Quote Originally Posted by GaijinPunch
Can one that speaks/reads Japanese make that call? I can't, b/c I already had a few years of university under my belt before arriving so could at least communicate, but all my friends that have visited have complained about it being English-unfriendly -- not even comprable to most places in Europe.
How well do your friends know both Japan and Europe (and what countries in Europe) ? I doubt that they have my experience on the subject. The most English-friendly countries in Europe, where English also is a de facto second-language, are Nordic countries and the Netherlands. YET, there aren't so many signs, commercials or newspaper translations in English as in Japan. So from that point of view at least, they lose. As a short-term tourist, Northern European countries are probably easier for English-speakers, but the number of resources and services in English cannot compare to those found in Japan. The Japanese government even sends explanations in English to registered foreigners (automatically, without request) on how to pay taxes, how to fill out the population census form, etc. I get all my water bills in Tokyo (although not gas and electricity, probably because they are private companies, whereas water is still public) are bilingual Japanese-English. I don't think any (non English-speaking) European country provides all this in English. Even in multilingual Belgium with all its EU expats in Brussels.