Language barrier

Getting by in Japan without speaking any Japanese hasn't been TOO bad. Sure, figuring out which train station to get off at has been a challenge (on our way to Koyasan yesterday we got off at the wrong station twice. TWICE in one journey). And matching up street names to the map is sort of like deciphering a secret code.

But most signs are written in English too, and people here seem to speak enough to understand things like "Where is the bathroom?" "More sake please." and "Can you take a picture of me and Kermit?"

However, when it comes to more complicated phrases like "Does this gelatinous cube contain meat?" and "Sorry we missed the 6am Buddhist ceremony; our alarm clock didn't go off," we're sort of at a loss.