The difference between 初めて, 最初に and 最初


> 初めて日本に行った時、友達のお母さんが伝統的な和式朝食を作ってくれました。
>
> The first time I went to Japan, my friend's mother made me a traditional
> Japanese breakfast.

If I wrote the opening of the sentence in the following manner, how would the
meaning change?

> 最初に日本に行った時、

or

> 最初日本に行った時、

In this context, what is the difference between 初めて, 最初に and 最初?




Here is my reasoning.

最初 refers to the beginning of a time period or to the beginning of a series of
events. (Cf. 日本に来たばかりのとき...)

As istrasci pointed out in his answer, the additional に strengthens the time
reference. (Cf. 日曜日街に行く vs. 日曜日に街に行く.)

初めて is used, as far as I can tell exclusively, for things you do for the first
time. (Cf. 初めて見た.)

The difference between

[code]

    初めて日本に行ったとき、
    最初日本に行ったとき、
    
[/code]

is maybe best reflected in English as

[code]

    When I went to Japan for the first time, [the first thing I did was to find a convenience store and eat natto and I loved it.]
    When I first went to Japan, [I could hardly understand a word of what people said.]
    
[/code]

In the first sentence, you talk about what Japan was like for you, as a first
impression. In the second sentence, you simply talk about the time period,
which coincides with your arrival in Japan.

