Dandy

I have lived in Tokyo for many years. I am fluent in the language. I work in international finance, interact with Japanese people every day and 95% of that interaction is conducted in Japanese.

A lot of rubbish is talked about communication in Japanese. The written language is admittedly a tremendous chore to learn but if you have time that is all it is: a chore and an exercise in rote memorisation. If 120m Japanese people can read it, it can't be that hard can it? Still, it's more complex and irritating than written Chinese. Conversely, the spoken language is simple in a way that most spoken forms of Chinese are not (talking about tones here rather than grammatical structure). I did many years of French and Japanese is far simpler: verb forms are dead easy - no lists of irregulars to remember! - and the lack of structure works in one's favour: misplacing pronouns or the equivalent is less of a problem than it would be in, say, English.

So, if you have any linguistic ability at all - and let's face it speech is sorta fundamental to human existence - you should pick up Japanese fairly quickly. Like any language it requires effort. Statistically speaking, most people would prefer to sit in front of the TV with their mouth half-open rather than devote time and energy to something that could perhaps change their life.

Another contributory factor is that most Westerners in Japan are male (I would estimate that women account for less than 10% of the total, particularly when one gets outside the category of English teachers) and unsurprisingly these men date Japanese women who speak English. Those women that don't speak English tend not to date non-Japanese men because they can't communicate. Logical enough, I think. The consequence is that many Western men have no incentive to learn Japanese. Their GF or wife acts as a buffer and interpreter of Japanese society, helps them with day-to-day tasks and so on. This has the twin effects of isolating and in a way emasculating many gaijin men - they are dependent on a woman to do things that any self-respecting man would do himself.

More than the language, I would say that you're likely to have problems with integration, or lack thereof. You will never be accepted into Japanese society on equal terms or anything like that. I personally do not care to belong to that particular grouping so it's not an issue. I have found that most of my social interaction is with couples consisting of a Japanese woman and a Western man and other international couples. If you have young children that tendency will be strengthened as you will meet other parents as a matter of course.

Finally, Japan is a big country with a lot to see and do. If you live here you owe it to yourself to get out there and use a splendid public transport network to experience the best that the country can offer. The only caveat is that it tends to be expensive. In terms of climate winters tend to be cold and bright (this year has not been so good) and summers horribly hot and humid although at least we do get the seasonal shift in October to cooler weather. Spring is beautiful.

I have brought friends to Japan in the past. They have always arrived with a mixture of disinterest and trepidation and they have always left babbling with enthusiasm. It's not what you expect, even when you think you know what to expect.

D

SesameBun

So people will come up and talk to a gaijin then (even if only for the English practice). Then again, neither of us is Japanese so it may be a bit different.

Neither of us are terribly social, but we have some good friends here and those who are against us going to Asia always use the 'social' aspect to discourage us from going.

I knew about most of those, but for some reason Tesco in Japan seems odd. Don't ask me why!

I love sushi and noodles! I was actually very annoyed that they do not stock more Asian food in the stores here in France.

As long as the winter isn't 6 months long with a blizzard every fortnight! We had that in Canada and he was utterly miserable. He thinks he has a bit of seasonal affective disorder.

Thanks for responding to my post.

Ah, so I am not the only one then! Most people look at me like I'm mad if I say I found Japanese simpler than French. I think many get put off by the fact you have to learn three 'alphabets': hiragana, katakana and kanji.

I put plenty of effort in when I first learnt it, so I don't think that will be a problem.

He will definitely be dependent on me in the beginning as I know far more Japanese than he does. However, he is very keen on learning the language if we do go.

My husband loves hot and humid. Except for when he's trying to sleep, then he hates it.

seanyg

I stayed in Japan in 1997 with a Japanese penfriend for 3 months. I'd previously done a month or so of evening classes (basic / beginner's Japanese), spent the whole plane journey with my head in a ("Teach Yourself Japanese" by Berlitz) book, and by the time I returned to the UK I was at GCSE level.

I stayed in a small village called Obuse-Machi near the town of Nagano, in the Japanese Alps. So in the country basically, very rural (albeit with the compulsory Japanese alcohol vending machines on the street corners, lol!). My host family were landscape gardeners and spoke very little English, but my penfriend spoke better English than I did Japanese.

I found that the local banks spoke English, particularly in Nagano (I had to change some travellers' cheques there) and when we went on a day trip to Tokyo most people knew a spattering of English (presumably for business purposes - Tokyo being the business hub of the country, obviously). But even at the beginning when I only knew a few basic words, everyone was so impressed by my efforts to speak it, even if I repeated the same phrases again and again because they were the only thing I knew how to say, lol!

So basically what I'm saying is (and I know my experience is very dated - hopefully someone will come along soon who's been there more recently) you sound like a linguist so will pick it up easily - I was immersed in the language and picked so much up just simply because nobody in the family (except my penfriend) spoke English, so I HAD to - and even at the beginning when you're struggling, people are patient and will accept your mistakes. So long as you try.

The Japanese are the friendliest, most sincere nation I have ever known, and they see the good in everybody (I'm only speaking from my experience of course - I didn't meet a single person who contradicted my perception of the Japanese). They're very honest too - I (stupidly) left one of my many bags on the platform at Ueno station and when I went back it was stil there - nobody had even considered taking it! And this is before the days of suicide bombers and backpack bombs, by the way.

On the tube (chikatetsu) however, people will blank you and pretend you're not there. They all stand tall and look straight ahead (maybe this is the same in London? I wouldn't know) and even close their eyes. They don't mean to be rude, it's actually their way of being polite - they don't like to stare you in the eyes from 4 inches away (you're crammed in tight in those carriages - they even have people there to 'pack' you in, lol).

Plus, I bet more people will speak English there now as this was going back 13 years...

Best of luck with whatever you decide - if you make the move you'll love it, but be prepared for one HUGE culture shock!

Anita

PS - They also use kanji in Japanese, but also 2 other writing systems (Hiragana - for Japanese words, and Katakana - for western / foreign words). Most signs were in Kanji, Hiragana and also Romanji (our writing). Particularly in Tokyo, although I can't remember if the tube stations were written in Romanji in those days... I seem to remember trying to match some characters up to see if I was at the right station (!) but nowadays they'd all be in Romanji too, I have no doubt.

JonboyE

I can't help but agree. We've just come back from Tokyo and Yokohama and were bowled over by how friendly and helpful people were to us.

I'm not quite so sure I agree with this. I can't speak for the business world, but in hospitality you rarely get more than a few basic words in English. In social settings I rarely met anyone who speaks (or is willing to speak) any English.

The subway stations also have signs in Romaji. The JR stations have electronic signs that show names in hiragana, kanji, romaji, and Chinese and Korean script.

It has been a while since I was in Japan. I was there a lot in the 80s and 90s but mostly in the Kansai. One thing I noticed this trip was that nobody seemed to care that I am a foreigner. In the 80s people would stare and point. School children would collapse in embarrassed giggles and shout "gaijin, gaijin." Nobody would sit next to me on a train. In 2010 nobody gave me a second look. It's much better.