Can I go to Japan if....

[JaneXia]

can I go to Japan even though I only know little Japanese?
or
Do Japanese people speak little English?

[Sinestra]

There are plenty of threads relating to this question and other useful facts. Search function is your best friend.

[izzysparkle]

im sure a lot of people speak English over there. more than likely lol.

[maratilla]

Very strange as I been in Hokkaido I didn't meet much normal eng. speaking people, except foreigners . but maybe it only Hokkaido's aspect

[godwine]

Originally Posted by izzysparkle

im sure a lot of people speak English over there. more than likely lol.

Wrong. While there are people who speak English, there aren't that many of them, or at least, nothing fluent anyways

You will find some stores which MAY have clerks who speak English and some restaurant, and thats about it.

Major tourist attraction also have SOME (Just some) English speaking attendant.

However, you do NOT need to speak Japanese to visit Japan, its a nice to have language skills, but not necessary. Most attractions, restaurant and public places have English on them, or at least romaji. So if you have a good Dictionary, that should be good enough

[JaneXia]

Originally Posted by godwine

Wrong. While there are people who speak English, there aren't that many of them, or at least, nothing fluent anyways

You will find some stores which MAY have clerks who speak English and some restaurant, and thats about it.

Major tourist attraction also have SOME (Just some) English speaking attendant.

However, you do NOT need to speak Japanese to visit Japan, its a nice to have language skills, but not necessary. Most attractions, restaurant and public places have English on them, or at least romaji. So if you have a good Dictionary, that should be good enough

YAY!!! thank you for the information!

[Kyuujou]

Yes, you can. But it would be best and much easier for not only yourself, but also for the japanese people who do not speak any english. If anything try to learn a little more so it would be much easier, trust me, it is also my dream to go to japan but i am currently learning japanese to do so, if u need anymore info about japan in general, then just email me at [email protected]

[PokemonTrainer]

Originally Posted by izzysparkle

im sure a lot of people speak English over there. more than likely lol.

on the contrary, actually. Yes Japanese people are taught English in schools, but I did french for 8 years at school and all I can say is bonjour, sa va and bien.

Think of it that way.

[alanX]

This has already been asked 100's of times.

You should probably learn Japanese if you go to Japan. Or any countries language.

Just like a mexican in america, you might know a few spanish phrases like hello for instance, but it wouldn't be very good communication. Same thing in Japan.

[SpaceNeko]

I have gone twice to Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Himeji, Koyasan, and Osaka). I did fine with very limited Japanese. People seemed to know more English in the bigger cities than the in the smaller towns. The first time, I knew very very little, and the second time I had just taken a basic level 1 class. Even the basic level was very very helpful and it enriched my experience!

Traveling (trains etc.) were probably the most stressful part of being there without fluent Japanese. I have heard that writing things down can help people understand better (as someone mentioned above, many people have had some English in school and they may be better at reading English than understanding speech). Drawing pictures and gestures also helped (especially when I left my back pack at the ATM and I had to communicate w/ the police and the lost and found people). I did find it thanks to my stick-figure Manga picture. ^_^

Good luck!