国は国に語ります
Before we went on this trip several people had mentioned how we would find the Japanese stand-offish, reserved and unwilling to engage with foreigners. I’m not sure why this idea is prevalent but I can assure you that the opposite is true. I have rarely met such a polite, friendly and helpful bunch of people. The incessent bowing takes a bit of getting used to but it quickly becomes second nature. Whenever we have asked for help with directions, the people involved have, without exception, been more than helpful – despite the language difficulty; very few of them speak English. On more than one occasion our helper has actually TAKEN us to where we wanted to go. And they really seem to like it if you try to speak Japanese.
People here are well used to hearing westerners saying the standard things like arigatou or sayonara. What really chuffs them is if you say less obvious things like ohayogozaimasu (good morning) or oyosunimasai (good night). If you really want to impress you can say to a restuarant owner Gochisousama deshita, (may I humbly offer my thanks for the trouble you went to in preparing such a delicious repast)
We were getting off a train the other day and Maire needed the loo. She asked me how to ask where it was and I told her. She marched up to the nearest official and said “Sumimasen, toire wa doko desuka?”. The chap made a grand pointing gesture and said something complicated that I didn’t understand, but I did catch the word “asoko” which means “over there”. Hey! We have communication.
On another occasion we had just boarded a fairly crowded train. A young couple noticed my stick and offered us their seats. We sat down, with much “arigato” and “konichi wa”, opposite two ladies of a certain age who smiled indulgently while this was going on. One of them said something which was too fast for me. Another passenger translated. “She wants to know if you two are married”. I replied “Kanojo wa watashi no okusan desu” (she is my wife). Well, I swear to god, I thought they were going to explode with delight, huge face-breaking smiles and hand clapping. Half the carriage joined in as well. Like I said, they really, really like it when you make the effort.
表示オフ !!
Look who’s talking, drama queen.
Oh, and I meant to say, I like the wee cats in the pic at the top of your blog. I suppose they’re Japanese cats though I didn’t know cats had nationalities. In real life I hate cats, they’re sneaky, fast, horrible wee buggers, but these are dead cute. Hey, Mark – can we get a new wee kitten?
Aw, I really like this wee story. Its dead sweet and exactly what I imagined your trip would be like, and I’m glad it is!