Hi Kat, the language barrier is real in Japan, I'm afraid. But worry not, with a bit of help from google translate and a lot of pointing, you can get everything done. In fact, when you enter a restaurant, say hello in Japanese and show them (with your fingers) how many people in your party. When you order, point! When they ask you something, you will usually be able to understand. If not, say sorry, they will point and you can say yes (hai) or no (iie). All three cities are super used to foreigners and they can understand some English, they are usually quite shy to speak. If in doubt, you can always get a guide for more obscure activities such as a pub crawl, a walk in the mountains etc. We didn't speak any Japanese back in 2015 when we first visited and we did just fine. You will really enjoy it!
Hi Kat, the language barrier is real in Japan, I'm afraid. But worry not, with a bit of help from google translate and a lot of pointing, you can get everything done. In fact, when you enter a restaurant, say hello in Japanese and show them (with your fingers) how many people in your party. When you order, point! When they ask you something, you will usually be able to understand. If not, say sorry, they will point and you can say yes (hai) or no (iie).
All three cities are super used to foreigners and they can understand some English, they are usually quite shy to speak. If in doubt, you can always get a guide for more obscure activities such as a pub crawl, a walk in the mountains etc. We didn't speak any Japanese back in 2015 when we first visited and we did just fine. You will really enjoy it!