It's a Myth! A Myth!

Yeth?

Photo by Marcela Rogante on Unsplash

There’s a moment or two (including this incredible cameo moment) in the original Muppet Movie when Kermit, as exasperated as Kermit can get when confronted by a falsehood about frogs, shouts: “It’s a myth! Myth!”

Out of nowhere, Carol Kane appears and says, “Yeth?”

My kind of pun.

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Today’s post is for subscribers, and I want to address some common myths travelers to Japan, especially first-time travellers, frequently embrace. Why bust these myths? Because I want you to enjoy your time in Japan, and I truly want you not to worry before you depart.

I’ll start with a big myth before tapping the paywall button.

Myth 1: Be Quiet in Japan

Photo by 青 晨 on Unsplash

When I lived in Japan in the 1990s, and during my most recent visit in 2023, there were times on trains when non-Japanese people boarded and maintained a loud conversation. (I particularly remember the two bros in 2023 on the Yamanote Line in Tōkyō who kept bragging about how they’d never get a COVID-19 vaccine.)

There are places in Japan where you should keep your voice down. On public transportation. At a shrine or a temple. In a museum. The notion of common courtesy, as dilute as it is in 2025, is harder to maintain when traveling abroad. Nobody knows you, right? It can be liberating to think you can do things your peers at home would frown on.

But Japan, especially in and around Tōkyō and Ōsaka, is a loud place. Vehicle traffic, the sound of a million footsteps, the courtesy noises that pedestrian lights, train platforms, and even toilets make contribute to a cacophony that can be hard to escape. When you board a train or bus, when you enter the precincts of a temple or shrine, and when you pass through a museum’s entrance, take note of the Japanese people around you. Are they boisterous and energetic? If not, match their energy level. There are so few places where people can escape from noise.

That said, whispers aren't needed when you’re out on the street, in a restaurant or bar, or at an amusement park. Heck, some streets are so crowded (in Shibuya, Harajuku, and Shinjuku (in Tōkyō), and in Umeda and Dōtonboi (in Ōsaka) where even a normal conversation volume will be drowned out. And it’s much better to raise your voice than let your travel companions wander off without you. ;-)