When travelling, we’re those weird people who full-out interview anyone we meet. Using every polite moment to soak up all the information we can about their story and our location is a priority to us. After all, who better to learn from than a local? Especially when in Japan!
In Japan alone, we learned how our taxi driver cares for 14 cats and which temples are her favorite, how our hotel serviceman compares the expectation of seeing a geisha in Kyoto with seeing a cowboy in Texas, and how amazed our rickshaw driver was with the larger-sized hamburgers in the United States (to which we responded… “how do you think we got this way?” LOL)
How Japan and the US are different (from a taxi driver’s perspective)
The first taxi driver we met from Haneda airport to our hotel was Haruto, a middle-aged man who drove an SUV and was a very pleasant conversationalist. He had moved to Lawrence, Kansas, for college and graduated from University of Kansas. He lived there when the Jayhawks won the NCAA men’s basketball championship in 1988 and said it was “absolutely crazy”.
We took advantage of our time with him to pick his brain, asking about everything from tourism to his family. At around 50 years old, he’d driven taxi for 20 years. Yes, he feels tourism in Japan has indeed picked up recently — but mostly he’s seen older people rather than a younger demographic.
He even took the opportunity to ask us why we came to Japan — a question that’s difficult to answer in only a few words, so check out our post to come on “Why We Chose to Go to Japan” for the full scoop.
Is Pokémon popular in Japan?
Obviously yes; it originated there! With a cult following by many, Pikachu is even plastered on business signs and throughout stores in some places. It’s a Poke-palooza — Hats, stickers, you name it, and it can be found in Japan.
That said, “popularity” depends who you ask. Just because it’s Japan doesn’t mean everyone is anime-centric.
We planned on attending the grand opening of the Pokémon Center Shibuya, since it just happened to be opening the same weekend we arrived in Tokyo. Growing up, we both loved the anime, Gameboy games, and cards, so we couldn’t NOT go.
Turns out, our middle-aged taxi driver said he didn’t know much about Pokemon. However, he did admit that his kids loved it.
Our conclusion? It must be a millennial or younger generation thing. But if you want a Pokemon fix, it’s still the top place to come, with more Pokemon stores than you can count. Even with the comeback of Pokemon Go and other games, that’s definitely not the case in the United States.
Do they speak English in Japan?
When we asked how common English was here, he said many Japanese learn the basics in school. However, comprehending it and speaking it are different things. Though it’s fairly common for many Japanese to speak some English, he offered the following tips: speak slowly, enunciate, choose simple words, and avoid contractions and slang.
He called them “reductions,” these words like “dunno” instead of saying the actual words: “do not know.” The same goes for will not vs won’t. Locals may not understand these as well, especially when spoken too quickly.
Essentially though, he said most people in most places in Japan can understand and speak some English — enough to get you by at least.
We found this to be entirely true. Though not everyone spoke or understood English well, most could help you a bit. And if not, it wasn’t impossible to struggle your way through.
Still worried about the language barrier?
He said if you have the Google Translate app installed on your phone, you’ll be fine in Japan. Just try to memorize a few key words (like hello, thank you, and excuse me — our top 3) to be polite. Plus, it’s REALLY fun to practice speaking in Japanese and seeing a gracious response of understanding from locals. Trust us, it’s more gratifying than you’d think! (Learn why with this interesting article.)
What a Tokyo native noticed about cars in the United States vs Japan
Our taxi driver told us an interesting difference he noticed between Japan and the United States is our cars and attitudes toward them.
The Japanese government requires rigorous annual or semi annual inspections of all vehicles. A lack of availability for affordable parts for older cars incentivizes the Japanese to replace their cars with new ones often, rather than fixing them. The “old” cars are exported to nearby counties with less stringent requirements, like Africa and Southeast Asia.
Meanwhile in the US, we keep our vehicles for years, and repair shops selling parts are commonplace. It’s even a hobby to “fix up” old cars. The perception of vehicles and our dedication to preserving old classics fascinated him.
A familiar sight to lean on: 7-Eleven
As we rode through the streets of Tokyo we saw one familiar sign often — 7-Eleven. Our taxi driver told us that if all else failed, stop there. Or try one of the other convenience stores around Japan like Family Mart or Lawson. These 24-hour convenience stores offer hot and cold beverages (including alcohol, which is legal to drink openly on the street!), packaged meals and snacks, hot meals, and desserts for the weary traveler. They even sell basics like t-shirts, ties, face masks, hygiene items, and simple medicines. And if you’re in need of Yen, they have ATM machines!
Prices are darn right affordable at Japanese convenience stores, too, which makes them an awesome place for a pick me up any time of day or night. Not to mention, you can use a credit card to pay for it all, making 7-Eleven a flawless experience for a first time or experienced traveler who doesn’t want to dig through change.
"A beautiful place with kind people"
When we asked our driver how he felt when reflecting on his time in America he responded, “Lawrence, Kansas is a beautiful place with kind people. Everyone was kind to me.” We both turned and smiled at one another, relieved he didn’t reinforce negative stereotypes about Americans being rude.
We were pleased to hear that he had a great experience in our country, as we were already off to a wonderful start in his.
One thing you admire about everyone
We make it a priority to find something we like or can admire about everyone we meet. Then we tell them. Why? Because everyone needs a little positivity in their life. Your kindness might be the only uplifting thing they hear all day — it is better to go through life looking for the good in people.
One thing we noticed about all of the people we met in Japan was how eager they were to share their life and home, and to help make our experience there better. We thanked our taxi driver for his considerate gestures, gave him our business card, and told him how sweet his ride was! (because…. well it was!)
So… Did you learn anything new from our taxi driver?
We’re also curious: what interesting people have you met on your travels? Does anyone stick out in your mind, and if so, why? We’d love to swap stories!
