KKyoto

Absolute do’s and don’ts for a foreigner (Indian) moving to Kyoto.

  • February 27, 2026

So I am a researcher joining a Post Doc position at Kyoto University on 2nd March for a year. I have been working on my Japanese even though Duolingo has been irritating. I am aware of the large cultural differences India and Japan have so it would be great if people from Kyoto or Indians living in Kyoto could just let me know if things to avoid or necessarily do when in the city. All and any sort of advice is welcome.

Thanks in advance.

by not_that_arnab

5 comments

  1. Aside from not studying too hard and making time to enjoy yourself, my advice is to remember Japanese (and other foreigners living in Japan because of the culture) are very, very punctual. Not to stereotype but I have a few Indian friends, and though I love them they’re always late to everything and are very hesitant to schedule things in advance.

    I enjoy our time together when we hang out, but these scheduling issues make me not want to reach out to them, and always make me a little stressed when they invite me to things. That’s the only thing I can think of, most international students (including Indian students of course) I’ve seen tend to adjust well if they get out of their “same country” bubble and make an effort to talk to other international and Japanese students.

  2. Don’t forget to kick the deer in Nara Park /s

    Don’t get on the women’s train car if you’re a guy – there are pink signs all over the platform usually, so it’s easy to avoid if you aren’t absorbed in your phone.

    Get used to attracting attention just for existing. It’s mostly harmless curiosity, but there are the occasional weirdos. Expect a lot of side-eye in Kyoto, they’re just more passive-aggressive in general (even to other Japanese people)

  3. I’ve lived here in Kyoto for nearly 2 years, one of the common things I saw in the UK and here with Indian visitors and friends is having very loud video calls both on the street and on buses. In the UK it’s not a problem, but here in Japan, it is kinda bad. If you need to walk around and video call, headphones would be the way to go. I’ve seen many people here getting shouted at by bus drivers for talking at normal levels let alone when someone is having a very loud video call without headphones on.

    Of course, the bus drivers will totally ignore anyone Japanese talking on a bus usually! However, last week an old lady with perfect English wanted to talk to me on the bus and wanted to know about my aikido background (I had my weapons bag with me)…. The bus driver made a point in English of telling the foreigners to shut up whilst ignoring the Japanese kids messing about on the bus making far more noise. She told him in Japanese to be quiet himself and that she was so happy to be practising her English with a nice man studying Japanese martial arts and culture! She restored my faith in all the anti foreigner sentiment rising here :).

  4. Don’t have telephone calls on the bus or train. Likewise, don’t walk down the street on a call on speaker, or watch a video without headphones

  5. Don’t use duolingo would be a big one. If you want to learn the language it is one of the worst possible ways

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