To everyone in America, and to all of you in the English-speaking world who always take the time to read my posts. Maybe some of you are just being polite, but I hear this all the time: “I really want to visit Japan someday.” “Japan is on my list.” “I’m planning to go one day.” At the same time, I often hear another concern: “I’m worried about the language.” “What if I can’t communicate?” “What if I need help and don’t know what to say?” That got me thinking. I’m currently working on an app or website that could make those moments a little easier. Not a generic Japanese phrasebook, but something built around real situations you might actually encounter in Japan. Ordering at a restaurant. Going to a yakitori restaurant. Taking a taxi. Checking into a hotel. Asking for directions at a train station. Dealing with those small situations where you suddenly think, “How do I say this in Japanese?” The idea is simple: find the situation you’re in, pull up the Japanese phrase you need, and show it to someone if you can’t say it yourself. I want to build it from a Japanese perspective, with the kinds of phrases that actually make sense in real-life situations here. And I’m planning to make the first version completely free, so people can actually use it and tell me what works, what doesn’t, and what should be added. If you’re planning to visit Japan someday, would something like this make you feel more comfortable? I’d genuinely love to hear what situations you would want it to cover.