JBord

Regarding food, I have a little different advice. Most Japanese food is not all that strange to the American palate. Not to mention that you'll find restaurants with "American" food like burgers or KFC everywhere.

I think once your husband tries a few things he will notice the similarities in flavors. There are strange foods for sure, especially in convenience stores and vending machines. I would suggest trying a ramen shop and also yakitori (grilled skewers of meat). Think good soups and grilled meats...should satisfy your husband! Plus you get an authentic experience. Both can be a little intimidating at first, but as long as you are polite, you will do fine. My first time in a ramen shop, a gentleman helped me when my order was called in Japanese, and I wasn't sure!

I agree with others that the department store restaurants are a good choice for lunch.

Another idea in Tokyo is to visit the outdoor market area near Tsukiji fish market. You can walk around and buy little bites of things while you browse.

If you have access to an arrivals lounge at HND, I would definitely consider taking a shower and having breakfast there first. Although for me, it's difficult to not rush right out to explore when I visit somewhere new.

evergrn

I did not know they'd closed in Kyoto. I did go to their Ikebukuro branch more recently. My favorite brand is probably Hinano.

ksandness

Don't worry about eating.

Every department store has a floor of restaurants, both Japanese and other nationalities. As others have mentioned, most affordable restaurants have either plastic models of the food in the windows or picture menus.

Since consumption tax is rolled into the price and there is no tipping, what you see on the label is what you pay.

I agree that Japanese food on the whole is not "weird." You have to go to an exclusive inn or upscale restaurant to find the real exotic stuff.

shuigao

As long as you don't have any expectation that you'll be able to communicate at all, you'll be fine.

I took 16 months of Japanese classes in college, and even then I can barely, barely hold any conversation for more than a couple of sentences.

mapleg

Was in a bar in Nakano and the conversation with the staff got a bit difficult for me so finally I said (in Japanese)

"I am sorry. I do not understand Japanese".

They laughed uproariously and said but you said it in Japanese! Was a good ice breaker.

basscadet75

It's actually not a bad idea if you can stash your luggage somewhere. (I can't remember if there are coin lockers somewhere or not.) And if you're not too tired.

HND has a lot of really good food (including my favorite tonkatsu restaurant anywhere, Katsusen in the International Terminal), really a crazy amount of shopping for an airport in its domestic terminals, and some of the best airport viewing decks anywhere in the world. I have gone there several times just to have something to do, and to eat pork. I'm not sure how early Katsusen and other restaurants there open, but it is an airport so I'd assume it's pretty early.

A little digression, but speaking of getting by with a little Japanese, I also had my weirdest language experience at the Starbucks in one of the domestic terminals in HND. I always try to order in Japanese, but I was having trouble, so I just said to the counter girl who'd been speaking Japanese to me the whole time, "English?" And she replied, with absolutely no accent, "Of course I speak English!" She sounded completely American and she actually may have been. So you never know what the language situation is there. Most people aren't really good English speakers but some are, especially in places that get a lot of tourists, like airports (even the restaurants), hotels, and tourist attractions.

abmj-jr

I have done that, too. Got a laugh and broke the ice.

I also got them to slow down a bit so I could try to understand. Often it is just the speed that I have trouble with. The words go by faster than I can follow. I am told that my accent is pretty good so they assume I am more fluent than I am.

Pureboy

Lots of good advice above, a few more random thoughts:

1) For food adventure/non-adventure, make sure to take advantage of conbini (7-11, Lawson's, family mart, etc)- they have a great variety of delicious prepared food, from pickled veggies to all sorts of sushi products and lots more.

2) Tokyo- I'd make sure to check out the Edo-Tokyo Museum. As folks who are clearly interested in Japanese culture, it is a fantastic museum with plenty of English.

3) Kyoto- If you want a hike, shrines, and more, you could go to Arashiyama. There is a great temple next to a famous bamboo forest, and you can take a nice little hike up a large hill and visit the monkey park with nice views of the neighborhood.

Enjoy!

tkeppers

#1 is one of the things I'm looking forward to doing - visit a conbini (and/or a department store basement) and load up on all kinds of different new things to try. I'm particularly looking forward to onigiri for some reason.

I'll check out #2 and #3. The bamboo forest in Arashiyama sounds neat.

tkeppers

I have a difficult time ordering at Starbucks in English sometimes!

At HND, do you know if I can still use the arrivals lounge after going through customs and reclaiming my luggage (which I assume happens after customs)? I'm guessing so, but just want to verify.

tkeppers

The following (in Japanese) may be my "go-to" phrase:

"I'm sorry, my Japanese is very bad."

I also thought about saying something like "Please speak to me as if I were stupid" - in the hope that they would speak slowly and use simple words. But with my luck, I'd mess up the translation and accidentally insult the person I was talking to.

abmj-jr

Often, the most difficult problem for folks who have learned "a little" Japanese is not being understood, it is understanding the responses. I spent months watching subtitled, and then not subtitled, Japanese movies and TV shows I had downloaded to practice my listening skills and accent before trying my Japanese out in Japan. That was years ago and my Japanese is much better now but I still have moments when I just don't catch what is being said. It takes practice.

I think "motto yukkuri hanashite kudasai" will serve you better than the stupid thing. ;-)

Hubbabridge

Mo ichidou onegai shimasu can also be helpful: could you repeat please. When you first start out one of the things which I found most difficult was remembering the importance of clearly distinguishing long vowels from short.....learning Japanese is a life long process.

JBord

I wouldn't worry too much about language, honestly. My first time in Tokyo, I was so overwhelmed with sights, sounds, lights, people, trying to remember customs such as bowing, etc., that I was only able to focus on a few key words and phrases. Hello, goodbye, thank you, and the like. Frankly, I'm not a whole lot better years later.

The Japanese are not dismissive of people who can't speak Japanese, as you may find in some other countries, including the U.S. If practicing your Japanese is important to you or fun, then go for it. Even ask if the person would be ok with you trying your Japanese, simply to avoid confusion. But don't worry if it's mixed with English or you need to revert to English.

abmj-jr

Absolutely. For Tokyo and Kyoto, you will get by just fine with no Japanese at all. My assumption was that the OP wanted to try out the Japanese they have learned.