One of the main things that makes people hesitant about coming to Japan is the language. In 2018 when I was planning my holiday this was my biggest fear. In reality if you are planning a holiday to Japan you don’t need to worry much about language barriers.
When on holiday in Japan you are most likely going to be visiting large tourist spots or big cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Mt Fuji etc. In these spots you will find English support when checking into your hotel, at tourist information desks and tourist attractions.
The Japanese Rail (JR) service is amazing as the signage at all train stations is in multiple languages. Also when you are on popular train lines the train announcements are in both Japanese and English. Even when you buy your train tickets at the machines you can change the language to English. Because of all this I am able to travel around Japan with ease.
When you eat at a restaurant in Japan the menus in the majority of cases are fully illustrated so you can simply point at what you want when ordering. Also in the bigger more popular tourist spots some restaurants may even have an English menu.
One phrase that’s very useful when in a restaurant is “Sumimasen”. This phrase means “excuse me” and is used in restaurants and bars to get the serving staff’s attention. Some restaurants have a bell you can ring to get the attention of the staff but in the majority of cases you will definitely need to call the staff. At first I was very shy about doing this and used a very timid voice when calling the staff, but with time you will feel more confident doing so.
When shopping all items are clearly marked with the price so you don’t have to worry about asking how much something is, however, the tax is not usually included in the price listed. In some cases, the English description is written on the packaging. For example, in convenience stores, the product description of every item is written in English. Sometimes the description can have errors and it is clear the translations may not have been approved by a native English speaker.
One thing that is essential when planning your trip to Japan is internet access while you're out and about. I'd highly recommend renting a pocket WiFi or getting a temporary data sim. Both are easy to get in Japan at most airports or at tourist information offices. I actually bought mine prior to my trip on the JR website. Once you have WiFi you have access to Google Maps and Google Translate. To be honest I’d be totally lost without these two apps.
So many people that I have met don’t know how useful the Google Translate app is. You can take a picture of Japanese text and it translates it instantly into English. Also you can use the microphone feature in which you speak into your phone and it translates for you. Obviously it may not always be perfect but in most cases I have found it extremely useful.
When you visit any country it’s always nice to be able to communicate with locals, so even though you don’t need to speak Japanese, it’s always nice to have a few polite phrases up your sleeve. When you do make an attempt to speak Japanese you will get a very positive reaction from locals, often in the form of "nihongo jouzu!", roughly translating to "skilled Japanese!". Here are a few basic phrases I’d recommend for anyone planning a trip to Japan.
Konnichiwa: This is the Japanese for “Hello”.
Arigato Gozaimasu: This phrase means “Thank you”, if this is too much of a mouthful you can simply say “arigato”
Sumimasen: As I mentioned before this phrase means “Excuse me”. You will often hear people at bars and restaurants shouting out “Sumimaseeeeeeeeen!”.
Dozo: This is an amazing phrase that you can use in many situations. You can use it to say “Go ahead” for example when offering your seat on the train or if you're holding the door or elevator for someone. It can also mean “here you go”; this is often heard being said at shops when clerks are handing over goods. If you want to level up your language skills you can say “dozo yoroshiku” which means “nice to meet you”.
Ohayo Gozaimasu: This is the polite way to say “Good morning” again you can shorten this to “Ohayo” if you find it easier.
Gochisou sama deshita: this phrase means "Thank you for the meal". It is a great phrase to use as you leave a restaurant. Again if this one is a bit difficult you can simply say "Arigato".
Okaikei kudasai: You can say this phrase when you are finished eating or drinking and you want the bill.
Living in Japan on the other hand is a totally different experience, I live in a rural area so only a small handful of people can communicate with me in English. This makes socialising very difficult, however, in my city they have a scheme in place that encourages the residents to communicate in “easy Japanese” to foreigners.
This encourages residents to speak more casually to me instead of using formal language which can be more difficult to understand. Due to the corona virus it has become harder for me to communicate and get exposure to general conversation with the locals in person. Hopefully this will change once normal life returns.
Probably the most challenging aspect of living in Japan is the amount of paperwork that must be done to organise bills. All documentation is manual and in paper format which makes it very difficult when you are just learning to read and write in Japanese. I have to get support with this from my Japanese colleagues and friends regularly as it can be overwhelming to complete by myself.
I have been living in Japan for 2 years now, I can read basic Japanese (I’m still learning the 1000s of Kanji characters 
) and I’m taking lessons to improve my speaking ability. I’m definitely not a strong language person so it takes me a long time to pick up a language. Hopefully in another couple of years Ill be able to communicate at a higher level.
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