Is laser tag still a thing?
How about a trampoline park?
An escape room could be fun (ETA: as long as a language barrier doesn’t present a problem).
“They won’t” because you won’t? Obviously you don’t know; you’re not in Seattle, or even the USA, but a quick Google search could have cleared things up for you. It’s a pilgrimage spot for Cobain/Nirvana fans worldwide: the park alongside the Cobain home when he died. The benches there have become memorial benches for him and fans still visit all hours of the day. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz also lived alongside it at the time of Cobain’s death.
Along with that try paintball or airsoft.
A friend once took some Japanese camping and they had never slept outdoors before.
I would say if the exchange students bring up Kurt Cobain on their own, they might be interested in something like that.
It is the original one AKA Mecca and perfect for a peace sign photo opp. That, and the hundreds of Japanese that visit every day also attests to it’s popularity.
Maybe not teenagers but I would find it interesting to visit a supermarket in a foreign country to see the differences. Which brands and types of food are the same? Which are different? Or go to a McDonald’s overseas, just to see what’s different.
There’s Burger Kings everywhere in Europe, but I still found it funny to find myself in the first one ever. Also funny to walk in front of one in Mallorca, think “dafuck, that looks way beyond familiar” and yep, it was an exact copy of that first one.
This would be another case of showing snow to an Eskimo. Mountains and volcanoes aren’t exactly in short supply in Japan.
Nonsense. When we hosted a Chinese exchange student, I took her and her friends (also Chinese exchange students) to the local shooting range. Basic range safety only takes a few minutes of proper instruction and a watchful eye. She loved it, and the range owners were very accommodating and highly amused at having “some of those Chinese communists” at their range for a hour or so.
Filtering some of the previous suggestions through memories of my English teaching year, plus many years of memories of my Japanese relatives visiting:
-
Benihana: No. That’s teppan-yaki which is essentially the ubiquitous format of “backyard gridling” in Japan–except cooked by a juggler. Better to have an American-style party in the backyard with a Weber or similar grill. Or, try a Hawaiian-style Barbecue (i.e. bury a whole pig atop hot stones atop charring wood…).
-
Shooting range: While it’s well-known that firearms are illegal to possess in Japan (except for the JDF and certain police squads) perhaps it’s not so well-known that theres’s a healthy tourist industry that caters to those who want the experience of shooting guns. Those who are interested can go to Guam or the Phillipines (or Australia or NZ?) on a shooting vacation. I’d think if your high schoolers were that interested, they’d know about those packages and/or have experienced one. Airsoft (replica pistols and rifles that shoot 6mm plastic or paintball rounds) was getting started 20 years ago when I was there and is probably still going strong, so it’s not that they haven’t seen or pulled the trigger on what are, essentially, guns. (For that matter, the fact that they’re illegal doesn’t mean they aren’t around. One just doesn’t call attention to the kind of person whose gun one can see…) :dubious:
-
Baseball: Maybe. It’s a slightly different game on that side of the pond, so a true enthusiast might find those differences interesting – provided you can both manage enough language to discuss them. I’d suggest Hockey instead, since it’s something for which they don’t have an equivalent but, since the field layout and rules are very much like soccer (football) they could understand it quickly.
-
Camping: There’s not much wilderness left in Japan so getting a group way out in the middle of nowhere (beyond view of city lights) for even a weekend or overnighter would be a very different experience. Plus you could do the primitive cooking thing; maybe grill some thick ribeyes over an open-flame grill…
-
Zoo/Aquarium: I don’t remember how good/bad they are in the Seattle region. My relatives always loved the San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld. However, those were (are?) considered the best in their respective industries. On the other hand, the zoo in the town where I taught was smaller than my mother’s back yard and housed the kinds of animals many Americans would expect to find on the back acres of a farm rather than exotics like elephants and oryx and gnu and hippopotomi and lions and tigers and bears (oh my!).
-
Shopping: They will be obligated to bring back souvenirs so a mall (or, better yet, an outlet mall) would be nice. My relatives weren’t that impressed by grocery stores; they had a lot of the same stuff and basically the same kind of format. What blew their minds every time was the sheer decadent volume of industrial-racked surplus they could see when we’d bring them to Costco. :eek:
-
the Experience: YES. Most of the museums I saw in Japan were static displays. For that matter, so are most of the museums in America. My understanding is that The Experience, though, is supposed to be interactive and rather technologically advanced. Plus, I’ll bet 9 out of 10 of your visitors will have some kind of musical training. So letting them go wild in a hands-on techno-musical playground will be pretty cool for them. Also, if you have something like a hands-on science center or discovery exhibit, that would be novel and interesting to them as well.
-
Snoqualmie Falls: Good idea. Although the north and northwest regions use more hydroelectric power and less nuclear electricity, their hydroelectric dams are not as impressive as Snoqualmie. I’m not sure how you’d explain the engineering beneath it, though.
-
Underground Tour: No. It was quite interesting to me when I went on it, but it’s a guided tour with a lot of explanation requiring a pretty good grasp of English and, unless you’re completely fluent in Japanese, there’s a lot of information they’re going to miss or misconstrue. I think they’d come away from it wondering why Americans revere old toilets as if they were imperial treasures. :smack:
—G!
Have them take in a Cars and Coffee-type car show. Few countries seem to have as much old iron around as the US, and none have as much variety from what I’ve heard.
I could be wrong but I don’t think High-schoolers can just pick up and go experience something for vacation. And airsoft is to shooting as Instant Top Ramen is to… well, ramen 
I agree. All the Japanese I’ve ever toured around avoided it. My best friend from Japan visited a few summers ago and I asked him why he didn’t want to try a Mexican restaurant. He said he had never had Mexican food and wouldn’t know what to order or what to expect. And apparently he didn’t feel the need to try it.
They’ll want to buy Seattle-themed gifts (omiage) to give their family and friends back home. Make sure to take them to a gift shop that sells chocolate and t-shirts and stuff. Uwajimaya actually has a pretty good section in the store for that sort of thing.
If you can afford to take them on one of the Kenmore Air tours, they’d love that, I’m sure.
If there are no major sports playing, you might take them to see the Roller Derby instead. Female wrestlers are big in Japan, so the American equivalent, on skates, might appeal to them.
If you want to make 'em squirm, take them to the Century Ballroom for dance lessons (assuming that there’s a mix of boys and girls). Though, some chance that they’d be too shy to even try it.
Be aware that their idea of “spicy food” is black pepper. Despite being relatively close to Thailand (compared to us), spicy food hasn’t penetrated the country yet. This is the real reason for their fear of Mexican food, that it might be spicy. They’ll do well with Italian food, though, since it largely comes down to noodles and fish - not too foreign to Japanese.
I’ve taken Japanese tourists/exchange students out shooting a half dozen or so times, always a big hit. I would note as a caution, they don’t have good muzzle discipline. A common first reaction is to take one shot, then with a big grin turn around and look at the group, turning the gun with finger still on the trigger. Its a good idea to have an experienced person standing right next to them at least for the first few shots.
Other things that were popular : Race day at the local track (similar to the monster truck mentioned up thread). Small town rodeo (maybe not the right season for that yet). Camping is more mixed in reactions, some love it some hate it.
Totally agree that Olympic Peninsula old growth forest would likely go over well.
Along the lines of steak…I understand some fruit is noticeably pricier than it is in the US. Watermelons, in particular, even aside from special fancy gift varieties.
The local produce aisle alone might make a fun outing. Or a good Costco run.
Back on the shooting range angle…I just happened to run across West Coast Armory’s site, which says they feature a shooting simulator, as a “great option for birthday parties, bachelor/bachelorette parties, and foreign nationals who can not legally shoot real firearms in Washington State!”
I’m not personally familiar with the gun laws in Washington, but that last bit might put the kibosh on a range day, but at the same time present a possible alternative. You might wish to do some further checking.
No clue if these travel to the Seattle area but RODEO.
There’s the Omak Stampede & Suicide Race in August, if they’re going to be there that long. There are also apparently a number of smaller ones earlier in the year (most seem to be in eastern Washington)
But when it comes to fruits and vegetables in Japan, you get what you pay for. Right now Japan is way ahead of the US when it comes to growing high quality, flavorful fruits and vegetables.
This is common to most people who’ve never touched a gun. Gun safety has to be drilled into you.