Japanese People, What Should Tourists Know Before Visiting?

japanese people have read it what are some things people should know to do and not do before visiting japan i am japanese and welcome everyone to visit don't be scared we are now trying to be more tourist friendly the big mistake i see foreign make hey disrupt order we japanese like lines and quiet if everyone follow this system it works better b forget turn off your cell phone ring notify c wear light clothes than you think sometimes even if temperature is okay humidity is really bad the big advice i have a bring small gift from your country it will always start conversation can be very cheap but good japanese way to start b try a small local or family restaurant instead of business restaurant ask for their recommendation make them happy you'll enjoy it more than your next mcdonald's i love your response thank you soomamazan learn that word start every single sentence with it it means sorry excuse me use it when asking for directions as another way to say thank you when entering a new place if there is one word you need to learn it's an amazon this second phrase should be arrogant it means thank you very much and i think i said it about a million times when i was there for two weeks i saw some white dude at shibuya crossing flaunting his headband with kamikaze written on it yeah that always ask what the kanji means before buying stuff with kanji on it my japanese teacher had a list of the worst kanji tattoos she'd ever seen it was pretty hilarious she said she stopped saying anything to people because either they'd become very upset or try to weirdly double down and act like she was the one who didn't know what it meant carry cash they'll take cards but it's unusual and i've gotten looks for it you can access international atms at 7 11 and the post offices just be polite it gets you a long way even if you don't know the language well if you're gracious it gets you a long way this is the most surprising to me i live in new zealand where everywhere accepts electronic payments not always credit cards but always the local national bank cards it's weird hearing that a country so far ahead technologically doesn't use electronic payments almost exclusively i'm not japanese but i've lived in japan the majority of my life live in a japanese household and work only with japanese people one don't worry about eating and walking it says this is bad in guidebooks but nobody cares two do not talk loudly on the train this is probably the thing that annoys japanese people more than anything in the train you can talk but for god's sake don't speak loudly to add to that you are probably speaking louder than you think speaking loudly on the train isn't shouting speaking your normal volume is probably loud for the train speak out the volume you would speak at a museum everyone was very nice and plenty of folks speak english but i always felt like people warmed up even more because i took the time to learn literally 10 words of japanese a little effort goes a long way hello goodbye thank you very much where is check please 1 through 10 etc also i saved a ton of money by eating breakfasts at 7 11. obligatory not japanese lived here for the majority of my life however if there's one thing to do in japan just be quiet pretend you're in a museum you don't have to yell on the train it also helps to have situational awareness if you can avoid blocking the street aisle you're already doing better than 90 of tourists and japanese combined don't touch everything in shops especially grocery stores if you rent a bicycle or something don't be an idiot on it i don't recommend renting a bike if you're not from a bike friendly place before you do something ask yourself would a mainland chinese tourist or logan paul do this if the answer is yes don't do it that last one is good advice for day-to-day life didn't see this mentioned but rent a pocket wi-fi it's cheaper than most sim cards or international data plans and tends to have amazing coverage it means that you always have google maps translate available i constantly use maps while navigating tokyo they can also usually be picked up and dropped off at the airport not japanese but went there a few years back and got a few tips from a family friend who was born and raised in tokyo there are a lot of vending machines you are expected to consume whatever you buy and dispose of the cam bag in the same place usually a small trash can for that purpose seats are dang hard to find at the busy spots most restaurants have either picture menus or little plastic versions of the food so ordering is easy if you eat at a place with a chef sushi yakitori etc compliment the chef some don't have set prices so lavish praise may lower your bill and it is just plain fun when looking for sushi near the fish market just look for the place with a line out the door doesn't matter which one but the one with the line of locals is going to be the best a few observations from being there seats are rare to find if you need to sit for a few minutes look for an american fast food chain you can get a drink clear your head and sit for a few minutes people are amazing we had one guy across six lanes of traffic to help direct us to the tokyo museum we had another get off a train and walk us through the right connections to get us to the bullet train we booked to kyoto as in he rode 20 or 30 minutes out of his way just to make sure we got there old people are grumpy as heck they were like florida retirees whose favorite buffet closed down the contrast with everyone else being so very nice made this particularly entertaining ask before taking people's pictures this is true everywhere but people seemed particularly sensitive to this in tokyo and kyoto you can just hold up the camera and smile and ask the question with facial expressions no need to learn the japanese phrase almost everyone was fine with it but a few refused don't take anything too seriously set out every day to get lost to embarrass yourself with a local to buy something silly and to eat something of unknown origin you will have much better stories memories that way if you end up in one of the clubs in roppongi go with people you trust there's a high chance someone might spike your drink white person living in kyoto etc etc please don't take pictures of the maker without permission you can always ask shashin ku to say if they don't seem to be in a hurry please don't bother the mako when they are in a hurry please don't grab the mako there was a disappointing rash of this in the last few years one poor girl had her kimono torn mako are usually very young women and it's appalling what some people will do mako are a type of geisha and can be seen in jun they are usually apprentices bring or buy a blank notebook there are plenty of souvenir stamps at attractions train stations to collect usually near the exit it's great fun and lovely memento to have google stamp rally for more info stamp rally most stations have their unique stamp design don't speak japanese like in your favorite anime japanese in anime is unique to anime and sounds very weird in a social setting with real people comma don't speak japanese like in your favorite anime japanese anime is unique to anime and sounds very weird in a social setting with real people yeah i won't be talking to those anytime soon watch what you say when in public thinking that no one will understand what you're saying a surprising number of japanese people understand spoken english while a whole lot don't but how can you tell which category those around you fall into people that only speak english and don't assume most people can understand them is bizarre almost every english-speaking foreigner who lives in japan permanently will think they are better than you and every small thing about japan that you enjoy they will hate because they've seen it already it kind of sounds like there's a story here not 100 japanese but 25 japanese blah blah but living in japan there will be some people who will compliment on your chopstick using ability and be like sugoini hashiwaja zu di sunni wow you're good at using chopsticks don't get offended if you hear this even if you've been using chopsticks ever since you were a zero year child some are little japanese people have never seen a foreigner person ever seen a japanese person use chopsticks instead of getting offended at that statement use it as a starting point start a conversation to bridge a gap formed from ignorance and develop a relationship you might create a friend and a karaoke partner you i had the same reaction when i visited china and i'm part chinese grew up eating with chopsticks which is seriously not a big deal but everyone there was like you're so good at it and for some reason in shock after the third time i was getting a bit annoyed you can drink alcohol outside enjoy the weather amd take a walk with your drink of choice go to the park as well do not do this when you get back home not japanese but i visited japan a few times one thing i notice specifically compared to the us was a lack of drinking fountain so it's a good idea to carry a water bottle with you but also try some of the noodle restaurants sushi is the most well known japanese food and it is delicious but proper japanese ramen is also great and well worth trying while you're over there it's a popular lunch option 15 years living in japan four in the sticks and 11 in tokyo i feel like i have to chime in on some of the popular do's and dons that keep coming up in this thread tattoos not that big a deal only a problem if you want to enter a private establishment like an onsen hot spring gym or private swimming pool some local councils have tried banning tattoos at public beaches but there hasn't been much about it recently as i suspect you can't legally bar people from public areas otherwise no one will bat an eye at your tattoos eating while walking again not really an issue stopping to eat your snack is pretty common sense anywhere really i've never seen or heard of anyone having trouble doing this keeping your voice down on a train yes trains are typically silent spaces in tokyo travel to osaka though and you may notice a difference trains there can be very chatty places personally i wish they tokyo at least wouldn't be so uptight about talking in trains people talking in public whatever next chopsticks etiquette most of the advice about it here is pretty true though as a foreigner you're hardly going to get dragged over the coals for any infringement not sticking your chopsticks upright and food is generally pretty sound advice pouring soy sauce on rice why would you do this anyway it's akin to putting ketchup in your coffee apart from anything else you're making it almost impossible to eat with chopsticks free umbrellas this is a complete internet myth on rainy days there are little umbrella holders for you to put your umbrella in as opposed to dripping water all over the shop floor you take one of these umbrellas and your thief seriously i've had so many umbrellas stolen on wet days here that if i ever catch someone taking my umbrella i'll tear out their soul carry cash yep banking is stuck in the early 20th century here even if an atm displays cirrus or plus logos that's no guarantee they will work with your foreign card top tip 7 bank atms 7 11 affiliated atms work with most foreign cards and can be found in all 711 stores when going to a restaurant don't ask for modifications for food for example don't ask can you make this without please very little vegetarian option not a faux pas since most sushi places offer salmon now but salmon sushi is not really authentic so if you go somewhere super authentic don't order salmon as you will embarrass yourself get an ic card at any station and use it as a contactless payment method at vending machines convenience stores and other major stores as well as public transport best underrated places in japan i'd say hokkaido okinawa nagano or really anywhere not tokyo kanto areas or kyoto osaka these two metros are so so crowded experiment with the toilet buttons to feel refreshed every time nature is calling toto toilets a godsend people don't speak english well and if you are foreign looking or speak english they will have some weird interest on you but tokyo people speak english somewhat but still pretty dismal buy electronics go to big shops and just go for the experience go to your dobby camera or big camera everyone working there is so knowledgeable speaking of get a sim card from big camera if you are visiting taxes are very expensive take limousine bus from airports for convenient transport do go to chain restaurants as they are really good value and really yummy don't tip they'll think you forgot your change source from tokyo heads up they do pixel at your genitals at narita airport so get one last good look at them while you are on the plane can confirm currently pixelated fortunately it obscures the size my first time visiting japan in the navy my shipmates convinced me that b meant both hello and goodbye i went around saying it to everyone i met i didn't find out until we were shoving off that bee does not in fact me neither are those things this was in the 90s before any teen with the computer could unravel the mysteries of p via internet b is a style of noodles i've been working in japan for well over a year now and this is the best advice i can give you are and will always be an outsider be ready to be fetishized and infantilized don't take insult to this you are a guest and be open to that respect them and they will be friendly also three weeks of dulingo would go a long way fetishized and infantilized on my way i'm an american but stay out of the fish markets in osaka or tokyo not sure which was drunk and long time ago at 2am unless you're specifically supposed to be there not japanese but been here for six years one drink anywhere but nuisance nowhere two non-japanese representatives of all foreigners one logan paul destroys the work of one thousand matthew chosicks three police make people disappear four weeks at a time at 99 percent conviction rate don't be a criminal four arigato 5 just because the women beautiful doesn't mean you can't hit on them at their day job train commute standard public scenario too many people come here get trashed and ask me flirting dialogue only leave your hormones with customs and 6. speak japanese like you're genuinely interested in communicating grammar and vocabulary mistakes are only held against legit business and residents of japan do they appreciate a tourist with more than a smattering with these in mind you'll have a rewarding experience enjoy the country japanese itself though is pretty forgiving single nouns verbs and adjectives are linguistically correct sentences if context is sufficient a whole bunch of stuff is optional or can be moved around there are fewer regular verbs and almost no plural forms with a fee special case extensions or words for common plural items now the writing systems are another matter this is going to sound very strange and i'm not sure if you're a uterus owner or not but bring enough tampons pads whatever and cramp medication if you take birth control get extras from your doctor it's really hard to find tampons in some foreign countries and if you don't know the language you might not know where they're stored also pain meds are usually lower strength have fun i bought a diva cup on my trip that changed everything for me the videos are also super handy children will stare at you not really in cities but outside cities i was in saporo and in the city no one cared about my boyfriend and i did when we booked 45 minutes out of the city we stopped at a convenience store and there were school-aged children outside and they could not stop looking at us it's like they had never seen white people in person before they even followed us for a bit was definitely weird for us but we didn't mind depends on where you are going i'm from the tokyo area so i can't speak to the regional cities avoid rush hour trains and if you do get on trains during rush hour take off your backpack also forget your sense of personal space this is a high density country if you're not asian you'll stand out even if you're asian you'll still stand out you may be treated differently you may get stared at it's unfortunate but it's improving i'm happy so i speak from first-hand experience i'm assuming you speak english but so will everyone else maybe this isn't an issue i haven't lived in japan since the inbound demand spike so this may have changed but i feel like foreigners equals english speaking is the general perception as you'll most likely stand out as a tourist you'll be likely given the free pass but there are many unspoken manner rules some are mentioned like the standing on escalator etc in general be respectful eating drinking on trains is generally frowned upon speaking loudly on the train is frowned upon unless your train is in an emergency don't use your phone on the train as a phone as a smartphone for texting internet games is fine obviously don't litter unfortunately things in japan are ridiculously packaged it's both a good convenience and bad inefficient thing they'll give you tiny plastic bags at convenience stores so just keep one in your purse and collect your garbage in there it'll add up again likely given a free pass but just know that people in japan tend to dress more modestly and tattoos just aren't generally accepted you don't have to conform but that is the environment you'll be going into it's getting cooler but regardless of the season skin exposure for both men and women are less common than in the us i don't know first hand but as you'll likely stand out you may be targeted by aggressive sales people maybe i'm not sure on this one japan is a beautiful country and i hope to return soon i'm from the kanto area as mentioned but i like the shikoku islands as well the mountains are wonderful if you are going to tokyo area oyama is quite accessible hakun region is also wonderful it's a different environment though but if you don't like there i don't think you have to stress about fitting in be respectful obviously but there's not a lot that will happen if you're not within legal bounds obviously have fun food is amazing the convenience is mind-blowing after living too long in the u.s bureaucracy can be a nightmare but i doubt you'll have to deal with that watch out for nigerian street gangs trying to scam you and don't bother going to the red light district as a foreigner because none of the xxx places will let you in also be prepared to spend a lot of money seriously it's pretty hard to find public wi-fi consider getting pocket wi-fi or some other source of connection if you need reliable internet connectivity carry cash around it's not common for people to pay with card most convenient stores have international atms don't be loud on the train or bus people hate that if you're sitting in the priority seat area make sure to stand up and offer your seat to the elderly and disabled you won't be able to go to most pools or onsens hot springs if you have any tattoos a small ones can be covered up with a band-aid if you're driving be careful on the roads driver seat and car lanes are opposite from many countries the roads are also really narrow and you'll probably be scared of hitting people in crowded areas you'll have to honk a lot because people tend to not stand clear of the road a lot of times get an ic card suka pasmo icoka whatever works unless you want to buy a ticket every time you want to get on a train getting a junior rail pass only for foreigners is probably worth it if you plan on using the trains often don't tip there is no such thing in general be polite if you feel like you are being too polite that's probably the right amount lived in japan for a total of 15 months over the period 2012 to 2014 a lot of what i'd suggest has been covered but one thing that isn't mentioned learn cartacona japan has three alphabets one logographic alphabet kanji two phonetic alphabets hirogana and cartaconna kanji is the traditional chinese characters and represents 90 of the written japanese language you aren't gonna learn those in a reasonable time frame so don't bother hiragana is used pretty much solely for minor grammar particles etc and spelling out kanji for situations where it's not clear so is fairly useless unless you speak the language okay that's a bit harsh it's useful in limited cases like recognizing certain train station names but generally most of those situations you will skip if you're just visiting or there will be audio queues katakana however when i lived there this was very useful katakana covers the same sound range as hiragana and so anything you can write in hiragana can be directly transliterated into katakana without problems but the japanese people use it for one thing only writing foreign words and things derived from foreign words that means if you need say ibuprofen it's literally ibupurofu yen a convenience store is shortened to konbini japan treats b and v as the same like l and r or in the modern world so many things have english or english derived names so this was a huge help for me bonus ramen is considered foreign so you'll see that in katakana a lot oh also if you go to the onsen hot springs baths remember to bathe before you hop in the bath yes i know that sounds silly but do it traditionally there'll be an entry room with little seats with bucket soap shampoo and maybe show a heads nearby to scrub down with if you don't clean up first you will be considered a filthy barbarian more so than usual you can also learn carticardo in a week or two if you put some effort into it there's really no reason not to if you are new to the channel you can subscribe i publish new videos every day until then check 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Keywords: tourist in japan, tourist in japan 2021, tourist in japan now, rude tourist in japan, #updootst, updoot, reddit, r/askreddit, askreddit, ask reddit, r/, \r, r\, best of reddit, reddit stories, reddit story, top posts, funniest posts, funny, funny posts, funny reddit stories, funny askreddit, reddit funny, askreddit funny, askreddit stories, reddit stories 2021, people of reddit, sub, reddit cringe, memes, toadfilms, updoot everything, updoot reddit, story, stories, rslash, comedy, fresh

Id: ZgdCwaBfM_Q

Length: 24min 18sec (1458 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 09 2021