Quote:
Originally Posted by Crowbob
I may be headed to Japan 4/25 for a 14-day cruise that hits Tokyo, Nagoya, Kochi, Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Busan (SK), Hiroshima, Beppu, Kyoto (2days) and Shimizu.
Aside from my apologies for this post not being relevant to the OP, can anyone give me some idea what I’m in for?
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I assume that while on the boat you won't have any difficulties with anything. I'm assume that will be touristy enough that they will have everything covered with English text or folks that can speak some English.
English is a required language in Japanese schools, at least it was when I was there. I think it was required for something like 8 out of 13 years. Even so, they may or may not speak English well or understand you well, but they are very accommodating. If you can't get by with speaking, try writing it down. We had that experience, they may not be able to converse well, but may better understand the written word.
The language is easy for the most part with few sounds that are hard for an English speaker to pronounce so it shouldn't be too hard to learn some words and phases to help and engender more good will.
a = ah (as in father)
e = eh
i = ee
o = ō
u = oo
ai = "eye" literally ah-ee
ei = ā (like the Fonz used to say) literally eh-ee
y = sounds like the y in you
domo - casual "thank you" with a tiny bit of emphasis on the first "o" sound, so it's almost like you're pronouncing the long O twice.
domo arigato - bit less casual version of thank you
domo arigato gozaimasu - much more formal thank you
dozo - please
gomen nasai - I'm sorry
sumimasen - I'm sorry/excuse me
biru - beer
cohi = coffee
mizu = water
ohayo = casual hello
ohayo gozaimas = good morning
konichiwa = good day (more formal greeting)
konbonwa = good afternoon
oyasuminasai = good evening/good night
sayonara = good bye
moshi moshi = greeting when answering the phone. Always sounded closer to moo-she moo-she to us, but I think is technically mō-she mō-she
The people are super friendly and polite and eager.
It may depend upon where you are, what you are doing and if you're in a large group, but when I was there, it wasn't unusual for someone to approach you, ask if you were American and ask to "practice English". They usually just enjoy a chat.
The exchange rate appears to have improved quite a bit over what it was for a long time. Looks like it's currently 153¥ to the dollar. For a long time it was closer to 100¥ to the dollar, and that sucked. When we were there, the exchange rate was mostly 200-250¥ to the dollar which was awesome.
When we were in Japan, the cost of stuff was such that 100yen would be similar to what we'd think of as a dollar (100 cents). So when the exchange rate is a fair bit above 100¥=1$, then your dollar goes farther. Of course, it's been nearly 40 years since I've been there, so I don't know if costs for goods have changed much.
Check out things like grocery stores, soba (noodle) shops, etc... Most restaurants will (or did) have fake plastic food in the window. These days that may be less common with pics on the menu more common, I don't know.
Besides Capn Ahab who's got current experience, we've also got "Dan from Brooklyn" on the board. He lives in Japan (Hokkaido, I think) so he should be able to give you the skinny.