Navigation
Navigating your way around Japanese cities might strike you as difficult and confusing due to several reasons. First, as noted in the previous section, very few streets actually have names; second, Japanese cities (with rare exceptions like Kyoto and Sapporo) are not laid out in a grid formation, so streets take all sorts of confusing turns; and third, if you do not speak or read the language very well, it might be difficult to ask passers-by for help or read directions.

Most navigating in Japan is done via directions, which always use landmarks to guide you along. In the United States you might say something like, "Take Maple Street from the station for about half a mile, turn left on 17th and go a few blocks; you'll see it on the left side. The house number is 2437." In Japan, it would sound more like: "Take the street heading directly away from the station on the north side; turn left at the 2nd traffic light and go straight for about 50 meters. It's a big blue building on the left side right after the pastry shop."

If you can't speak the language and are unsure of how to get somewhere, you might want to have a Japanese friend write down the name and address of the place you are going, so you can show it to someone if you need help. A caveat, though: some people will give you directions even when they don't know where it is, perhaps because they want to try their best to help you out anyway. I counter this possibility by asking a second person after the first has gone out of view, just to confirm it.

Another way to get around is to learn how to use Japanese maps. This assumes you are OK using maps, and can differentiate kanji even if you can't read them. Although there are no street signs in Japan, there are usually placards on every other telephone pole that have the block address on them. For example, one sign might read "Suginami-ku, Asagaya-Minami 3-14." That means the telephone pole you are looking at is located on the 14th block in the 3rd section of the neighborhood called Asagaya-Minami in Suginami ward. If you have a map book of Tokyo, you can look up the page for Suginami, find Asagaya-Minami, find the 3rd section within it, and the block within that with the number 14 on it. To see which side of the block you are on, look at a telephone pole across the street; if it says "Suginami-ku, Asagaya-Minami 3-22," then you know you are between blocks 14 and 22, and can pinpoint your position on the map.

Unfortunately, such map books are usually printed only in Japanese. However, so long as you know which general area you are in, you can at least match the kanji on the telephone pole with the kanji in the map book. Nonetheless, this method of navigation might be best for those who can read Japanese a bit, or at least anyone who can recognize some kanji from place names; you can try, but it might be too difficult, so you might want to stick to reading directions and asking for help.

Trains are a bit easier to use, fortunately. There are railway maps available in English, and every station has signs in both English and Japanese for the name of the station. Also, train lines tend to be color-coded; for example, in Tokyo the Yamanote circular line is green, the Chuo line is orange, the Marunouchi subway line is red, and so on. Alas, there is one sticking point: when you buy the ticket, all the prices are listed on a map that only lists place names in Japanese. One popular way around this is to buy the cheapest ticket, and then present the ticket to a ticket-taker at your destination, he will tell you how much more you owe, and you can pay him there.

You should also know that there are several different types of trains; the "futsuu" (regular), which stops at every station, and various brands of "kyuukou" (express), which skip some or most stations. Different train lines will have different names for their express trains. Usually there will be signs showing which stations each of the trains stop at, but some of these will not be in English. It might be best to ask a friend who takes the same line to teach you the difference between each of the train types.

Buses are also available, but are considered a distant second to trains for traveling purposes. You won't see nearly as many as you might in American cities. The lines usually run from one train station to another. There is usually a bus terminal outside any given train station. There are signposts at every bus stop along the route which show the route and times, but few have any text in English. In different cities, buses have different ways of collecting fares. In some cities, it's one price for any destination, and you pay as you get on, like is the U.S. In other locations, you pay according to how far you go; you enter the back of the bus and take a small ticket from a dispenser at the door which has a number on it. There will be an electronic signboard at the front of the bus which shows the charges for each ticket number; the prices will get higher the farther you go. At your destination, you pay the driver the amount shown under your ticket number on the signboard.

Taxis are used quite a bit in Japan. You can either call for a taxi (but don't expect them to speak English), flag one down in the street, or go to train stations, which almost always have taxi stands. Do not try to open the door of a taxi; the driver has a mechanism to open it for you. Taxis in Japan are very clean, and the drivers wear white gloves. Be prepared to state your destination in Japanese; try to have the address handy in case the driver does not know of the place you're talking about. Although you might have to worry about communicating your destination clearly, you don't have to worry much about the driver taking the scenic route to rip you off; they are an honest lot. Tipping is not done, and you shouldn't try. Drivers can only take cash, so be sure to have enough on you; exact change is not necessary.

TIPPING -- Tipping is simply not done in Japan, anywhere; not for restaurants, hotels, taxis, or anything else. Some say that service people will be insulted if you try, but I have the feeling they'd be more confused than upset. Service people in tourist locations will probably be more used to people trying to tip them, and for all I know some might even accept them. Tipping will never be expected, however.

Boats are seldom used for transportation. Don't worry about how to use them; if you need to, say on a tour to an island, just go to the ticket clerk and ask.

Airplanes are sometimes used for domestic travel, but not too often. Mostly it's just if you want to go clear to the other end of the islands, or perhaps to somewhere like Okinawa, to which there are obviously no train lines. The same with boats, just ask how to use them if it happens to come up.



Here are a few vocabulary words for navigation:

" -- wa doko des'ka?" "Where is -- ?"
" -- wa dochira des'ka?" "Which way is -- ?"
hidari left
migi right
massugu straight
densha train
eki train station
-sen train line (e.g., Chuo-sen = Chuo line)
futsuu regular
kyuukou express
tokkyuu special express
Shinkansen bullet train
kippu ticket
-- ban sen track number --
-- sha car number --
teiki pass
chikatetsu subway
hikouki airplane
basu bus
takushii taxi (saying "taxi" will usually do)
michi, doro street
shingo traffic light



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