mwalsh

Although I'm going to try my best to learn some basic Japanese for a short visit to Tokyo next year, the thing I'm most worried about is visiting smaller (and busy) restaurants and trying to order from menus that may only be in Japanese.

The alternative, I suppose, would be choosing to only visit larger "chain" restaurants where the menu might be in both English and Japanese?

I'll be dining mostly in heavy tourist areas like Shinjuku and I'll have an idea of what I want already (Tonkatsu/Gyunkasu, Tempura, Teppanyaki, Yakiton, Japanese Curry, Udon, etc...)

What level of English communication, if any, might I hope for from staff members in a smaller restaurant? Do school kids in Japan take English as a second language? Are the Japanese polite enough to put up with a dumb Gaijin? Should I maybe put off my lunch to a time where a restaurant might not be so busy with locals and, if so, what are the quiet times for restaurants during the day?

Arigatou gozaimasu!

muji

You will be fine. The staff surely will know key words such as rice, soup, beef, fish, chicken, beer. They may well not speak much English at all, but that's part of the adventure. Write things down as necessary. People will be helpful to you. Have fun.

s0ssos

No, you are fine in Japan. Many places have fake food in front, so you can just point to show them what you want (it isn't polite in Japan to look at what other people are eating and ask for that). Some places also have menus with pictures. You'll be just fine.
Korea, on the other hand...

muji

A pictorial menu




An example of plastic models of meals, in restaurant display

Loren Pechtel

Yup. We were in Japan in the 70s, the fake food worked wonders for ordering. Waitresses always understood when my father wanted to take them outside to point out what we wanted.

The only real English problem we had was one day on the subway, we had gotten lost. We knew how to get home but we didn't know where we were to know what ticket to buy. (We knew what line we were on and which direction to go. However, at least at the time they used zone fares and we had no idea where on the line we were.)

My wife and I were there for a short while something like 10 years ago--and there were no language issues. Her limited ability to read signs (many symbols are common with Chinese) was a convenience but no big deal.

These days I would simply bring a phone with Google Translate.

abmj-jr

These days, virtually all train and subway stations, except really small ones, are signed in Japanese and English (or at least romaji.)

angra

If you're sticking with mainly Tokyo, you're going to be fine ordering food. I mean, you might have some difficulties, but I guarantee you'll get past them and be able to order and eat enjoyable food. You'll be easily able to restrict yourself to places with English menus if you want to play it super easy, or get by in places without English menus if you want to get a bit more adventurous. Learn how to ask if someone speaks a little bit of english if you want to reassure yourself.

As a first time visitor, my biggest difficulty was getting around and finding my way to places. That's a lot better now with internet phones.

s0ssos

The only caveat is vending machine restaurants. You have to order. Some will have photos, many will not. Even if they have photos it will be only for the main items (like which ramen), not for the sides or drinks (like orange juice).
You can usually tell by the price which is a main and which is a side.

I also found bbq an issue, as there are so many types of skewers. And Chinese places.

minhaoxue

My wife and I (non Japanese speaking)just returned from Tokyo last week on a short holiday. It is true English is not widely spoken but we got by. Most locals will not converse with you even if they know the English language.Tokyo is not really tourist friendly, IMO, as in, you really need to know your barring to get around. Transportation system is excellent. Restaurants can be tricky. As stated above, some have vending ordering at the door and are in Japanese. Also, smaller restaurants are cash only.

ltfly

If you already know all this about Japanese food, these words and what they are, you'll be fine, between the plastic foods and the pictures on the menus.
Often, restaurants specialize in one sort of dish (like ramen restaurants, sushi restaurants, soba restaurants, etc), which makes it easier to know what you are going to get.

Tips:
- It is tricky is to find a place a restaurant from its address, it is best to locate the place with your phone.
- It is not polite to tip staff in Japan.

Enjoy your trip!

abacaxi

At restaurants which have displays of plastic food, use a camera to take a photo of your choice and show it to the server. Lacking a camera, take the server outside and point. Many of the younger Japanese can understand a bit of English but lack the confidence to speak.

NYCRachel

This is the dumbest/most embarrassing book, but if you put aside your shame, it can be quite helpful: https://www.amazon.com/YUBISAHI-JAPA...YZ5KXKAVTJT1VH

I used it a few times on my last trip. People tend to be amused by it.

STVA

I am actually in the air on my way back from Japan right now.

You will be fine ordering food from restaurants. As others have mentioned, the subway system is confusing for visitors. Even the locals I have been with get confused trying to get on the right train. Taxi drivers speak zero English in my experience and it is tough to tell the, where you want to go.

To answer your other question, English is not widely spoken. Service employees (and just about everyone) are very friendly and accommodating but there is a language barrier.

You will figure it out though! Japan is a great place to visit.

dj_jay_smith

Having travelled around Japan a few years ago I can only agree with the others that you won't have a problem, especially in Tokyo. Even if you do get a server who does not speak English then they will normally fetch somebody who can. Even in fast food places that we went and in very small towns we did not have a problem. In fact I remember one occasion where the server spotted the problem and fetched somebody else to serve us even before we got to the front of the queue.

But if you are really worried then I suggest a good guide book such as Lonely Planet. They will normally only suggest restaurants which have English menus.

I found that a lot of Japanese people who you need to deal with in tourist areas speak English (or fetch somebody who can).


Also don't forget that the Japanese are service orientated, and they will go out of their way to try and help you and they really make the extra effort and this makes a big difference.

dtremit

This is really key -- in case you're not aware, Google Translate will now translate images of printed text. Handwriting won't work reliably, but anything typeset will. So for instance, you could snap a picture of the menu, get an instant translation, and then point to the one you want.

We found that really helpful in restaurants where there were a lot of similar menu items (e.g., yeah, we know this is all pork tonkatsu, but what are the 12 set options?). Without it you'd still get something tasty, but it helps you get exactly what you want.

That said, we traveled to quite a few cities in Japan, and I think the only restaurant where no one spoke any English was a little cafe inside a department store in Hiroshima (and the waitress was very patient!)