When Joining a Bus Tour in Japan

Beer Museum in Sapporo, Hokkaido

I finally get to join a Japanese day tour. I've been meaning to join a tour but didn't see a need until last weekend. There's no special reason why I wanted to join a tour. I just want to experience it. I wanted to go to Furano and Biei in Hokkaido. The only options for me are taking the train for 6 hours or taking the bus tour. So bus tour it is!

If you're considering joining a tour in Japan, consider these 5 things:

1. Don't expect English.

A Japanese tour is a JAPANESE tour. Don't expect the tour guide to be fluent in English. All announcements, reminders and description of the places during the tour are expressed in Japanese. If you're fairly new in Japan with very basic Japanese knowledge, I suggest stalling joining a tour. Some tours offer a recorded multi-lingual guide. But in our case, there was none. 

2. Refer to the tour's English page. 

If you still want to join a tour and survive the experience, save or print the tour's itinerary. Not the Japanese version but the English one. Use a translator software to help you. Be familiar with your itinerary and times of departure in each place. 

Repost: Why Japanese People Lie?

Aoi Ikke, Hokkaido (Blue Pond)

On our way to Kyoto, my husband discreetly pointed to a group of Japanese employees saying goodbyes in the station. He said they look "too polite" and their voices are "too pleasing." He said they look unnaturally cordial. Even without looking at them, I perfectly understood what he was talking about. Japanese employees are like that. He also noticed how the cashiers would say a lot of things in a polite way but they wouldn't really look at you. He compared them to robots, like everything they do and say were programmed to please the customers. 

His remarks reminded me of an insightful post, Why Japanese People Lie? on  Japanese Rule of 7. It may help explain why Japanese people act in a seemingly unnaturally polite way.   

Here's an excerpt:

Two Things All Japanese People Know

Japanese people are imparted at birth with two pieces of knowledge. The first is fanatical customer service. At school and at home, they’re drilled for years in how to walk, how to stand, how to greet people, how to bow. Year in and year out, they march in formation around school yards, in the sun, rain, and snow, responding on command in loud voices to their senseis. Visitors often remark on the polite customer service of the Japanese, and you better believe it didn’t just happen by accident. It took years of military-style training, preparing a nation of children to be the world’s best waiters, cooks, and convenience store clerks.

The Amazing Japanese Woman

photo credits: http://vividscreen.info

There's a picture circulating on social media about how clean the floods are in Japan. They look like swimming pool. I personally haven't seen a flooded area in Japan but I can attest that the rain water on the roads look really clean.

But do you know what's more amazing than the clean flood waters? It's how a Japanese woman remains so put together come hell or high water.