My First Travel to Japan

I was so excited when I arrived at NARITA Tokyo Japan on my first project assignment. I felt a bit nervous because the airport is so big that you can see many exit directions. To be able for you to reach the main building you have to transfer from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 via monorail. Nervous because I don't speak well in Japanese during that time and very few Japanese can speak English. So, I looked for some other ways to easily find my target destination and I need to be in Yokohama to meet the company staff who will guide me to the apartment unit.

Fortunately, there are many sign boards inside the airport where in you can see Japanese characters and "romaji" reading in alphabet. I just followed the sign boards and bought a ticket at the limousine bus ticket counter (It is located right after the passport exit gate). Usually they will ask you "Doko ni ikimasuka?" which means "Where are you going?". On the timetable I found Yokohama City Air Terminal (YCAT) and checked what time would be the next departure. When I got the ticket, I immediately went to find the bus stop which has the code like the one printed on my ticket. The baggage assistant approached me to see the ticket and guide me to the appropriate line where I supposed to get on. I am really thankful that the local people were very polite and I felt relieved especially when I got on the bus going to Yokohama station.

I realized that having a little background about Japan and basic knowledge on their language will give you more comfortable travel in Japan. If you can easily read hiragana characters on top of kanji characters on the sign boards and directions, you have a big advantage to enjoy and maximize your trip. Simple vocabulary words will be of great help during your stay in Japan.

2 Responses to “My First Travel to Japan”

1. 
   Anonymous
   August 18, 2010 at 9:57 PM

   I remember my first trip to Japan in the spring of last year for a short vacation. I had the same experience; airport personnel were polite and nice. I think I fell in love with Japan the moment I stepped out of the airport. :-) It's been over a year now and I still could not stop thinking of Japan. I've been wanting to come back, and sometimes, I start to think I want to live there for good someday but I don't know how. I don't know what sort of job I'll be able to land in Japan so I thought I'd start learning the language little by little. I think the spoken language is moderately difficult (I don’t know why but it kind of reminds me of the basic Spanish I took for two semesters in college) but the written language, kanji, is especially challenging. I wish Japanese people would find it useful to learn a bit of English as well. It would make things easier for everybody. Just my opinion, though. I think I’ve said too much already! Haha! :-) I got carried away when I read your blog entry. Anyway, I’ve got your blog on my RSS reader so I can catch new lessons and insightful posts about your experiences right away. Thank you. :-)

2. 
   Japan Moji
   August 19, 2010 at 7:26 AM

   Hi, thank you for your great insight. I'm happy to hear your story. Yeah, me too I want to live in Japan for good if there will be a chance. Haha.
   
   Thank you. I hope you will learn from this site. All the best.