travelinwifey

Hello travelers, as some of you may know and through the help of Fodorites we're traveling to Japan in July.

I admit I am a little hesitant about going to Japan because I know nothing about Asia (though my spouse is Asian and traveled to his home country when he was a child). I am concerned about the language barrier and getting around on our own, and etiquette.

I am really looking forward to going to many Buddhist temples and gardens, palaces, and our ryokan stay. I just hope we find our way to each place without getting lost!

So my question is to previous travelers - did you find Japan to be one of your best vacations ever? Anything that you will never forget about visiting there, happy memories? Please share some Japan stories if you have them, I'd love to read about other's joyous travel experiences.

Kathie

There are a number of excellent trip reports here on the forum. For a wonderfully detailed Japan trip report, look for the recent report from Hawaiiantraveller.

If you pull up Japan threads you'll find other trip reports.

Have a lovely trip!

TravMimi

We are also going to Japan. My only concern is the language barrier. We are traveling with 4 pre-teens and we are wondering about buying items. Do items such as snacks and toiletries etc. ever have any english wording? I don't really want to spend too much time trying to figure out what each package say, and certainly don't want to pick up "something" by mistake.

Cyberia

I've never let the language barrier bother me. If worst copmes to worst, you point at a map to ask where a place is, hold fingers up or point when buying something, etc. The Japanese are a patient people and I had no trouble there. Some spoke some English. Lots of things to see outside of Tokyo like Kyoto, Hiroshima, etc. I found a train very easy to get around the country, and the Tokyo subway is easy to use (just watch others).

emd

I took my young teens (boy and girl) on separate trips to Japan. I have incredible memories. A Hanshin Tigers vs. Orix Buffalos baseball game at Osaka Dome, sitting in the fan section and having my son and I projected up on the stadium's video screen while we jammed w/the Tiger's fans. A sumo tournament in Osaka the same day, amazingly colorful and full of tradition. My son swinging from a lamp post while dancing and singing "Singin' in the Rain," a la Gene Kelly, in the pouring rain as we tried to find the yuzen place where we had an afternoon of yuzen fabric stenciling classes planned.

My son's face the first time he tasted pork-filled buns from the Lawson's, soba noodle soup at the train station stand-up counter, okonomiyaki at the train station in Hiroshima, and grilled seasoned tofu on a stick in Miyajima (while it snowed in late March). Buying roasted sweet potatoes from the man w/the wood burning oven on his push-cart next to Tokyo Tower at midnight.

My daughter discovering the outdoor sculptures at the Open Air museum in Hakone. Her emerging from behind the curtain in our ryokan room w/her yukata on. Sitting next to her on the floor as we made sweets in our traditional sweet-making class in Kyoto. Walking along the Philosopher's Path on a windy day as it "rained" pink cherry blossoms. The splendor of watching and hearing a Miyako Odori performance w/her in Kyoto. Her surprise when a vendor at a flea market in Kyoto gave her something she had been eyeing.

All of these and more- priceless.

travelinwifey

That was quite beautiful Emd, truly! Makes me feel better about the trip.

Thanks Cyberia, from what I've read too the Japanese are very kind so if I do make a fool out of myself perhaps it won't be so bad. Theanks for the encouragement.

Kathie, yes, I will read up on those trip reports. Haven't had time for long reading but after the 1st week of June I'll have time dedicated to reading everything I can about Japan and the places we'll be traveling to.

TravMimi, I met a person that has been to Japan and he told me that you will find American items like cereal at 7-11's. Also from what I understand there are pictures on the items you may buy at a restaurant? And someone else mentioned some restaurants/fast food have menus in English.

TravMimi

travelinwifey: Thanks. I was hoping to hear that. Pictures sure will be helpful. Maybe I won't hear, "whats this whats this whatsthis..." too many times now. Four tweens! Yikes !!

hawaiiantraveler

In answer to your first questions......YES

If you have some time read through my last two trip reports on Japan, it might answer some of your questions if you can bear through the long reports

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35128485

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34981470

I find these two sights very useful for preparing for Japan.

http://www.japan-guide.com/

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/

Take time to investigate these two sights as they hold a treasure trove of information for first time visitors to Japan.

Where are you going in Japan? If you stay on the beaten path you shouldn't have any problems with the language thing. If you aren't, or have specific questions ask here and someone will have the answer.
You are in for a treat!

Aloha!

travelinwifey

Aw, but it sounds like fun though. I love traveling with my "tween" niece. I think the kids will most certainly love it.

Not sure of your budget but we did hire a tour guide for Tokyo that was suggested by other Fodorites:

Junko Matsuda

Jun’s Tokyo Discovery Tours
email:
[email protected]

http://www.sidestep.com/travel-info-...rs_tokyo_japan

The price now is $200 for 8 hours. We are using her guidance for the first day in Tokyo just to help us get an idea of how things run.

Please be sure to write about your experiences when you return! Warmest regards for a happy, fun filled, and adventureous trip!

travelinwifey

Hello Hawaiiantraveler, I see you are home!

We've narrowed it down and our final itinerary is:

4 nights in Tokyo
4 nights in Kyoto
2 nights in a ryokan (Ugenta- about 30 mins north by rail from Kyoto to Sakyou-ku, Kyoto-shi) in the mountains
3 nights back to Tokyo

We are planning side trips to Nara and perhaps Mt. Fuji so far.

Long TR's are good! You can learn so much! Thank you, thank you! Will follow all the links.

Mara

I've been thinking about this since I saw it posted...I guess travel to Japan changed my life

I've been three times although the last was just a weekend as I returned home after I fractured my foot.

Shortly after my first trip, I started studying Japanese. I also watch Japanese dramas and have met people online with a similar interest. Now I am also studying Shodo - Calligraphy.

I plan to go back in November and continue the trip I had to cut short.

Enjoy your trip!

TravMimi

Travelinwifey: I also love traveling with tweens. I've been traveling all my life and now at my age I realize that the things I remember the best and the most are my trips in my pre and early teens. I've booked a very nice tour for this trip, because it will be just me, 2 of mine and a friend for each. Transportation and hotels are set so I feel better about it. We have plenty of free time on our stops and plan to wander alone instead of taking optional tours. Thanks to the internet and message boards, I think we'll have a fantastic time. I now know quite a bit about paper cranes, anime and Tokyo Disney. Thanks to everyone at Fodor's for all the great info.

travelinwifey

Very nice Mara! Thanks for sharing. My spouse meets a lot of people every day and he says in general socializing most people seem to be transformed by England, Japan, and Isreal. I will find out for myself and report back!

TravMimi, make sure you share the food specifics when you get back please! I am looking forward to rain as we get no water here in the desert. I want it to pour when we are in the mountains.

kja

I had a wonderful time in Japan without speaking Japanese (except for a few basic civilities and necessities). And I found it easy to get around on my own, but I had really good maps with me (I recommend the book, Japan Solo) and had done my homework.

Enjoy!

jlaughs

travel,

I wouldn't be too overly concerned about the language barrier.

Many restaurants have English menus and/or pictures of the food. Even when those don't prove helpful, you'll always figure out a way to communicate. One night, my BF and I ended up at a teppanyaki-type restaurant with individual grills on each table. The menu had pictures, which is why we decided to eat there, but when we looked at the menu more closely, we discovered SEVERAL pictures of beef and SEVERAL pictures of chicken. No idea what each one was and we didn't want to end up with beef liver and chicken gizzards!! I speak a little Japanese, but all of it fled my mind as I tried to figure out how to ask the waitress if a picture of chicken was white meat or dark meat and, of course, she spoke not one word of English. After a few agonizing moments, I finally pointed at a picture, patted my breast and then patted my thigh. She broke out in a huge smile and patted her own breast. Yah! White meat chicken!!

We had numerous pictures drawn for us as directions to places we were going when we asked for directions and everyone was SO helpful and concerned whether we understood (with the exception of one place where the people were actually a little rude, but they didn't know I could understand what they were saying and so knew that they were being rude). Oh well. In Kyoto, we even had one man, who was just there on a business trip himself and so not really familiar with the area, stay with us for about 15-20 minutes while he led us all the way to our destination (going in the opposite direction from when we had first encountered him), as he asked others on the way for directions. We got his business card and knew that he worked in Osaka. Later, when we were in Osaka, we asked one of our waiters who had studied in the US and, therefore, spoke fluent English, if he could call the man and see if he was nearby in Osaka. We were able to meet with him that night at the restaurant and give him one of the gifts that we had brought from the US. He was so surprised and happy that we thought of him, which made us even happier.

As you can see, you can survive and even have some amazing experiences from not always speaking the same language.

Enjoy!!

travelinwifey

Thanks for the encouragement Kja and Jlaughs I think kids today should be taught a secondary language from early schooling like they do in many other countries. I completely lost recollection of the Spanish I spoke in high school and college, wish I had started learning at an earlier age.

Ps, now I know that pointing to our chests work, lol!

Vonk17

On our first trip to Japan our plane arrived 5 hours late on a Friday night. The train we were supposed to take had stopped running. One kind Japanese gentlemen who worked in another town during the week and was on his way home to see his family for the weekend spent 45 minutes with us trying to get us to where we were supposed to be. That is why we keep going back to Japan, have had Japanese exchange students, and probably why our eldest is dating a Japanese native!!

travelinwifey

Thanks Vonk17. I wanted again to thank everyone who so kindly responded and helped me in other threads. I spent a lot of time reading Hawaiiantraveler's trip reports.

Sadly we are now having to cancel our July trip to Japan. Our home was burglarized about 1 1/2 weeks ago and had a significant about of property stolen that will not reimbursed by our home insurance. So not only are we out the inital cost but we also now have to pay again for our items to be replaced.

We came to the decision this weekend after being out of town trying to put things in perspective, our money is better spent at home now, Japan will have to wait

We will most certainly go again, perhaps next year. Right now I'll be dreaming about our future trip to a foreign land with a grand )literally!) history and beautiful gardens, and much, much more

hawaiiantraveler

travelinwifey,

how terrible! hope all works out on the home front and you get some type of settlement. Japan will be waiting for you next year!

Aloha!

WillJame

A sad end, for now, to your plans. I do hope you recover from the robbery in time, and are able to plan again for a visit to Japan in the future, and to rebuild your anticipation.