I leave for Japan in a week and I'm scared as hell

[dakravel]

It’s about 0430 where I live right now, and I’m having a bit of a time getting to sleep. It only dawned on me just now that I have just one more week until I get on a plane and leave for Japan for nearly two months. I feel woefully unprepared in many ways, and wonder whether or not I’ll actually be able to make it around in Japan without dying.
I guess the reason for this is because this will be my first, long trip where someone else hasn’t done all the planning for me. In many ways, the plans are pretty open, and I think that’s what scares me the most. That and I fear that my ability in the language will not be enough so that I can enjoy myself in Japan. I’m attempting to procure a Canon IDF-3000 to help me through that.

Why am I posting this? I’m not entirely sure, I guess I’m hoping someone will come along and assure me it’ll turn out okay; that I’ll have fun anyway and that things will turn out alright.

My set itinerary so far looks like

7/22 - I arrive in Narita. Hopefully find my way onto a bus and into Ueno. Then my relatives can pick me and my friend up and to their restaraunt (Anyone heard of Juo Hanten?) in Ikebukuro. Find a capsule hotel and stay the night there.
I’ll probably be staying in Tokyo for at least half a week, settling in a bit, exploring.
7/25? - Find my way up North, nowhere in particular in mind. Any suggestions for things to see?
7/31 - Back to Tokyo, stay the night, and take the bus/train to Kojima in Okayama the next day.
8/1 - Arrive in Kojima, visit our respective host families. We’ll probably be here for half a week as well. Wouldn’t want to overstay our welcomes.
8/5 - Wander around Okayama a bit, and maybe surrounding regions, once again another one of those portions of the trip that is fairly open.
8/12 - Arrive back in Tokyo, and stay the night.
8/13 - Cousin’s wedding reception. Attend, eat food, wish him well.
8/14-8/31 - Not sure. Maybe check out Fuji-san, maybe something else. Suggestions again are very welcome. I’ll probably see how I’m feeling and what of Japan I’d like to see more of. Will probably go to Kyoto for a bit anyway.
9/1 - I’m off to Taiwan to visit relatives. Will only be returning to Japan for part of a day to catch a flight home with my friend.
So, suggestions, advice, cautions, adominitions and such are welcome. I’d be entirely too happy if any J-dopers would be willing to spend part of a day with me if I visited their city.

[leander]

Well, I’ve (sadly) never been to Japan before, but I have been in similar circumstances. Scared, excited, nervous…as I edge closer to the beginning of a great and unknown adventure. When I was young I did it all the time – running about the world with wide eyes and a backpack.

I can tell you this – that feeling that you have now, that’s a good thing. A very good thing, and it’s part of the experience I hope you will cherish. Cause you will survive, you know that. And in two months from now you’ll be back home. Safe and sound – “there and back again”.

In the meantime, keep your eyes and your mind open, your wits about you, always smile at pretty girls (or boys), watch your wallet, and be nice to everybody. Cause let’s face it, you’re one lucky SOB, arn’tcha?

Have a great time!

[scule]

I was in Japan for a week a few years ago. While I didn’t get a thorough Japanese experience, I did learn a thing or two. The Japanese are extremely polite, very honest, and generally reserved (at least where I was, Gifu-Nagoya area). You could leave your wallet in a restaurant with hundreds of dollars in it, and someone will chase you down to give it back. Daily things like soap and toothpaste and soft drinks and so on are not that much more expensive than over here, but bigger things, like travel costs (train tickets), rent, phone calls, gasoline, hotels, and so on are much more expensive, especially in Tokyo.

The biggest thing to remember is that the country is extremely crowded. Only about 30% of the land in the country is useable, and it has a population of 126 million or so, so you can imagine how packed in it is. Tokyo is insane, and so are most major centres. Also, there is very little green space because of the crowding. However, the streets of most cities are really clean, you’ll not likely ever see a homeless person, and people are very polite and respectful. Every store has too many staff on hand working in it, which is nice for the customer but I have no idea how they afford the wages. And things are very regulated, so get used to seeing people with white gloves directing traffic in malls or gas stations or driving cabs.

If you’re planning on driving while there, they drive on the left (steering wheel on the right side of the car, like Britain), and you can’t turn on a red light. The main streets are wide and well-maintained, but side streets can often be extremely narrow. I saw many two-way streets that were barely wide enough for one car, so if two people were coming towards each other, one would have to back up to somewhere open so the other could pass. Also, outside of the major cities, there are pretty much no zoning laws from what I saw, so you may see streets lined with a small rice paddy, a factory, three apartments complexes, a car dealership and a school, followed by some other random combination of buildings.

Overall, I remember feeling like I really stood out, but not in a bad, self-conscious way (ok, somewhat, but only in Gifu which is small and not very touristy). It’s not that people stare at you if you aren’t Japanese, or at least Asian (my Chinese-Canadian girlfriend blended right in), it’s that you’ll probably be taller and heavier than most Japanese men, or women if you are female. These people are thin. I’m not big, by any means (5’8" or 5’9", about 175lbs), but I was still tall there and definitely heavier (broader in the shoulders, legs). I found that old people stared at me, but I mean really old people (like 70s and up). The language issue can be a problem, because though they learn English in school there, no one really speaks it (though Tokyo may be better), and they will just talk Japanese to you like you’re fluent. I would suggest keeping a phrase book and learning as much as you can, though we ended up just using the phrase “Watashi wa Gaijin desu” (I am a foreigner) more often than not, before they started explaining something we couldn’t grasp.

As for touristy things to see, grab a travel book, like a Fodors or Lonely Planet guide. They really do give good ideas, but there are also usually international centres in most towns and cities that have internet services and English-speaking staff who can help you find things to do. It will be a great experience, I really would like to go back and see more of the country. Don’t be afraid, because it is a developed nation with solid infrastructure, so even if something goes wrong it shouldn’t be hard to get back on track. Enjoy!

[Hey_It_s_That_Guy]

I’m excited for you–it sounds like you’ve got an awesome trip planned! I’ve never been to Japan either, but I’m strongly considering going over there for a while to be an English teacher. I’d definitely bring a pocket-size phrasebook, and also a travel guide like scule suggested. But just relax, have fun, don’t make a spectacle of yourself, and soak up as much of the local customs and culture as you can!