Missed out on making a friend in Japan

I recently spent the last two weeks of 2023 in Japan. It was my second trip since 2016, though I had a long trip planned in 2020, which obviously had to be canceled, so this one was a long time coming. On December 20th I arrived in Kyoto and that evening I stopped by the Nintendo Kyoto Store because I’m a massive Nintendo fan. 

While there, this Japanese woman and her friend, both seemed to be in their mid to late 20s, approached me and asked me about the various Nintendo pins I had on my backpack. She spoke English very well and after talking about my pin collection, we chatted a bit longer about Nintendo and how we were both big Nintendo nerds. The conversation lasted probably about 10 to 15 minutes.

It was a lovely conversation but I sometimes end conversations because I think I’m bothering the person and they just want to get on w/ their lives instead of continuing to talk to me. I told the gal I was going to finish up looking for more things to buy and then leave. Before I left, I asked what their names were and she told me her name was Lynn and her friend (who didn’t speak English) was Tay and then I gave them each a fist bump and walked away.

The thing is, I’m terrible at making friends in general but I thought this was a rare opportunity to make one in Japan because, and correct me if I’m wrong, I feel having a Japanese person who speaks English approach you and strike up a conversation is extremely rare. It’s bothered me ever since never giving her my contact info to keep in touch because she was really cool and it was nice to chat about our fandom.

So, was this a rare situation that I encountered of having an English speaking Japanese person start a conversation w/ me? Does this happen more often than I think it does because in my two trips to Japan, this was the only time it has ever happened?

Lastly, if Lynn or Tay are reading this or someone reading this knows them, let them know I hope our paths cross again. 

by GulliblePerformer776