similar experience in Hakone. The village wouldn’t have been much to look at, yet I spent a good couple of hours extra there, just enjoying the ambiance and the people. Exactly the way I pictured it when reading Murakami when his main characters visit a village.
Another unexpected delight was Aomori. It was nowhere near as cold as I expected, and we had the best fucking ramen I’ve had anywhere in the world, at this tiny little shop.
Great tip, looks awesome! And on the way to Hokkaido, ideal! :)