Who greets & helps foreigners in Japan?

As I come to visit Japan on my first vacation and experiece it. There's one thing I need to know. Who greets & helps foreigners in Japan, inlcuding first timers. Is it young Japanese people (school students young workers etc.) or old Japanese people?

We found people very friendly and helpfulin general. Several times we had stopped in the street trying to orientate ourselves with a map or find the right exit from a train station and people came over to help wihtout our asking. Even with only speaking a little of each others language we didn't have too much difficulty.

Several times at tourist sites locals with some English started a conversation to ask us where we are from and tell us where they were from or a bit about the area. Generally these were people in the 25-45 age group or older perhaps retired men who had learned English as part of their work or one man was 73 and had started learning at age 70 when he retired, he'd learned a lot in 3 years. Older women seemed less likely to acknowledge you but generally when we were out walking around if you passed them in quieter streets and greeted them in Japanese they would smile and greet you back.

In Sapporo one young man chased us through the snow festival, I wondered what I had done wrong but he had found an english brochure and wanted to give it to us.

At train stations we found excellent information centres with English maps and information.

I wish I had learned more Japanese before I went, not because you can't manage without it but that I felt embarrased to be in their country and they had to speak to my in my language not the other way around. It would also have been good to have more of a conversation with many of the interesting people we did meet.

If some one is helping you, does it matter?

Well, there's no official greeting party for foreigners, so I guess "nobody" or "both old and young"... There are also people in-between old and young

Like in most countries, most people will help if they can. If you walk up to someone and ask a question, if they know the answer they will typically tell you.

In Japan, some people may not respond because they are too shy, they don't understand English, they don't want to be bothered, or they don't know the answer. They may be old, young, or somewhere in-between. Just choose someone who looks helpful but not busy. If they don't know, try someone else.

Don't just stand around waiting for someone to approach you, though. Like I said, it's not as though there is a greeting party or that people want to pamper and baby foreigners. Try to find your way around yourself and if you still need help, then ask.

Go to airport information desk.
Go to hotel front desk.

It is difficult to generalize. There are helpful and not helpful people across all ages and genders. It also depends on the situation, location and timing. According to personal experience, the highest rate of greeting and helpfulness is encountered when hiking in the mountains, and especially so among the middle-age and older generations.

JonathanTokyo,

I can't think of a country where only a certain generation or age group helps foreigners. What kind of "help" are you looking for?

Husband, friend, and I went to Japan. We walked around lost for 10 minutes before we were approached by woman in her 50s and her mother in her 70s or 80s, who collectively spoke about 50 words of English. They helped us get a taxi and find our hotel.

Looking slightly lost in Ikebukuro on our second trip, we were approached by a college student.

Is this your question? Or are you looking for books or Internet info? Debito Arudou wrote a book about surviving in Japan called "Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants and Immigrants to Japan" -- if that's more what you're looking for...?

strange question.
Specific age groups are not assigned to help or anything...people are generally helpful though.
I think age is irrelevant, in any society some people are more helpful than others...I don't see any correlation with age.

It depends on who will first notice that you seem lost ;) There's is no age or other group responsible for helping and greeting all the foreigners. Obviously workers are usually in a hurry, but that's not specific to Japan.

On my second trip to Japan, a nice older man searched for the hotel I was looking for and brought me there. A few years later I was greeted by a whole family and had a nice chat with them. I was even asked a few times for directions by Japanese - luckily I had already studied Japanese.

I think most people want to help foreigners, but some can't (language barrier etc.). If you want help in English language, young Japanese are usually your best bet. Don't be afraid, most people are very nice here, regardless of age, job or gender :) Since your visiting Japan, why not learn a few words of Japanese and greet them first?