After googling my questions and reading many answers online I felt compelled to ask my questions here. I feel a sense of trust in thsi community and I hope you won't mind if I ask yet again a list of questions. 宜しく御願いします!

So during the summer of 2011, after my high school graduation, I plan to make my first trip to Japan. I have been reccomended many times by my Japanese friends to go to 福岡(Fukuoka) and I think I might take them on their offer. Could you please give some advice to a naive high school student who is very inexperienced in traveling?

1) I have no clue where to start planning. How can I find a host family? I could stay with a current friend's parents but that may be a bit demanding in my opinion. Are there are any good programs that you know of that I could sign up for? What are your reccomendations?

2) I'm a bit confused on the dialectal differences of Japan. What do people in 福岡 generally speak? I want to have some of the language down by the time I finally get there but I haven't got a clue where to start.


3) What are things I should do when I finally get there? What are your positive experiences?

4) What are things that you would reccomend that I do NOT do? Please warn me of some of the typical mistakes 外国人 may do.

Note:
I plan on visiting 長崎(Nagasaki) because of its history. I read a wonderful book about about the lives of the first Catholic Japanese and their struggles through history and I would like to see some of the churches there. (Yes, I am religious.) I don't like the idea of the 温泉. It's just completely different from our cultural norm and I don't think I could feel comfortable doing that.

本当に読んでくれてありがとうございました！
[Edit] I see that I placed this is in the wrong area. すみません.

Fukuoka is frequently described as a comfortable place to work and live, but you'll soon get bored if you're there as a tourist. If you're only coming to Japan for a short time you'd be better off staying in a more central location like Osaka and making trips to other locations.

Homestays are not very common in Japan and most are arranged by universities for exchange students. As a non-student you may have difficulty finding one other than some sort of WWWOOF arrangement.

Well I was planning on staying there for up to 3-4 months so there is the posibility of getting bored. Though I do plan on visiting multiple trips while I'm in Japan. Maybe Osaka might be the better choice.

Thanks for your advice. I'll look up WWWOOF.

As an American you'll only be getting a 3 month visa unless you're getting a missionary visa or something, so don't overstay.

-edit-
Oh yeah, there are only 2 W in WWOOF

The best bowl of ramen I've ever had was in Fukuoka for what it's worth

Oh, interesting. I thought it was around 90 days. Maybe I was just thinking about my state rather than Japan.

Aijin, mmm... ramen.

Fukuoka is nice, but not worth staying more than a day if you go as tourist. Same goes for Osaka.
If you're already up there, then yes, Nagasaki is a great idea! I'd also recommend Kagoshima (with Sakurajima) if you have some time. Kumamoto and the volcano Aso-san are worth a visit, too!

There are many companies that arrange studies abroad for the summer, a semester, or a school year for high school and college students. Just start Googling around and see what you find. However, the way these programs usually work is that the family chooses you, not the other way around, so you can almost never choose where you are placed. But, sometimes that can be the best as you can be pleasantly surprised.

Also, being in a host family, they are responsible for you and you have to, pretty much, do what they say, just like with your own parents , which means they may not feel comfortable letting you travel. If the "cultural" experience is more important then I would try to find a host family. Howver, if traveling is your main objective, I would try to see if your parents would let you travel alone and then just stay in hotels. I think I had to pay $4,000-$5,000 for a year program to the company that arrange my home stay in France and that was 10 years ago, so with inflation and all, the cost of the program may not be that much different than staying in hotels.

chochajin, Oh really? I just assumed Osaka would be full of attractions.
"up there"? Isn't Nagasaki WAY south? Kumamoto looks beautiful from looking at some pictures.



thistime, Thank you for your insight, especially the second paragraph. I would prefer a host family. My parents and I wouldn't feel comfortable with my traveling alone.


Thank you everyone!

Aijin Wrote:The best bowl of ramen I've ever had was in Fukuoka for what it's worth

That's because Fukuoka has the best ramen in Japan! Tonkotsu Ramen!

Nagasaki is southwest of Fukuoka- more west than south though. Kumamoto is awesome- and it's probably not worth going down to Kagoshima, though the volcano is pretty cool.

I lived in Fukuoka for 15 months, living on my own. Fukuoka is a really great place, but don't expect it to be Tokyo. It can get boring, but there is a lot to see, and you definitely need more than a day! It all depends on what you like to do though- and I'd highly, highly recommend trying onsen at least once- it is one of my favorite things about Japan. (that's right, hanging out with naked old guys is one of the best part of Japan!) Step outside your comfort zone- you're going to have to do it a lot in Japan anyway.

Finding a host family might be tough- there is a good language school there if you want to study as well- they'll arrange a host family for you, but it isn't cheap. GenkiJACS is the name of the school- I attended for two weeks last summer and really liked it, the major problem being that it is designed for westerners so everyone tends to speak English since the majority of the people there are at a low-intermediate level.

If you like going out you'll never get carded and there are some fun places in Tenjin. Perhaps it would be better to stay somewhere more central like Kyoto or Osaka and travel to Fukuoka and Nagasaki for a week or so, but then you have to deal with Kansai-ben. The Fukuoka dialect (Hakata-ben) is pretty easy to understand, and you'll find that a lot of the people in the city will use standard Japanese with you anyway. If you head out into the country they'll definitely use strong, hard to understand dialects, but that's probably anywhere in Japan. Here's a cool sight that has info on dialects: http://hougen.u-biq.org/

I like the beach in Fukouka as well, but that's just because I love beach volleyball and I was able to find a team to play with there. Oh and I definitely recommend Nagasaki- you might even enjoy staying there more than Fukuoka as there is so much religious history there. The oldest Christian(Catholic) Church is in Nagasaki. There's also a monument to the "Hidden" Christians that were in Nagasaki.

Typical mistakes- don't believe that Japanese people are sincere when they tell you your Japanese is good. It's kind of like saying "how ya doing?" when you don't really care how the other person is- it's just a greeting. Don't be insulted by it either. Don't act like an arrogent, typical American and think that everything should be done your way because that's the best way. Anyone with that attitude should stay far away from Japan (unfortunately there are already too many people like that there).

There is definetly much more in Osaka than you can see in a day (there is more to Osaka than shinsaibashi), but the primary draw is that Kyoto, Nara, Hyogo, Ise, Nagoya, etc are within easy daytrip reach, and you are also well positioned for trips into kyuushu and kanto.

captal, Thank you so much for your detailed description!

Wow, are onsen really that good? I may...may want to try one.

I'm glad hakata-ben isn't as hard as kansaiben. ^__^
And initially I will be able to be lazy and use standard Japanese.

Great, Nagasaki sounds like a great place to visit. I can't wait to see the monuments.

"don't believe that Japanese people are sincere when they tell you your Japanese is good." I get that a lot from my exchange student friends. I don't take お世辞 seriously anymore. Thanks for the advice!

Kyuushuu dialects are almost impossible to understand. Fortunately, only really old people still speak like that, so it's never a problem. When my friends exgirlfriend from Fukuoka came to Sweden for a visit, I never even noticed she had a dialect (she does speak hakata-ben though, apparently if you know hakata-ben you notice it all the time).

captal Wrote:and I'd highly, highly recommend trying onsen at least once- it is one of my favorite things about Japan. (that's right, hanging out with naked old guys is one of the best part of Japan!) Step outside your comfort zone- you're going to have to do it a lot in Japan anyway.

I second this. Completely unforgettable.

The first time I went to an onsen was with my girlfriend's father a few days after I had just met him. Despite my initial nervousness and my terrible Japanese (he doesn't speak English), I was entirely relaxed after I entered the bath under the starry sky. I'll never forget the feeling of sitting in a hot bath while surrounded by the cold Tohoku winter air.

I recommend gathering information beforehand and going with someone you're comfortable with. Learn the definite no-nos and avoid them at all cost. Ask whoever is helping you to guide you step by step if you're too nervous. Keep your voice low and try not to draw attention; people are there to relax. I think you may catch some curious glances if you look foreign, especially if you're staying somewhere where foreigners are relatively rare. I can't really speak from experience, since I feel like I went mostly unnoticed because I'm Asian (Filipino-Chinese), but I wouldn't be surprised if someone foreign-looking were to attract attention. At any rate, don't let it bother you. Enjoy the experience instead of worrying about whatever others are thinking about. Ironically enough, doing so will make everyone else more comfortable as well.

If you enjoy meditation, relaxation, or just peace and quiet, I urge you to visit an onsen at least once. Dipping into the hot water of an onsen is a rare chance to slip into a state of nothingness.

gyuujuice Wrote:captal, Thank you so much for your detailed description!

Wow, are onsen really that good? I may...may want to try one.

I'm glad hakata-ben isn't as hard as kansaiben. ^__^
And initially I will be able to be lazy and use standard Japanese.

Great, Nagasaki sounds like a great place to visit. I can't wait to see the monuments.

"don't believe that Japanese people are sincere when they tell you your Japanese is good." I get that a lot from my exchange student friends. I don't take お世辞 seriously anymore. Thanks for the advice!

Yes, onsen is really that good.

It's not lazy to speak standard Japanese- everyone knows it, and it's all that people from Tokyo can speak anyway But Tobberoth is right- some of the old people I met in the countryside of Fukuoka were impossible to understand.

Nagasaki is definitely worth visiting *nods*
And it's true that Osaka has more attractions, but the "main sightseeing spots" will only fill one day and if there are so many other interesting cities and sightseeing areas around, then it'd be a waste of time to stay in Osaka longer than a day! My humble opinion, though.

I do have reports (mainly photos) of my various trips in Japan, so if you need some reference, here ya go:

All travel entries

Sorted by city/area:

Aizu-Wakamatsu
Beppu
Enoshima
Fuji-san
Fukuoka
Hakone
Hikone
Himeji
Hiroshima
Iga-Ueno
Iwakuni
Kagoshima
Kamakura
Kobe
Kochi
Kokura
Kumamoto
Kyoto
Matsushima
Matsuyama
Miyajima
Nagahama
Nagasaki
Nara
Naruto
Nikko
Okayama
Osaka
Sendai
Tokyo
Yokohama



Sorted by attraction:

Aquarium
Bridges
Castles
Cats (yes, that's an attraction! XD)
China Towns
Churches
JDrama Locations
Japanese Gardens
Matsuri
Mountains
Museum
Night Views
Onsen
Cherry blossoms
Shrines
Temples
Volcanoes
Western-style Buildings
Zoo and Animal Parks


I hope that's helpful (^-^)>

Chochajin! You are amazing! *hugs*
This is incredibly helpful! Thanks SO much!