English In Japan: A Useful Guide For First Timers

Everything I was reading before my trip said that you should have no problem in Japan with only English. I’d whole heartedly disagree after spending three and a half weeks touring the country as an English Tourist. I want to offer a different perspective so you can set your expectations, and some and tips to make your trip to Japan better (and easier!).

Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!

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The English In Japan Was WAY Worse than I Expected

As I mentioned, when I researched traveling to Japan as an English tourist before my trip, no one raised any concerns. In fact it was the opposite, the overall consensus was that you’ll be absolutely fine without any Japanese and only English. And the reality is that you probably will be! I mean, at the end of the day, I was!

But I was caught off guard and had my first real taste of culture shock in Japan. I felt like it put a bit of a damper on the enjoyment of my trip in the moment, and I came back with a sour taste in my mouth. Looking back over a year later though, and I really did love my trip, but it took me a long time to appreciate it.

I wish I would have known that although there’s a lot of written English, speaking English in Japan is not nearly as common. Communicating in English is not as easy as I was expecting, and it can feel a bit lonely at times. If you’re better prepared for the lack of English in Japan, you’ll have a much better (less stressful!) trip. So here’s what to expect and what you can do in advance!

going down the escalator, there are stairs next to a wall with a mural painted on it. The background is red. There's a giant Daisy on the left, and smaller princess peach at the bottom of the stairs. They are both holding up a sign: Welcome to Japan - that's only in English and no Japanese

There’s A Lot of Written English…

By looking around in Japan, you think there’s more English than there actually is. I mean, there are A LOT of English on signs (which is useful for navigating as a tourist), but also billboards, flyers, and even restaurant and shop names are in English for some reason. Even their sports teams, like baseball, and players names are in English.

I even picked up flyers that had only English titles on the cover just to find out the pamphlet is 100% in Japanese. And when I looked out my hotel window in Hiroshima, I could have been in New York with all the English writing and not a single Japanese letter… So needless to say, this was a bit confusing considering the spoken English is extremely lacking in comparison.

Not a lot of Speaking English in Japan

Although it might look like English is everywhere, and the cities feel very westernized… spoken English is much harder to come by than I initially thought it would be (especially considering the surroundings).

Locals often did not speak a word of English, even in touristy locations and industries like hotels, museums, and even taxi drivers. Yes, I would even struggle speaking with the receptionists at my hotels at check-in. And forget about any retail staff, or 7-Eleven’s, and restaurants employees.

a sidewalk chalkboard sign for a restaurant in Japan. The title is in English: how to Enjoy Cocktails, but everything else on the chalkboard is written in Japanese, except for at the bottom it says Shake! Shake!

All this to say, expect to not have very many conversations with locals in Japan. Which, for me, is one of the things I enjoy best when traveling. I always like to speak with locals in new countries to find out the local scoop of where to go, what to eat… And of course, I couldn’t exactly do that here. So after three and a half weeks, this definitely started to affect my partner and I.

English In Japan Varied City to City

The lack of speaking English in Japan is not black and white, it really varied from city to city. Less English is to be expected in smaller, off the beaten path rural Japanese towns, like Shibu Onsen. But the shock was really in Tokyo when I struggled the most with English (but I also had the highest expectations).

Kyoto was better than Tokyo, and I’m not really sure why. I did stay just outside Gion, which is one of the largest tourist centres in Japan for visitors from around the world. But I definitely found there was more English, both spoken and written. Although it was still a struggle, it was better than Tokyo.

The best however was Hiroshima… Maybe they see the most foreign tourists, and it became the most Americanized after all the help they received after the war. I don’t know what it was, but this was the first, and only time on my three week trip, that I was able to have a conversation with a local. I had a lovely conversation with both my taxi driver and the local Izakaya owners as I sat and watched them make my Okonomiyaki.

the streets in Tokyo Japan, there's a beautiful mural with some Japanese writing on top. Underneath it it reads, in English, No smoking. And there's a vending machine for Asahi beer below

Navigating Japan For Visitors (Transportation)

Getting around Japan as a foreigner proved to be a tad challenging but very doable even without any Japanese. I think the challenge was more navigating a new city and even country, rather than the language barrier. As I mentioned, there’s a lot of written English, especially on the public transit and train signs, which made it easier to navigate.

The signs in Japan are VERY well done. The bulk of the writing is in Japanese, often followed by a graphic, and then in small, there’s usually English. And if it was a digital sign, every few seconds the text would change to another language, and always included English in its rotation. On top of that, train and bus stops often also had a number associated with it along with its Japanese and English name.

But there were certain instances where knowing Japanese could have come in handy…

a lone man stands with his back to the camera, looking down at a screen, possibly buying a pass for the train. There's a HUGE map above his head showing the train lines and connections. It can be quite overwhelming because it's so large

The exception to the rule (and there’s always an exception!): if you travel outside the main tourist hubs in Japan expect to struggle! There is zero English. I traveled about an hour outside of Kyoto to a tea farm, and getting there was a tad stressful. Let’s just say, the bus didn’t have any English translations, and the stop names were only spoken and written in Japanese…

I couldn’t even follow the written bus stop names because Google Maps didn’t show the name in Kanji, but gave the transliterate version with Latin characters… So you have no way of reading what stop you’re at. And of course, the bus driver didn’t speak any English! In the end it worked out, I made it to my tea tour and back to Kyoto by following the GPS on Google Maps (which is one of my must-haves in Japan… more on that in a bit!).

So barring a few exceptions in smaller towns (which you could always avoid visiting), Japan was one of the easiest countries to navigate as a tourist.

a sea of people walk in every direction in a train station. Above the people is a mess of signs, there ar a lot of them telling you where you need to go. The signs are a mix of japanese and english

Eating In Japan (With Dietary Restrictions)

Unfortunately, I could not say the same for eating in Japan if you have any dietary restrictions whatsoever. I don’t eat pork or most seafood, but thankfully it’s not an allergy. Let’s just say, if you can, you might have to let go a bit on some eating restrictions.

The menus in Japan are more often not translated, although every item is accompanied by a picture, which is appreciated. There’s also rarely a description on what’s included in a dish. And if you ask for clarification, the owner or waiter often didn’t speak English, or very broken English at best. And when you have to order in English, there’s always chance for miscommunication. My favourite instance is when my partner tried to order two iced matcha lattes to go, and we ended up with one to eat-in. At least it was iced!

On top of that, a translation app wasn’t always accurate either… I highly doubt a food stall at the baseball stadium served a fox ramen… And you’re often ordering from a vending machine, so there’s no one to even talk to before you order.

Read my tips for how to travel as a picky eater, but if you have an allergy my best advice is to print out an image to bring everywhere with you in Japan. There’s also no shame in eating at McDonalds, and I will admit I ate there more than I expected. I knew what I was eating and could order in English through a screen so it took out a lot of stress. At least they have different menu items to order that you can’t get in North America.

a top down view of a japanese ramen menu with pictures of different ramens you can order. There's a mini ramen bowl on top of it, with noddles corn and green herbs. There's an upside down ramen spoon below it. There's an orange hue to the image from the lighting in the restaurant.

What You Need if You Only Speak English in Japan

There are a few things you can do before you leave for Japan, and it will be a lot of downloading apps on your phone…

Learn Universal Signs

Learn common Japanese gestures before your trip to better communicate with locals without any language at all. My favourite gesture I learned from locals and quickly adopted was the sign for “NO”. This is symbolized by crossing both your arms, making an ‘X’ in front of your chest. This is saying no to something, or what you’re doing isn’t allowed.

Another gesture to learn is more a polite courtesy. When you meet someone for the first time, you can bow to each other, instead of shaking their hand. The easiest way to adopt this gesture is if someone bows to you, just do the same back. A casual bow is to only bend about 15°, and keep your hands at your sides.

If you point your index finger at your nose, it means “I” or “me”. A handy one that I didn’t know before, but would have been very useful, is to make an X by crossing both your index fingers, this means you’re asking for the bill.

And a fun pose to do in your photos is to make a peace sign with your fingers. It’s not used for communication purposes, but it shows that you’re happy and having a good time!

learning a universal sign in japan. A woman poses in a picture with a big smile on her face and her arm is up in the arm waving a peace sign with her hand. She's walking on the shore , there are stone lanterns lining her walk behind her, leading to a large red tori gate in the middle of the water. Large mountains cascade through the background as the sun starts to set behind them

Get an e-sim (or Japanese Sim Card)

One of the best things I did for my trip to Japan was to stay connected with data at all times. Gone are the days of hopping from Wi-fi to Wi-fi while traveling. Either get a Japanese sim card at the airport, or download an e-sim if your phone is compatible.

I bought an e-sim from Airalo (use my code MEGHAN4678 for a discount on your first e-sim). This is a life saver and it makes all the other apps for travelling around Japan as a foreigner possible…

Download the Google Translate App

Google translate is a God send. I don’t know how anyone traveled to a foreign country before. You’re able to translate in real time and have “real” conversations with people. You can speak or type in English, and it will translate it to Japanese. Then someone else can reply be speaking Japanese and it will automatically translate it to English for you.

I used this SEVERAL times throughout my trip. Whether it was for simple words to translate or entire conversations during a private Matcha ceremony in Kanazawa! I even used this on tours when it was Japanese only. Although it wasn’t perfect (and I looked like a bit of a creeper always standing very close to the tour guide), I was able to pick up some tidbits of information that I wouldn’t have otherwise had.

a white friendly looking robot looks at you with fake eyes. On their chest is an ipad hanging from their neck. On the screen, you can click either english or japanese

Download the Google Lens App

Google Lens is similar to Google Translate but it will translate a photo in real time. The Google Translate app does have an option to switch to your camera, but having a stand alone app is so much quicker. You don’t realize how many times you’ll need to quickly pull this out.

This is SO useful for menus in Japan, grocery shopping at the 7-Eleven, navigating anywhere, or even some museums when there weren’t any translations.

Download Google Maps Offline (for Navigation)

If you don’t have Google Maps, then download that app first. But you’ll also want to download the map offline of where you’re going in Japan. This is will save your data, especially if you’re on a limited data plan.

But even more important, it will save your if you’re lost and lose connection, which can happen in the more rural areas of Japan. If I didn’t have my map downloaded when I went on my tea tour, I wouldn’t have known when to get off the bus. I had no connection driving through the mountains, and as I said, all the signs were in Japanese.

a man sitting on his phone but you can see the screen. The background is blurred except for a group on the home screen. It shoes all the necessary traveling apps for only knowing English in Japan: Google Transale, Airalo, Lens, Uber, and it also shows the Air Canada app

Download Uber

If you can, always take an Uber in Japan over a local taxi. Keep in mind, not all cities in Japan have Uber, but when they do, use it. It will make your life SO MUCH EASIER because you put your destination on the app and the driver knows exactly where you’re going. No communication needed.

With a Taxi, you run into language issues telling them where you need to go (especially if it’s to a random small hotel). On top of that, the address you have is not the same as the address they have. Apparently Japanese addresses are different in Japanese and English. So when I showed the driver my Google Maps of the address, he didn’t understand it. My partner ended up pointing the directions to him as we were driving… definitely not the safest.

Another downside to Uber to be aware of is that all the cars look the same. When I arrive in Tokyo, I got into not one, not two, but three different cars. I would ask “Uber for Josh?”, they accepted, I put my luggage in the trunk, got in the back seat and then the driver would as me where I was going… Which of course, they can’t be my Uber driver. This taught me to not just to ask, look at the type of car and colour, but also to always check the license plate.

a man standing on the left side of the phot, with a backpack and large reusable shopping back. He's looking at a much larger man in a kimono and his hair in a top bun, he looks like hes getting into a taxi. You know it's a taxi because in English, it's written TAXI in English

Don’t Over Stay Your Welcome…

I think my biggest issue with my trip to Japan was that I just overstayed my welcome. By the end of my three and a half weeks my partner and I were exhausted and just feeling lonely. We hadn’t had a real conversation with anyone else other than ourselves in over three weeks – and that’s apparently way over our limit.

We were both ready to head home around the 14 day mark of our trip. We had experienced the culture, the train travel, and eaten all the Japanese food we wanted. That’s why if it’s your first time in Japan, I highly recommend a two week trip, and I made the perfect two week Japan itinerary based on my three week trip. It has all the highlights and even some time to go to some off the beaten path locations if you want to!

And The Language Barrier Will Lead to Very Funny Stories

At the end of the day, looking back on my trip to Japan although there were stressful and lonely moments, the funny stories over the language barrier are what I remember today.

Like getting into three Ubers, or getting one drink instead of two. I even bought an electrolyte drink (twice!) thinking it was water because it said Aquarius on it. I also bought laundry detergent thinking it was dish soap.

Everything worked out on my trip to Japan, so I’ve forgotten the stressful moments. They aren’t stressful but funny memories that I can now laugh at!