As administrators of a Japan travel group, we often see a lot of similar questions about Japan like what the weather is like right now or how to go from Tokyo to Mt. Fuji..... here’s a list of links to some of the most common information about Japan.
This is just a curated selection of basic information that is readily available online, not personal advice on where to travel. Please stay on topic in the comments below. If there are any other basic information you think should be on here, feel free to post a comment on what you feel is missing or needs correction. While we try to keep up with changing info and new options, do double check yourself in case some of our info may not be up to date.
Here are some useful travel tips for beginners on Japanese cultural differences. good idea to study up on these so as not to make any major cultural faux pas when traveling in Japan.
ON CHEAP FLIGHTS
There are also many budget airlines that fly to Japan, and as veteran visitors to Japan we highly recommend making an open jaw flight for newcomers who want to visit the big 3 (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto). If your origin city does not fly direct to several cities or there are too few choices of flights per week, a good alternative is to layover via Seoul(Incheon-ICN), Taipei(Taoyuan-TPE), or Hong Kong(HKIA-HKG) for open jaw tickets. it’s often much cheaper to layover in these 3 cities and there are a lot more flights to and from various Japanese airports to choose from.
(eg. Hong Kong Airlines and Hong Kong Express, both budget airlines, has direct flights to the small airport at Kagoshima, where you can work your way up by train through Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, and there's plenty of flights you can leave from at either of Tokyo's airports back to Hong Kong as a layover.)
In a similar situation, using one of the big airports in Japan as a layover point may be equally advantageous.
(eg. I know sometimes it feels less stressful to travel directly to Sapporo and back, but often this is a more expensive and less efficient way to go. If you use one of Tokyo's airports, preferably Haneda as a layover, you can, say, do an open jaw from Haneda to Hakodate, travel and sightsee your way to Sapporo, then to Asahikawa, then fly from Asahikawa back to Haneda and leave. You don't have to double back by train. That's just one example.)
If you have a good direct route to Narita or Haneda, either are also great as a layover hub to visit the rest of Japan. Domestic Air Fare is often much cheaper than trains(and can be even cheaper than JR passes), and they also allows access to many smaller airfields, as well as many open jaw options.
the 2 major flight checkers, but they are incomplete in choices of airlines available (especially on smaller budget int’l airlines and domestic airlines).
- Skyscanner - larger selection of airlines, including many budget airlines
- Farecompare - compares mainly Expedia and Orbitz
On What Can Be Brought Into Japan
Japan Customs rules on duty-free allowances as follows:
As for accompanied and unaccompanied articles of overseas travelers that are regarded as being for personal use, the duty-free allowance per adult is as follows.
- Alcoholic beverages: Up to three bottles, in which a bottle contains approximately 760ml.
- Tobacco products: Up to 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars, or 250 g of other tobacco products.
However, if you have more than one kind of tobacco product, the total allowance is 250 g.
Japanese-made tobacco products can be imported free of duty separately from foreign-made tobacco products. The allowance is 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars, or 250 g of other tobacco products.- Perfume: Up to 2 ounces (approximately 56ml).
The total overseas market value of all articles other than the above items must be under ¥200,000.
In this case, any item whose overseas market value is under ¥10,000 is duty-free and is not included in the calculation of the total overseas market value of ¥200,000.- When applying the duty-free allowance for rice (100 kg per year), please submit a "Report for the Import of Rice (Copy for Customs)” which was confirmed by the District Agricultural Office or other relevant authority to Customs.
Persons under 20 years old are granted no allowances of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.
Children under 6 years old are not granted allowances except for items that are clearly regarded as for children, such as toys.
Additional customs information in this Customs Guide for Visitors to Japan.
Also here is information on restrictions on bringing in medicine and quasi-drugs(herbal supplements). Scroll down to the Basic Meds section for some general non-professional medical advice and information on OTCs and pharmacies.
Here is information on items restricted from bringing into Japan.
Here is information on bringing animals (pets, livestock, and animal products) into Japan.
Here is a website on the restrictions and protocol on bringing seeds, plants, and soil into Japan.
ON LUGGAGE STORAGE AND TRANSPORT OPTIONS
Luggage storage and transport options for easy traveling across the country.
- Ta-Q-Bin for Airport - luggage transport service between airport and hotel/home.
- Ta-Q-Bin Handsfree Travel - send your luggage to the next hotel at the reception desk of the current hotel.
- Ecbo Cloak - a new service to take advantage of unused spaces in shops, cafes, and even post offices.
- JAL ABC - airport luggage delivery service from Japan Airline.
- Sagawa Express - similar to Ta-Q-Bin, luggage storage or transport service across the country.
- Rail Go Service - multi-day luggage storage service, in a niche corner outside Tokyo station.
PUBLIC TRANSIT IN JAPAN
If you are doing more traveling than basing yourself in 1 city and doing daytrips, Google Map is your friend when planning routes from station to station. However, Google Map is not always accurate on schedules, lacks bus routes in Japan, and there’s limited options. This is where Hyperdia comes in. It’s completely text-based, so you better know the exact romanized spelling of the station, but it has the added bonus of being able to choose if you’re traveling by JR Railpass or not.
on checking Trains Routes
on all kinds of Rail Passes
on Buses
on Taxi Fare calculations
Taxis are common in Japan, but they’re also quite expensive and should be used only if there are no other alternatives, like visiting the tuna auctions at Tsukiji Market at 4am.
ON CAR RENTAL
Tocoo is the rental service middleman of choice, and the price point to compare with other booking agencies.
Niconico Rent A Car is an alternative cheaper choice. They rent older model 2nd hand cars, generally at a cheaper rate than most of the competition, but their branches are very limited.
Tabirai is a newer one to add an English interface, they are a middleman company similar to Tocoo, but perhaps with a nicer looking website, with fewer options.
and also JR Rent A Car (or Ekiren), this is the rental car company at many train stations, with discounts if you have certain rail passes.
Toyota is the most common rental company for foreigners.
Nissan is also popular with a good English website.
Other companies includes (but not limited to): Times, Nippon, Orix, ...
Info on ETC (Electronic Toll Collection)
Info on various Expressway Passes
On ETCs, as a traveler who drives often in Japan, and while I'll still use it on occasion, I really can't recommend using the expensive tolled expressway system. The point of driving as a tourist in Japan is to have more flexibility than taking public transit, so why get on the expressway that only has limited points to escape from? Plan your itinerary accordingly and drive on national highways and regular roads. There are tall noise barriers that block most of the views on many parts of tolled expressways. On the other hand, if you must travel on them, one bonus is you can get a sample of some local specialties by stopping at the many grandiose service areas (Service Areas, not Parking Areas which are just glorified toilets).
Also, while Hertz and Avis are available in Japan, of all the years in many Japan travel groups in multiple languages, i've never heard either of the names mentioned even once. Hertz I've recently learned has no physical presence in Japan but instead they are partnered with Toyota Rent-a-car, so you can still get member points if you rent through Hertz's website. Avis is only limited to Shin-Chitose airport in Hokkaido and Fukuoka airport in Fukuoka.
Please do be careful driving in Japan. It's easy to be distracted by the sights and get lulled into a false sense of safety, but tourist accidents by rental car is quite commonplace. Learn what to do if you do get into an accident. Better yet, learn Japan's house rules on the road (and here and here).
LATE NIGHT/EARLY MORNING AIRPORT TRANSIT
If you can plan your last day's itinerary to get close to your exit airport, it would be preferable to stay the night at a hotel within walking distance from that airport, and likely cheaper than taking a taxi for a long distance, but if need be, here are some public transit that operates during those early morning hours. If you are ok with sleeping with your luggage at the airport or you have a long overnight layover, you can also check this website on late-night airport services.
on Narita (Tokyo)
on Haneda (Tokyo)
on New Chitose (Sapporo)
on Chubu International Airport (Nagoya)
on Kansai International Airport (Osaka)
on Itami Airport (Osaka), it closes at night and there are no flights before public transportation opens.
of all the major cities, Fukuoka airport is in the middle of the city not far from Hakata station, if it's really necessary, taxi from Hakata station to the airport(make sure to specify domestic or international building) will only cost around ￥1700-2300.
ON HANEDA <-> NARITA TRANSIT
Airport Limousine bus is the more common way people travel between Narita and Haneda, it also involves the least amount of walking with all your luggage. Give yourself at least 5 hours for time between flights. Bus travels into Tokyo city center and traffic jams may cause huge delays.
Trains can be faster, and is not affected by ground traffic, but again, leave enough time to carry all luggage for several transfers if you want speed. The fastest route takes the Skyliner from Narita to Nippori(not Ueno), switch to JR Yamanote line to Hamamatsucho, then take the Tokyo-Monorail Rapid to Haneda. This is faster by only about 10 minutes, and involves 2 out-of-station transfer since it goes through Keisei then JR then Tokyo Monorail, 3 different companies.
There is a shared-service direct train between the two airports called Narita Access Express, which costs ￥1740 and takes a little over 90 minutes. There are fewer trains on the daily schedule, see timetable here (the ones saying AH are direct from Narita to Haneda).
Note that the Narita Access Express train goes through 5 different sections of rails belonging to 3 different companies, so the train's name may change to reflect when they're in those different sectors. This is important because those sections have trains running along them branching off in different directions, so always know your train's destination before you step on. It also is only seemingly confusing, the train doesn't actually change, and you stay on the same train throughout the entire trip without making any transfers, so as long as you're on the correct train none of this name change matters to you at all. It's just technicalities because it's a partnership between 3 railway companies. TL;DR indeed.
♧ between Narita Airport and Aoto station it's called the Keisei Narita Sky Access line
♧ between Aoto station and Oshiage station it's called the Keisei Oshiage line
♧ between Oshiage station and Sengakuji station it's called the Toei Asakusa line
♧ between Sengakuji station and Keikyu Kamata station it's called the Keikyu Main line
♧ between Keikyu Kamata station and Haneda airport it's called the Keikyu Kuko(Airport) line
As for taxis, estimated taxi fare between the 2 airports is close to ￥30,000 not including traffic. Roughly ￥26,000 fare + ￥3000 toll fees to cover the more than 80km distance ride. Not recommended as it's unlikely to be faster than the direct bus, and for the price, taxis can't really hold a lot of luggage. If you must, for privacy or some other personal reason, Uber Black/Van (not counting price hikes) should cost about the same for a more comfortable ride (using Uberestimate for estimation).
ON HOTELS & OTHER ACCOMMODATIONS
for more information on this, please see our Accommodations post.
Common accommodations booking websites includes:
Make sure you do your own price comparisons to get the best possible deals.
- Agoda
- Airbnb
- Auto-camp (Japanese) - Campervan campgrounds
- Booking
- Couchsurfing
- Expedia
- Hostelworld
- Hotels
- Jalan
- Jalan (Japanese)
- Japan Ryokan and Hotel Association
- Japanese Guest Houses
- Japanican
- Rakuten Travel
- Rakuten Travel (Japanese)
- Selected Ryokan
- Hatinosu (Japanese) - Campgrounds and Rider House locator
- Trivago
- WWOOF
JNTO also has a list of booking websites catering more specifically to Japan.
As for luggage delivery to/from hotels, take a look in this thread.
ON CURRENCY EXCHANGE
Depending on the country you’re traveling from, you might have better exchange rates there, or you might have better exchange rates in Japan, but 2 important things comes to mind: Do you want to spend time in Japan exchanging money? And is your country’s currency exchangeable in Japan? Reading through a lot of opinions online, if you are unsure, bringing an internationally accepted debit card(like ones with Cirrus or Plus symbols) and bring a Visa/Mastercard, is probably your best bet. You can get cash out of the debit card quite easily via ATMs, and Visa/Mastercard are most commonly accepted credit cards other than JCB.
Many convenience stores may also have ATMs that accepts international cards.
You can exchange money and travelers cheques at banks, but they take way too long and way too much paperwork. I’ve done this in a pinch several times, each time it took no less than 30 minutes to exchange USD into JPY. If your country can buy prepaid Mastercard/Visa foreign exchange cards, those are a good idea. You can put money in them, and they act like an international ATM card as well as a credit card, like this one from Hong Kong.
Tokyo Cheapo has a good article on currency exchange:
Places where it’s definitely cheaper to buy yen with local currency? Hong Kong, Taiwan. If you’re laying over in Hong Kong, HKD is linked to USD, so the rate barely fluctuates. 1 USD = 7.75 HKD, with usually no more than a 0.04 difference.
It’s probably not a good idea if you’re not from the United States to buy USD just to exchange it to yen in Japan, since you’re losing on exchange rates twice, but if you must bring cash... USD rates are better in Japan compared to other currencies. Do check with your local banks and see the exchange rates first. It’s not always cheaper in Japan.
WIFI IN JAPAN
Please check this post by fellow admin Au Weng Kay.
As for smartphone apps, here's our recommended guide of useful apps.
ON SOME BASIC MEDICINE IN JAPAN
This post and the comments talks in detail about many kinds of basic medicine to be found in Japan.
which lead to my current draft of meds info.
ON ELECTRICITY
(thanks Magi Ya for suggesting this)
All of Japan has 100v power sockets, so for countries who run on 220-240v, only plug in electronics you brought that have a built in transformer, ones without transformers will fry and possibly catch fire. leave those things at home. Luckily many modern day electronics like laptops comes with an AC adapter with built in transformer for 110-240v, and smartphones charge via USB cables, which are limited to 5v.
Japan also uses 2 flat pronged plugs, similar to North America. Japanese prongs are both the same size. US plugs that don't have an additional grounding prong are often one slightly longer than the other so it may not fit in Japanese wall sockets. There are cheap plug adapters that can be bought for less than $1. Understand that these just change the shape of the plug, they are not transformers and cannot change the voltage difference.
100V | Japan
110V | Taiwan
120V | US, Canada
127V | Mexico
240V | UK, Hong Kong, Kenya
230V | Most EU Countries, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, etc...
220V | Ireland, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Ukraine, Russia, Egypt, Philippines, China, etc...
220-240V | South Africa
110-127-220V | Brazil
127-220V | Morocco
for a comprehensive list of voltages, please click here
For hair dryers and water boilers, usually hotels(even cheap ones) provide them for free in room. I do not suggest bringing curling/flat irons, steam/clothing irons, or other heat generating items unless you also want to carry a 1-3kg transformer in your suitcase. Leave them at home and go to a salon for your hair needs, and laundromat for your clothes pressing(that’s only if you need your clothing pressed and starched).
For all intents a purposes, it's fine with North American appliances pluged into Japanese sockets, and for the most part, it should be fine for Japanese appliances to be used in the US, but things like hairdryers and curling irons from Japan may run a little too hot in the US due to the extra voltage and some components could burn out. Typically digital electronics such as laptop computers and smartphones usually have a multi-voltage power adapter and those should not be a problem at all.
For those of us living in 220-240v countries, buying things that require electricity in Japan will most likely require the use of a transformer. So think about that before you consider that magical heated toilet seat that also washes your bum. If you plug a Japanese appliance that normally accepts 100v into a wall that supplies at 220v, the appliance will burn out, and may possibly result in an electrical fire.
I used to have something this big, just to charge the original Nintendo DS i bought in Japan for Hong Kong use (we run on 220v here).
WEATHER IN JAPAN
on weather in different areas in Japan
- Japan Meteorological Agency
- AccuWeather
- (Japanese) Tenki
- (Japanese) Weather News
I know a lot of people want to ask about weather and what to wear. Check weather and climate in the above websites and see how that matches what you normally would wear for those temperatures. Everyone tolerates different temperatures differently so for me, anything over 10C i'm in a t-shirt, over 18C and i'll start to sweat when walking. I can tolerate -15C in a t-shirt and a good knee-length down coats and jeans. I have friends who can wear wool scarves and leather jackets at 23-24C sunny days in humid Hong Kong and hardly sweat in a full suit at over 30C. So please don't ask what to wear for a specific climate. No one knows you or what kind of environment you are used to. If you already know roughly what you can tolerate, we can definitely help you find where to buy good clothing in Japan. In general, Japan has a lack of good cold air conditioning, and many hotels and ryokans don't even allow you to turn on cold air, but... they do really like to use heat, trains in winter can often be over 25C and for those of us who cannot tolerate dry heat, it's good to be in a t-shirt with a big coat you can just take off easily (as opposed to layers and layers of static electricity).
Nippon.com has a good write-up on the various climate regions in Japan.
1a Okhotsk Average temperature below 0°C in winter. Low annual rainfall. 1b Tōhoku; Hokkaidō Heavy rainfall in September and winter. Average temperature below 0°C in January and February 1c Hokuriku; San’in Average monthly temperature does not fall below 0°C. Heavy snow in winter. 2 Kyūshū Heavy rainfall in June and July. 3 Nankai Heavy rainfall all year round, particularly around June and September. 4 Setouchi Warm with low rainfall all year round 5a East Hokkaidō Severely cold in winter. Low rainfall, except around September when it is high. 5b Sanriku; Jōban Lower temperatures and less snow compared with the Japan Sea side at this latitude. 5c Tōkai, Kantō Heavy rain around June and September to October. Fine weather in winter. 5d Chūō kōgen Great seasonal variation in temperature. Severely cold in winter with little accumulation of snow. 6a Nansei shotō Warm with little seasonal variation in temperature. Low rainfall. 6b Chichijima Warm with little seasonal variation in temperature. Heavy rainfall in May and November.
and on Surf, Snow, Sakura and Koyo(Autumn colours),
here's a detailed list of Japan's Popular Seasonal Activities.
REGIONAL INFO
On Tokyo (Tokyo, Kamakura, Nikko, and surrounding areas, also including Chubu region's Mt. Fuji)
On Outer Kanto (Gunma, Tochigi, Saitama, Chiba, Ibaraki)
On Kansai (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nara, and surrounding areas)
On Hokuriku + Hida Takayama (Kanazawa, Alpine Route, Shirakawago, Senmaida Rice Terrace)
On Shin'etsu (Nagano + Niigata, Snow Monkeys, Matsumoto Castle, Tsumago, Sado Island)
Here's a list of sample itineraries collated from our members.
ON FOOD
The two most commonly used websites in Japan to search for food. nothing else comes close to their comprehensive listings and updates. Tabelog also has a rating and review system, typically anything higher than a 3.0 is already quite good, but almost all reviewers are Japanese, and may have different tastes than tourists coming in from all over the world.
Tabelog
(Japanese) Tabelog
Gurunavi
(Japanese) Gurunavi
(Japanese) Hitosara
Bento
This page lists some resources on various dietary restrictive needs while traveling in Japan.
ON ONSENS
The most commonly used websites in Japan to search for onsens (hot springs baths), all but the last one are in Japanese. and they are very specific in details. Remember, the word onsen by itself just mean the hot springs, while onsen resorts, onsen ryokan, etc... are the accommodations. and these websites are about the onsens themselves, many of which have accommodations nearby, some built an entire town around it, but there are also some that are in remote locations and may just have a wooden shack for undressing (these are called 秘湯: Hitou, secret onsens or wild onsens, usually because of their backwater locations).
http://www.spa.or.jp/ (official onsen association)
http://www.yukoyuko.net/onsen/
http://www.onsenjapan.net/ (this one’s in English)
I've been using the Japanese booking website Jalan for years to find and book onsen resorts, and use Rakuten for user ratings. For the most part, Jalan has the most comprehensive listing for onsen ryokans, unfortunately, their English site is not quite as well setup, and does not separate onsens into their own category.
http://www.jalan.net/onsen/ (Japanese site)
http://www.jalan.net/en/japan_hotels_ry ... eng_banner (English site)
If you’re a camper or backpacker, if your budget hotel/hostel don't have a bath(i've stayed in ones that don't), or just don’t feel your hotel room’s tiny all-in-one bathroom-toilet contraption is relaxing, and you want a place just to enjoy a good soak, there are thousands of public baths all over Japan. they’re called Sento (paid baths). the etiquette is similar to that of an onsen, always clean yourself in the seated showers first, then soak in the bath, then rinse off the bathwater again in the seated showers.
Sento Guide (English, with a well written etiquette guide)
The majority of public theme parks, water parks, pools, and onsens are still quite unfriendly to people with tattoos, and the resources for tattoo friendly places lacking. There's Tattoo Spot which is in Japanese only, and new website called Tattoo Friendly is in English but it's new and their database is limited. If you have smaller tattoos that can be covered up with a bandage, any listing on Tattoo Spot with 3 stars or more should be fine. The list of places that do accept tattoos are growing, but please be respectful and don’t offend the places that don’t just because you feel it’s an affront to your lifestyle. It’s someone else’s country, not yours. Another choice is to look for private onsens, usually they're a smaller enclosed area, either rented out by the hour or in some cases, onsen ryokans will usually lend these out for free by time-slot reservation to staying guests. The most expensive option is to get a ryokan suite room that includes it's own private onsen tub, it's usually not recommended as the tubs are often quite small and the cost of these types of rooms are minimum 2-3 times the price of a regular sized room.
FastJapan has a short list of onsens/sentos in and around Tokyo that they assure will accept tattooed individuals.
There's a new list of tattoo friendly onsens at The Onsen Magazine. For the moment they're limited to various prefectures in Kyushu.
ON WHEELCHAIR AND ELDERLY ACCESSIBILITY
There are many places where train access requires walking on stairs (platform bridges), especially once you get into rural areas, but even in large cities some older stations still haven’t upgraded. The same goes for large department stores and some tourist areas. Also if you make reservations at restaurants, make sure they’re on ground floor (called 1st floor in Japan) or their building has elevators, there are many buildings that don’t. Places like Akihabara are generally not friendly to wheelchairs as wider wheelbase ones might not be able to get into the extremely narrow elevator doors in some buildings, and many shops are upstairs on buildings without elevators, limiting the places someone wheelchair-bound can go. On the other hand, there are buildings like Omotesando Hills that are almost completely traversable in wheelchair due to their barrier-free design, the triangular walkway at Omotesando Hills in a continuous spiral incline with no steps at all other than the elevator-accessible basement level.
Japan Accessible Tourism Center is a website that notes by city, the accessibility of some of the major tourist attractions and some info on accessibility on public transit.
A huge thanks to many members of Japan Travel Friendly Discussion Group for help in creating and updating the information in this document.