Buying Tickets
In Japan, a lot of signs are in English, especially for travel. You have almost all traffic signs with English translations at the bottom, and what street signs there are usually have English as well. And virtually every train station sign has English translations, from the signs hanging from the ceiling directing you to different parts of stations, to the signs at each station telling you which station it is. Many train lines even have English versions of the recorded announcements declaring which station you’re at.
One glaring exception to the bilingual rule: signs above ticket vending machines. The signs tell you the price to each station and the name–but in Japanese only. And station names tend to be some of the hardest things to make out in Japanese. Why they never include English, even written in tiny letters, is beyond me. Not that it’s a problem for me–I can read the kanji well enough–but it makes it very hard for tourists and relatively new residents to get the right ticket when going to an unfamiliar place.
Perhaps the subway system has a paper map in english, for the new people?
I usually guess which station is which by the location on the map and add a a few yen just to be safe.
I seem to remember the maps above the JR ticket machines often having romaji – at least at busier stations. The pure kanji maps in the Tokyo Metro stations (and on the trains themselves) were always a pain to decipher in a hurry, though, made all the more worse by the fact I didn’t use it all that much. I’m not one to get lost easily, but I got off at the wrong station and/or had to do a fare adjustment on more then one occasion.
Yes, they do have maps in romaji : just ask any subway office if you have guests coming. You could also advise them to buy the cheapest ticket, and then use the ” fare adjustment ” machine before getting out.
Oh, certainly, they’ve got maps. But a lot of tourists don’t have friends to prepare them, and don’t know in advance that the English isn’t there. Relatively new residents get the maps, but don’t always carry them around–I’ve heard some grousing now and then. And not every station on every line will have a map with romaji; you have to go to a major station to get one, usually, though subway lines may be different. Usually the fare adjustment is the easiest way for people to handle things.
I’m just surprised they don’t have at least one map on the displays above the machines with smallish romaji, if only for the tourism industry of the country…