> The yen value hurts the most on lodging and shopping when it's high. Museums, temples and other cultural experiences are mostly cheap or free. Dining is gener

> The yen value hurts the most on lodging and shopping when it's high. Museums, temples and other cultural experiences are mostly cheap or free. Dining is generally affordable if you're not a broke backpacker. Pretty much everything is affordable at the current exchange rate if you're already able to get a round trip flight over here. > One easy failure is the difference between cute (kawaii) and ugly/scary (kuwaii). Cute = kawaii (kah-wah-ee) Scary = kowai (koh-why) But even if you mispronounce, people will understand what you meant to say just based on the context. They won't think you're saying their dog or baby is "scary" instead of "cute". Also, it would be quite hard to cause offense to most Japanese people if you're attempting to speak their language. I wouldn't go into any conversations with that anxiety in the back of your mind.