On 19 Sep 2005 01:16:06 -0700, wrote:

This would be such a great place to be, in so many ways, weren't it
for the language difficulties. Well, what to do? If the Japanese
won't speak English I guess I have to learn a little Japanese. With
this in mind I set out to find a book store with English - Japanese
tutorials and perhaps some English literature, easier said than done. I
must have tried a dozen or so book stores without finding any with an
international books shelf.

Roger, most of the big 'western style' hotels have bookshops in them with
language help books. I'd also recommend getting a bilingual atlas of Tokyo and
of Japan. Then you can point to where you want to go and the Japanese can/will
usually help you find your way. Have one someone write down the address of your
hotel and office in Japanese on a card and carry it around with you so if you
get lost you can just show it to a cab driver to get back (albeit expensively).
Actually, most younger (40 and under) Japanese do speak English but are too shy
to do so in public or to strangers. After a few beers they loosen up and speak
English at least as good as anyone from the southern US. g
--
Charlie...
http://www.chocphoto.com