I think it's more or less the same.
I had forgotten about the "do you teach Engwish?" or "can I practice my Engwish wif you" approach of some women. Sometimes this is used as a way for girls to approach you and is a great way to trade phone numbers or emails or whatever and you take it from there.
I also agree with the poster who said clubs and bars are a waste of time. I found the best place to meet girls were trains, train stations, parks, along the street, etc.
The Japanese are an absolute trip when you stay there a while and get to know them. And without catering to sterotypes, they really can be somewhat inscrutable at times. Life is kind of hard there (incredibly work oriented), particularly for women, and a lot of Japanese women like western men because we are more open and liberal towards women (I am speaking of how things were 20 years ago, maybe things have changed) and are a breath of fresh air for them and they see gaijins as exotic.
The second true love of my life was a Japanese girl I met there, named Mariko - this was in the late 1980s. She was absolutely beautiful (way out of my league), doted on me, took care of me in ways no other women has (things like would panic at the thought that I didn't have dinner and would rush over with a full meal cooked and would hand feed me with chop sticks), balance my checkbook for me, clean my apartment, wash my clothes, get my suits dry cleaned without asking, make me things, meticulously pack my luggage for trips, taught me her langauge and about her country, etc. In bed she was fantastic, gave some of the BJs I have ever had - I was in love. Unfortunately, I wasn't ready to get married (she was desperate for me to ask her), couldn't keep my dick in my pants (which by the way, she tolerated to a certain degree so long as I was discreet about it) but it blew up for other reasons, she was terribly hurt by it and we lost touch. I have always regretted how it ended but one thing I have learned, you can't "just be friends" with a woman after an intense long term relationship, it doesn't work.
She was the "road not taken" for me in life and sometimes I wonder how things would have turned out if I would have settled down with her. But then again, knowing me, it wouldn't have worked.
The moral of this sob story is, if you are out there looking for a wife (I'm not), take it from someone who has been lucky enough to see much of the world and their women - in general, Japanese women make outstanding companions.