Quote:
Originally Posted by MMM
Without knowing other parts of Asia, Japan feels like a difficult place to be a tourist in (compared to a place like England). I see two kinds of foreigners on the trains: those that know where they are going, and those that are compeltely lost. I wish I could say the percentage was 95%-5%, but it seems more like 75%-25%.
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Shoulda told me you were down my way, could have met up in Osaka for coffee or something.
I have lived in Korea, and I spent two weeks in Taiwan. In my opinion, Japan is not as aggressively tourist-friendly as Korea or Taiwan, but that is largely because Japan doesn't really need to be. I would not say it is that difficult, but about equal to other Asian countries, assuming you are not already able to speak the language. I do not speak Korean, and I do not speak Chinese. I spoke basic, basic Japanese before living in Japan, so my experiences, even the touristy ones, are not really that comparable.
I have also been to France and the Netherlands. I spoke French at the time, and I found that France was easy to get around, but largely because the French absolutely positively refused to speak French to me. Drove me insane, as I was on a FRENCH CLUB trip for school. In Japan, I sometimes see a disconnect when I speak Japanese, but it isn't intentional to ignore my Japanese ability. In France, it was intentional. Parisians especially lived up to the stereotypes. Those from Marseilles and the coast? Nicest, most laid back people ever.