Hi all,
This is more of a question related to living in Japan and less so about learning Japanese, but I suppose it’s kind of a language question. I find it extremely difficult to grocery shop in Japan. My kanji knowledge is nowhere near good enough to read everything I see in the supermarket. I also hate having to trouble employees all the time to ask them where certain things are. Those of you that have spent time in Japan, do you have any advice on making shopping easier for a beginner in the language?
7 comments
Make a list of the things you usually buy, translate it, then memorize it. Also get really comfortable with katakana.
All in all, I don’t think it’s about the language barrier as much as it is about the culture shock and overstimulation of it all. After three years, I’m able to shop with relative ease. I know which products I like; and which ones I don’t. I honestly have more trouble trying to concentrate with all of the noise in the supa rather than read the packaging. Most packaging offers hiragana alternative to kanji, or major details in English or with drawings/diagrams.
The get content of heavy cream, for example, is printed in big giant numbers. Butter packages show off graphic art of the added flavors, and hiragana for the salt content. It’s just gonna take time and patience.
Google lens translate can be your friend
You will quickly learn where things are in your supermarket! Then it’ll get easier as you’ll learn to recognise relevant characters. Don’t take it too harshly, a lot of people are lost when shopping in a new place regardless of their language skills.
I had the issues when I first came to Japan. I first narrowed down where I shopped to a couple of stores (I’m in a rural area so it really wasn’t hard lol), then I would just take a day to spend a solid hour wondering around the store, just exploring. I’d get a feel for the layout of the store and where things were. If I was confused, I’d spot check a few items (“ah this is strain remover, not laundry detergent”). Once I was familiar with the layout of the store it was a lot easier to find what I needed during my regular shopping trips. I was able to direct myself to the right shelf and then translate a couple of labels to find what I needed rather than trying to translate the whole store.
As long as you keep studying, it’ll also get better with time. The number of words you know and the number of things you can read will gradually increase.
My first thought is to say you’ll get used to it soon, and you will, there’s generally a logic to what is shelved with what and once you internalize that things will get easier. But then, on the other hand, I’ve been here nearly 20 years and the other day I couldn’t for the life of me figure out if the discount store had laundry detergent or fabric softener. I gave up and went to another store. And I bought ketchup packets instead of tomato purée the other day because I want paying attention. Google translate with the camera feature is useful, also useful if you have any particular requirements is to do a google image search of the product you are wanting.
You’ll get there, mostly, and you’ll survive the times you accidentally buy inexplicable milk-like-product-that-is-made-with-milk instead of actual milk.
1) Make a list and translate it. You can also translate the aisle signs.
2) If you have a brand you like, take a picture of the box/bag/etc.
3) Take sometime to walk the store. Sometimes you find out things like the bullions are in the cereal and coffee aisle??
4) Don’t feel bad about asking employees. It’s part language practice/part learning about your particular shop.