July 2015 trip report: Taking my niece to Japan!

[BelleBway]

If anyone's interested in another TDR trip report, I finally completed my long and very detailed trip blog which is on my site at: http://www.theatrefest.com/travel/Blog.aspx?ID=2015Japan

The Cast:
Me- a veteran of Disney parks around the world whose main passion is travel. This was my 5th trip to Japan, which is probably my favorite country. I also love spreading magic.
My niece, J- graduated high school this past June and got one heck of a graduation present from her aunt! She'd been to places like Disney World, DCL, and NYC with me and her sister, and had been interested in my overseas trips. I knew she'd love Japan.

The plot:
We spent 17 days and visited the following destinations: TDR (of course), Shirakawa-go, Kyoto, Universal Japan, Hiroshima, and Tokyo.

We has an amazing time! My blog interpolates my niece's comments, and I was glad she shared her travel journal and perspective with me.

 

[Lauren101]

I have just read your full report - your trip sounds amazing. Thanks for sharing it with us. You have got me very interested in going to Japan, but I am concerned about the language barrier - did you cope ok on the whole with that? You seem to do very well. It looks like you had an amazing time. I am thinking of a trip there in 2017.

 

[Agent 86]

I've been to Japan three times and the language barrier has VERY rarely posed a problem, maybe just twice.

The first time was when we attempted to catch a bus from the Golden Temple/Pavilion back to the train station in Kyoto and accidentally upset the driver because we didn't know how or when to pay (for some reason, you didn't pay the driver when you first hopped on the bus as is customary in Australia). From memory, a local passenger helped us figure out how to pay.

The second time was when we were catching a connecting train at a "suburban" train station and unlike every other train station in Tokyo, it didn't display any information in English. We eventually figured out which train to catch based on matching the Japanese characters to the Japanese script of our destination. If there had been someone on the platform, we would have tried to ask them and I'm sure they would have helped us to the extent possible.

 

[Lauren101]

Thanks for your reply Agent 86 ;-). I think I am getting the courage to go, and it does seem like the Japanese people are super helpful and polite, which is lovely.

 

[BelleBway]

Thanks for the positive comments!

I know a little Japanese, which was sometimes a little helpful. But most times, I didn't really need it, especially in major cities like Tokyo and Kyoto. Smiles and patience really do go far in terms of understanding. I love Japan and I don't think the language barrier is significant enough to prevent someone from traveling there- it makes for a bit more of a challenge sometimes, but the worst case scenario is that it may occasionally take a little longer to get information or you may not fully understand all the nuances of the dialogue in an attraction that doesn't exist in America. You are correct that the Japanese people are incredibly welcoming to foreigners, and it's a very safe and beautiful country.