Useful Tips for Beginner Travelers to Japan

Posted on by J Traveller

Major thanks to Megan Morris for many of these tips to start us off. You can see her original thread here (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2307368 ... 937468625/).

We will expand on the list from the comments in the thread as well as others we've come across. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any suggestions we may have missed here.

(￣▽￣)/♫•*¨*•.¸¸♪

 

  1. Hotel Check-in and Restaurant Booking. Please uphold your reservations and be punctual. If you are to be more than 5 minutes late, please contact the place before hand and tell them roughly how late you will be. This will give them time to prepare the best service for you. If you are unable to arrive, please contact the place as early as possible so they can make the necessary arrangements. This is especially important in smaller establishments where the must purchase and prepare many things in advance that goes to waste if their customers failed to show up for the reservations. If you are late, even if it's only a few minutes, please try and be apologetic. Respectfulness is very important in Japan.
  2. Squat Toilets.
    1. For people who are planning a trip to Japan... some things I wish I had known before coming:You don't actually have to carry around toilet paper. The toilets aren't all flushmount with the ground and if you run into those, you don't have to use them. They're like in parks and baseball fields, but there is always a handicap regular toilet. After two days I threw away my roll of toilet paper realizing this was misinformation. (courtesy of Megan Morris)
    2. for those countries where squat toilers don't exist, the question of "how to hadle you pants" is very important. (courtesy of Sofia Castillon)
  3. Convenient Store Toilets.
    1. I also wish I would have known that convenience stores like Family Mart, 7/11, Lawsons and so on all have toilets that you can use, most of them modern Japanese toilets with heated seats. (courtesy of Ariane O'Connor)
    2. The lack of rubbish bins in public and where is the easiest place to find it. Ditto for toilets as well. Convenience stores for the best place to find it. (courtesy of Ian Gazny Yaacob)
  4. one we learned the hard way : bring your own soap and hand towel to the pubic toilets. many dont have these. (courtesy of Marie-Christine Lavoie)
  5. Walking Shoes. Your feet are going to hurt so bad from walking so much. Bring walking shoes. Bring two pairs because the rain will soak at least one. (courtesy of Megan Morris)
  6. Luggage Lockers. Pack lightly because the stations are a lot of stairs up and stairs down, and not just one flight. If you have a real luggage suitcase, it probably won't fit into a luggage locker. They may be tall enough, but never wide enough even for our smallest suitcase. Easy for backpacks and maybe duffle bags. Sometimes near sites there may be a place to watch the luggage, but not at all sites. (courtesy of Megan Morris)
  7. Vertical Suitcases. Japanese usually carry those tall, "portrait", standing, 4 wheels type of suitcase that fix nicely into the large size lockers. You must be carrying the "landscape" type. Only way is for you to turn your suitcase 90 degrees and push it in. (courtesy of Au Weng Kay)
  8. Carry on Bags. It's easily possible to travel to Japan with just a carry-on bag for even a week or more stay. Look up sites on 'one bag travel'.
  9. A lot of things folks with big bags take they never used. Some things are an unnecessary 'comfort blanket' (unnecessary as you can get anything you need there). (courtesy of Andrew Booth.)
  10. Washing Machine/Dryers. Japanese dryers seem to suck. I have not used one that has dried everything in a single cycle. Most take 2-3 drying cycles. Also, most washers/dryers are one unit. (courtesy of Megan Morris)
  11. Crowded Tourist Spots. A lot of the beautiful sites are in the middle of a big city. The serenity you may be expecting won't exist at these sites, such as in Kyoto. You'll actually be in a herd of people being pushed along even midday weekday. They are pretty sites of course, but the pictures don't tell the whole story. (courtesy of Megan Morris)
  12. There are indeed many many beautiful sites that are not crowded with people as stated above. Also if you visit during the weekend you will have to find more people than during the week. (courtesy of 呉 ローラ)
  13. Another thing, try to get reliable directions before leaving if you don't speak Japanese. (courtesy of 呉 ローラ)
  14. Food & Transport Prices. It is not insanely expensive here. This is extremely exaggerated. We ate in Tokyo every day $7/person breakfast, $10-15/p lunch, $10-20/p dinner. Transportation is most expensive. (courtesy of Megan Morris)
  15. Standing or sitting while eating (not walking while eating). (courtesy of Catherine Varghese)
  16. Staying near Major Train Station. I would've stayed at spots closer to the main station in every city and not just close to any random station. (courtesy of Megan Morris)
  17. WIFI. I am grateful for our pocket wifi and JR pass. Get a PASMO card or something similar to use the trains. Buying tickets is the biggest hassle and you waste a lot of time. (courtesy of Megan Morris)
  18. Keeping Coins. If you get yen coins, don't try to get rid of them. You constantly end up needing them if you take a bus or something. (courtesy of Megan Morris)
  19. Pocket Change. If you need change even from Y1000, Y5000, Y10000 bills, vending machines even give you back big bill change. If you need coins for coin laundry, just put in a Y1000 bill and press change, it'll give you back 100 yen coins. Very convenient. (courtesy of Megan Morris)
  20. Speaking to locals in English. Everybody is kind. Lots know small amounts of English. You don't need to know Japanese before coming here. If you drink something like water a lot, learn those words. (courtesy of Megan Morris).
  21. You will start speaking in broken English or accidentally slip a Japanese 'thank you' to friends and family and start gesturing more than ever. (courtesy of Megan Morris)
  22. Small Serving Cups. Also, water cups are tiny here. Like child size cups or smaller. Napkins (dry) also aren't common. Anybody will help you if you ask and even if you don't ask and just look confused. (courtesy of Megan Morris)
  23. Riding on Escalators. On the escalators you stand to one side in a single line if you are not going to walk up. Different cities stand on different sides so just follow along. (courtesy of Megan Morris)
  24. Local / Rapid Trains that skipped some stops. Multiple trains are on the same rails. Keep an eye on if you are getting on a local or rapid train since it may skip your stop if you just assume they are all going the same direction. When you get to a platform, know which stops are on each side of the station you are at. Then look at the sign that says the station name and points to which station that train is going towards. (courtesy of Megan Morris)
  25. Returning Rental Car. It is a necessary step to top up the gas before returning the vehicle. While unnecessary, it is a nice gesture to also go through a quick auto car wash and clean out the trash you've collected in the car before returning the vehicle.
  26. Before Checking Out of a Hotel Room. Like rental car returns, Japanese tourists tend to clean up their hotel rooms before leaving. Making sure the trash is all in bags tied at the top together in or next to the trash can, and they straighten the beds and move the furniture back into their original spots. Something simple that won't take 10 minutes but it gives a nice impression for the hotel staff. It would be great if all tourists are like that.
  27. What to wear ? I wouldn't worry about what I wear based off of how people would judge me. I'd dress for comfort always. I worried too much about what to wear, then got here and realized people DO wear blue jeans, females included. People DO wear shorts, males and females. People do wear yoga pants, wear them under shorts or skirts, girls wear whatever they want, people do wear sunglasses. These were all overexaggerated things I've read from advice websites that I wish I hadn't put care towards. Wear whatever you want! (courtesy of Megan Morris)
  28. Shower Rooms. The showers are like an entire room. You should sit if there is a stool and shower while sitting. Then soak if there is a bath. It took a bit to realize the shower was the entire room. (courtesy of Megan Morris)
  29. So many little things in Japan that we don't have in Australia. For instance the little boxes under seats in some cafes and restaurants to put your items in and hooks under tables for hanging your handbag.
    Toilet doors that don't have a gap around the door, door is shaped to hide the gap. Gotta love the Japanese ingenuity (courtesy of Darleen Lee)
  30. Airbnb host set 3:00 or 4:00 pm check in because there are times that there are still guests who will check out on the same day you are going to check in. So they need to clean up, fix the rooms for the next guests. (courtesy of Josephine M Imai)
  31. if you are eating in a small Ramen/soba/sushi etc etc place that only has 4 or 5 seats, make sure you eat quickly so other patrons can sit and eat after you. Some places I went to got big lines at lunch and only had limited seats. (courtesy of Ashley Knight)
  32. Authorise overseas spending for your cards or you'll be in a bit of a pickle! It's an easy call or online process normally! (courtesy of Ian Gazny Yaacob)
  33. On theme park lines: If its possible and you dont mind not riding next to them, use the single rider lines. They are free, and you will save a huge amount of time using them. (courtesy of Wade Raabe)
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