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Ayumi is our online Japan travel expert and
loves to answer any questions you have. [
Language barrier for English speakers in Japan
I am considering travelling to Japan to visit Tokyo and would like to visit Mt. Fuji. I was just wondering what the language barrier is like for English speakers visiting Japan?
Tokyo should be no problem
Depending in where you go in Japan you will find varying levels of English proficiency being spoken. If you were to spend your time in Tokyo, in particular at Mt. Fuji, you will find plenty of Japanese people who are very competent in English.
Watch out for the countryside
However, the further you head into the countryside and smaller cities, the level of English will drop dramatically. Be warned that this will not stop Japanese people from trying to help and starting up conversations with you so you might have to depend on primitive hand gestures for a lot of your communication.
Why not learn a bit of basic Japanese?
Alternatively, why not learn a little bit of simple Japanese? You will be surprised at how simple it can be to pick-up a selection of choice sentences that will help you on your travels. And Japanese people really appreciate it so will be much more inclined to offer their help to you!
We recommend a great book called “Point and Speak” which is a phrasebook for learning over 3,000 Japanese words and phrases. Make learning fun and easy with pictures spread over a variety of different topics including transportation, shopping and eating out!
Further Reading
- Buy Point and Speak (book) at JapanCentre.com
- Mount Fuji information website
- Japanese for Beginners
- 70 Japanese Gestures (book)
Related Pages:
- How to Order Sushi in Japanese?
- Shibuya to Nagoya on a JR Pass?
- US Military and Japan Rail Pass
- Can I look up JR train times online?
- Excluded JR lines, sleeper cars and journey times with JR Pass
Tags: 
12/11/07
in
My family and I would love to visit Japan, but we have been told that it is difficult to understand signs, etc there, as most of them are not translated into English.
Unfortunately, we don’t speak any Japanese (only English!) and we are worried that we would have difficulty communicating and using transport, etc.
Could you please offer some advice?
Thank You
Hi,
Like the answer above, you will find plenty of people in the major cities who will be able to speak English so you should have no problems communicating then. Similarly with signs and so on, many are illustrated as well as having English translations too!
As for transport, all stations in Japan have English underneath the Japanese so there will be no difficulty in travelling around and finding destinations. Japan does not have the same problems concerning non-Japanese speakers as it used to so I think you will be fine!
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