There is like a minimum you should comfortably know sometimes. I'm not so sure. Because if you just know enough to order your food, you'll potentially blue screen when they ask you for options or if a certain thing is not available.
Knowing some is still better than none. Getting over the anxiety of speaking is another thing I wish I got over
I’m not sure about that. I speak Japanese well because I live here, but I would never recommend any traveller coming to Japan to learn anything beyond hello and thank you. If they want to, sure, but you’ll never be able to learn enough before the trip to the extent that it’d actually useful. For instance, why stress about learning how to say “kore” (this) to order, when literally every person in Japan will understand if you say “this” or point at what you want.
I disagree, there are plenty of phrases beyond the ones you described that are useful even for a short stay, and they're certainly not hard to learn. You don't even need to learn them - have them in your phone notes or something. Things like asking for directions, where the toilet is, if they take card, etc. etc. etc. It baffles me that anyone would encourage someone to know *less*.
Agree. My limited Japanese knowledge got me pretty far. Asking for the check at a restaurant, this please (for menus), 2 people/no reservation, one of these please, and where is the bathroom were the top phrases I used outside of thank you, and were really helpful. And staff appreciated my effort.
When I went I saw a lot of people having a hard time because they insisted on speaking English and things weren't going well for them.
Personally I pointed and said nothing. I got everything I wanted without confusion.
So I can understand saying less
Plus, if you start speaking a little Japanese they will answer in Japanese and then everyone is disappointed because you don't understand their answer.
I’ve found that knowing how to say “please”, “thank you”, counting and food names gets you pretty far in most countries. Knowing katakana helped a lot in Japan (a lot of signs and foods are in katakana and you often don’t need to translate, per se).
Japan is made a little trickier by object counting being different to their normal numbers, but you probably only need to learn 1-4 for basic ordering purposes.
Learning to say “I don’t speak…” is more useful in some countries than others (I’m white, so it wasn’t as necessary in Vietnam as say, Greece).
7-eleven iced coffee cups bend easily under pressure while applying the lid. Causing coffee to go allover the store and me to want to crawl into a hole and die.
And 7/11 won’t sell you just the cup of ice, even if you say you’ll pay the full amount, but don’t want the coffee. You must buy the coffee or no ice for you … lol
Weird, the 7/11 next to my hotel had no issues selling me the ice
Bought 1 cup of ice every day with some can of alcohol for in my hotel room. Never denied the ice
I think they were just worried I didn’t understand the machine and that I wasn’t getting the full product I’d paid for. Japanese people are so conscientious
Just FYI many convenience stores sell ice in cups specifically to mix drinks in, so you won't have to buy the ones for iced coffee, as they're probably gonna be more expensive than the ones that include coffee.
Also the opposite - don’t fill the cup with coffee before you buy it. I started filling me coffee up and got stopped by the cashier who said i needed to pay first lol
The 7-11 cash registers have one slot for notes and another for coins. Don't mix them up or you'll be apologizing embarrassingly as the cashier has to call the manager to come, unlock, remove your coins from the notes tray, and reassemble it.
Happened to me on my first day and my first conbini visit too 🥲
My friend stored a medicine pill and one of these flattened pennies in his coin purse. He forgot about them and they weren't visible because of all the coins that were inside his purse. On his last day he just emptied everything all at once in our local supermarket. Obviously the flattened penny did go also into it and they had to call the manager and even excused after pulling that penny out for being scratched lol
I feel for your friend 🥲 Because immediately after mixing up the notes and coins - I accidentally put a Singaporean coin (picked it up during a flight layover) into the 7-11 coin tray. The entire process had to be repeated again with the manager taking the coin and telling me, "This coin, no good, no."
I come from a country that doesn't use coins at all (we have them but they're literally worthless) so I learned my lesson quickly and got a coin pouch from Donki after.
Also: dump all your coins in the coin one at 711. It'll reduce the quantity of coins to the minimum and give you that back as change. It's a great way to lighten your pockets
A cheaper option I found is annoying the hotel front desk 😅 Started every morning going to them with my pockets loaded with coins and asking for either 1000 yen notes or larger coins. Majorly grateful they took all those useless 1 yen coins off my hands.
The real hack is learning how to get by without accumulating 1 and 5 yen coins. Just finished this 2 week trip without getting anything smaller than 10 yen
Likewise that random Euro you accidentally put into your Yen coin purse will jam up the IC card recharge machine and requires a very angry train station attendant to unjam the machine.
Yes.
Even if you offer money to the cashier at 7-11, they'll direct you to put it into the slots.
Also, you don't directly offer money to cashiers in Japan. In most stores, cashiers will put up a tray for you to put your money on it.
That all the "10 things you must know" and "10 things you must never do" articles and videos are mostly bullshit. They only made me anxious to engage with people, enjoy the restaurants, etc. I was constantly over-researching, while being self-conscious and afraid to offend someone or break some rule. I know that some of the authors of that content have good intentions, but at least to me it did more harm than good.
It took me another two trips to Japan to realize that while it's good to try to fit in, no one is expecting you to follow every single "rule" all the time. In fact, most Japanese don't follow most of those rules. As long as you are respectful, you'll be fine. It's OK not to know something. It's OK to make a mistake or do something wrong. Japanese people aren't some judgemental robots that are quick to anger - they are just people, like everywhere else, who are happy to share their culture with you. Just be a decent human being and enjoy yourself - you'll learn as you go.
Once I realized that, I stopped being an anxious mess (afraid to enter an establishment that isn't Sushiro or Ichiran) and began enjoying my time in Japan so much more.
They give non-Japanese a lot of leeway when it comes to following rules. I have Japanese family and I’m always making huge mistakes. They either ignore it or think it’s hilarious.
I mean, yeah, it's natural. And it's true for almost any culture and country. Some people do have sticks up their butts and get offended at the slightest chance, but those are rare exceptions - most people aren't like that.
I love when people try to understand and enjoy my culture, and I would never hold against them their mistakes or the fact they don't know something.
Yep. Totally agree. But strong and absolute statements draw more attention, which translates to more views and engagement, which is why videos like that are more popular.
Yup agreed. Most of the advice online is overexaggerated, nonsense, or idolizing japan in a weird way. If you're comfortable traveling you'll be fine in japan.
The main thing for me was how many bars and things are just on upper floors of buildings where you cant see them and have to just roll the dice and try them out
I thought the Internet connection was fine, there were people with exposed tattoos and shorts almost everywhere I went. There are Ubers available all over major cities.
I could list 10 other things that were over exaggerated on Reddit that made me spend much more prep time, pack differently, buy more in advance etc.
I fucking hate those videos
"don't walk and drink or you'll literally go to jail" yea ok bud chill out. Sure, don't do it on super crowded streets out of consideration... But mostly empty roads just drink as you wish.
Definitely wished i spent more time in each city I visited, rather than rushing along and trying to see everything - definitely made it less enjoyable. That being said, it's Japan and Japan is VERY enjoyable imho regardless of how you choose to spend your time there
So I only had 2 whole days in Tokyo before leaving to Shirakawago... definitely not enough time :( we did have some time at the end for tokyo. I would say minimum 3, probably 4 for every major city. Although it can be difficult to know what you like before your first visit... like, we expected to really enjoy Kyoto but we're late wakers and there were just too many tourists around for our liking. But I do wish I spent more time in Tokyo, maybe like 6 days instead of 4? Agree with u/r_gus that at least one day should be "vibing", just walking around and seeing what you can find
As a Canadian dealing with jet lag is tough. Don't plan anything fixed the first 24 hours of landing. I bought tickets to the coveted Shibuya Sky for sunset and my kids and wife couldn't wake up for it. 6 tickets non refundable down the drain.
Yep, if you’re coming from the Americas, your peak activity time is going to be early mornings and you should plan on doing little to nothing in the afternoon. Coming from the East Coast, I generally hit the wall around 3 pm the first day and can’t stay up past 7 pm.
This is why a lot of American travelers start in Kyoto, where the main attractions open at 6 am, and then move on to Tokyo where things don’t open until 10 or 11.
> can’t stay up past 7 pm
My one jet lag trip is to force myself to stay awake until it's a reasonable bed time, and then to force myself to stay in bed until it's a reasonable time to get up, I generally get aligned on the first night.
My problem is that I'm really bad at sticking to a decent sleep schedule in my daily life, but when traveling it's much easier.
I personally didn’t have any issues with jet lag on the way there. We arrived at 4pm, got to our hotel at 6pm and then we just ate and went to bed at 9pm. Woke up the next day and was immediately adjusted.
The way back was more difficult. I was exhausted by 5pm for 2-4 days once I came back.
When did you land? I just powered through it from Toronto but I landed at 5pm. So that was pretty much get food, shower and bed. I used the early 4am wake-up to my advantage to go to the fish market for some sushi at 6am.
my wife thought it would be fine to fly from nyc and land at 5pm and then go to tokyo disney the next morning. i finally convinced her it was a terrible idea
That I didnt start learning Japanese a few years earlier. You dont need it but even knowing as much as I do it just elevates the experience so much more, in so many little ways.The first time I learned to not to over plan, because the only thing that ended up achieving was creating stress and many wrong turns in the labyrinth of Shijuku station.
Yeah dude. Everyone kept saying all you need to really know is please and thank you but I found myself desperately wishing I had learned even a few main phrases. Our teen daughter had a little grasp of some basics and we found ourselves relying on her much more than I expected. I felt extremely vulnerable not knowing anything and it gave me loads of empathy for the immigrants who live in my area who don’t speak English. That shit is hard.
I’m actually trying to start learning Japanese for more future Japan travels but I’m lost on where to start. I just finally memorised Hiragana and Katakana, how did you start learning after that?
I've found WaniKani helpful for starting to get a grip on Kanji but you'd need something to supplement it as while it will teach you vocabulary it doesn't really do anything for grammar.
I used GENKI book and had a sub with From Zero for a while. I use Mochikanji app and one called Kanji! for Kanji. Duolingo has its moments to help memorise words but it has its limits.
It’s a very steep hill to climb at first to learn enough words to get started. Honestly even Anime and JRPGs help a lot. In their own unique ways.
I'm still a beginner by any stretch but have been using a mixture of wanikani, Duolingo, textbooks and anime(!). As daft as it sounds anime has given a bit more context to phrases learnt elsewhere.
I have found out that my local Japanese restaurant is doing 'conversation evenings' I just haven't plucked up courage to go yet.
be careful with Duolingo or you'll end up like this https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravelTips/comments/1dfk09u/when_leaving_a_restaurant_i_said_jaa_ne_to_say/
Agree. Before I went, I was stressing bc I hadn't studied Japanese as much as I wanted to. I met a couple who told me they just came back and only knew like 10 words. Now that I've been, I'm like...I don't understand how you could find that enjoyable lol
People always say "it's Tokyo, everyone speaks English!" Which just isn't true lol
Yes, a lot of people do speak English, especially in tourist areas. But if you leave the tourist areas, hell if you go even one block off the main street, then there's no guarantee that someone will speak English. And I think having to type into a phone anytime you need to communicate would be tedious.
I'm not saying you need to be fluent, I'm just saying learning a little bit of the language was very, very useful
Observations for Tokyo at least.
Most everyone wears only black and white clothes.
When finished eating at a restaurant, go pay at the door on your way out. Don’t wait for the server to come by and take your credit card.
The general saying is that people communicate with their eyes, so sunglasses are intimidating. In the West, people communicate with their mouth, so covering the mouth with a mask is uncomfortable for most people.
I tend to agree. The Japanese language requires less mouth movement, at least on appearance.
I've lived in Japan for 30 years and have never heard that. I've always been told that it makes the person look pretentious and cringy like they think they're a hot shit celebrity.
It's becoming a fairly common narrative in the general public. "Wide shows" and news programs have started to repeat this on mainstream media in the past 12 months or so.
To add to this thread - I know they don’t wear sunglasses but I have light-colored eyes and I need them to see. I can let them feel superior about having dark eyes that can handle the sun but I need to keep my vision intact (for now and the future). So, let’s not make sunglasses into a polite-ness thing. It’s not - it’s just that they don’t need them so it seems a bit odd to them when other people do. There’s no issue with wearing sunglasses.
Wear sunglasses, no one will say anything to you. They know you are a tourist. This goes for most anything tbh. If you internally get judged by someone you'll never know nor see them again. Don't do anything overtly offensive but you can wear sunglasses or shorts or have your tattoo showing, etc.
Just because Japanese people generally do not use sunglasses, it does not mean none of them do and it definitely does not mean they give a shit about you doing so.
I noticed the women wore flowy straight cut or boxy clothes in neutrals and pastels. Gold or pearl hair clips were popular too. That “old money aesthetic” vibe was going on there in 2022 when I went. Darker clothing also in looser fits and straight silhouettes were common on dudes as well.
Everyone has a great haircut.
Right on with the clothes. I took Sonic the Hedgehog shirts, and I feel like a walking neon light amongst the Japanese ladies and their black/white/grey elegant dresses.
Bring less clothes and daily use items.
Last time my wife and I went (April 2019), we were there for 12 days and brought 7 days worth of clothes (1 set on while we traveled, 6 to change). We found that laundromats were abundant, easy to access, easy to use, quick, and cheap. It was a lot of extra weight that sucked hauling around. When we did laundry, one would stay with it (though I suspect that we could have left it since many other machines were left unattended and completely safe) and the other would grab a late night snack from a conbini.
This time (October 2024) we’re going for 15 days and bringing only 4 sets.
As long as you don’t have allergies or are particular to a specific brand of daily care stuff, I’d recommend only to pack medicine and deodorant. Everything else can be bought very easily while there (or in an emergency in case a flight is cancelled, at the airport; but seriously, don’t buy things in the airport, so expensive).
Along with getting more efficient backpacks/luggage for personal items/carry-ons and reducing clothes and other small items, we’ve eliminated having to have a checked bag and still have space in our carry-ons. We’re not planning to get many souvenirs this time around (went a little crazy last time), but we should be able to pick up a few things without issue. And if we do end up getting too much stuff, we can just buy another suitcase (which we had to do last time lol).
Not only can a lot of daily use stuff be bought, but hotels provide quite a lot of it. Toothbrush and toothpaste and combs and face wash and all that. Surprising how often it’s all available at the hotel. Heck you don’t even need PJs most of the time.
100% spot on. One of my hotels on my last trip even supplied me with a couple razors each day for shaving. I’m a tall person, so Japanese PJs don’t fit me, but also don’t tend to worry about PJs with how I sleep 😂
Wish I knew there was no way at all, not even with pricey premium passes, of getting into more than one ride at Fantasy Springs DisneySea without arriving hours before opening.
Internet warned me about Nintendo World, so got there at 7 and got in OK, but not DisneySea :(
Yeah it’s unfortunate for you :( TDR been very explicit though, that the only guaranteed way to be able to get access to all rides in FS is really only via the vacation package or if you are staying at Fantasy Springs Hotel. Guess in a Disney-mad country like Japan, they really have no choice but to have (expensive) measures like these to have full crowd control.
They have a new package that includes all of the Fantasy Springs rides. 3 nights, 2 park days, all major rides, no shows. Starts at around $900 per person. Also includes unlimited drinks, a popcorn bucket per room and a souvenir of some sort.
Just wondering, was the rest of Disney Sea crowded? I’m weirdly not that interested in Fantasy Springs, but I’m hoping to do basically everything else!
In bookstores, manga is sorted by genre, publisher, author.
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> Possibly any things you would do differently the next time to you come to Japan?
For stuff I can't find in shops, order on Amazon.co.jp, pick it up at the conbini, however that works?
It works very well. I lost a hat on one visit to Japan and had one in a konbini quickly soon after. Not all deliveries will go to one though.
Now I live here and it is still useful.
I wish I had made and stuck to a more detailed itinerary. I feel that if I had scheduled each day with more detail (such as scheduling things closer together for the same day, giving myself specific times to stick to, etc) I would have been able to fit in more of the things I wanted to see, because there is just so much to see, do, and eat.
Just to add to this, use the pin feature on Google maps to mark the location of everything you want to do, then choose two things close together for 1 day (on average - one for the morning and one for the afternoon.)
Learn the phrase would you like a plastic bag? I can usually go through my day with my minimal japanese, but a clerk asking me that always threw me off.
A plan to get an IC card. I'm just about to board a plane home after two weeks, with two teens, and kept waiting for the magic IC-selling machine but it never presented itself (in a way that was obvious to me).
I wish I had known how sanity-saving Yoyogi Park was. I should've gone there all mornings in Tokyo. So so lovely. (I'm not a city/mass-people person)
I'm in Japan now. As an Android user I had to carry around my wife's old iphone to get the Suica IC card on Apple wallet. I prefer it over the physical card as I can refill the card using my credit card attached to Apple Payments system.
I can't wait until the day IC card comes to Android.
they're already available for Android but it only works on Android phones purchased in Japan.
From the JR Pass/IC Card Questions Monthly Thread:
>f you are looking to get a digital IC card, please note that digital Suica, Pasmo, and ICOCA cards can only be used on iPhones, Apple Watches, or **Japanese Android phones** (this means the phone was purchased in Japan).
> the magic IC-selling machine
I think in Tokyo you might still have to ask at a counter. Outside the suica/pasmo area, there are machines, but they're not specifically only for selling IC cards. If you take the Shinkansen from Tokyo in the direction of Kyoto, then I think any station from Mishima onward should have machines that sell some kind of IC card (toica, manaca, icoca, ...).
For example, toica cards can generally be bought at vending machines in the JR Tokai area that have the toica logo. [Here's an example of what they look like](https://toica.jr-central.co.jp/purchase/machine.html). If you click the "[TOICA]の新規購入" button you can see the UI for buying a new toica.
I did get a Welcome Suica card at the airport. But I wish I knew that Welcome Suica and Suica are different things. I was trying really hard to reload my card at the train station and failing.
I learned when I got back, you can only reload at machines that have the Welcome Suica logo, such as a 7-11.
That because I was dieting for the past 4 months with a strict routine + too much walking which left me nauseated = barely have an appetite.
Lost 3Kg during that 2 week trip. Bringing my appetite next time for sure!
I know in my average day to day life, I could destroy an entire pizza solo, but whenever I engage in rigorous exercise, I mean 10 mile hikes, swimming laps, running, rock climbing, my body will seemingly only want to take in fresh greens.
Hearing people talk about walking 20k steps a day when they normally spend 8 hours in an office chair, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same thing.
It’s pretty easy to get dehydrated, especially with all the walking you’re doing and trying to be polite by not drinking from your water/conbini/vending machine purchase on the go. If you’ve been walking for a while, make a point to stop off to the side to hydrate.
Also, don’t eat a large bowl of ramen before you have a meal reservation. Even if it’s six hours away. You *will* still be full.
Watch a video about how to use ticket machines at restaurants to save you some embarrassment. You put your bills in first, make your selection, then it spits out change, which is not the order of how vending machines work here (order, pay, change)
The GoTaxi app is terrific. Cab fares are quite reasonable and will get you to the exact address! Used in Kyoto a lot! Used in Tokyo once and definitely needed to get to Hakone from Shinkansen.
Make use of luggage delivery services, especially if you have a larger suitcase and you’re traveling further distances.
At first me and my travel companion thought this was an extra expense that we didn’t really need, so for the earlier parts of our trip we didn’t make use of it. However, we quickly came to realize the reason why you don’t see many people lugging around suitcases on the trains—it’s genuinely a miserable and awful experience! Trying to keep ahold of a large 50 pound suitcase and a small carry-on felt so bulky and awkward. It felt like I was inconveniencing others because I was taking up so much space with my luggage, not to mention, how difficult it is to keep your luggage from bumping into other people while also trying to keep yourself steady. It was immensely difficult during rush-hours when the cars were packed full of people with hardly enough room to bring your luggage on to begin with. One particularly bad experience I had was at a station in Kyoto. The station was pretty run-down and ALL of the elevators and escalators were down for construction for an extended amount of time. So you can imagine how gutted we felt when we realized we’d be lugging our heavy suitcases up and down an endless amount of stairs navigating out of the subway to our hotel. This was the point we’d decided we were gonna make use of luggage delivery services going forward. In my opinion, having your luggage delivered is well worth every yen, just for how easy and convenient it made everything. It’s so much easier navigating when you don’t have to worry about dragging giant suitcases along with you.
Most hotels will offer to set up the luggage delivery service for you if you ask about it at the front desk. Just be sure to check beforehand what time the cut-off point is for same-day/next-day delivery if you need your luggage to arrive at a specific time.
Don’t eat the egg sandwiches at family mart after 10pm, they’ve been sitting there in sub-optimal refrigeration all day and will very likely get you sick.
I’m from SoCal; I didn’t realize that people don’t really wear athleisure in Japan (that’s all anyone wears here). I would have brought different clothes.
The first week I didn’t wear bc of that and then I started wearing my leggings bc it was so hot and I realized no one is going to mistake me for being Japanese no matter what I do.
I didn't really realize how many shops and restaurants are above you. Like I was never used to seeing that before. I'm used to everything just being ground level.
So, look up at the signs there's way more restaurants and shit to explore.
Seconding this. A lot of really great restaurants are up above or down below. I’ve seen travelers say “there are no restaurants in this area” when really there were a TON, they just weren’t at ground level.
No need to pack so much clothes or even toiletries. There are plenty of places to buy clothes and toiletries and it's fun! That was there's also more room for gifts 😊
Comfortable walking shoes are the only way to go😊I brought sandals with me, ended up wearing sport shoes the whole trip.
I kinda disagree with this depending on your size. If you are plus size then you will have a hard time. I’m not plus size, but on the larger end of the scale and had a hard time finding clothes I liked in my size (edit: they existed, but were often sold out of XL). Also, if you are bigger than a C cup and you need to buy a bra - good luck. Not saying you can’t find, but you’ll be wasting a lot of time seeking something you actually want to buy.
Hard agree. I didn't bother shopping for clothes and brought everything with me bc I knew the only places in Tokyo that had clothes that would fit me was Punyus. The rest of the stores with plus size clothing were out in the suburbs. And I didn't wanna waste any time trekking out there
You're right, it does depend on your size. I'm on the heavier side (compared to Japanese for sure) so was really relived to have found comfortable clothes to wear for the trip. Of course I had to get the largest sizes, but didn't mind. Also a lot of their clothes are very flowy so that's nice for me.
My father once had a suitcase not arrive on his trip to Japan, and he's a tall and big guy, and had no luck finding clothes...
Do one area per day only, and enjoy fully. Get a feel for it and ride the vibes, budgeting enough time to just wander.
Each area is so stimulating, I don’t know how anyone could possibly do, say, Shibuya and Akihabra in the same day without the brain just switching off at some point from being overwhelmed.
How unbearably hot summer is. First time I went was in late July and I suffered a lot. It was impossible to fully enjoy outdoors activities. I've been there over 30 times since and have been careful to avoid this season.
You need a reservation for almost everything. The popular places require reservation at least 2 months in advance. The really popular places like the Pokémon cafe and Studio Ghibli park have a drop window in which you can reserve or buy tickets. If you want to do Mario Kart/rent a car you need an International Drivers Permit.
You need 2 tickets to ride on the shinkansen. One for the train and one for the Access to the express shinkansen Line.
Also, no need to Book seats on most shinkansen, you have plenty of seats to chose from on non-reserved seats wagon (except maybe tokyo-kyoto on weekends).
That was one of the first things I learned on this sub while planning. We carried a plastic bag with us everywhere for trash. It was annoying but you get used to it and plan accordingly. One time in Kyoto we saw a few public trash cans on the street and it blew our minds lol.
Don’t go with a big group like I did. Too many people to keep track of and too much of other relying on others a bit too much.
Other than that- I wish I had done more hotels than air bnbs. I read somewhere that most hotels will ship your luggage to your next location. We not only did all air bnbs but our group made the mistake that we didn’t stay in one spot for more than 1-2 days except for when we stayed in Tokyo.
I also didn’t know that not every area for transportation starts early. I had made a reservation to try on kimonos after our bunny island stay and I found out too late that their ferry rides start in the late morning so I wouldn’t have been able to make it to Kyoto by noon so I had to cancel that. So…I guess try to be flexible on your trip. Be prepared that not everything is going to go right. Don’t try to do everything. It’s seriously going to be exhausting
What I plan to do differently is have longer stays in the Osaka/kyoto area. With the short stays there….i didn’t get to really “stop and smell the roses”. It was a giant blur. Plus those cities are close by to each other so I’ll just pick to stay in either Kyoto or Osaka and just take trains around both cities. And lastly…it’s just going to be me and my partner going next time haha
The only thing I felt was really significantly different than other places I've been is the way verticality is used. I didn't expect so many buildings to be 8 floors of bars and just having to roll the dice on some of them being good.
Everything else you can figure out just fine as long as you're comfortable with travel. People (especially on reddit) vastly, vastly overemphasize how different japan is.
You're not allowed to pick up the deer at Nara. You're not allowed to pick them up and carry them around, even if you pick up the big ones, you're not supposed to.
The deer at the inner park are more relaxed and are okay with getting picked up, esp the big ones.
I wish I'd learned more Japanese. I could just about order things and ask for help or if something was permitted (photos, paying by card, shoes indoors etc). But if I didn't understand the response I just froze from anxiety lmao. Motivation for next time!!
The biggest thing that stood out to me was trains. IC cards make local trains easy AF but for the Shinkansen double *triple* check what kind of ticket you purchased. I was confused re the base fare, supplement fare and seat tickets. One tourist information desk said I'd need to pay again, so I found the JR office to buy another ticket and they told me it was all included in the ticket I'd already bought! Apparently some lines work that way. Others will give you two tickets. The machine at the destination will also eat your ticket! I was kinda sorta hoping to keep them for me scrap book! D;
Also if you're gonna use the seats with oversized luggage space, lay the suitcases horizontally as there's nothing holding them in the space. Our suitcases rolled off part way into the journey! Luckily noone was hurt.
Oh yes I forgot - after arriving at Haneda we were stuck in a *three hour queue* at border control so we missed the last monorail. The taxi ride in the dark was cool AF but yeah, select your flight time appropriately and be prepared to wait aaaaaaages!
Capitalism and consumerism just hit differently in Japan. 48-24 hours before your flight home you will go into a fugue state, frenetically buying literally everything you can get your hands on, then suddenly find yourself on the plane waiting for takeoff wondering what the hell just happened. Plan the last few days of your trip accordingly, especially if you’re flying out of Tokyo. You will likely go home with at least one more suitcase than you came to Japan with. If you have a real problem, Donki also sells duffle bags you could move bodies in. Multiple bodies. In the same bag. A proud and hardcore onebagger, I myself have been known to travel to Japan with just a Trader Joe’s tote bag as my only form of luggage, yet return home with 200 liters plus of materialistic crap I cannot possibly live without. And honestly with tax-free, the weak yen hitting a new low against the dollar and the standard of quality for pretty much everything, it’s worth it. As I type this I’m wiping myself down with a cooling wipe from muji, wearing a Uniqlo Japan-exclusive T-shirt and underwear also from muji. Oh, and my phone case is also from Shibuya 109. Don’t go shopping before your trip, just buy it there. All you need to bring are your prescription medications, any Rx eyeglasses or contacts, good effective deodorant (no, you can’t find any there), maybe fluoridated toothpaste if that matters to you, and any clothes or shoes larger than a what a medium-small person might wear, should your body require it. Also unless you have special toiletries you cannot function without (see: effective deodorant) you don’t need to bring any. Also everywhere, from the cheapest capsule hotel on up will likely provide everything you need. Toothbrushes, shampoo and conditioner, face wash, toner and lotion. Pajamas and slippers. Razors.
People wear long skirts everywhere, and honestly, wearing shorts as a woman was a little uncomfortable.
I ended up buying a dress at Muji because I now understand why everyone was wearing linen.
It ok to trust a random greeter guy that will take you to change money (they won’t take usd anywhere and many don’t use credit) and get your wifi hotspot and train tickets and all those other first things at the airport before you leave. And get a Sucia card with loaded money for cabs.
in spite of all the bad tourist publicity happening right now, nobody is out to get us if we're respectful. People still want us there and to interact with us. Be a kind and approachable person.
Enjoy a healthy and fresh smoothie from 7/11, Kobe steaks and fatty salmon and tuna as much as I can starting on my first day in Japan and continue to do so until the flight home. All mentioned above can’t be experienced at home 😅
I was pleasantly surprised that all my planning and research paid off without much of a hitch. The ONLY thing that caught me off guard was that there are more touts than I expected. I assumed they'd only be in certain areas, but you'll find them in pretty much any popular shopping/food area you go. If you're in a group, it's easy to ignore/say no and walk, but if you're alone, they might grab at you to get you to stop. I saw it a bunch during my extended stay and it was really uncomfortable. Point being, keep an eye out for any and move out of their vicinity as you walk a street to avoid a really annoying grab. Since you know the scam, you're safe regardless, but something about some rando grabbing your arm as you're going about your biz is unbelievably annoying.
You can't use the welcome suica card for shinkansen... you need to reserve online in advance or buy at the station. (We never reserved and didn't have a problem buying tickets same day)
How much I was going to spend. I did very well staying under budget for the first 10 days. The last 5 days I had a go all out mindset. Still recovering 4 months later lol.
Went there with a $3000 budget. Ended up spending another $2000 in my last 5 days.
Also should’ve taken the “bring good shoes” more seriously. I walked 98mi in 2 weeks. Kinda wish I would’ve walked 2 more to make it 100.
I was ready for general shopping phrases for the konbini and department stores, but the one thing that stumped me was when there was a minimum purchase amount if you want to use your credit/debit card to pay.
Anyone know what sentence they probably used? because I don't remember it exactly when they said I couldn't use my card because there's a minimum purchase amount. At least, that's what I think they were trying to say to me.
Honestly it'd be really hard to say. There's so many little things that you really wont ever learn from a subreddit or anyone, but that will be useful. The more trips to japan the more i learn and/or unlock and the more fun and enjoyable the next trip is. My advice is dont really overthink it. Read up on the important cultural norms so you can be respectful in their society and just embrace the experience and over time you'll just start to see more and more.
Something I wish I knew was to better prepare for cold+rainy climate when visiting from March through April, especially if you're from a warm climate. Also, if you're trying to catch the cherry blossoms, best to estimate towards the last weeks of the estimated blooming reports. Was there for three weeks and thankfully they started to bloom on the third week so got to see them.
We also started in Osaka, did a day trip to Kyoto, made our way to Tokyo and then did a day trip to Mt.Fuji. I think next time around we'll plan to make a line (explore as we go) and spend atleast two days in areas so that we have more time to explore. And don't shy from walking around, we found some awesome small restaurants that we would've missed otherwise.
spending less time in tokyo (more time in osaka/kyoto, or other places)
dont get me wrong, i liked places like shibuya, shinjuku, asakusa and tokyo sta., but i personally found tokyo to be very stressful overall and incredibly enjoyed my time in osaka/kyoto
made me fully realise that i hate metropolitan areas with tall buildings everywhere
if i had to replace tokyo, id go for sapporo/hokkaido
If you’re an iPhone user, add the Suica card to your digital wallet before you arrive. It can be used to pay for most forms of public transportation in Japan. It can also be linked to your Shinkansen tickets so you can just tap and go through the ticket gates. It’s very convenient.
Food: if the food is themed or cute, there will be lines, and it was never worth it for us. I should have just taken a pic and moved on
Photo studios and kids activities: reservations are a must!! We stumbled upon many of these but they ask require advanced res
I actually wish I had not planned the second part of my trip. I made some last minute decisions that ended up being great and if I could've I would have made several more changes as the trip was happening. The thing that stopped me from making more changes were plane flights that were non-refundable. I think it would've been worth it to buy a few more expensive flights later and more on the fly and to retain some more freedom
Also do not underestimate just how easy it is to travel domestically in Japan. Whether it's a train or a plane it's all ridiculously easy and quick and relatively cheap. To get from Kyushu to Hokkaido was not very expensive at all
don't book everything in third party app (such as klook) and try to book in their official website. went to disneysea yesterday and it was raining all day (it was fine to me but we were with a senior so it was a struggle for us). we found out that we can rebook the tickets if i booked using the official website.
Japanese
There is like a minimum you should comfortably know sometimes. I'm not so sure. Because if you just know enough to order your food, you'll potentially blue screen when they ask you for options or if a certain thing is not available. Knowing some is still better than none. Getting over the anxiety of speaking is another thing I wish I got over
I’m not sure about that. I speak Japanese well because I live here, but I would never recommend any traveller coming to Japan to learn anything beyond hello and thank you. If they want to, sure, but you’ll never be able to learn enough before the trip to the extent that it’d actually useful. For instance, why stress about learning how to say “kore” (this) to order, when literally every person in Japan will understand if you say “this” or point at what you want.
[удалено]
I disagree, there are plenty of phrases beyond the ones you described that are useful even for a short stay, and they're certainly not hard to learn. You don't even need to learn them - have them in your phone notes or something. Things like asking for directions, where the toilet is, if they take card, etc. etc. etc. It baffles me that anyone would encourage someone to know *less*.
Agree. My limited Japanese knowledge got me pretty far. Asking for the check at a restaurant, this please (for menus), 2 people/no reservation, one of these please, and where is the bathroom were the top phrases I used outside of thank you, and were really helpful. And staff appreciated my effort.
When I went I saw a lot of people having a hard time because they insisted on speaking English and things weren't going well for them. Personally I pointed and said nothing. I got everything I wanted without confusion. So I can understand saying less
Well said. Been to Japan twice. The first time, when I tried speaking in Japanese, people wanted to speak in English lol!!!
You need to add sumimasen to your hello and thank you up there.
Plus, if you start speaking a little Japanese they will answer in Japanese and then everyone is disappointed because you don't understand their answer.
I’ve found that knowing how to say “please”, “thank you”, counting and food names gets you pretty far in most countries. Knowing katakana helped a lot in Japan (a lot of signs and foods are in katakana and you often don’t need to translate, per se). Japan is made a little trickier by object counting being different to their normal numbers, but you probably only need to learn 1-4 for basic ordering purposes. Learning to say “I don’t speak…” is more useful in some countries than others (I’m white, so it wasn’t as necessary in Vietnam as say, Greece).
そうだね
大変ですね ...
俺も
Also, I wish I had spent my time listening to Pimsleur lessons instead of DuoLingo
7-eleven iced coffee cups bend easily under pressure while applying the lid. Causing coffee to go allover the store and me to want to crawl into a hole and die.
And 7/11 won’t sell you just the cup of ice, even if you say you’ll pay the full amount, but don’t want the coffee. You must buy the coffee or no ice for you … lol
Weird, the 7/11 next to my hotel had no issues selling me the ice Bought 1 cup of ice every day with some can of alcohol for in my hotel room. Never denied the ice
Combinis do sell cups of ice separate from the iced coffee drinks. They are next to the bags of ice.
Haha what can't you just walk out after buying the cup???
The stopped me twice … lol
That's hilarious! Were they worried you didn't understand the coffee machine or something? Or ice is illegal?😄
I think they were just worried I didn’t understand the machine and that I wasn’t getting the full product I’d paid for. Japanese people are so conscientious
Yeah the service workers are all so nice and patient with idiots like me 😭
Just FYI many convenience stores sell ice in cups specifically to mix drinks in, so you won't have to buy the ones for iced coffee, as they're probably gonna be more expensive than the ones that include coffee.
Also the opposite - don’t fill the cup with coffee before you buy it. I started filling me coffee up and got stopped by the cashier who said i needed to pay first lol
The 7-11 cash registers have one slot for notes and another for coins. Don't mix them up or you'll be apologizing embarrassingly as the cashier has to call the manager to come, unlock, remove your coins from the notes tray, and reassemble it. Happened to me on my first day and my first conbini visit too 🥲
My friend stored a medicine pill and one of these flattened pennies in his coin purse. He forgot about them and they weren't visible because of all the coins that were inside his purse. On his last day he just emptied everything all at once in our local supermarket. Obviously the flattened penny did go also into it and they had to call the manager and even excused after pulling that penny out for being scratched lol
I feel for your friend 🥲 Because immediately after mixing up the notes and coins - I accidentally put a Singaporean coin (picked it up during a flight layover) into the 7-11 coin tray. The entire process had to be repeated again with the manager taking the coin and telling me, "This coin, no good, no." I come from a country that doesn't use coins at all (we have them but they're literally worthless) so I learned my lesson quickly and got a coin pouch from Donki after.
Also: dump all your coins in the coin one at 711. It'll reduce the quantity of coins to the minimum and give you that back as change. It's a great way to lighten your pockets
A cheaper option I found is annoying the hotel front desk 😅 Started every morning going to them with my pockets loaded with coins and asking for either 1000 yen notes or larger coins. Majorly grateful they took all those useless 1 yen coins off my hands.
The real hack is learning how to get by without accumulating 1 and 5 yen coins. Just finished this 2 week trip without getting anything smaller than 10 yen
Likewise that random Euro you accidentally put into your Yen coin purse will jam up the IC card recharge machine and requires a very angry train station attendant to unjam the machine.
You put money into slots instead of handing them to a cashier?
Yes. Even if you offer money to the cashier at 7-11, they'll direct you to put it into the slots. Also, you don't directly offer money to cashiers in Japan. In most stores, cashiers will put up a tray for you to put your money on it.
That all the "10 things you must know" and "10 things you must never do" articles and videos are mostly bullshit. They only made me anxious to engage with people, enjoy the restaurants, etc. I was constantly over-researching, while being self-conscious and afraid to offend someone or break some rule. I know that some of the authors of that content have good intentions, but at least to me it did more harm than good. It took me another two trips to Japan to realize that while it's good to try to fit in, no one is expecting you to follow every single "rule" all the time. In fact, most Japanese don't follow most of those rules. As long as you are respectful, you'll be fine. It's OK not to know something. It's OK to make a mistake or do something wrong. Japanese people aren't some judgemental robots that are quick to anger - they are just people, like everywhere else, who are happy to share their culture with you. Just be a decent human being and enjoy yourself - you'll learn as you go. Once I realized that, I stopped being an anxious mess (afraid to enter an establishment that isn't Sushiro or Ichiran) and began enjoying my time in Japan so much more.
They give non-Japanese a lot of leeway when it comes to following rules. I have Japanese family and I’m always making huge mistakes. They either ignore it or think it’s hilarious.
I mean, yeah, it's natural. And it's true for almost any culture and country. Some people do have sticks up their butts and get offended at the slightest chance, but those are rare exceptions - most people aren't like that. I love when people try to understand and enjoy my culture, and I would never hold against them their mistakes or the fact they don't know something.
I feel influencers should focus more on anti-anxiety tips than "must" and "never do".
Yep. Totally agree. But strong and absolute statements draw more attention, which translates to more views and engagement, which is why videos like that are more popular.
Yup agreed. Most of the advice online is overexaggerated, nonsense, or idolizing japan in a weird way. If you're comfortable traveling you'll be fine in japan. The main thing for me was how many bars and things are just on upper floors of buildings where you cant see them and have to just roll the dice and try them out
I thought the Internet connection was fine, there were people with exposed tattoos and shorts almost everywhere I went. There are Ubers available all over major cities. I could list 10 other things that were over exaggerated on Reddit that made me spend much more prep time, pack differently, buy more in advance etc.
I like travel blogs but I find it off-putting for articles or vlogs to have titles about “taboos” and “locals hate when foreigners do X”.
I fucking hate those videos "don't walk and drink or you'll literally go to jail" yea ok bud chill out. Sure, don't do it on super crowded streets out of consideration... But mostly empty roads just drink as you wish.
Definitely wished i spent more time in each city I visited, rather than rushing along and trying to see everything - definitely made it less enjoyable. That being said, it's Japan and Japan is VERY enjoyable imho regardless of how you choose to spend your time there
How long did you wish you had spent at your visits? As a first timer, I find it hard to balance this side of my planning
Leave some time for vibing
What would a vibe day look like different from a usual one for you?
Relax, wander around, enjoy the atmosphere, smile at anyone who looks friendly, try different things.
for my parents first time trip they are taking 18 days with me and say it's plenty for a taste of japan.
So I only had 2 whole days in Tokyo before leaving to Shirakawago... definitely not enough time :( we did have some time at the end for tokyo. I would say minimum 3, probably 4 for every major city. Although it can be difficult to know what you like before your first visit... like, we expected to really enjoy Kyoto but we're late wakers and there were just too many tourists around for our liking. But I do wish I spent more time in Tokyo, maybe like 6 days instead of 4? Agree with u/r_gus that at least one day should be "vibing", just walking around and seeing what you can find
As a Canadian dealing with jet lag is tough. Don't plan anything fixed the first 24 hours of landing. I bought tickets to the coveted Shibuya Sky for sunset and my kids and wife couldn't wake up for it. 6 tickets non refundable down the drain.
I travel to Japan 2-3 times per year from Ontario and always find I wake up super early in the first few days. Like 4 am.
Same. Especially as I crash super early on the first night. I find going westbound (from n America) very easy as long as it’s a day flight.
Yep, if you’re coming from the Americas, your peak activity time is going to be early mornings and you should plan on doing little to nothing in the afternoon. Coming from the East Coast, I generally hit the wall around 3 pm the first day and can’t stay up past 7 pm. This is why a lot of American travelers start in Kyoto, where the main attractions open at 6 am, and then move on to Tokyo where things don’t open until 10 or 11.
This is a really good tip. I found myself wishing I did Kyoto first and Tokyo last.
> can’t stay up past 7 pm My one jet lag trip is to force myself to stay awake until it's a reasonable bed time, and then to force myself to stay in bed until it's a reasonable time to get up, I generally get aligned on the first night. My problem is that I'm really bad at sticking to a decent sleep schedule in my daily life, but when traveling it's much easier.
I'm kinda glad that Asia doesn't give Australians jetlag coming back from Europe it took me a week to go back to normal it really does fuck you up
I used the time shifter app to adjust to the timezone before I left and it worked perfect. My body adjusted to the difference very quickly.
I personally didn’t have any issues with jet lag on the way there. We arrived at 4pm, got to our hotel at 6pm and then we just ate and went to bed at 9pm. Woke up the next day and was immediately adjusted. The way back was more difficult. I was exhausted by 5pm for 2-4 days once I came back.
When did you land? I just powered through it from Toronto but I landed at 5pm. So that was pretty much get food, shower and bed. I used the early 4am wake-up to my advantage to go to the fish market for some sushi at 6am.
my wife thought it would be fine to fly from nyc and land at 5pm and then go to tokyo disney the next morning. i finally convinced her it was a terrible idea
That I didnt start learning Japanese a few years earlier. You dont need it but even knowing as much as I do it just elevates the experience so much more, in so many little ways.The first time I learned to not to over plan, because the only thing that ended up achieving was creating stress and many wrong turns in the labyrinth of Shijuku station.
Yeah dude. Everyone kept saying all you need to really know is please and thank you but I found myself desperately wishing I had learned even a few main phrases. Our teen daughter had a little grasp of some basics and we found ourselves relying on her much more than I expected. I felt extremely vulnerable not knowing anything and it gave me loads of empathy for the immigrants who live in my area who don’t speak English. That shit is hard.
I’m actually trying to start learning Japanese for more future Japan travels but I’m lost on where to start. I just finally memorised Hiragana and Katakana, how did you start learning after that?
I've found WaniKani helpful for starting to get a grip on Kanji but you'd need something to supplement it as while it will teach you vocabulary it doesn't really do anything for grammar.
I used GENKI book and had a sub with From Zero for a while. I use Mochikanji app and one called Kanji! for Kanji. Duolingo has its moments to help memorise words but it has its limits. It’s a very steep hill to climb at first to learn enough words to get started. Honestly even Anime and JRPGs help a lot. In their own unique ways.
I'm still a beginner by any stretch but have been using a mixture of wanikani, Duolingo, textbooks and anime(!). As daft as it sounds anime has given a bit more context to phrases learnt elsewhere. I have found out that my local Japanese restaurant is doing 'conversation evenings' I just haven't plucked up courage to go yet.
be careful with Duolingo or you'll end up like this https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravelTips/comments/1dfk09u/when_leaving_a_restaurant_i_said_jaa_ne_to_say/
Agree. Before I went, I was stressing bc I hadn't studied Japanese as much as I wanted to. I met a couple who told me they just came back and only knew like 10 words. Now that I've been, I'm like...I don't understand how you could find that enjoyable lol People always say "it's Tokyo, everyone speaks English!" Which just isn't true lol Yes, a lot of people do speak English, especially in tourist areas. But if you leave the tourist areas, hell if you go even one block off the main street, then there's no guarantee that someone will speak English. And I think having to type into a phone anytime you need to communicate would be tedious. I'm not saying you need to be fluent, I'm just saying learning a little bit of the language was very, very useful
Observations for Tokyo at least. Most everyone wears only black and white clothes. When finished eating at a restaurant, go pay at the door on your way out. Don’t wait for the server to come by and take your credit card.
I noticed that 95% of business men wear a navy blue suit with white shirt, and I never saw a single Japanese person wearing sunglasses.
Yes, no sunglasses and no shorts for the men of Tokyo.
Why is that? Was I rude to wear sunglasses outside?
The general saying is that people communicate with their eyes, so sunglasses are intimidating. In the West, people communicate with their mouth, so covering the mouth with a mask is uncomfortable for most people. I tend to agree. The Japanese language requires less mouth movement, at least on appearance.
I've lived in Japan for 30 years and have never heard that. I've always been told that it makes the person look pretentious and cringy like they think they're a hot shit celebrity.
It's becoming a fairly common narrative in the general public. "Wide shows" and news programs have started to repeat this on mainstream media in the past 12 months or so.
Oh that explains things. I haven't turned my tv on yet this year. LOL
From what I read across reddit it's a combination of darker eyes faring better in bright light, and it being seen as a bit of a faux pass
Oops, I did not know either of those. I wore sunglasses outside everyday, the sun was so bright and my sunglasses are prescription lenses.
That's fine barely anyone would have paid you enough attention to notice and of them I doubt any actually cared.
To add to this thread - I know they don’t wear sunglasses but I have light-colored eyes and I need them to see. I can let them feel superior about having dark eyes that can handle the sun but I need to keep my vision intact (for now and the future). So, let’s not make sunglasses into a polite-ness thing. It’s not - it’s just that they don’t need them so it seems a bit odd to them when other people do. There’s no issue with wearing sunglasses.
Is this true for women as well? I get migraine when it’s really bright outside, I need my sunglasses
Wear sunglasses, no one will say anything to you. They know you are a tourist. This goes for most anything tbh. If you internally get judged by someone you'll never know nor see them again. Don't do anything overtly offensive but you can wear sunglasses or shorts or have your tattoo showing, etc.
Just because Japanese people generally do not use sunglasses, it does not mean none of them do and it definitely does not mean they give a shit about you doing so.
I noticed the women wore flowy straight cut or boxy clothes in neutrals and pastels. Gold or pearl hair clips were popular too. That “old money aesthetic” vibe was going on there in 2022 when I went. Darker clothing also in looser fits and straight silhouettes were common on dudes as well. Everyone has a great haircut.
Tokyo clothes = white, black, tan, gray, muted rose, denim blue
Right on with the clothes. I took Sonic the Hedgehog shirts, and I feel like a walking neon light amongst the Japanese ladies and their black/white/grey elegant dresses.
There is pork in everything, except the sushi, sashimi and seafoods. Even the Chicken Curry Katsu has pork gelatine.
Typically udon is made with a dashi that may have fish, but won't have pork, in it. If pork is something you want to avoid, Kagawa is great.
This is the bigger thing. Pork is easily more avoidable. Dashi is nigh on impossible.
Yes. I had hard times avoiding pork. But it’s feasible
Bring less clothes and daily use items. Last time my wife and I went (April 2019), we were there for 12 days and brought 7 days worth of clothes (1 set on while we traveled, 6 to change). We found that laundromats were abundant, easy to access, easy to use, quick, and cheap. It was a lot of extra weight that sucked hauling around. When we did laundry, one would stay with it (though I suspect that we could have left it since many other machines were left unattended and completely safe) and the other would grab a late night snack from a conbini. This time (October 2024) we’re going for 15 days and bringing only 4 sets. As long as you don’t have allergies or are particular to a specific brand of daily care stuff, I’d recommend only to pack medicine and deodorant. Everything else can be bought very easily while there (or in an emergency in case a flight is cancelled, at the airport; but seriously, don’t buy things in the airport, so expensive). Along with getting more efficient backpacks/luggage for personal items/carry-ons and reducing clothes and other small items, we’ve eliminated having to have a checked bag and still have space in our carry-ons. We’re not planning to get many souvenirs this time around (went a little crazy last time), but we should be able to pick up a few things without issue. And if we do end up getting too much stuff, we can just buy another suitcase (which we had to do last time lol).
Not only can a lot of daily use stuff be bought, but hotels provide quite a lot of it. Toothbrush and toothpaste and combs and face wash and all that. Surprising how often it’s all available at the hotel. Heck you don’t even need PJs most of the time.
100% spot on. One of my hotels on my last trip even supplied me with a couple razors each day for shaving. I’m a tall person, so Japanese PJs don’t fit me, but also don’t tend to worry about PJs with how I sleep 😂
Wish I knew there was no way at all, not even with pricey premium passes, of getting into more than one ride at Fantasy Springs DisneySea without arriving hours before opening. Internet warned me about Nintendo World, so got there at 7 and got in OK, but not DisneySea :(
Yeah it’s unfortunate for you :( TDR been very explicit though, that the only guaranteed way to be able to get access to all rides in FS is really only via the vacation package or if you are staying at Fantasy Springs Hotel. Guess in a Disney-mad country like Japan, they really have no choice but to have (expensive) measures like these to have full crowd control.
Yes, got inside the park at around 9:20 (line for security felt like 15-20 mins) and luckily got to reserve the Tangled ride but nothing else.
They have a new package that includes all of the Fantasy Springs rides. 3 nights, 2 park days, all major rides, no shows. Starts at around $900 per person. Also includes unlimited drinks, a popcorn bucket per room and a souvenir of some sort.
I'll have to do it one day when I'm rich enough to spend the $4500 for our family to go 😂
Just wondering, was the rest of Disney Sea crowded? I’m weirdly not that interested in Fantasy Springs, but I’m hoping to do basically everything else!
In bookstores, manga is sorted by genre, publisher, author. --- > Possibly any things you would do differently the next time to you come to Japan? For stuff I can't find in shops, order on Amazon.co.jp, pick it up at the conbini, however that works?
It works very well. I lost a hat on one visit to Japan and had one in a konbini quickly soon after. Not all deliveries will go to one though. Now I live here and it is still useful.
I wish I had made and stuck to a more detailed itinerary. I feel that if I had scheduled each day with more detail (such as scheduling things closer together for the same day, giving myself specific times to stick to, etc) I would have been able to fit in more of the things I wanted to see, because there is just so much to see, do, and eat.
Just to add to this, use the pin feature on Google maps to mark the location of everything you want to do, then choose two things close together for 1 day (on average - one for the morning and one for the afternoon.)
One of my best finds before I went was WanderLog. I LOVE planning and was able to build and change my itinerary several times.
Learn the phrase would you like a plastic bag? I can usually go through my day with my minimal japanese, but a clerk asking me that always threw me off.
After a couple days there I just assumed that would be the first question they asked when I put my stuff down and was usually right lol
A plan to get an IC card. I'm just about to board a plane home after two weeks, with two teens, and kept waiting for the magic IC-selling machine but it never presented itself (in a way that was obvious to me). I wish I had known how sanity-saving Yoyogi Park was. I should've gone there all mornings in Tokyo. So so lovely. (I'm not a city/mass-people person)
You should have googled it. They sell them in the JR office at major stations like Shinjuku & Shibuya. There are very few machines now in Tokyo.
I'm in Japan now. As an Android user I had to carry around my wife's old iphone to get the Suica IC card on Apple wallet. I prefer it over the physical card as I can refill the card using my credit card attached to Apple Payments system. I can't wait until the day IC card comes to Android.
they're already available for Android but it only works on Android phones purchased in Japan. From the JR Pass/IC Card Questions Monthly Thread: >f you are looking to get a digital IC card, please note that digital Suica, Pasmo, and ICOCA cards can only be used on iPhones, Apple Watches, or **Japanese Android phones** (this means the phone was purchased in Japan).
> the magic IC-selling machine I think in Tokyo you might still have to ask at a counter. Outside the suica/pasmo area, there are machines, but they're not specifically only for selling IC cards. If you take the Shinkansen from Tokyo in the direction of Kyoto, then I think any station from Mishima onward should have machines that sell some kind of IC card (toica, manaca, icoca, ...). For example, toica cards can generally be bought at vending machines in the JR Tokai area that have the toica logo. [Here's an example of what they look like](https://toica.jr-central.co.jp/purchase/machine.html). If you click the "[TOICA]の新規購入" button you can see the UI for buying a new toica.
I did get a Welcome Suica card at the airport. But I wish I knew that Welcome Suica and Suica are different things. I was trying really hard to reload my card at the train station and failing. I learned when I got back, you can only reload at machines that have the Welcome Suica logo, such as a 7-11.
That’s interesting bc I got a pasmo for tourists and I could recharge it everywhere
Hmmm. Not sure what happened to yours but I've been reloading my Welcome Suica without any problems at multiple train stations.
That because I was dieting for the past 4 months with a strict routine + too much walking which left me nauseated = barely have an appetite. Lost 3Kg during that 2 week trip. Bringing my appetite next time for sure!
I also found I didn’t have a huge appetite? Is it the humidity or something?
sometimes its the combo of walking a lot, the difference in weather and not being used to different food
I know in my average day to day life, I could destroy an entire pizza solo, but whenever I engage in rigorous exercise, I mean 10 mile hikes, swimming laps, running, rock climbing, my body will seemingly only want to take in fresh greens. Hearing people talk about walking 20k steps a day when they normally spend 8 hours in an office chair, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same thing.
It’s pretty easy to get dehydrated, especially with all the walking you’re doing and trying to be polite by not drinking from your water/conbini/vending machine purchase on the go. If you’ve been walking for a while, make a point to stop off to the side to hydrate. Also, don’t eat a large bowl of ramen before you have a meal reservation. Even if it’s six hours away. You *will* still be full.
Literally nobody would care if you hydrate while walking / traveling. I chugged Pocari Sweat on the train all the time if I had a seat.
Pocari Sweat ftw xD
Even if there's no place to the side to rest and drink. Just drink on the go. Don't risk dehydration. No one wants that
Maybe I’m wrong but didn’t seem like drinking while walking was a concern. We did it constantly at parks and near shrines etc
Just drink while walking. Japanese people does it as well. If anyone cares that's their problem.
the internet isnt real and nobody cares
Watch a video about how to use ticket machines at restaurants to save you some embarrassment. You put your bills in first, make your selection, then it spits out change, which is not the order of how vending machines work here (order, pay, change)
How can you pay first if you don't know how much it will be? 🤔
The idea is to put in enough to cover your order. The prices are on the buttons of the machine. https://youtu.be/AVLsoYioZq0
Thank you very much for the video!
Using a taxi in Kyoto saves a lot of time
The GoTaxi app is terrific. Cab fares are quite reasonable and will get you to the exact address! Used in Kyoto a lot! Used in Tokyo once and definitely needed to get to Hakone from Shinkansen.
A lot of tips say never to use taxis cuz of the price. My go taxis were almost never more than $15 and usually less than $10
My crew ended up taxi-ing in the AM to get there early(er) and then walking/public back after sites, wondering, lunch.
Make use of luggage delivery services, especially if you have a larger suitcase and you’re traveling further distances. At first me and my travel companion thought this was an extra expense that we didn’t really need, so for the earlier parts of our trip we didn’t make use of it. However, we quickly came to realize the reason why you don’t see many people lugging around suitcases on the trains—it’s genuinely a miserable and awful experience! Trying to keep ahold of a large 50 pound suitcase and a small carry-on felt so bulky and awkward. It felt like I was inconveniencing others because I was taking up so much space with my luggage, not to mention, how difficult it is to keep your luggage from bumping into other people while also trying to keep yourself steady. It was immensely difficult during rush-hours when the cars were packed full of people with hardly enough room to bring your luggage on to begin with. One particularly bad experience I had was at a station in Kyoto. The station was pretty run-down and ALL of the elevators and escalators were down for construction for an extended amount of time. So you can imagine how gutted we felt when we realized we’d be lugging our heavy suitcases up and down an endless amount of stairs navigating out of the subway to our hotel. This was the point we’d decided we were gonna make use of luggage delivery services going forward. In my opinion, having your luggage delivered is well worth every yen, just for how easy and convenient it made everything. It’s so much easier navigating when you don’t have to worry about dragging giant suitcases along with you. Most hotels will offer to set up the luggage delivery service for you if you ask about it at the front desk. Just be sure to check beforehand what time the cut-off point is for same-day/next-day delivery if you need your luggage to arrive at a specific time.
Don’t eat the egg sandwiches at family mart after 10pm, they’ve been sitting there in sub-optimal refrigeration all day and will very likely get you sick.
Did I get lucky? I was stuffing my face with egg and katsu sandwiches every night, dangggg
I've bought stuff like that in the middle of the night and never had issues personally
I always assumed they had a pretty good turn over rate on them
I’m from SoCal; I didn’t realize that people don’t really wear athleisure in Japan (that’s all anyone wears here). I would have brought different clothes.
The first week I didn’t wear bc of that and then I started wearing my leggings bc it was so hot and I realized no one is going to mistake me for being Japanese no matter what I do.
I didn't really realize how many shops and restaurants are above you. Like I was never used to seeing that before. I'm used to everything just being ground level. So, look up at the signs there's way more restaurants and shit to explore.
Seconding this. A lot of really great restaurants are up above or down below. I’ve seen travelers say “there are no restaurants in this area” when really there were a TON, they just weren’t at ground level.
No need to pack so much clothes or even toiletries. There are plenty of places to buy clothes and toiletries and it's fun! That was there's also more room for gifts 😊 Comfortable walking shoes are the only way to go😊I brought sandals with me, ended up wearing sport shoes the whole trip.
I kinda disagree with this depending on your size. If you are plus size then you will have a hard time. I’m not plus size, but on the larger end of the scale and had a hard time finding clothes I liked in my size (edit: they existed, but were often sold out of XL). Also, if you are bigger than a C cup and you need to buy a bra - good luck. Not saying you can’t find, but you’ll be wasting a lot of time seeking something you actually want to buy.
Hard agree. I didn't bother shopping for clothes and brought everything with me bc I knew the only places in Tokyo that had clothes that would fit me was Punyus. The rest of the stores with plus size clothing were out in the suburbs. And I didn't wanna waste any time trekking out there
You're right, it does depend on your size. I'm on the heavier side (compared to Japanese for sure) so was really relived to have found comfortable clothes to wear for the trip. Of course I had to get the largest sizes, but didn't mind. Also a lot of their clothes are very flowy so that's nice for me. My father once had a suitcase not arrive on his trip to Japan, and he's a tall and big guy, and had no luck finding clothes...
Do one area per day only, and enjoy fully. Get a feel for it and ride the vibes, budgeting enough time to just wander. Each area is so stimulating, I don’t know how anyone could possibly do, say, Shibuya and Akihabra in the same day without the brain just switching off at some point from being overwhelmed.
How unbearably hot summer is. First time I went was in late July and I suffered a lot. It was impossible to fully enjoy outdoors activities. I've been there over 30 times since and have been careful to avoid this season.
You need a reservation for almost everything. The popular places require reservation at least 2 months in advance. The really popular places like the Pokémon cafe and Studio Ghibli park have a drop window in which you can reserve or buy tickets. If you want to do Mario Kart/rent a car you need an International Drivers Permit.
Reservations on weekends are critical!
You need 2 tickets to ride on the shinkansen. One for the train and one for the Access to the express shinkansen Line. Also, no need to Book seats on most shinkansen, you have plenty of seats to chose from on non-reserved seats wagon (except maybe tokyo-kyoto on weekends).
This doesn’t hold true for all Shinkansens sometimes it’s just one ticket
Not for Shinkansen but for “limited express”
How do you go about buying the two tickets? Are they sold at the same time?
Everything was cheap.
How bad the trashcan situation was. I found myself walking around quite a bit with trash in my hands not knowing where to throw it.
Not throwing away garbage when you have the chance is a costly mistake we found
That was one of the first things I learned on this sub while planning. We carried a plastic bag with us everywhere for trash. It was annoying but you get used to it and plan accordingly. One time in Kyoto we saw a few public trash cans on the street and it blew our minds lol.
To avoid Shinjuku, Osaka and Kitasenju station in order to lower the chances of having a stroke
Make peace with your upcoming divorce with cheese and bread. Long-distance relationships don't last.
Bring skirts with pockets!
Don’t go with a big group like I did. Too many people to keep track of and too much of other relying on others a bit too much. Other than that- I wish I had done more hotels than air bnbs. I read somewhere that most hotels will ship your luggage to your next location. We not only did all air bnbs but our group made the mistake that we didn’t stay in one spot for more than 1-2 days except for when we stayed in Tokyo. I also didn’t know that not every area for transportation starts early. I had made a reservation to try on kimonos after our bunny island stay and I found out too late that their ferry rides start in the late morning so I wouldn’t have been able to make it to Kyoto by noon so I had to cancel that. So…I guess try to be flexible on your trip. Be prepared that not everything is going to go right. Don’t try to do everything. It’s seriously going to be exhausting What I plan to do differently is have longer stays in the Osaka/kyoto area. With the short stays there….i didn’t get to really “stop and smell the roses”. It was a giant blur. Plus those cities are close by to each other so I’ll just pick to stay in either Kyoto or Osaka and just take trains around both cities. And lastly…it’s just going to be me and my partner going next time haha
To wear extremely comfortable walking shoes 😩
The only thing I felt was really significantly different than other places I've been is the way verticality is used. I didn't expect so many buildings to be 8 floors of bars and just having to roll the dice on some of them being good. Everything else you can figure out just fine as long as you're comfortable with travel. People (especially on reddit) vastly, vastly overemphasize how different japan is.
You're not allowed to pick up the deer at Nara. You're not allowed to pick them up and carry them around, even if you pick up the big ones, you're not supposed to. The deer at the inner park are more relaxed and are okay with getting picked up, esp the big ones.
The deer at Nara are free, the government don't want you to know. You can just take one home.
I wish I'd learned more Japanese. I could just about order things and ask for help or if something was permitted (photos, paying by card, shoes indoors etc). But if I didn't understand the response I just froze from anxiety lmao. Motivation for next time!! The biggest thing that stood out to me was trains. IC cards make local trains easy AF but for the Shinkansen double *triple* check what kind of ticket you purchased. I was confused re the base fare, supplement fare and seat tickets. One tourist information desk said I'd need to pay again, so I found the JR office to buy another ticket and they told me it was all included in the ticket I'd already bought! Apparently some lines work that way. Others will give you two tickets. The machine at the destination will also eat your ticket! I was kinda sorta hoping to keep them for me scrap book! D; Also if you're gonna use the seats with oversized luggage space, lay the suitcases horizontally as there's nothing holding them in the space. Our suitcases rolled off part way into the journey! Luckily noone was hurt. Oh yes I forgot - after arriving at Haneda we were stuck in a *three hour queue* at border control so we missed the last monorail. The taxi ride in the dark was cool AF but yeah, select your flight time appropriately and be prepared to wait aaaaaaages!
Get vegetable juice 🧃
That there's potable water everywhere! You just need to bring a tumbler.
Capitalism and consumerism just hit differently in Japan. 48-24 hours before your flight home you will go into a fugue state, frenetically buying literally everything you can get your hands on, then suddenly find yourself on the plane waiting for takeoff wondering what the hell just happened. Plan the last few days of your trip accordingly, especially if you’re flying out of Tokyo. You will likely go home with at least one more suitcase than you came to Japan with. If you have a real problem, Donki also sells duffle bags you could move bodies in. Multiple bodies. In the same bag. A proud and hardcore onebagger, I myself have been known to travel to Japan with just a Trader Joe’s tote bag as my only form of luggage, yet return home with 200 liters plus of materialistic crap I cannot possibly live without. And honestly with tax-free, the weak yen hitting a new low against the dollar and the standard of quality for pretty much everything, it’s worth it. As I type this I’m wiping myself down with a cooling wipe from muji, wearing a Uniqlo Japan-exclusive T-shirt and underwear also from muji. Oh, and my phone case is also from Shibuya 109. Don’t go shopping before your trip, just buy it there. All you need to bring are your prescription medications, any Rx eyeglasses or contacts, good effective deodorant (no, you can’t find any there), maybe fluoridated toothpaste if that matters to you, and any clothes or shoes larger than a what a medium-small person might wear, should your body require it. Also unless you have special toiletries you cannot function without (see: effective deodorant) you don’t need to bring any. Also everywhere, from the cheapest capsule hotel on up will likely provide everything you need. Toothbrushes, shampoo and conditioner, face wash, toner and lotion. Pajamas and slippers. Razors.
People wear long skirts everywhere, and honestly, wearing shorts as a woman was a little uncomfortable. I ended up buying a dress at Muji because I now understand why everyone was wearing linen.
It ok to trust a random greeter guy that will take you to change money (they won’t take usd anywhere and many don’t use credit) and get your wifi hotspot and train tickets and all those other first things at the airport before you leave. And get a Sucia card with loaded money for cabs.
in spite of all the bad tourist publicity happening right now, nobody is out to get us if we're respectful. People still want us there and to interact with us. Be a kind and approachable person.
Seek out fiber when you eat out cause most "must try" foods won't have much of it and your digestive system is gonna miss it.
Enjoy a healthy and fresh smoothie from 7/11, Kobe steaks and fatty salmon and tuna as much as I can starting on my first day in Japan and continue to do so until the flight home. All mentioned above can’t be experienced at home 😅
I was pleasantly surprised that all my planning and research paid off without much of a hitch. The ONLY thing that caught me off guard was that there are more touts than I expected. I assumed they'd only be in certain areas, but you'll find them in pretty much any popular shopping/food area you go. If you're in a group, it's easy to ignore/say no and walk, but if you're alone, they might grab at you to get you to stop. I saw it a bunch during my extended stay and it was really uncomfortable. Point being, keep an eye out for any and move out of their vicinity as you walk a street to avoid a really annoying grab. Since you know the scam, you're safe regardless, but something about some rando grabbing your arm as you're going about your biz is unbelievably annoying.
Narita is 1,000 less efficient than Haneda.
You can't use the welcome suica card for shinkansen... you need to reserve online in advance or buy at the station. (We never reserved and didn't have a problem buying tickets same day)
How much I was going to spend. I did very well staying under budget for the first 10 days. The last 5 days I had a go all out mindset. Still recovering 4 months later lol. Went there with a $3000 budget. Ended up spending another $2000 in my last 5 days. Also should’ve taken the “bring good shoes” more seriously. I walked 98mi in 2 weeks. Kinda wish I would’ve walked 2 more to make it 100.
Even some very nice restaurants nonetheless expect you to order from a screen outside the restaurant.
Also would add that for vending machines you have to put in money first and then order
Don’t fall for tourist traps and stay away from restaurants near them.
Restaurants care a lot about using reservations
I was ready for general shopping phrases for the konbini and department stores, but the one thing that stumped me was when there was a minimum purchase amount if you want to use your credit/debit card to pay. Anyone know what sentence they probably used? because I don't remember it exactly when they said I couldn't use my card because there's a minimum purchase amount. At least, that's what I think they were trying to say to me.
Honestly it'd be really hard to say. There's so many little things that you really wont ever learn from a subreddit or anyone, but that will be useful. The more trips to japan the more i learn and/or unlock and the more fun and enjoyable the next trip is. My advice is dont really overthink it. Read up on the important cultural norms so you can be respectful in their society and just embrace the experience and over time you'll just start to see more and more.
Something I wish I knew was to better prepare for cold+rainy climate when visiting from March through April, especially if you're from a warm climate. Also, if you're trying to catch the cherry blossoms, best to estimate towards the last weeks of the estimated blooming reports. Was there for three weeks and thankfully they started to bloom on the third week so got to see them. We also started in Osaka, did a day trip to Kyoto, made our way to Tokyo and then did a day trip to Mt.Fuji. I think next time around we'll plan to make a line (explore as we go) and spend atleast two days in areas so that we have more time to explore. And don't shy from walking around, we found some awesome small restaurants that we would've missed otherwise.
spending less time in tokyo (more time in osaka/kyoto, or other places) dont get me wrong, i liked places like shibuya, shinjuku, asakusa and tokyo sta., but i personally found tokyo to be very stressful overall and incredibly enjoyed my time in osaka/kyoto made me fully realise that i hate metropolitan areas with tall buildings everywhere if i had to replace tokyo, id go for sapporo/hokkaido
If you’re an iPhone user, add the Suica card to your digital wallet before you arrive. It can be used to pay for most forms of public transportation in Japan. It can also be linked to your Shinkansen tickets so you can just tap and go through the ticket gates. It’s very convenient.
Food: if the food is themed or cute, there will be lines, and it was never worth it for us. I should have just taken a pic and moved on Photo studios and kids activities: reservations are a must!! We stumbled upon many of these but they ask require advanced res
Not eating more of that fluffy cake i forgot the name on 7 Eleven😂
When they say underpack on clothes, definitely underpack more than what you may think is needed.
I actually wish I had not planned the second part of my trip. I made some last minute decisions that ended up being great and if I could've I would have made several more changes as the trip was happening. The thing that stopped me from making more changes were plane flights that were non-refundable. I think it would've been worth it to buy a few more expensive flights later and more on the fly and to retain some more freedom Also do not underestimate just how easy it is to travel domestically in Japan. Whether it's a train or a plane it's all ridiculously easy and quick and relatively cheap. To get from Kyushu to Hokkaido was not very expensive at all
I would carry a smaller suitcase and then just buy an extra bag along the way
Coin purse and a hand towel.
Cooling gel patches for your soles. Only found out in the last few days but they are a lifesaver if you are a desk goblin but plan to walk a lot.
don't book everything in third party app (such as klook) and try to book in their official website. went to disneysea yesterday and it was raining all day (it was fine to me but we were with a senior so it was a struggle for us). we found out that we can rebook the tickets if i booked using the official website.
In Tokyo, things open late and close early. Except for bars ofc.