Tip: NEVER use google translate for Japanese! (Even for travel) It's so bad!
I definitely had a "what the fuck have I done" mini panic attack moment entering the Tokyo airport. But basic Japanese to keep manners got me by.
this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2026
184 points (98.4% liked)
Lemmy Shitpost
42728 readers
4176 users here now
Welcome to Lemmy Shitpost. Here you can shitpost to your hearts content.
Anything and everything goes. Memes, Jokes, Vents and Banter. Though we still have to comply with lemmy.world instance rules. So behave!
Rules:
1. Be Respectful
Refrain from using harmful language pertaining to a protected characteristic: e.g. race, gender, sexuality, disability or religion.
Refrain from being argumentative when responding or commenting to posts/replies. Personal attacks are not welcome here.
...
2. No Illegal Content
Content that violates the law. Any post/comment found to be in breach of common law will be removed and given to the authorities if required.
That means:
-No promoting violence/threats against any individuals
-No CSA content or Revenge Porn
-No sharing private/personal information (Doxxing)
...
3. No Spam
Posting the same post, no matter the intent is against the rules.
-If you have posted content, please refrain from re-posting said content within this community.
-Do not spam posts with intent to harass, annoy, bully, advertise, scam or harm this community.
-No posting Scams/Advertisements/Phishing Links/IP Grabbers
-No Bots, Bots will be banned from the community.
...
4. No Porn/Explicit
Content
-Do not post explicit content. Lemmy.World is not the instance for NSFW content.
-Do not post Gore or Shock Content.
...
5. No Enciting Harassment,
Brigading, Doxxing or Witch Hunts
-Do not Brigade other Communities
-No calls to action against other communities/users within Lemmy or outside of Lemmy.
-No Witch Hunts against users/communities.
-No content that harasses members within or outside of the community.
...
6. NSFW should be behind NSFW tags.
-Content that is NSFW should be behind NSFW tags.
-Content that might be distressing should be kept behind NSFW tags.
...
If you see content that is a breach of the rules, please flag and report the comment and a moderator will take action where they can.
Also check out:
Partnered Communities:
1.Memes
10.LinuxMemes (Linux themed memes)
Reach out to
All communities included on the sidebar are to be made in compliance with the instance rules. Striker
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
I lived in Japan for 6 years. This is kind of true, but if you can point then you can get what you're after.
I don't know, I thought half the fun of Japan was the not knowing what I would stumble on.
Neil Degrasse Tyson said it best on why he hates algorithms, "they don't let me find anything, they take away the wonder".
There was someone local in a state furry chat who kept talking about his Japan was the best, talked a lot of anime quotes, and no amount of people who know what Japan is actually like could convince him otherwise.
He's apparently stuck there now and drinks most of the time because he didn't and still doesn't realize how goddamn racist his assumptions were and how it got him nowhere.
- he assumed everyone would like him cause he's American and
- he thought most people would speak English
- for some fucking reason he thought most of it was like Tokyo or specifically Akihabara(sp?)
So I'm cackling at this like how fucking appropriate
Google translate/lens was absolutely goated for my japan travels. I really dislike google and try foss alternatives all the time but it was like having real life subtitles, good quality and adequate translations.
Yeah, the translation is better than trying to deal with a shopkeeper who doesn't want to yukkuri the fuck hanashite kudasai or whatever. I have a vocabulary of maybe 800 words but whatever you're speaking is way outside it.
I visited Japan for the first time recently.
It is not the first time I visited a country that spoke another language, but it was the first time I went somewhere that didn't use the same alphabet I'm used to.
I must say, suddenly beign functionally analphabet is a very strange feeling!
What would you recommend instead of Google lens/translate?
Ah, the non-slop version of this meme. Nice work, thank you for your service.
I visited Japan in 2008, before Google Lens was a thing. My Japanese was rudimentary, like A-level. But I got by. I had a problem with my Suica card and the people in the subway station didn't speak any English and my Japanese certainly wasn't enough for the situation, but together we fixed it. And another time I wanted to ask something in a store and the woman had to fetch her coworker who spoke English, so that was fine as well. I would guess that today English is more wide-spread, particularly in Tokyo. So I wouldn't be worried to visit today, when my Japanese is even worse than it was back then. I must say that trying to communicate with a language barrier, while frustrating, is also what brings us together as humans. Most people around the world are decent people and are willing to help somebody in need. That makes for nice vacation memories.
Unless you are in the US. “speak ‘murican!!”
Depends on where you go. Some places do have subtitles. lol
Ganbate, OP-san
Are you really asking if they use Japanese in Japan?
The joke is more on if foreigners assume that there's subtitles in real life when they hear spoken Japanese. Basically, the meme is on the language barrier (for those who know zero Japanese).
Google Lens is basically irl subtitles