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| 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.
3. Don't expect other foreigners.
My husband and I were the only gaijins in the tour. That's our of 40 people. All the other 38 are Japanese. I asked the tour guide if foreigners usually join tours and she said only in peak seasons. She also shared that the most numbers of foreigners she had in a tour was 5. It somehow explains why they don't see the need to have English-speaking guides.
4. Be 5 minutes earlier.
We were punctual from the meeting area but we took our time in each spot we visited. We were not late for the assembly time. We were just right on time. However, we noticed how we were always the last people to board the bus. It's like the bus was just waiting for us to leave. I think I'm in Japan too long because I felt sorry for delaying the bus although we weren't really late.
5. Bring earplugs
The most surprising part of the tour was our guide. She was talking from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm. She only stops when we're roaming around a spot. At first, I tried to listen to her thinking she might be saying something important. But she just kept on talking about random things. I'm a talker but this lady will beat me anytime. After 2 hours of listening to her, I got tired and plugged my ears to my phone. (I don't usually do this because I like listening to my surroundings.) So just in case your guide is someone like this, better bring an earplug and your playlist.
Then of course, as always in Japan, pick up your own trash and give a bow of Arigatou at the end of the trip.
