When in Doubt, Just ask... in Japanese

(edit: completed April 15th)

So, I’m a little behind on this post because I had so much trouble trying to make a huge statement about Japanese people in general. I just couldn’t think of any true statement for all forms of Japanese people. Hence, for this post I’m not trying to make some all-encompassing statement about all Japanese people (I feel that’s impossible). Instead I’d like to just talk about how really helpful most Japanese people have been to me during my travels.

Now I’m sure that most of us have the same basic horror story. You’re lost, trying to find your way to Kyoto station from Gojo station on the Keihan line, and you stop to ask for directions in Japanese. The nearest person is an old lady but when you speak to her, her automatic response is “I don’to supeeku engrish!” You tell her a few times (in Japanese) that Japanese is okay. She repeats her remark in English and finally runs away so you feel bad because you scared some poor obaasan because you spoke to her. It’s not pleasant and it’s certainly not helpful. Though it would be interesting to find out why she reacted like that. Unfortunately, we can’t ask her because “she doesn’t speak English.”

Fortunately, most of the people I run into while exploring Japan are not at all like this woman. Most of my interactions with Japanese people outside of Kansai Gaidai have been positive.

For instance, whenever I go somewhere with a friend and start taking photos, inevitably a complete stranger will come up and ask if we would like them to take a photo for us. This never happens in the US. That’s not to say that people in the US are mean and wouldn’t take a photo for you, it’s just that I have never had a person come up to me in the US and offer to take a photo for me. Instead, you usually have to ask someone yourself. But in Japan, almost anywhere I go and start taking photos, someone will ask me if I’d like their help. And the photos usually turn out pretty good too.

On top of that, if you know how to ask in Japanese, a Japanese person will usually be more than willing to take a photo with you. Maybe that’s because I sometimes go to some touristy places (What? Kyoto and Osaka Castle? Touristy? Of course not!) where people are used to being asked if they’ll take a photo with you. I’d rather think it’s because in general, most Japanese are just really friendly people.

I hate to say it, but not sure why these girls are dressed this way. Heather and I were too busy being excited about the fact that the one girl is wearing a top hat with her kimono that it was only ten minutes after leaving that I thought we should have asked why they were dressed as such. But they were most gracious to give us a photo anyway. Told us (like most Japanese people will if you speak in Japanese, even if you just say thank you) that our Japanese was good. We of course denied it.

And then there are these experiences that make me truly love Japanese people. This man and his wife met us (Heather and I) during our Saturday trip to Kyoto, where they asked us to take a photo of them together with Kyoto in the background. By the way, we were seated on the observatory deck at Shorennin Shogun-zuka, which is a temple located at the top of a mountain in Kyoto, near Kiyomizudera. After Heather took a photo for them, they came over and talked to us (complete strangers) for at least an hour telling us all sorts of interesting sights in Kyoto by pointing them out below and telling us the best way to get there, explaining some of the history of the temple, when the light-up would be at each place, including Shorennin, and at the very end even offered us a ride back down the mountain (we respectfully declined). I thought it was very kind of them to talk to the foreign strangers sitting in a little-known temple taking photos. Though the husband spoke some English, most of the conversation was in simple Japanese. They were very kind and helpful, and told us all sorts of interesting things without us even really asking.

I guess the point is that though we are often afraid to ask Japanese people for anything because we might be too shy or don’t have enough Japanese vocabulary, Japanese people (at least those I have met) are generally more than willing to help us. It surprised me a lot when I first came here because they seem even more willing to help than most people I’ve met in the US. Of course, you might still meet the little old lady that tells you that she doesn’t speak English even when you tell her in Japanese that you can understand Japanese and Japanese is okay for her to use, but more often than not, you’ll meet people like the couple we met in Shorennin. When in doubt, just ask. In Japanese.