Subways in Nagoya
 

Does anyone know if they have signs in English to make a change in lines easy for a non-Japanese speaking person?

Google comes in handy for things like this. Lots of info available, including:

This link has pictures that show stations signs in Japanese and English:

http://hisaai.hp.infoseek.co.jp/Nagoya/index_eg.html

You can find a map with the station names in Japanese and English here:

http://www.kotsu.city.nagoya.jp/tagengo/subwaymap.pdf

and general information here:

http://www.kotsu.city.nagoya.jp/ (Click on "English" at the top)

Based on my experience in Japan, as someone who doesn't speak Japanese, if you can navigate a subway system in the US, you shouldn't have any problem doing so in Japan.

As I recall, the subway signs in Nagoya are bilingual. In fact, that's true of every urban subway and commuter train system that I have encountered.

Japanese buses often are labeled in Japanese only, and the occasional country train station will have nothing but its name in Roman letters, but if you stick to the major cities, you won't have much trouble.

If you're going to spend a fair amount of time in Nagoya, Kodansha International's "Kyoto-Osaka: A Bilingual Atlas" has a section with pretty good maps of central Nagoya and public transit for the metropolitan area. In addition, most largish Japanese cities have tourist information centers (kankou annaijo) with English-language maps of how to get to the sights. If the counter attendant doesn't understand "English map" spoken slowly and clearly, ask for "eigo no chizu" (ay-go no chee-zoo).

If the counter attendant crosses his/her arms in an X-shape or waves a hand back and forth in front of his/her face, that means "no."

Yes.