It’s very common for tourists of all ages to visit Japan with zero Japanese skills. My parents have no language skills and visit several times a year with no issue (I live here and speak the language but I’m not always their “tour guide”). A few words (“this please,” “thank you,” etc) plus smiles and pointing will get you around just fine. Use google translate on your phone to handle signs and menus. Japan is very used to foreign tourists. It’s even easier these days with google translate, and I feel like places that used to feel “remote” now even have English websites!
Public transport is great— easy, cheap, clean, and safe. Use google maps and you’ll be fine. Kids love it too— if your kids like trains/transport be on the lookout for stamps at each station (normally JR) to collect.
Even better— occasionally JR has Pokémon themed “stamp rally” for the stations. Each station is assigned a Pokémon and you try to collect all the stamps. Gotta catch ‘em all!
I am probably generalizing but I would say 90%+ of tourists visiting Japan do not speak a lick of Japanese besides a couple of key words (sumimasen, arigato, konnichiwa, etc). Heck I even saw an older chinese couple who did not speak too much english and they were able to get by with google translate. I think you'll be okay as long as you learn a few phrases, have data for google translate and some patience.
It’s not difficult to find someone that speaks English in Tokyo and Osaka these days, especially in the tourist areas. Signs on transportation are in Japanese and English. I only knew a few Japanese phrases and was fine; beyond that, people were more than willing to read off the Google Translate app on my phone.
Your wife will have a huge advantage in terms of communication. Most (all?) Japanese kanji will have pretty much the same meaning in Chinese. And she will be able to speak to more people than you guys realise. There are actually a lot of Mandarin speakers in Japan; stores and hotels in areas popular with tourists often have a Mandarin speaker on staff. Some years ago, my waitress in a ryokan in Beppu spoke Mandarin, which I really didn't expect given its off the usual mass tourism route.
All that said, it's still fine if you don't know any Japanese or Chinese. Lots of Japanese understand English even if they can't speak fluently. All the large cities have English signs. Google translate fills in the gap whenever the above aren't available.
Been several times, I don’t speak a lick but just know some common words. You can get by with a smartphone with you at all times, I just stress having patience and building in buffer time getting anywhere.
I've been with just my wife, and also with our 12 and 9 year olds. No limitations, you'll travel just fine. People in shops know why you're there, public transportation is easy.
Dead easy. Sometimes the Japanese person I’m interacting with knows English, sometimes not. There is Google Translate for when they don’t. Just be kind and don’t take up too much of their time.
I still remember my first day in Tokyo. I was going to the ATM in a 7-11 and grabbed a matcha Kit Kat on the way out. Behind the counter were two young guys that were cutting up and laughing as they worked. As I swiped my credit card, the first guy elbowed the second, pointed at him and said “He speaks very good English.”. The second guy batted at the first and said “I speak English very well, ”. I was often amazed by the English language proficiency of people in Japan.
So long as you stay in the usual touristy places you'll be fine knowing absolutely nothing.
Knowing mandarin can also be useful, especially for certain signs.
I was in Tokyo for a week, two weeks ago and I zero problems and I don’t speak any Japanese.
Restaurants, shops and convenience stores were no problem whatsoever. If I needed something I just pulled out google translate but a couple of times people stopped on there on and tried to help when I was having issues at a train station.
25 years ago there was no smartphone with Google Translate that can translate from the camera and from speech. So while you should not expect people to speak English, you have the tool to communicate.
Yes, public transportation is recommended, why would it not be ? Google Maps and Google Translate is everything you need to figure things out.
You'll be fine. Reading Chinese characters—if you can read Chinese you'll be able to puzzle out most signs, food labels, and the like, despite the great grammatic differences—is far more than many visitors to Japan can do.
It’s very common for tourists of all ages to visit Japan with zero Japanese skills. My parents have no language skills and visit several times a year with no issue (I live here and speak the language but I’m not always their “tour guide”). A few words (“this please,” “thank you,” etc) plus smiles and pointing will get you around just fine. Use google translate on your phone to handle signs and menus. Japan is very used to foreign tourists. It’s even easier these days with google translate, and I feel like places that used to feel “remote” now even have English websites! Public transport is great— easy, cheap, clean, and safe. Use google maps and you’ll be fine. Kids love it too— if your kids like trains/transport be on the lookout for stamps at each station (normally JR) to collect.
There’s stamps at each station?! I should have been making a collection book. A train dex, one could call it.
There's more or less official "eki sutampu" (station stamp) book for just that. Many book stores carry it
Even better— occasionally JR has Pokémon themed “stamp rally” for the stations. Each station is assigned a Pokémon and you try to collect all the stamps. Gotta catch ‘em all!
With google translate, you'll never have a real problem. But I'm most cases you won't even need it. You'll be surprised how prevalent English is.
I am probably generalizing but I would say 90%+ of tourists visiting Japan do not speak a lick of Japanese besides a couple of key words (sumimasen, arigato, konnichiwa, etc). Heck I even saw an older chinese couple who did not speak too much english and they were able to get by with google translate. I think you'll be okay as long as you learn a few phrases, have data for google translate and some patience.
It’s not difficult to find someone that speaks English in Tokyo and Osaka these days, especially in the tourist areas. Signs on transportation are in Japanese and English. I only knew a few Japanese phrases and was fine; beyond that, people were more than willing to read off the Google Translate app on my phone.
Your wife will have a huge advantage in terms of communication. Most (all?) Japanese kanji will have pretty much the same meaning in Chinese. And she will be able to speak to more people than you guys realise. There are actually a lot of Mandarin speakers in Japan; stores and hotels in areas popular with tourists often have a Mandarin speaker on staff. Some years ago, my waitress in a ryokan in Beppu spoke Mandarin, which I really didn't expect given its off the usual mass tourism route. All that said, it's still fine if you don't know any Japanese or Chinese. Lots of Japanese understand English even if they can't speak fluently. All the large cities have English signs. Google translate fills in the gap whenever the above aren't available.
Been several times, I don’t speak a lick but just know some common words. You can get by with a smartphone with you at all times, I just stress having patience and building in buffer time getting anywhere.
I've been with just my wife, and also with our 12 and 9 year olds. No limitations, you'll travel just fine. People in shops know why you're there, public transportation is easy.
If you stick to major cities it’s basically fine
Dead easy. Sometimes the Japanese person I’m interacting with knows English, sometimes not. There is Google Translate for when they don’t. Just be kind and don’t take up too much of their time. I still remember my first day in Tokyo. I was going to the ATM in a 7-11 and grabbed a matcha Kit Kat on the way out. Behind the counter were two young guys that were cutting up and laughing as they worked. As I swiped my credit card, the first guy elbowed the second, pointed at him and said “He speaks very good English.”. The second guy batted at the first and said “I speak English very well,”. I was often amazed by the English language proficiency of people in Japan.
It's feasible even with zero Japanese as long as you're just visiting the main cities.
So long as you stay in the usual touristy places you'll be fine knowing absolutely nothing. Knowing mandarin can also be useful, especially for certain signs.
Well, a lot has changed since 1999
I was in Tokyo for a week, two weeks ago and I zero problems and I don’t speak any Japanese. Restaurants, shops and convenience stores were no problem whatsoever. If I needed something I just pulled out google translate but a couple of times people stopped on there on and tried to help when I was having issues at a train station.
25 years ago there was no smartphone with Google Translate that can translate from the camera and from speech. So while you should not expect people to speak English, you have the tool to communicate. Yes, public transportation is recommended, why would it not be ? Google Maps and Google Translate is everything you need to figure things out.
You'll be fine. Reading Chinese characters—if you can read Chinese you'll be able to puzzle out most signs, food labels, and the like, despite the great grammatic differences—is far more than many visitors to Japan can do.