Travel tips for Japan Travel

Here are some advice that you may find useful.

Internet connection: WIFI free access is becoming widely available in Japan, as the government is pushing for more before the 2020 Olympics. Japan is actually already one of the most connected country in the world, with high speed. Go into any convenience stores, McDonald, Starbucks, JR/metro station and there is free WIFI. Check with your hotel/accomodation beforehand.

This site run by the Japanese tourism association helps you find a spot, near where you are. https://japanfreewifi.jnto.go.jp/eng/wifi-spot-nearby.html

Lost? Not a lot of Japanese people who are fluent in English, but many are very willing to help and try. So, ask them. Also, the local police station, KOBAN, that are everywhere, will be a great place to seek help.

Health and insurance: All the usual medicine will be available at the many drug stores. However, it is always a good idea to have some with you, just to feel secure. As for insurance, I always get one before I leave my home country, though I have never used it. Insurance is insurance. Japanese clinics and hospitals will very often not accept a foreign patient, unless you are insured. So, it is a good idea to have yourself covered.

Toilets: Public toilets are readily available in many places, like the station, convenient stores, cafe, museums. They are usually very clean. Here is an article on how to use the Japanese high tech toilets! http://hiddenjapanguide.com/archives/97

Money: credit cards, withdrawing cash

Make sure you check the exchange rate, as it fluctuates quite a bit. For example, before Abenomics, it was very strong at 75 yen to USD. Now in 2016, it is 110-115 range. (Suddenly, Japan feels cheap to USD travellers!) It is not a good idea to exchange money at a Japanese bank, as the process can take forever, not to mention all the extra fees they will charge you.

Use the ATMs available in Postal Office, 7-11 convenience stores to withdraw cash using your visa/master cards. In large cities, credit cards are accepted at shops and restaurants, though in regional areas, this is still rare. So, be careful.

Transportation:Metro, JR, local trains, etc.

There is an article I wrote suggesting NAVITIME, a very useful app for this purpose. If you input point A to point B, it will give you several options to choose from. Very easy to use. Try it! Here is the link- http://hiddenjapanguide.com/archives/1129

Stamps (kitte 切手): You might want to send a postcard home or a letter to you family? You can get stamps at post offices as well as the convenient stores. For the price, you can check here or just ask at the store. For postcards, Y70 to anywhere in the world. Letter is Y110 to the USA, but differs by region. Here is the link- http://www.post.japanpost.jp/index_en.html

Tips: No need in Japan.

Where and what to eat: check the TABELOG article here-http://hiddenjapanguide.com/archives/1123

Tabelog.com is easy to use and very helpful. Sort by location, type of cuisine, budget and so on. As it is ranked by the users, it is fun to look at the rankings and the reviews (only in Japanese). All the pictures are very helpful, too.

There are others like Gurunavi, which are paid and sponsored by the restaurants themselves. So the rankings are not useful. However, it is worth while to check the restaurants that you are interested in, as they often offer coupons and discounts. Check here- https://gurunavi.com/

Where to stay:

Now this is a difficult one. I suggest that you try and come up with a rough itinery first, depending on how many days you have and what you would like to do in Japan.

Here are some useful sights:

JALAN (run by Recruit) https://www.jalan.net/en/japan_hotels_ryokan/Hotels/

Tripadvisor https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g294232-Japan-Vacations.html

Rakuten Travel https://travel.rakuten.com/

Any questions or requests?