[masraum]

Originally Posted by javadog

That said, pretty much everybody in Japan studies English at some point so they are already miles ahead of me.

When I lived in Japan (late 70s and again in the mid 80s) English was a required language for 8 years of their school. Many have feigned not being able to speak/understand English due to lack of use, not wanting to be wrong/appear foolish, and then there's also the matter of the teachers not always having great pronunciation. But often where they may not do well with speech, they may do better with the written word.

I intend to spend some time in Japan in the coming years. I may take along a buddy who speaks it or just hire a local to drive me around and interpret, when needed. Best case, I hire an attractive female wasian, although my fallback is a motorcycle racing mechanic that spent a decade or two in So Cal and hasn't got enough going on right now to fill his days. Some friends and I use him for occasional transactions that we do in Japan. If his wife lets him out of the house for a few days, I can probably work a deal.

The wasian would be way better, though.

Sounds awesome! I've been wanting to go back for years, and the missus would love to as well.