An annecdote

The Japanese are way too helpful. We arrived in Matsumoto for a stay in an onsen ryokan. The ryokan itself was part of the Welcome Inn chain in Japan, which helps foreigners book lodgings around the country. We had received a print out from the Welcome Inn crew in Osaka that included directions on how to get to the ryokan. Since the onsen itself was quite some distance from Matsumoto station, we needed to take a bus. Unfortunately, the bus number listed on the directions did not exist at the bus station.

We wandered below ground to the sub-station, in search of better information. There was a help desk. We asked for help. Once we established where we were going, the lady informed us which bus to take. It was arriving within a few minutes. Then she proceeded to get up from behind her desk, walk around and point us in the right direction.

Or so we thought. Instead, she actually guided us to the specific bus stop outside, in sub-zero weather, wearing a skirt and high heel shoes. She insisted on holding all of the doors for us along the way, because we were rather laden from shopping, and then she waited until the correct bus came and made sure we got on. Above and beyond the call of duty.

Random extremely helpful lady at the tourist info desk who didn't speak English and helped us crazy gaijin anyway, we salute you!

Oh, but it doesn't stop there. Because the bus driver was crazy nice awesome, too. It turns out that Asama onsen has approximately seven stops, all a variation of Asama Onsen. We were uncertain if a particular stop was ours, so I asked the bus driver in my broken Japanese.
He instead asked me where we were going. I supplied the name of the ryokan, and he said this was not the correct stop. Instead, the correct stop turned out to be directly in front of our ryokan, where he let us off. We did not learn of his kindness until the following day, however, when we had to go to the actual bus stop to head into town, and it certainly wasn't where we'd left it.