Tips on Japan - Special Guest Blog from Julie 2

We are nearing the end of our adventures in Japan and I thought I would give you some travel tips before you book your own holiday. This is not stuff like don’t forget to change some money into Yen, this is the real stuff!

1. Be prepared to be a celebrity – every shop or hotel you walk into, you will have a number of people greet you and then thank you each time you leave. I have also had a lot of people approach us who want to practice their English. I had a young boy come up to me today and say “hello”. He told me his name, so I told him my name and asked him “how are you?” I think I had reached the extent of his English skills as he quickly ran back to his friends.
2. It appears that Japanese school children are rarely at school – each tourist attraction we have been to, somehow there is always numerous school excursions there at the same time.
3. Go with the slippers – for most of the trip Matt and I have been on and off with our shoes as it is customary to remove your shoes for dinner or in your Japanese room, etc. So, finally we have come to the realisation that even though we may not be fashionable, the hotel slippers are in fact useful for those times you have to keep removing your shoes!
4. Don’t forget to grow shorter – Matt has now gotten into the habit of ducking every time he walks through the door way. It is fine for me, I’m already short, but here somehow I am a large in a Yukata!!
5. How to wear a Yukata – around the hotel the Japanese tourists look very comfortable in their Yukatas, so I figured I would try on the cute pink one the hotel supplied me. The trick is to wrap in around you tight enough so it isn’t baggy and then tie the bow around your waist. You may not be able to walk very easily, but that’s why you have to learn the quick step.
6. Teriyaki chicken is not Japanese food – we went to a Korean/Japanese restaurant for lunch and they had the closest match for the Teriyaki chicken and rice with miso soup which is what I always order when we go out for Japanese. Do you think I could get this in the rest of the country!!! No, Teriyaki chicken is nowhere to be found!
7. Every meal is Japanized – just take any meal, add rice and miso soup and it is now Japanese! Although I love rice, I have now had enough rice to last me for a long while!
8. Everything must have a cute factor – as an example, we had lunch at a café in Nikko and when our food was brought out, they were on very cute Bunny plates. I think there is a cute scale where everything must pass before it can be sold or presented in Japan.
9. Real tourist attractions – if there is not a souvenir shop or ten, then it is not a real tourist attraction.
10. Shrines or Temples – the answer is both and a lot of them! Just enjoy them and take the opportunity to pray to one of the 7 Gods, rub the statues for wealth or health and don’t forget to pick up your bell for longevity and your cat for good luck and good fortune at one of the above mentioned souvenir stores.

So there are my top 10 tips about being a foreigner in Japan!