Hi, I'm from Malaysia and will be dropping by Tokyo in April. What I want to do is walk the city streets & parks. But when I feel peckish, I would like to order some onigiri, croquette, dango etc. from a random stall on the street or a konbini, but I'm not sure how.
The only thing I know is just point & say "kore" to a certain onigiri, for eg.
Anything else I should know?
by NickHeathJarrod
14 comments
I feel like people overestimate the amount of “street food” there is in Tokyo.
No, that should work perfectly. Not speaking Japanese isn’t an issue, people blow it out of all proportion.
That should be enough for tourist. “Kore” means “this”, I would add “onegaishimasu” which means “please”. So just say “kore”, point to your desired item, then raise your finger to indicate the amount or learn the basic counter in Japanese like hitotsu, futatsu, mitsu, etc., then finish with “onegaishimasu”
I was out with a Japanese friend and I told her to please order the food because my Japanese is not great.
She pointed at the item and then stuck out 2 fingers for 2 portions. I said I could have done that, she said why didn’t you?
Don’t overthink it.
At a konbini, you get the food yourself and bring it to the register. Then if there’s more you want, you can point at it
Street stalls are uncommon except in certain areas/during festivals. But as suggested, a “Kore o onegaishimasu” while pointing at what you want works. You can hold up a number of fingers if you want more than one.
Konbini you can grab most things from the fridge yourself and take them to the counter, but ordering the stuff behind the counter works the same as stalls.
Point, use finger(s) to indicate quantity, smile.
Pay, bow and say “arigato gozaimasu”.
Kore hitotsu onegaishimasu
This one please
Arigato gozaimasu
Thank you very much
Say “onigiri o ichi mai onegaishimasu” for please give me one onigiri.
Two is ni mai
Or use google translate. It’s so useful. And you can make it speak and then people will
Understand or just show them your screen
I’m here right now. Very little japanese. Point and fingers are your friend. Also translate app with the camera feature is the best travel invention ever. Just had dinner next to 3 japanese businessmen, 1 had broken english with my girlfriend and we had a full on conversation using the Google translate app with the speak feature. Sorry I’m drunk they fed me soju
At a konbini, just grab it at pay for it at the cashier. At a stall, just say how many you want cause most food stalls only really sell one thing
using sign language is fine, they would understand
if you really need to communicate, open google translate, write something in english and show the translation result to the seller
if you want to read japanese letter, you can open google lens
also if you’re on touristy area, they can understand basic english or have menu in english
You have time to try to do a course in Japanese before April next year, failing that, you need to cancel your ticket or bring canned food and a can opener.
The general process.
1. Spend months to years learning japanese, going through courses, reading books, mastering all the levels and practicing the art.
2. Build up your confidence slowly throughout Japan, learning what to say in what scenario and how to order perfectly.
3. In your now perfect Japanese, ask for 3 onigiri from the street vendor.
4. Have them look at you confused and then ask you in english “you want 3?”
5. Say yes and enjoy the rice.