**EDIT: FYI this is intended to help tourists. I know this is a sub for people who live here but there are also tons of tourists visiting this forum. This really is all they need to know**
Konichiwa, Arigato, and sumimasen
Konichiwa is obviously hello, arigato means thanks you. Sumimasen means something like “excuse me”. These are literally the only three words you need in Tokyo, how do I know? I don’t speak Japanese.
Everything else can be done with head nodding or non-verbal communication, or you simply speak the english word and they understand.
For example, if you go to a restaurant, just say konichiwa, then sumimasen when you want to get the waiter’s attention, then point to what you want, nod or say “no” in English and they will understand, then say arigato. It’s literally that easy.
Tokyo is a very international city. Certain areas in Roppongi feel like LA, NYC, etc. There are entire areas where foreigners congregate and everyone speaks English. And if you work for an American company like I do, then your Japanese co-workers will speak English too. Japanese is a very hard language to learn, luckily you don’t need to learn it to live here.
My company handles living arrangements, but if you ever need help with something just ask a Japanese to help you. They are very nice and thoughtful and always do things for me because they know I’m a foreigner.
If you want to travel to more rural parts of Japan, you will definitely need Japanese. To circumvent this, either travel with a Japanese friend, or find a girl to date and bring her on the trip with you. Yes you will probably have to pay for her, but you get to hook up and she’ll make all the arrangements and do the talking for you.
Of course there are white people who commit very hard to learning Japanese, but unless you’re one of these types I would suggest not even trying to speak it. Through observing other whites, I find that that Japanese tend to get annoyed when a white person tries to speak broken Japanese in Tokyo… like they understand basic english, just speak english instead of confusing them with crappy Japanese that you can’t say correctly.
Hope that helps.
by PinkMoonLander
