Thomas asks…
I’m going in Japan in December to visit my dad but I don’t speak/understand Nihongo?
I will have to go to Japan during the holidays to visit my Japanese father, whom I have never lived with and haven’t seen for a long time. And the part my father lives in is the part where people don’t speak/understand English. The only language I speak is English. (I was born and raised in Los Angeles.) Going to Japan is not my choice. If I had an option, I wouldn’t go there, instead I’d spend my holidays with the people I love the most in a Caribbean cruise.
I have some questions:
Will I be okay even though I don’t speak Japanese?
Which part in Japan has the most English speakers? (Be specific, please.)
What are the cultures/traditions should I learn before going there?
Will they dislike me cause I don’t understand the language?
Do’s and dont’s?
Thanks. 
Bent Snowman: Thank you so much for taking your time to type all those paragraphs just to answer my questions. I completely appreciate that. However, you don’t understand my situation, I don’t want to go there because of the personal problems that I have with my father. We aren’t close – we don’t have good relationship with each other, and I hope that you figured that out if you used your common sense while reading the details. You wouldn’t be able to blame me for not wanting to go there if you were in my shoes. So sorry if I came off as a jerk but sometimes people have their own reasons. If I were trying to be a complete jerk, I wouldn’t ask these questions – I asked all of these so I could try to learn Japanese manners and not be hated when I stay there for 14 days. And don’t worry, I will not be staying in the hotel room 24/7 cause that’d be boring. And I’d been researching good stuff to do in there.
admin answers:
Lol, stichi is probably right (regrettably).
I have studied a lot of languages in my life, and been to a lot of places to the point where i could never be able to learn every language in every country i find myself in given my capabilities. That is to say, i have been in countries where i could not speak the language.
Rule of the world: you never need to be able to speak another person’s language in order to communicate. Gestures/motions and other means can provide very survivable communication everywhere.
To answer your questions:
(1) you will be fine
(2) despite common belief, mostly everyone cannot speak a lick of english. They might know the word for ‘hot’ in english or something, but it really is that limited. Your best bet would be on a college campus in Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama, etc.
(3) there are a lot of cultures/traditions/comportments you should read up on, just google to find out, the number is too large for us to tell you.
(4) They will not dislike you because you cannot speak the language, but they will dislike you if you do not even try. In any country you happen to be in, it is simply NOT believable that you somehow do not know how to say ‘thank you’ in their language. If you say it in english, it will be, and should be perceived, as you being too timid (and hence, do not care enough to be polite) to even try to speak their language. It is pretty ridiculous how many english speakers i see doing this, just because they are bashful about how they sound in japanese speech. Arigatou = thank you, never say ‘thank you’ in english, that is silly. You know it now.
Whenever i found myself in a different country where i knew very limited to nothing, i always somehow found out the word for thank you very early on. It is one of those words you need to know, because they will be helping you a lot. Japanese are very friendly to foreigners.
Sorry to be rude, but you come off as a complete jerk. You have the opportunity to go to a foreign country, and at that: a country that many people in the world would love to visit. Lighten up, open up, and TRY to have a good time. If you do not try, you will end up like the previous commenter stated. So many people go to japan and lock themselves up in their room. Go out and experience everything, and grow up. Sometimes you cannot get what you want, but it is foolish to blackball yourself and to single handedly ruin your holiday break by way of having an idiotic attitude.
You have time now before your holiday, right? TRY to learn the freaking language. To gain basic knowledge of the language is not hard at all.
Edit: Missie, hey! I am happy to find out i was actually the idiot here. You are right, i actually should have figured that out given what you what you wrote, and would have — if i were to give you more of a chance than i did. Sorry for my words. But still — i would recommend learning the language: i think once you start learning it, you will find it fun. You have the not so common opportunity to try it out on real japanese people. Japanese is one of the easier (really, not so hard), and enjoyable languages i have studied. Good luck!
