Meeting people/locals at hostels/AirBnb?

I will be travelling alone for the first time, so I'm excited, curious and slightly apprehensive about the experience of staying at hostels and meeting travelers from around the world (I'm a bit on the introvert side). I plan to stay at hostels for the first 5-6 days since I will be moving across cities quite a bit. For the remaining 5-6 days I will be at Tokyo, and I'm wondering whether I should try a mix of between two hostels or one hostel and one AirBnb.

My motivation is to switch environments (some of the hostels I'm eyeing look really attractive) and a greater chance to meet a wider range of people (which also is a bit of a backup plan in case you want to get away from roommates that you don't want to be stuck with). I also wonder whether there will be a greater chance of meeting local Japanese at hostels or AirBnb. I'm not talking about hookups, but just real conversations and cultural exchange.

I'm not sure if this is true, and I don't mean to sound offensive either, but hearing from my friends' solo/backpacking experiences it seems that the Japanese are more eager to talk with Westerners than Asians (I'm Hong Kong Chinese, though I consider English as my first language). I don't know much about the culture or how engaged hosts are in Japan/Tokyo, and would appreciate your views on this (whether at hostels or Airbnb).

(N.B. I'm aware of the legal issues of Airbnb in Japan. I'm also doubtful about Couchsurfing, because I fear I'll feel obligated to hang out with the host for most of the time.)

Not trying to be offensive. But you'll find most Asian countries prefer not to talk to other people from other Asian countries. It is a regional thing and these nations have been clashing for many centuries. This won't change any time soon.

As for being Hong Kong Chinese. This may have been you friend's biggest issue. The Chinese are perceived are rude and arrogant. So others may not be as welcoming towards them in nature.

The Chinese have yuan to spend, and Japan has a decline population that needs money to come from somewhere. Tourism give both sides what they need.

I don't know if there's a clash of rivalries among all Asian nations (although certainly Japan and China/Korea have longstanding tensions), but I get what you mean by Asians generally being more reserved to outsiders culturally - I don't know though whether this is due to a lack of English proficiency. What I was referring to is that I've heard Japanese are more curious about Westerners and also give them some more 'leeway', whereas for those with Asian especially South/South East Asian faces they'll assume that we are not that radically different to them and/or we are or expected to follow Japanese culture/norms.

Just need to clarify a bit, while Hong Kong is part of China, and the majority (but there's a substantial expat/ethnic community) of Hong Kongers are Chinese, there's certainly major differences from the two - and I'm not just talking about politics. Certainly Chinese etiquette and social norms are different from the Japanese (and I'm not just talking about the totally unreasonable behaviour that you may observe from Chinese tourists, rather there are definite cultural differences between the nations), and some people do feel Hong Kongers can be rude (it's a really hectic and nervous financial/service industry city where everyone is on the move - I wonder if Tokyoites are the same?). But the bad, arrogant behaviour of Chinese tourists you may see in Japan and elsewhere are almost certainly Mainland Chinese instead of Hong Kongers or Taiwanese (although admittedly Chinese do tend to talk loudly, regardless of region or dialect) - a lot of them have a nouveau rich mentality yet they may not traveled abroad much and/or come from places other than the first tier cities in China. The younger generation are better because they are more cosmopolitan, having more experience traveling/studying abroad and having access to the Internet (yes, even with the Great Firewall of China, the Internet is revolutionary in opening up China). Hong Kongers, being an open society for many years, don't act as bad, and many of us have been vacationing to Japan and absorbing Japanese pop culture back at home since the 1980s.

TO: NoviceFlaneur, I am glad you clarified, because I wasn't sure how much to respond.


If you want to meet Japanese people, at least you should learn a little Japanese. If you expect most Japanese to speak English, you will be disappointed (actually, most Japanese are disappointed in themselves, too, since they were all taught English in schools).


When you do meet Japanese, do yourself a favor by introducing yourself as from HK. If you live in HK, you understand the reputations of mainland Chinese tourists in HK. Well, that reputation is amplified in Japan. Japanese know the difference between Taiwan/HK/Mainland.


As for AirB&B vs. hostels, I would stick with hostels for more opportunities to meet people. Depending on the size of accommodation, you may not meet anybody other than the owner at an AirB&B.

AirBnB could just be a room owned by an absent owner, so for meeting people I would recommend hostels. There travelers from different countries will be there, who share the same interest: Japan. And there may be some local travelers who are interested in meeting travelers from outside Japan too. Or you could try family-run inns that welcome foreign tourists, for example Sawanoya Ryokan in Tokyo (my friends, non-Japanese and Japanese mixed family, have stayed there and liked it).

I have talked to people who obviously looked like travelers and who looked lost, for example, in big train stations, and helped them find their ways, of whatever "looks" as long as they responded to my English - I have been brushed off by obviously completely non-English speaking people - and I have seen other locals doing that too. But whether that develops into friendships would be another question.

I fully agree that mainland Chinese are different from Hongkong Chinese.
Unfortunately, in terms of appearance they look "too similar", not all Japanese can tell the difference.
While Japan welcome the Chinese tourists due to the economy benefit they bring; afaik, many Japanese "do not like them". I have visited Japan many times in the past 20 years, and I have noticed a change of "this reaction".
Japanese are among the most polite people I have encountered. Even though they do not approve of some of those Chinese tourists' behavior, their culture, very often, prevents them from showing their true feeling (anger) in public.
Again, It would be unfortunate if you were mistakenly taken as one of those tourists from China during your visit. I am sure your body language would easily confirm otherwise. Hostels are good places to meet other fellow travelers. However, you are very likely meeting foreign tourists instead of locals.
I am sure you'll have a good time in Japan, enjoy your trip!

You are going to have to expend more effort to meet Japanese, they are more interested and curious about westerners than they are other asians.

I would recommend Hostels, most Air B&B are likely going to be a vacant flat.

As a fellow introvert, I�fm in awe of you going on a hostel-hopping holiday alone with the intention of meeting and actually talking to strangers. Go you! Japan certainly seems like a very good choice for this due to being generally safe and people being polite and helpful.

I was a bit less bold in my own vacation and went with friends, booking our own private room at hostels and such. Also, as westerners we didn�ft have any issues of some sort of negative prejudice towards Chinese or something.

Anyway, with regards to meeting people I do have some suggestions, depending on your budget and your own preferences.

1) The easiest is a suggestion I also made to someone else on this site: plan to meet with a volunteer guide from the university. It gives you someone to spend the day with and an immediate contact with a Japanese person. We started our trip in Kyoto and used http://goodsamaritanclub.org/ to arrange a meeting with an university volunteer. There's also a link to a similar organisation in Nara on this website. I'd assume something similar exists for Tokyo as well.

2) Visit a (ryokan with) onsen: sitting naked in a bath with other people does seem to encourage conversation�c If you�fre bold enough to do that, at least (we picked Tsurunoyu onsen not only for the beautiful old ryokan and outdoor bath, but also because the water was �emilky�f and after sort of�c sneaking over to the bath and carefully turning my back and removing my towel I could slip in with my prudish sensibilities mostly intact. Also, it was great!)

3) Pick an activity that encourages social interaction. With this I mean something like a workshop, maybe a tea ceremony, a cooking workshop, some sort of crafty-thing? (For example, we went to a stencil dying workshop in Kyoto, http://marumasu.sakura.ne.jp/english/). Once again, these are just suggestions/examples, but it�fs something you can consider. It�fs even more fun if you can find somewhere where there are usually not many foreign tourists.

Good luck with your planning, and have fun!

Bro I been to Japan 4x and I'm Asian. It's not hard meeting people and Japanese people treat other asian pretty equally. It's a lot easier to talk to people if your asian because they don't feel intimidating as to white or black cuz they get all nervous around them. (Learn some basic JPN and be polite) Yes, southeast asian do get look down upon. Their're like the Mexican in America. However, once you start busting out English people will start staring at you and giggle with their friends. I met a ton load of random girls and guys. Japanese can't tell the different between American English and British english, it doesn't matter what you speak as long as you spraking English.

I heard most users of Airbnb in Japan is we foreigners, even landlords are non-Japanese sometimes.(because it is illegal in Japan?), so I am not sure if you have chances to meet locals.

So, I suggest you to stay at hostels and search for volunteers who organise somethig for tourists.
http://meeco7.webnode.jp/english/exchange/

where are all the personal adds ??+