We went a dozen years ago, but I didn't write up as much about the experience I would have liked.
http://derecola.com/archives/japan/index.htm
Tokyo is okay, but it's NYC with Japanese people and NYC is not my bag. Kyoto is way cooler.
Japanese people are extremely reserved; they often won't speak English to you until you ask them in Japanese if you can speak English to them. They're not jerks, just afraid of embarrassing themselves by speaking poor English. When I was there, my wife got stared at a lot (blond) and I distinctly remember being on a crowded train where people would rather stand than fill the last empty seat next to me. I got called gaijin at least twice in 11 days.
You will be an observer in Japan above all else. It really helps if you have a local who speaks Japanese helping you out. You can get around no problem, but knowing the nuance of the social customs unlocks the next level of emersive experience and a local can help with that. I think conversing with locals is the hardest in Japan over the 25+ countries I've been to... and I took Japanese in college, so I know pronunciation and many customs.
It's on our list to return in the next five years.
http://derecola.com/archives/japan/index.htm
Tokyo is okay, but it's NYC with Japanese people and NYC is not my bag. Kyoto is way cooler.
Japanese people are extremely reserved; they often won't speak English to you until you ask them in Japanese if you can speak English to them. They're not jerks, just afraid of embarrassing themselves by speaking poor English. When I was there, my wife got stared at a lot (blond) and I distinctly remember being on a crowded train where people would rather stand than fill the last empty seat next to me. I got called gaijin at least twice in 11 days.
You will be an observer in Japan above all else. It really helps if you have a local who speaks Japanese helping you out. You can get around no problem, but knowing the nuance of the social customs unlocks the next level of emersive experience and a local can help with that. I think conversing with locals is the hardest in Japan over the 25+ countries I've been to... and I took Japanese in college, so I know pronunciation and many customs.
It's on our list to return in the next five years.
'76 911S | '14 328xi | '17 GTI | In memoriam: '08 848, '85 944
"Here, at last, is the cure for texting while driving. The millions of deaths which occur every year due to the iPhone’s ability to stream the Kim K/Ray-J video in 4G could all be avoided, every last one of them, if the government issued everyone a Seventies 911 and made sure they always left the house five minutes later than they’d wanted to. It would help if it could be made to rain as well. Full attention on the road. Guaranteed." -Jack Baruth
"Here, at last, is the cure for texting while driving. The millions of deaths which occur every year due to the iPhone’s ability to stream the Kim K/Ray-J video in 4G could all be avoided, every last one of them, if the government issued everyone a Seventies 911 and made sure they always left the house five minutes later than they’d wanted to. It would help if it could be made to rain as well. Full attention on the road. Guaranteed." -Jack Baruth