I’ve been thinking about experiences I’ve had vacationing in Japan and one thing I’ve realized I’ve had quite a few experiences with Japanese people address me, a visibly foreign white guy, in Japanese. Fortunately, I’m an intermediate-ish speaker/reader and their assumptions were correct and I was able to respond accordingly, but after the fact, I couldn’t help but wonder “How did they know?” For instance, I had a guy just walk up to me and ask if I could use his phone to take a photo of him and his SO. If I didn’t know Japanese, I would’ve had no idea what was going on.
Granted, I think most (but not all) of these experiences were in Osaka where people have more of a reputation of being outgoing, but are Japanese-speaking foreigners/tourists becoming so common that people are feeling it’s a safe bet speak to them in Japanese?
Definitely not complaining, it’s made me learning Japanese a fantastic investment, I guess I’ve just assumed since Japanese is a relatively uncommon language for tourists to learn, locals would engage me under the assumption I couldn’t understand.
edit: I guess I didn’t make this clear. I am exclusively talking about situations where I am approached or addressed unsolicited. Of course I understand most Japanese people only speak Japanese. I am not surprised when service industry workers, train attendants, etc address me. *Of course.*
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/17qnhh8/do_locals_assume_you_know_japanese/
14 comments
Oh, I don’t think so unless I speak to them first. Before that they’re usually presenting an expression of a mixed state of panic and annoyance. I’m somewhat exaggerating, but I think the general gist.
Is Osaka different in this regard from Tokyo? Hmm, haven’t paid enough attention when I’ve been in Osaka.
>I’ve realized I’ve had quite a few experiences with Japanese people address me, a visibly foreign white guy, in Japanese.
Maybe because that is the only language they can speak?
Surely you’ve seen all those videos on YouTube in which a blonde foreigner stuns locals by speaking perfect [language]?
They would never lie to us.
I’ve had people ask me for directions and then be surprised because they hadn’t really looked at me before asking and didn’t realize I wasn’t Japanese. I think a lot of people just don’t really pay attention to who they’re talking to
Because for the vast majority of them, they don’t know any other language or are not confident enough to use English. They don’t expect foreigners to talk good Japanese, that’s for sure.
I’m an African-American who knows enough Japanese to get by at stores and restaurants mostly. Natives seemed shocked that I know what little I know, then automatically assume that I’m fluent. Hilarity usually follows.
OP is shocked when people in Japan speak Japanese lol
We are in Japan… so even if they speak English it is normal that they use Japanese first.
I get what you are saying but I think there are enough Japanese speaking foreigners these days for people to, rightly, assume they can at least try Japanese first.
I know if I was asking an Asian looking person in the US, I would first try English rather than breaking out the Japanese.
Depends on how you look like, if you are Korean and chinese, yes. Others, no
I always lived in Kanto and I had the opposite experience… people always think I don’t know Japanese.
Maybe it’s because I’m one of those girls who struggle what to pick in a restaurant, if I don’t respond within 10 secs they push the English menu under my nose.
I know they try to be helpful but really I wouldn’t be faster with an English menu 😂😭
If I’m at an ordinary store/restaurant/etc and I don’t do anything weird usually yes. If I’m at a tourist spot usually no. But I do unfortunately have a weird habit where I don’t like to interrupt staff when they’re doing something if I’m not actually in a hurry, so I think that also sometimes makes people think I don’t speak Japanese because I’ve just been waiting around silently for no real reason.
What really bugs me is when I initiate with perfectly adequate Japanese to someone and they only say English back. This doesn’t happen all that often but it is sometimes. Or like if the McDonald’s guy says “店内でよろしいですか？” to the person before me and then “テイクアウト？” to me. Like dude, I’m not stupid.
Once a white American sales associate in Tokyo spoke English to all of the foreigners in the shop except me. I’m white.
I think Japan has reached a point where you cannot assume that a person you meet on the streets is not Japanese just based on their looks.
In my town there are many residents with non-East-Asian looks, some of them born and raised here. People don’t bat an eyelid when they speak fluent Japanese at the local grocery store.
I lived in Japan for a few years and I tried to learn the language while also living in a city with a relatively large English speaking population. Most of my coworkers were Japanese, so they helped me learn enough to get by out in town, but most shopkeepers just assumed I only spoke English. It was kind of adorable to listen to them as they worked out some of the more difficult words, and I also met them halfway by trying to speak their language. I actually gained a lot of favor that way, and I wish my fellow Americans treated foreign language speakers the same way here.