Originally Posted by gnaget (Post 20942667)

I can counter an anecdote:

Help a friend get a cab near my house. He was staying at the landmark Imperial Hotel. Driver has no clue. I remember the address and tell it to him. He then struggles mightily with his GPS due to lack of kanji and deductive skills (seriously).

Originally Posted by gnaget (Post 20942667)

I can counter an anecdote:

Help a friend get a cab near my house. He was staying at the landmark Imperial Hotel. Driver has no clue. I remember the address and tell it to him. He then struggles mightily with his GPS due to lack of kanji and deductive skills (seriously).

The address is uchisaiwaicho 1-1-1. I had driven there and entered in my GPS earlier. I had no clue about saiwai (?) but uchi and cho are well-known so used some deduction to find it off the list. Turns out that saiwai is an alternate reading of shiawase (happy); no idea if this is well known.

Originally Posted by O Sora (Post 20955678)

He should have told its Japanese name, "Teikoku Hotel". There will be no driver who doesn't know the name and the place.

Originally Posted by acregal (Post 20955612)

With a GPS system, you first type in the reading and then choose the correct kanji - if the guy had simply typed in uchisaiwaicho it would have been the only option left.

I tend to let taxi drivers keep the change as it always winds up being around 900 yen (and they never complain about keeping the change).

Originally Posted by mjm (Post 20955843)

Actually the name in Japan is Imperial Hotel also. It is called the Teikoku Hotel as a translation of the proper name. Any Tokyo driver that does not know that hotel is a simpleton who does not deserve his license.

Originally Posted by 5khours (Post 20957073)

Don't think so. Imperial is just a translation. I would be very surprised if a cab driver (or your average Tokyo resident) knew what someone was talking about if they asked to go to the "Imperial Hotel". To say nothing about the fact that a non-native speaker is unlikely to be able to pronounce "Imperial Hotel" anything close to what would be understandable to a Japanese speaker.

Originally Posted by mjm (Post 20957246)

Have a look at the front of the place, the website, the marketing, it all says Imperial Hotel.

http://www.imperialhotel.co.jp/j/

It just goes to the point that English, despite being used like a toy over here is in fact a language :)

Originally Posted by 5khours (Post 20958538)

I know, but in fact it is never referred to as the Imperial Hotel by any Japanese. The English is just a piece of graphic design as far as the local market is concerned. It's almost like having kanji written on the signboard of a sushi restaurant in NYC. Visitors from Japan can read it, but no one else.

Originally Posted by mjm (Post 20960880)

Well I a not sure about that. Why? Well simple really,. I do not know every Japanese person ;) I do know a fair few though and have yet to run into one from Tokyo that does not know what the Imperial Hotel is by that name. In my experience it is the younger kids that do know the name as it is an outdated hotel that is more of a classic than a go to place for many Japanese. It was designed for non-Japanese and is from what I can tell largely used by same.

Originally Posted by 5khours (Post 20960955)

Certainly if they speak English and are talking to a foreigner, they will call it the Imperial Hotel. That's the English name. In English almost everyone calls it the Imperial Hotel. In Japanese though, it is never, ever call it the Imperial Hotel...always Teikoku.

Originally Posted by mjm (Post 20961061)

Well I am not one to use absolutes so confidently. I find them to be akin to generalizations in veracity. :)

Originally Posted by gnaget (Post 20962512)

I should add that I said "hibiya koen no mukai desu" when he drew a blank. Then I gave the address whereupon I had to help him identify it on his GPS.

But good to know that it is known as Teikoku. I notice in Google maps that you need to turn on English to get "Imperial" and there is no katakana version of imperial in the Japanese.

Originally Posted by joejones (Post 20962975)

Even if you said "Imperial" in English a Japanese cab driver may not recognize it unless you pronounce it katakana-style.

I remember grabbing a cab with some American friends once back in my student days; one of said friends asked him to go to "Roppongi" in an East Coast accent, and we ended up in... Gotanda.

Originally Posted by 5khours (Post 20962797)

Me too. I only use them when I'm absolutely confident.