MonsterZero-65 wrote:

Most do not to the extent that they feel comfortable using it. Most Japanese have a hard time speaking or understanding spoken English but can do okay if you speak very slowly and clearly. Most will be very nervous if you approach with a question.

interestingly, i've found that many girls who work in restaurants or bars like to practice their english and will approach you speaking it.

hey
can u tell me what to expect when u go to japan for home stay...if ur hosts r nice or what to do and what to get them and stuff like that?
thanx a lot

You should be asking this in the "I'm Going To Japan" thread.

Locking.

That's great. It's better than trying to read sentences from Japanese / English book and not making any sense.
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J~bOi wrote:

I've only been to tokyo only twice...(if you don't count the many times I've been to Narita or Haneda airport)...yeah so they were just little day trips going shopping and walking around the city. TOKYO is frikken huge!! lots of fun! (~_^) I'm going again during spring break for a few days so that should be fun! jya na~!!

yeah, Tokyo is huge!, I've stayed in Shinagawa twice, once in Hakone, and once in Kyoto, but I like Tokyo the best so far, there is just so much to do there. But for a get-away, from the big city, loved it in Hakone and Kyoto.

yeah i know what you mean. Okinawa is really beautiful too!! I love it there. It's like Hawaii for Japan. (as in Okinawa is to Japan as Hawaii is to America) haha if you get what i mean. and It's where I'm from!! XD I going there next month for my cousins wedding.

I'd love to see Okinawa. Alas, I didn't have time to see a lot of places I wanted to visit when I was there last summer because three weeks is pretty short. I only got to spend one night in most places I visited outside of Tokyo (though I managed 3 nights in Kyoto). Kobe and Hiroshima were great, but I really needed more time everywhere. Next time I'll get to spend longer there and will definitely get down to Okinawa

MomoNyo wrote:

I'd love to see Okinawa. Alas, I didn't have time to see a lot of places I wanted to visit when I was there last summer because three weeks is pretty short. I only got to spend one night in most places I visited outside of Tokyo (though I managed 3 nights in Kyoto). Kobe and Hiroshima were great, but I really needed more time everywhere. Next time I'll get to spend longer there and will definitely get down to Okinawa

you had a longer trip that i did, i had just a week, barely enough time for Kyoto/Tokyo. I think i can spend a week alone in Tokyo, and that still might not be enough time. Next time I would like to see other parts of Japan like Hiroshima, Nara, Nagoya.

J~bOi wrote:

yeah i know what you mean. Okinawa is really beautiful too!! I love it there. It's like Hawaii for Japan. (as in Okinawa is to Japan as Hawaii is to America) haha if you get what i mean. and It's where I'm from!! XD I going there next month for my cousins wedding.

My idea of an almost perfect life: spend winter in Okinawa and summer up north.

Might try to go to Fukuoka someday, but I have no idea if there's anything nice to visit there. Might just stick to Kanto and Kansai.
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qilver wrote:

you had a longer trip that i did, i had just a week, barely enough time for Kyoto/Tokyo. I think i can spend a week alone in Tokyo, and that still might not be enough time. Next time I would like to see other parts of Japan like Hiroshima, Nara, Nagoya.

Yeah you could easily spend a week in Tokyo. Hiroshima was great from the bit I got to see. Lively place and very friendly (much like everywhere else in visited Japan really).

Nagoya has a neat subway system that makes it dead easy to find your way around. The map I got from the tourist info office had lists of clubs, restaurants etc and each one listed the subway station and exit to take that was closest to it. Really easy. That's about all I really know of Nagoya as I was only using it as an overnight rest stop before hitting the EXPO in Aichi the next day.

tabana wrote:

Might try to go to Fukuoka someday, but I have no idea if there's anything nice to visit there. Might just stick to Kanto and Kansai.

I had one night there. Depending on what you're after make sure to get a place to stay on the Tenjin side. My hotel turned out to be in the Nakasu area which was all hostess clubs and yakuza. Not really what I wanted

It did look like a fun place though.

Thanks.

If I ever go there, I'll try to remember not to go in Nakasu. I don't really want to make eye contact with yakuza and I had my share of booking hotels in the Red Light district.
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tabana wrote:

I don't really want to make eye contact with yakuza

I went up to a couple who were leaning against their standard issue black yakuzamobile and tried asking for directions to my hotel (turns out it was in a shopping mall of all places!). They didn't give me any help

Huh? Talk about unfriendly people.

They're not as funny as in Gokusen.
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tabana wrote:

My idea of an almost perfect life: spend winter in Okinawa and summer up north. Might try to go to Fukuoka someday, but I have no idea if there's anything nice to visit there. Might just stick to Kanto and Kansai.

yeah summer in kanagawa-ken was nice too. (Enoshima, Yokohama, Kamakura etc.) and its right by tokyo and not insanely hectic. if you ever come to japan in spring GO TO AOMORI!!!! Hirosaki-shi is INSANELY nice!! they are famous for their sakura and the castle in the park. you might be a bit disappointed with the castle though cuz its super tiny...haha but its still really nice.

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind.
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J~bOi wrote:

yeah summer in kanagawa-ken was nice too. (Enoshima, Yokohama, Kamakura etc.) and its right by tokyo and not insanely hectic. if you ever come to japan in spring GO TO AOMORI!!!! Hirosaki-shi is INSANELY nice!! they are famous for their sakura and the castle in the park. you might be a bit disappointed with the castle though cuz its super tiny...haha but its still really nice.

i never went to aomori but i drank a lot of awamori in shibuya...

MomoNyo wrote:

I went up to a couple who were leaning against their standard issue black yakuzamobile and tried asking for directions to my hotel (turns out it was in a shopping mall of all places!). They didn't give me any help

i remember once when i was in shinsaibashi in osaka, walking down this shopping arcade which was pedestrian only, seeing this black cadillac with blacked out windows driving down. it pulled up outside this restaurant all four doors opened and four suited up men wearing sunglasses even though it was night got out and went inside.
it was like a scene from 'black rain'!

kenjilina wrote:

i remember once when i was in shinsaibashi in osaka, walking down this shopping arcade which was pedestrian only, seeing this black cadillac with blacked out windows driving down. it pulled up outside this restaurant all four doors opened and four suited up men wearing sunglasses even though it was night got out and went inside. it was like a scene from 'black rain'!

did you see andy garcia get his butt kicked too?

Tu_triky wrote:

did you see andy garcia get his butt kicked too?

ha ha. i did however go somewhere else for food!

kenjilina wrote:

ha ha. i did however go somewhere else for food!

as uninviting as that scene you depicted seems....i think that was probably a wise choice.