Lost in Translation? Not in Japan!

We’ve all heard about the kindness of strangers, but you’ll never experience it in quite the same way anywhere in the world as you would in Japan. During my one week stay in Tokyo, my brother and I ended up in the over-crowded Shibuya district looking for a well recommended restaurant by our friends. Now anyone who has been to Shibuya will know that finding a specific restaurant is tougher than finding a needle in a haystack. Needless to say we were lost, and what’s more worrisome in Japan is that you are always worried that your request for directions from strangers will get lost in translation.

We had no choice but to stop someone, who already seemed to be in a rush. We asked him about the restaurant and he had no idea what we were saying till we showed him the name on our phones. He had no clue where it was or how to get there. At this point most people would apologise and walk away, but not this stranger. He started to walk around asking people about where the restaurant was; and once he figured it out, he actually walked us to it! Only in Japan do people treat tourists like guests to a home. So don’t worry about the language barrier if in Japan – the people there know how to break those walls.