The subways are BRILLIANT !
Truly smart design, every line is colour coded, every station has a Roman number and the name in romanji and the colour. You will also have the station announced in English too on the train but it can be difficult to understand it's quite fast.
That 12 there means I'm twelve stops from Shinjuku which is number 1 on that line
The fare machines have an english button
HOLD ON TO YOUR TICKET !
It's like the UK in that you use your ticket to both enter and exit the system.
It's way easier to navigate then the MTA in NYC.
I'd echo a little what RealJames posted ...
1) The chivalry thing in terms of seats on the bus or train and opening doors for women, not to say it's all that different here in Canada but I noticed it. Honestly I don't think we think about it the same way.
2) Subways ARE quiet, compared to NA and gabbing on your phone is flat out rude, texting only, conversation is kept very low if there is any at all. This changes if students are aboard just after school but not by much.
3) Opening doors and allowing a woman to go first gets a start from the person and a very formal thank you.
4) Looking people in the eyes, this I didn't encounter as I got smiles most of the time, some of the older folks (I'm 40) looked suspicious of me but a slight bow, removes any of that.
5) Pay attention to signs or other landmarks, I found it next to impossible to get lost this way, and even if I wasn't where I wanted to be I knew how to get there.
6) English, don't hold your breath. No one "practiced" their english on me save one Ramen guy, which consisted of "If you want to speak english speak to her" "Where are you from ?" when I told him Canada he answered back "Vancouver ?" then went back to japanese wondering why I wearing just a T shirt in March.
7) Hand signs and a little japanese go a LONG way, a pad and pen work great too, wondering why something was working in Akiba an employee after realizing I had no clue he was say "we're closed" wrote down the opening time on a pad and I got it
8) NEVER EVER be afraid to ask ! saw dozens of salarymen crouching down on laptops helping out tourists with large backpacks, I got lost getting back to a subway station (just a missed a turn) so I figured I would follow the track to the next one, ran into two girls I asked them in english where the station was but the only english they said to me was "Right" I didn't know if it was direction or confirmation but we all had a merry giggle for 10 mins, finally stopped into a barber's and was escorted the half block to the entrance.
9) BOW !
It's not just a head nod like it is here, just bow from your stomach about 30 degrees
This is not acknowledgement, it's respect, like a handshake. Don't believe that crap that you'll screw it up and it's best not to bother in the first place, the bows you'd screw up on are not going to happen in a regular tourist visit.
10) Language: as RealJames said, most important to know Excuse me, thank you, I'm sorry, the numbers from 1-10 help too.
11) I don't know any other way to put this ... LEARN how to BEHAVE ! This is not your country nor your hometown, you are a guest and you have no god given right to act as you want in someone else's country. Some things you may not like, some things you may not understand, either roll with it or go home !
Obviously to those on this board who live there and MMM have the right to complain about the hypocrisy when you see the context they are talking about. As a tourist you won't encounter that.