09-26-2009, 08:46 PM
Ok, first:
The service in Japan is consistently the best I have ever had anywhere I have ever travelled. Everybody from the common cashier to a manager at a super department store will go above and beyond to help you with anything you might need, at anytime. In three extended trips to Japan, I have never even met anyone so much as a cashier in a convenience store having a bad day.
As an example, we visited the Golden Temple in Kyoto the other day. We got a bit turned around and I walked towards a gas station, map in had, to ask for directions, I never even made it onto the gas station ground before an attendent was already halfway to me. On a busy weekend, I imagine he has to do that 20 times an hour. Not once was he impatient or show signs that we werent the most important thing he had to deal with at that moment.
Regarding tipping in Japan, you dont have to, period. The price you see on a menu, or the price you see on a product in any store, is the price you pay.
We did, apperently, have one semi-grumpy hostess seat us at a restaurant. Our Japanese friends complained, in a typically Japanese manner, but I never noticed a difference in service.
Why do they stare? I dont know. We are obviously foreigners so it depends on where you are in the country. In Nagano, which is fairly rural, they just dont see foreigners. In Kyoto, people barely noticed. Nobody is openly hostile regardless.
There is tons to get acustomed to in Japan. Its not an easy place to travel because very very few people speak more than a few words of English. Many places dont have English language signs, or menus, or anything that might help you figure out what the hell you are doing. Everything is as expensive as hell. Still, its reletively safe and you can spend a lot of time bumbling around without worrying.
Off to Harajuku today for some souvenier shopping...
The service in Japan is consistently the best I have ever had anywhere I have ever travelled. Everybody from the common cashier to a manager at a super department store will go above and beyond to help you with anything you might need, at anytime. In three extended trips to Japan, I have never even met anyone so much as a cashier in a convenience store having a bad day.
As an example, we visited the Golden Temple in Kyoto the other day. We got a bit turned around and I walked towards a gas station, map in had, to ask for directions, I never even made it onto the gas station ground before an attendent was already halfway to me. On a busy weekend, I imagine he has to do that 20 times an hour. Not once was he impatient or show signs that we werent the most important thing he had to deal with at that moment.
Regarding tipping in Japan, you dont have to, period. The price you see on a menu, or the price you see on a product in any store, is the price you pay.
We did, apperently, have one semi-grumpy hostess seat us at a restaurant. Our Japanese friends complained, in a typically Japanese manner, but I never noticed a difference in service.
Why do they stare? I dont know. We are obviously foreigners so it depends on where you are in the country. In Nagano, which is fairly rural, they just dont see foreigners. In Kyoto, people barely noticed. Nobody is openly hostile regardless.
There is tons to get acustomed to in Japan. Its not an easy place to travel because very very few people speak more than a few words of English. Many places dont have English language signs, or menus, or anything that might help you figure out what the hell you are doing. Everything is as expensive as hell. Still, its reletively safe and you can spend a lot of time bumbling around without worrying.
Off to Harajuku today for some souvenier shopping...
Moristans: err
What the f*** Skelas - I know this is NSFW, but I coudn't watch this at work...
-Orsun
What the f*** Skelas - I know this is NSFW, but I coudn't watch this at work...
-Orsun