One of the best places is to learn Japanese is at an Japanese school in Japan – Tokyo especially.
The capital is Japan’s most international metropolis – an overwhelming city. It is certainly frustratingly big, chaotic with people everywhere and a constant exposure to noise, light and life. It is a charming expression of the never sleeping metropolis that it is both modern and international, but also thoroughbred Japanese. And so is it easy to navigate with an efficient train network and metro system. As an extra plus is that it is still the world’s safest metropolis. Tokyo was destroyed by a violent earthquake in 1923 and again by bombing during the Second World War. Today there are some remnants of history, but the city must be seen as a modern city with all that offers to the senses. Tokyo has all the chic fashion houses and the nice cafes. There are plenty of huge department stores and specialty shops that can tempt all budgets and human desire. There are museums for images, photo art, for dolls or samurai culture. There are imperial palaces and opportunities to be seduced by the almost endless supply of city’s nightlife with karaoke, disco, geishas or simply a bowl of noodles among other squelching Japanese at a local eatery. From the top of Shinjuku-district skyscrapers you can see on a good day the beautiful volcano Fuji-san in the distance. On the less good days one sees only seemingly endless urban jungle, the diversity of smog’s duvet only revealing its secrets as you make your way through it.
