Japan useful tips
- Irene
- May 19, 2024
- 6 min read
The planning of your trip to Japan can be a bit chaotic and stressful. That’s why this post will try to resolve all the doubts and questions (or almost all of them!) that are going to come into your head while plannning your trip:
1. JR pass: for sure this is one of the first things that you have looked into when planning your trip. Medium and long distance trains in Japan are expensive and this is why the JR pass can be a good solution for foreigners travelling around the country and needing to take numerous trains. The pass can be used only by foreign tourists and offers unlimited rides on JR [japan-guide.com] trains for one, two or three weeks. It comes in two types: ordinary and green car (first class cars).
It is important to note that this is only worth it if you are going to do more than one return trip. For example, if you are only planning on travelling Tokyo - Kyoto and return, the price of those singles tickets will be cheaper than buying the JR pass. It is important to note as well that not all the trains from Tokyo to Kyoto are included on the JR pass, only the “slowest” trains which take 2.35 min are included. Fast ones which take 2.10 min are not included in the JR pass.
You can buy the JR pass online on the official website but note that then you will have to pick it up in Japan at at JR station and you will have to show your passport at the office. Some websites offer the delivery service but the reality is that this is useless as still you need to go to the JR office to “validate" your ticket.
The trains can be very busy and you will find areas with reserved seats and areas with unreserved seats. We found week days much more busy than weekends to travel but I am not sure if that is always the case. If you do not get the JR pass, when booking your single ticket you can select also the exact train time and the seats. If you are getting the JR pass when you are at the JR office ask the staff to book you all the train rides at that point so you can get seats and space for luggage.
The space for luggage is an interesting one… in the trains there is basically no space for large suitcases and the few spaces that you will find have to be booked in advance! If you are carrying a small/ cabin size suitcase you can use the overhead space. You can also use this if your suitcase is medium size and not very heavy, this is what we did as we had medium size luggage but we were able to lift it above our heads basically. Apparently one option if you are carrying big luggage is to go to a convenience store and pay to get your luggage delivered to you next location/ hotel. I believe some 5* hotels also offered this option as well.
2. City transportation: public transport is very good in Japan and to be honest very cheap! At least for UK standards and in contrast with the trains. However, it can be a bit complicated to get around so Google maps will be your best friend. The most important thing to know is that you are going to need an IC Card; Suica and Pasmo are the most common ones. The advantage of the IC Cards is that they can be used all around the country which is very helpful.
Suica has 2 options; a "normal Suica" which is green and used by people who live permanently in Japan and a "welcome suica" that is used by visitors and is red with flowers. We chose the welcome Suica and it worked very well for us. You can buy it directly at the airport when you arrive, if you arrive at Haneda Terminal 3 you can buy it by the monorail station. On the card you will need to add money (this has to be cash you cannot charge it with card) and then you just tap in and out when you take the underground and you will get charged for the trip. In the bus however you will only tap once before getting off. In Kyoto where you will probably use the bus more, you will have to get in using the back door and pay before getting off using the front door. If by the end of the trip you still have money left in your Suica card you cannot get this money back but you can buy snacks with it in convenience stores and vending machines.
3. Food: choosing the right place to eat can be overwhelming given the crazy amount of places, in particular in Tokyo, so the most important thing to know is that in Japan the Japanese do not use google to rate restaurants, they use a website called “tabelog”. In tabelog anything rated about 3.5 is fantastic. You can also use the website to filter by type of food, city etc. the only bad thing is that the website cannot be used by foreigners to book tables unfortunately.
Something you should definitely try or do during your trip is to have a full Japanese culinary experience: have dinner at an izakaya which is like a tavern where you can try many small plates, try udon, have some ramen, have sushi (of course) if you can at Tokyo’s fish market for breakfast, go to a nice teppanyaki restaurant to try wagyu, eat shabu-shabu (Japanese hot pot) and finally try Yakiniku (Japanese BBQ).
In terms of reservations, we had bookings every day for dinner and for lunch we just went to one of the places I had saved on my list of tabelog recommendations. However, we went during a relatively quiet time after cherry blossom and restaurants at night time were not fully booked in many cases. We heard that a week before which was easter and cherry blossom you had to queue for almost an hour in many places if you wanted to get a table!
4. Accommodation: you will notice when booking your accommodation that hotel rooms are really small in Japan, so small that in some cases it is even difficult to open your suitcase inside of the room! Therefore I recommend that you are careful before booking and check the square metres of the room or the room plan which many times is available online as well.
If you are staying in an apartment, make sure you have checked whether there is a proper bed or whether it’s a futon as it can be difficult to sleep on for people not used to it. Also if you are traveling as a group check what are the walls made of (it is easy to see this on the pictures). Many Japanese houses use some panelling style which divide spaces which obviously is not sound proof! So if you have a snoring friend in the group sleeping can be quite difficult!
5. Clothes: regardless of the time of year that you visit Japan, you should know that Japan is a rainy country so you should pack accordingly. Add to your suitcase some waterproof jackets, shoes and an umbrella because you will probably use them.
It is also important to note that Japan is a relatively conservative country and in terms of clothes you are not going to see anyone wearing revealing clothes. You will also not see people wearing leggings, jeans with holes or similar. Also if you are planning on visiting temples it is important to be respectful and dress accordingly.
But the most important thing to note about clothes is that in many restaurants, the majority actually, they are going to ask you to take off your shoes! So make sure you are wearing some nice shocks! If you are visiting during the summer and wearing sandals or have sweaty feet it is best if you pack another extra pair of socks and take them with you at all times.
Last but not least... always have cash with you! The majority of the entrace tickets for the temples have to be paid in cash and some bars and restaurants only accept cash as well!
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