Japan - what have I forgotten?

[OneOfEachPlease]

I’m going to Japan in March with DP and the kids (10 & 13). I am mainly excited but also anxious. We’re not well travelled, just a bit in Europe, and while I have crawled over our itinerary I am nervous I’ve missed something.

So come one, come all and tell me: what are the obvious and not obvious Japan/long haul things I should know/check I have done/bought/planned for!

Also, help me get excited! Thanks!

I’m going in the summer. I’m excited but also feeling strangely detached about it. I can’t quite believe I’m going - and also I cannot get my head around the sheer size of Tokyo’s population. I’ve been trying to learn a bit of Japanese on Duolingo and it’s so hard!

Abroad in Japan - this is a superb, easy to read biography book about someone moving to Japan to teach English, and then settled. Well worth a read.

The author also does YouTube, instragram etc.

Made me want to go Japan, having no interest before.

Abroad in Japan

I have a relative who lives in Tokyo and he took us around at first but we travelled on our own when he went back to work. We went to Osaka, Yokohama, Kyoto, Hiroshima and it was easy. Stations are written in English as well as Japanese and most restaurants seem to have menus in English.
I think you will love it. People are reserved but so polite and helpful. There is so much to see and do and it's very safe.
Don't talk on your phone or have loud conversations on public transport and don't eat or drink walking round the streets. If you get a cold wear a mask.
I didn't enjoy a lot of the food but I certainly didn't starve! I did like Japanese curry houses and they were very reasonably priced.

Hope you have a wonderful time.

This is really helpful, thank you! I’ve read abroad in Japan and found it really good (it also made me want to go back 20 years and do exactly the same thing). I’m also trying to learn a bit of Japanese but Duolingo is mainly teaching me how to say things like “he’s a student” and not useful things like “do you have any loperamide?”

Is there a hotel tax to pay there like in some European cities?

Posting your luggage is a life saver. Japan has an amazing system of shipping luggage to your next destination via a courier service (cat logo). Google the details but it saved our sanity when travelling around by train. Meant we were just going through stations and cities with a small backpack. Juat work out delivery times and sending times and have a backpack with enough space for a days clothes.

Check out the food in the 7-11’s!!
Go to Nara
Go see the snow monkeys!

I can't remember whether or not there is hotel tax, sorry, OP.

Pocket Wifi was really helpful to have throughout Japan.

Lucky, lucky you. Fantastic country, lovely people.

Enjoy!

Load Suica cards onto your phones for easy use on the metro.

Check that you ARRIVE on the date you think you are going to arrive on, given that you are crossing the date line and will lose a day

(Wondering why this is my suggestion ?)

Make sure you get the kids (and the adults) notebooks for collecting eki stamps. It’s great fun and leaves you with a record of your travels. Any small A6 sketchbook works well. There’s usually stamps at JR stations, some non-JR stations, tourist information centres, airports and some temples, shrines and attractions. In other places you might get stickers to put in it instead.

Do be aware that goshuin (the large stamp with calligraphy that you get at shrines and temples) are not the same thing and you would need a separate goshuin book that you can buy in Japan if you wanted to collect those. They won’t just put them in any notebook. Some places will have souvenir stamps that you can just stamp into your own book as well as the option to get a goshuin.

Plan your train journeys in advance before you set off. If your going to catch a lot of bullet trains it month be worth getting a JR pass, but you have to order these before you come to Japan

Amazing tips! We have all our train tickets booked thankfully. I definitely want to collect the stamps - thanks for selling me what the notebooks are called! All the other things noted! The combini are something I can’t wait for and I’m looking forward to Nara. We won’t get to the monkeys sadly.

We leave on the 29th and arrive on the 30th. But on the way back we arrive the same day - I think the jet lag will be insane but I’m going to try the time shifter app to try to deal with that a bit.

Do you have a Goodwill Guide set up? Absolutely amazing and especially on your first day

We have a guide for half a day in Tokyo and Osaka and a full day including a tea room in Kyoto.

Great! That’s always my #1 tip for japan

Is there anything anyone would recommend for the flight? (Not seating advice, I’ve already torn my hair out several times sorting that…) We’ve never done long haul!

I was going to say pocket wifi. I arranged to pick up mine from the airport when I arrived. Pick up the kids suica cards at the airport too.

Im in Japan right now

if you have a iphone download a suica cars and connect it with a credit card. It makes traveling on the underground and trains soo much easier. If you dont have an iphone, buy a physical card when you arrive

set up google translate on your phone and download the Japanese dictionary so it will work offline..you can scan Japanese characters and it will translate it, you can also audio translate train announcements and get it to talk to taxi drivers etc

set up a Visit Japan account and pre clear the immigration and customs forms

https://www.vjw.digital.go.jp/main/#/vjwplo001

be prepared for Onsens being naked..its actually Ok

you will need some Yen, so set up a cashpoint card so you can withdraw some cash in Japan

Most people speak some English and most official signs have English, most atm /dinner ticket/train ticket machines have a English language option

Everything leaves on time, if you are 10 seconds late, you will miss it

Our hotel rooms all provided nice soap and shampoo/conditioner, so you dont really need your own

be aware of standing in the way or talking loudly in public, its not the Japanese way

have fun, its awesome here

If you buy a snack you eat it outside the venue and put the litter in their bins. Japanese people don't eat and walk.

7-11 food is good and when you're in a hurry it's worth using.

There are also no public bins - you have to take your rubbish back to your accommodation.

If you have tattoos - you have to cover them up. In the street etc and definitely in the Onsens.

We loved Hakone - a trip from Tokyo. The volcano, the cable car, the small train, the sculpture park, the pirate ship and there's more we didn't do.

Found we needed cash more than expected

I had heard you can do immigration in advance - thank you for the link!
We’ve got what feels like a lot of yen already. I’ve heard it’s pretty cash based. I have a monzo card which I have been told will work there. We pick-up the travel cards and pocket wifi at the hotel - just need to get there!
I’ve just downloaded Google translate and downloaded the Japanese dictionary.
I have tattoos but only on my thighs and I’m not sure we’ll visit an onsen, we have an onsen style bathroom at the hakone hotel.

These are such great tips - thank you! You’re all making me excited!

Oh and 7-11, Lawsons and Family Mart are all convenience shops with great snacks and full meals. They have a microwave and dispenser of boiling water for everyone to use, you just buy your meal, pay and then zap it or add hot water (for pot noodles)

Take a folding shopping bag

There are no rubbish bins anywhere

Every hotel room had a kettle and a few tea bags, but not much in the way of milk

The toilets are crazy, everywhere has the ones that will wash you..even in the train stations

At a restaurant they give you little wipes to clean your hands before you eat, but often dont give you paper napkins, so save the wipe for after them meal as well

Its rude to rest your chopsticks flat on the table or stick them into your bowl, you should prop up the tips on a rest or lay them horizontal on the top of your bowl