Get off the beaten path with some basic Japanese to see the sakura

Ah, spring. The birds are chirping, the cherry blossoms are blooming — and tourism is booming.

We’ve made it through another year to be greeted by the budding pink blossoms. If, like much of Japan, you’re looking to travel to a great 穴場 (anaba, hidden spot) to see the 桜 (sakura, cherry blossoms), you’re going to need some basic Japanese to get there.

Getting to popular 桜 spots is simple enough in the cities, but once you start going off the beaten path, things get a bit trickier. For this, the simplest phrase you have at your disposal is, “(...) はどこですか？” (... wa doko desu ka?, Where is...?) But that’s really only going to be of assistance when you near your destination.

Something that might help more is knowing some key phrases for riding those local buses and trains that have little to no English. Suppose you want to see the blooms of 権現堂 (Gongendō), a park in Saitama Prefecture. After getting off the 東京駅から 幸手駅までの電車 (Tōkyō eki kara Satte eki made no densha, train from Tokyo Station to Satte Station), you’ll need to get on a bus marked 五霞町役場行 (Goka-machi yakuba yuki, bound for Goka Town Hall). That 行 (yuki, bound for) at the end of the place name will always tell you in which direction you’re headed.

行 is the noun form of 行く (iku, to go), an essential word to have in your repertoire — especially when you’re lost or asking for directions. If you get on the bus but you’re not confident enough with kanji to read “五霞町役場行,” you can ask the bus driver, “すみません、 権現堂に行きますか？” (Sumimasen, Gongendō ni ikimasu ka?, Excuse me, [does this bus] go to Gongendo?)

Once you’re on the right bus, keep your ears peeled for an announcement saying, “次は権現堂に止まります” (Tsugi wa Gongendō ni tomarimasu, We will next stop at Gongendo). Of course, the bus won’t stop unless someone presses the button, which is usually marked お降りの方はこのボタンを押してください (o-ori no kata wa kono botan o oshite kudasai, those who are getting off please press this button). Make sure to press it in time and avoid the dreaded announcement of, “権現堂を通過します” (Gongendō o tsūka shimasu, We will now pass Gongendo).

When using 行く to describe where you’re going, it will often be paired with the directional particle に (ni). For example, you could say 公園に行きます (kōen ni ikimasu, [I’m] going to the park) or 公園に行きました (kōen ni ikimashita, [I] went to the park).

If you want to give a bit more detail, however, add a verb stem before 行く. For example, use the 見 (mi) of 見ます (mimasu, to see) to describe what you did when you went somewhere: 桜を見に行きました (Sakura o mi ni ikimashita, [I] went to see the cherry blossoms). This trick works for other verbs like 食べる (taberu, to eat) and 飲む (nomu, to drink) to allow you to describe other activities. Here are some examples: レストランに食べに行きましょうか？ (Resutoran ni tabe ni ikimashō ka?, Shall we go to eat at a restaurant?) or 公園に飲みに行こうか？ (Kōen ni nomi ni ikō ka?, Wanna go drink at the park?)

With the basic structure down pat, all you need to do is add touches of new vocabulary to make yourself sound more fluent. Maybe you want to mention if you’re traveling on a 旅行 (ryokō, leisure trip) or going out on a 日帰り (higaeri, day trip) for your 花見 (hanami, cherry blossom viewing)? That means you’ll need to 泊まる (tomaru, stay the night) somewhere.

You could go traditional with a 民宿 (minshuku, guest house) or a 旅館 (ryokan, Japanese inn), or play it safe with an affordable ビジネスホテル (bijinesu hoteru, business hotel) or regular ホテル (hoteru, hotel). But do make sure you know what you’re getting into if you stumble across a ラブホ (rabuho, love hotel), those ones are often reserved for, let’s say, “romantic trysts.”

When arriving at a hotel, a lot of people end up telling the 受付 (uketsuke, reception) that they want to stay for 一日 (ichi nichi). That’s not quite correct, as 一日 literally means “one day.” You’re better off using 泊 (haku/paku, night), which uses the same kanji as in 泊まる. The pronunciation of 泊 depends on the number that comes before it: 一泊 (ippaku, one night), 二泊 (nihaku, two nights), 三泊 (sanpaku, three nights) and so on.

Regardless of the season, try to sample some local cuisine when traveling. Be on the lookout for your destination’s 名物 (meibutsu, famous item). A 名物 isn’t always food, but if you’re asking at a restaurant or souvenir shop then food will most likely be what you get. Of course, around 花見 season, you’re going to want to try 桜まんじゅう (sakura manjū, steamed cherry blossom buns) or 桜もち (sakura mochi), the latter being a sweet pink-colored sticky rice cake often wrapped in a salted leaf.

去年、権現堂に花見に行きました。桜もちを食べたり酒を飲んだりしました。 おすすめのレストランで食べに行きたかったのですが、 定休日でしたので、ホテルで一泊しました。 翌日レストランに行きました (Kyonen, Gongendō ni hanami ni ikimashita. Sakuramochi o tabetari, sake o nondari shimashita. Osusume no resutoran de tabe ni ikitakatta no desu ga, teikyūbi deshita node, hoteru de ippaku shimashita. Yokujitsu resutoran ni ikimashita, Last year, I went to Gongendo to look at the blossoms. We ate cherry-flavored sticky rice cakes and drank some sake. I wanted to go eat at a recommended restaurant, but it was closed that day. So, I stayed one night at a hotel and went to go eat at the restaurant the next day).