[masraum]

Originally Posted by IROC

I travel to Japan 1-2 times per year so have been many times. I don't really have much to add as I am always there for business. I go to an area a couple of hours north of Tokyo right on the coast.

For me personally, the initial "hey this place is really cool because everything is so different" quickly turns into "I'm sort of tired of the place because everything is so different". Where I go (Katsuta, Mito, Tokai area - Japan Particle Accelerator Research Complex) not many people speak English and I speak very little Japanese beyond the usual greetings and what comes in handy for me - "Excuse me" and "I'm sorry". But everyone is really nice and I am amazed at how safe the place feels. Young children walking (and taking trains) to school with no adult supervision at all. Things like that. I also really appreciate the whole "respect" culture in Japan - like not talking on trains or being very quiet if you do have to talk.

The food is really good (even for a backwoods East Tennessee guy like me). Some stuff is very exotic (a kind way of saying disgustingly weird) but most everything is good. Stay away from the Monk Fish Soup. Pro tip. I've had raw horse twice and it was awesome both times. Also raw beef tongue (shabu-shabu). I have pictures.

I'm sure that you get along just fine since you're frequently there. It's interesting that you (and us when we were there) run into so many folks that don't speak English, because when I was there (and I don't think this has changed) English was a required class in school for something like 8 years. So they have all been taught. But if they don't use it and haven't spoken it with native English speakers, they probably find it easier to not speak English.

When we were there, we found that a lot of time writting something down (printed) and showing it to them was better understood than trying to say it to them. We went down to find "sanding sealer" once for a project (pinewood derby, I think) and the guy just was not getting what my mother was saying. THen she wrote it down and he immediately said "sanding sealer". But it was obvious that the way that he said it and the way that my mom said it was different enough that was why he didn't understand her.

We found that Japan was super safe and clean, and the people were super polite and many were very friendly.

I remember being on a trip to visit another town once, my parents and I and another family with a kid my age. We stopped at a place for lunch with the fake plastic food in the front window that you would point to. Someone at the table got a bowl of soup with their food, and found an eyeball in their soup, LOL. Needless to say, they didn't finish the soup.

Fortunately, there's plenty of not-weird food it Japan too.