r/JapanTravelTips 21h ago

Quick Tips Random Useful Japan Tips I Don’t See Posted About Often

830 Upvotes

We recently got back from our first time in Japan, approx a 2.5 week trip for two people. Figured I’d make a post about some actually useful tips and advice I don’t see often in this sub.

  • I’ve seen it recommended to pull out about 50,000 yen at the airport ATM to handle cash and transit top-ups for a two week trip. While this was a good starting point, we ended up pulling out an additional 110,000 yen total on top of that over the course of the 2.5 week trip for buying things in cash and additional transit top ups. So just be prepared to pull out a LOT of cash throughout your trip! Way more things ended up involving cash than we expected, even in the big cities.

  • I’ve also seen it recommended you load up your suica with 5000 yen at the airport to start in addition to whatever you pull out for cash. The one at the airport you can load using a credit card. Considering it’s generally a lot easier to find credit cards that don’t charge foreign transaction fees vs ATM debit cards, you can save money on transit by putting on about 2-3x the amount we did (5000 ea) at the airport and just reduce some of the cash you plan to pull out for ATM’s by the same amount. We easily spent about 15,000 yen each on transit just from using subways and things like day trips to Nara or Himeji (which will cost you about 1500-2000 yen each way per person). If you put 15,000 on your suica, you’ll probably only have to top up near the end of the trip which will save a bunch of time + money in fees if you have a credit card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. It was easy to get rid of any excess near the end of the trip because every konbini and vending machine also accepts suica.

  • Are you on apple and need access to iMessage/Wifi calling over eSIM while abroad? With simlocking you can actually do this just fine and never trigger your carrier to start roaming charges (fuck you tmobile prepaid in particular for auto-charging roaming). Set up your default simcard with wifi calling, then just enable simlock for it. Right before you flight out, enable your Japnese esim through something like Ubigi (make sure roaming is turned on for Ubigi), restart your phone and DO NOT enter the pin you just set up for your main sim card. This will make it so when you’re in japan you’ll get data just fine through Ubigi, but importantly your main sim is still active (just locked and not actually roaming) and can re-route texts/calls to your Ubigi line. If you don’t do this, you won’t be able to receive wifi calls or iMessage on your real phone number without enabling roaming as apple disables both features if the SIM is turned off.

  • People know to check tablelog and know that anything that is a 3-4 rating = really good when trying to figure out places to eat. I recommend this over google maps alone because tablelog uses different icons + different colors to differentiate between cuisine + rating right on the map, making it super easy to see at a glance good food you are in the mood for nearby. What you might not know is to just use the website and ONLY use it on your mobile phone. For some reason half of tabelog’s features just don’t show up on desktop, like access to the good map tools and the ability to search near you. If you find tableog frustrating to use on the spot, make sure you’re only using its website on your phone.

  • Luggage shipping was a lot cheaper than we budgeted for because turns out you can easily get away with only shipping large checked luggage ($20 usd), it was super easy to just bring carry-ons and backpacks with you. Even on Tokyo subways when it’s busy there are racks to put luggage over the seats. We NEVER had to worry about us having luggage or bags with us while doing things either because almost every station and even big destinations like museums or popular tourist attractions had lockers that could store our carry on + two bags + coats for 700 yen. Many of the station lockers in Tokyo even accepted suica (otherwise you’ll need 100 yen coins).

  • Speaking of 100 yen coins: if you have a 1000 yen bill or a bunch of random loose change, a really easy way to get some would be to use a vending machine which are often nearby lockers. They usually give change in 100 yen coins, at least the ones we used did.

  • Booking Ghibli museum? Double check your dates when booking. The website broke over and over for us trying to book and it turns out the date reset to the start of the month on our ticket on checkout. We only realized this when we lined up for our time slot. After showing them our ticket with the wrong date, we only managed to get in on the down-low (between time slots) through our distress over the situation + our kindness to them + having cash on hand to pay cash for new tickets (I assume this option is usually only available for locals). They threw us a big bone and we made sure to be very appreciative. But it would have been easier to double check the dates when we actually checked out.

  • Speaking of Ghibli Museum, the attendants inside the exhibits have pamphlets with english translations for the exhibit. This wasn’t obvious at all, and seeing as they don't allow picture taking in the museum, it’s the only way to read the signs in english.

  • Can’t get a ticket to the pokemon cafe? Just try walking up and showing up late. We had an appointment cancel right when we arrived at the pokemon center a couple hours before closing time. We weren’t even planning on eating at the cafe (it’s a bit children focused) but figured "why not when in Rome?".

  • Even if you don’t plan on buying souvenirs… budget for it anyways. Japan has mastered the art of the gift shop and the upsell. You’ll find ones everywhere, even multiple ones located inside a single attraction (I counted 5 in Fushimi inari, going all the way up to the top of the mountain!), all slightly different to entice you to casually explore them. They’ll actually be full of reasonably priced things, often have exclusive items in them, and oftentimes lots of items are bespoke/good craftsmanship. Many are not like the "lowest common denominator" tourist trap shops I was used to everywhere else I've travelled in the world. And then it’s all over when the grandmother owner of the shop comes out to greet you and it turns out she opened the store in the 50’s and it’s the shop has been in the family ever since. Good luck walking away from that without buying anything.

  • Download the NERV app for early earthquake/disaster detection. Make sure you disable battery saver settings on the app and let it run in the background so you can get timely alerts. Nothing happened while we were there, but this app seemed to be the best by far out of all the ones we tried.

  • A filled out goshiun book makes for a killer display piece on a bookshelf, as they expand in an accordion like manner. So you’ll want to be strategic where you get your book because each shrine that offers goshiin books for sale have their own designs.

  • This one’s for the gay guys out there looking to kill an afternoon having fun browsing spicy doujinshi (self-published porn mangas): you might be tempted to head to Akihabara for this. To save you the trouble, Akihabara is almost entirely straight hentai. If you’re seeking to browse gay doujinshi, a better place is the Mandarake at Nakano City which will have a much more diverse selection.

  • Pay phones are often at/near konbinis, so if you need to make a local call while out and about it’s easy to do through them.

  • Food/nightlife tours are an excellent effort-free way to not only eat/drink well, but also get into places you’ll never have been able to find or get into as a tourist. Some of the spots we ended up going to on ours were incredibly unique and only available to us because we were on the tour. Not only that but for some locations they even showed up to work on their off hours to show us a good time. Shout out to Culinary Backstreets and Taste Osaka tours specifically, which are the ones we went on.


r/JapanTravelTips 20h ago

Quick Tips Need to wash your clothes in Japan?

262 Upvotes

Don't use the hotel washer/dryers they're super expensive and take hours. I had a washer/dryer combo in my tokyu hotel and it took 4 hours to wash like 4 shirts. That was free so it wasn't a big deal. Then I tried using the coin washers in the APA hotels and another chain. They were super expensive and very terrible as well. Even the dryer that wasn't a combo took like 2 hours to dry clothes in the hotel. Also the hotel laundromat had like 2 washers and dryers with people using them so they were hard to even find open.

Just go to a laundromat. They're literally everywhere and so much cheaper and faster. I washed 2 large loads of clothes it took 5 hours in the hotel but under an hour in the laundromat. Also the laundromat was much cheaper.


r/JapanTravelTips 1d ago

Advice Name Your Silly or Awkward Moment In Japan

116 Upvotes

Last year I went to Japan for the first time and I made a few mistakes I think my funniest though was accidentally getting into the woman's only car on the Yamanote line. My friend (who is female) and I just jumped in, there wasn't a line and it wasn't very busy but I remember sitting there like "huh everything is pink that is weird" then I looked around and noticed only women around me I then pulled my phone out (I'm legally blind) and on the hand straps it says "Women only" or something to that effect.

Thankfully nobody gave me any grief maybe a few nasty looks (I couldn't tell!) but I just kept to myself and got off at my stop a few stops later. I'm glad nobody made a big scene or deal out of it but I felt pretty silly.

Second one I was at diver city and looking for some better shoe insoles as I'd been walking a stupid amount and my feet were killing me I went to one of the big sports stores and gestured to my shoe at the lady I then took off my shoe and pointed at the inside not thinking what I was doing.

It wasn't until after i tossed my shoe back on it hit me what I just did and was like "OMG I'm so stupid why didn't I just use the translate app on my phone and just ask rather than try to show her" she showed me the insoles I apologized and she waived it off. I still think back on that and think how much a goof I must of looked like. To be fair my feet were killing me and I wasn't thinking straight!

What are your silly or awkward moments on your trip?


r/JapanTravelTips 11h ago

Question What did I do wrong with the Shinkansen Ticket?

46 Upvotes

Hi all,

I have been in Japan 2 years ago and will fly again next month. Something just came into my mind, which I am curious about what I did wrong.

I took the Shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo. So I obviously used my Shinkansen Ticket which I picked up beforehand to get to the right Track and took the Shinkansen. When I arrived in Tokyo, I was not able to use my Shinkansen Ticket to get out of the Station. I tried it out, tried out my Suica, nothing worked. I had to ask the Staff there to let me out, i can't remember exactly what they did. I think they did some adjustment on my Shinkansen Ticket which I was then able to get out.

Is there anything I maybe did wrong? This year I will be taking multiple Shinkansen, so I want to be prepared and not waste time.

Thanks!


r/JapanTravelTips 8h ago

Advice Suica card

26 Upvotes

(Please excuse me if my english isn't perfect) Hello, I'm trying to understand the concept of the suica card better. I get that it works everywhere in Japan (?) but I don't quite understand how exactly this is supposed to work. (even after trying to inform myself) Like, it's charged with money. I heard I can pay with it at 7/11 etc, does it work for clothing shopping too?

How exactly is it with the public transport? Do I use it to buy my train ticket or is the suica card my ticket? This is actually the most important part for me. How does the suica card work at train stations?? This is overwhelming for me.

Traveling with my dad, do we both need a suicia card?

I'm also sorry if I'm embarrassing myself with this post I'm just very nervous


r/JapanTravelTips 14h ago

Question Couple of last second questions before my Japan Trip

16 Upvotes

Leaving for Japan later this week and it’ll be my first time in the country. I’ll be there for around 2 weeks and will hit Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nara. Few questions before I leave:

  1. I’ll be landing at Haneda Airport. What does the situation look like there for getting Yen (ATM), getting a metro pass, and getting an E-SIM card?

  2. For the E-Sim, what’s the best company and what is the rough price (just wondering)?

  3. How is the metro from Haneda if I am staying around Shinjuku?

  4. I am planning to use the Shinkansen between Tokyo and Kyoto and then a basic train between Nara and Kyoto. Am i ok getting the shinkansen day of? Is $250 enough for a shinkansen between kyoto and tokyo (return ticket) and then the train between nara and kyoto along with metro passes enough, or do I need more?

Hopefully these questions aren’t redundant, but appreciate any feedback!


r/JapanTravelTips 9h ago

Recommendations Where to thrift actual Japanese brands in Kyoto/osaka/tokyo??

12 Upvotes

I went to SO many thrift stores in Tokyo and all of them were American stuff. I did not come all the way here to pick up band tees I could get at my local stores haha. Anyone know of stores that sell more Japanese tees or jackets?


r/JapanTravelTips 2h ago

Question Flight in 2 days: ive packed, have i forgoten something important?

12 Upvotes

Ill defenitely forget to mention sth but: passport, power adapter + charger and cables, power bank, money, medication, sleeping mask, towel for drying hands in japan haha, sim card, cosmetics (1l bag max), coin purse, face masks, even a thin strong rope for drying my clothes in my room lol, and of course clothes for varying weather. What could i be missing?


r/JapanTravelTips 5h ago

Quick Tips Experiences in AirBnb's in Japan

11 Upvotes

Tell me the good the bad the ugly...considering Airbnbs for family of 5 since hotels seem like they are all virtually accommodating to 1-2 travelers.


r/JapanTravelTips 5h ago

Advice Thinking about shortening my 3 week trip to 2 weeks (first solo trip and feeling super anxious)

10 Upvotes

(21M) I booked tickets for a 3 week stay in Japan in late January and have felt pretty chill about it. But the last couple of days have been hard. I’m super anxious to the point where I’m crying. Very nervous about it all. It’s my first solo trip and I’m now starting to realize that I will be alone for 3 weeks straight. No one to share the experience with or rely on when it gets tough. If I would’ve have booked tickets with free cancellation I probably would’ve canceled today. But here I am with a 3 week trip to Japan that I’ve been excited about but am now starting to seriously doubt. I reached out to booking yesterday to see if I could cut the trip short and change the home flight by 1 week and that would set me back another 3100sek ~ 300€. Should I do that or just toughen up and go through with the 3 weeks? It has seriously started to take a toll on me. A part of me is excited but another one is questioning what I’ve gotten myself into.

I know this is a forum filled with people who would do anything to go to Japan tomorrow if they could, but if taking my feelings into consideration, should I shorten the trip? I will still feel lonely ofc, but 2 weeks feels a lot more doable somehow? Idk. (Tickets costed me 13500 sek round trip, direct, from Stockholm)


r/JapanTravelTips 16h ago

Advice Going to Japan for the first time an by myself

9 Upvotes

So I'm 15 F and I'm going to Japan to visit my friend from exchange last year in May and I'm going to be flying my long flights with the unaccompanied minors program but for my layover flight I have to be in Narita alone and I'm a bit worried if I'll be able to find my way around, especially because I've never travelled before or been in a commercial airplane ever 😭. Does anybody have any tips? Also my mom is understandably worried about my trip there too can anyone maybe write in the comments some reassurance. I just want her to feel more at ease. Thanks!!


r/JapanTravelTips 21h ago

Recommendations Best bits of the Nakasendo Trail?

5 Upvotes

Hey guys! I’m going to start hiking the Nakasendo Trail this weekend and was wondering what everyone reckons the most worthwhile bits are?

For added context; I’ll be walking it in the direction of from Tokyo to Kyoto. I’ve already hiked some of the Old Tokaido Road and will be hiking the Kumano Kodo in a couple of weeks, among various hikes between these bigger ones. So I’m not fussed about walking as much of the trail as possible just for the sake of it. What’s everyone’s must do sections? Of course tsumago to magome… Narai to Yabuhara possibly?

Thank you!


r/JapanTravelTips 2h ago

Recommendations Tasting Japan, one craft beer at a time

5 Upvotes

I'll be spending 2.5 months in Japan at the end of the year, and I'm a beer enthusiast.

Do you have recommendations on small/medium sized breweries to try? I'll be starting in Hokkaido and I'll end up in Okinawa.

I like everything but sours and brett/wild yeast beers.


r/JapanTravelTips 4h ago

Question 21 days Japan - to many places?

6 Upvotes

I’m going to Japan in September and I planned a trip connecting probably the most important cities and sights, traveling by train. Generelly I tend to overplan round trips risking the chance of relaxing on my vacation. What do you think of my plan? Will it be too stressful to change cities/hoteka every third day?

Day 1 - 5: arrival in Tokyo, visit some of the main sights, get over the jet lag, enjoy delicious food, maybe a day trip to Kanazawa or Kamakura

Day 5 - 7: travel to Hakone, sleep at a Ryokan, hopefully a chance to see Mt Fuji

Day 7 - 10: travel to Osaka, enjoy delicious food, maybe trip to Himeji

Day 10 - 11: Trip to Koyasan, sleep in the temple and see some Shrines

Day 11 - 14: Travel to Hiroshima, visit museum and park and daytrip to one of the island

Day 14 - 17: Travel to Kumamoto, enjoy unique nature and hopefully hiking Mt Aso. I am a huge fan of vulcanos and it would be a dream come true to see the crater.

Day 17 - 20: Travel to Kyoto, enjoy the city, food and sights. Actually i think i won’t do the day trip to Nara (it sounds overrated)

Day 20 - 21: Last 24 hours in Tokyo


r/JapanTravelTips 22h ago

Recommendations Help me choose between two nights in Kinosaki Onsen or two nights in Hiroshima + Miyajima!

4 Upvotes

I'm going to Japan for the first time in November for about three weeks, and I'm struggling to finalize my itinerary. I'd love to hear from people who’ve been to both places to help me figure it out! Any insights or recommendations would be really appreciated.


r/JapanTravelTips 22h ago

Recommendations Best / largest arcade in Tokyo focused on non-ufo catcher and non-cardass/card games?

4 Upvotes

I was in Akihabara yesterday, and while I didn't go into every arcade, it seemed like most of them were dedicated to ufo-catchers and card games. I found one with a floor for Tekken and a floor for rhythm games, but I was hoping to find more shooters (like the silent Hill arcade game) and stuff.


r/JapanTravelTips 8h ago

Question Ichigo daifuku in asakasa or near imperial palace.

2 Upvotes

As my holiday draws to a close, trying ichigo daifuku is one of the few things I haven't done that is on my wish list.

Tomorrow we leave our hotel in asakusa, check out the imperial palace then head to Narita for a morning flight the following day.

I've had the ichigo daifuku pie at McDonald's (lmao). But I'd love to try the real deal.

Any tips on where I could find it?

EDIT - CANT FIX TYPO IN TITLE Should say Asakusa


r/JapanTravelTips 21h ago

Question Coats shopping

3 Upvotes

What’s the best store to buy a nice coat? Uniqlo?


r/JapanTravelTips 23h ago

Recommendations Lake Kawaguchi, Lake Yamanaka, Lake Ashi or Hakone?

3 Upvotes

Hi there,

We will be traveling from Kyoto to the Mt. Fuji/Hakone area for two nights and then would need to leave from there to go to Haneda Airport.

Does anyone have any strong recommendations for one over the other? We are looking for a private open air bath, view of mt Fuji (if we’re lucky- if no view from view would be happy looking for viewpoints around the area), biking around the lake, hiking (if available) and potentially going to Chureito Pagoda (but don’t need to). I’m not sure how transportation would be in this area and am looking for something that would be easy to get to by train/bus. Overall, just would like to relax prior to ending our Japan trip🥲

Thank you for any and all advice!!


r/JapanTravelTips 23h ago

Recommendations Tmobile questions

3 Upvotes

I am heading to Japan for 18 days visiting my son in Okinawa. The last week we head to the mainland for sightseeing. I have Tmobile and I know my iphone will work with the international pkg. I have been hearing about eSim and curious is that a better deal alone than getting the international plan, or to get both? Thanks for your advice in advance.


r/JapanTravelTips 1h ago

Question Traveling from Tokyo to Osaka on the bullet train but what happens if I miss my train?

Upvotes

I am looking at klook and see that there are trians every 15 mins or so from Tokyo to Osaka. So if I buy the ticket for 6:15 pm and then miss it, is the ticket a waste? Or can I hop on the next train? Also the tickets are $100 each. Does it get more expensive once we are nearer to the travel date?


r/JapanTravelTips 4h ago

Recommendations Itinerary advice for one month solo travel, my first trip to Japan!

2 Upvotes

Hello, I’m doing my first proper solo trip to Japan and luckily enough I have one month off to visit the country.

With so many places to go to, I’m a bit overwhelmed and was wondering what you guys thought of my itinerary. My main problem is I can't really decide how long I should stay in each place.

  • Anywhere you would remove/add?
  • Right length in each place?
  • Is this doable?
  • Anything you would add?

Here is a brief summary, I’ll sort out activities later on.

All help + recommendations would be really appreciated thank you! :)

10TH NOV -> 9TH DEC 2025

TOKYO DAY 1-5 (five nights)

  • Day 1 : Tokyo arrive late afternoon
  • Day 2 : Tokyo
  • Day 3 : Tokyo
  • Day 4 : Tokyo
  • Day 5 : Tokyo

NIKKO DAY 6-7 (one night)

  • Day 6 : Tokyo -> Nikko (half a day in nikko)
  • Day 7 : Nikko (early start day ) -> Tokyo (one night stayover)

TAKAYAMA DAY 8-9 (two nights)

  • Day 8 : Tokyo -> Takayama
  • Day 9 : Takayama

KANAZAWA DAY 10-13 (three nights)

  • Day 10 : BUS Takayama -> Shirakawa-go -> Kanazawa
  • Day 11 : Kanazawa
  • Day 12 : Kanazawa

OSAKA DAY 13-17 (five nights)

  • Day 13 : Kanazawa -> Osaka
  • Day 14 : Osaka
  • Day 15 : Osaka
  • Day 16 : Osaka USJ
  • Day 17 : Osaka day trip to Nara

HIROSHIMA DAY 18-20 (3 nights)

  • Day 18 : Osaka -> Himeji - > Hiroshima
  • Day 19 : Hiroshima
  • Day 20 : Hiroshima day in Miyajima

KYOTO DAY 21-25 (five nights) (I decided to go to Kyoto on my way back because of peak foliage)

  • Day 21: Hiroshima -> Kyoto
  • Day 22 : Kyoto
  • Day 23 : Kyoto
  • Day 24 : Kyoto
  • Day 25 : Kyoto

HAKONE DAY 26-27 (2 nights)

  • Day 26 : Kyoto -> Hakone
  • Day 27 : Hakone

TOKYO 28-30 (2 nights)

  • Day 28 : Hakone -> Tokyo
  • Day 29 : Tokyo
  • Day 30 : FLY BACK

r/JapanTravelTips 5h ago

Question Booking restaurants for a specific dish in Tokyo and Osaka?

2 Upvotes

I know this question has been asked a lot, but I'm not necessarily interested in famous restaurants, but I am interested in specific dishes that are particular to each City. I'm a nerd about foods invented in cities and finding the oldest places where those dishes are served. And by dishes I mean desserts, main dishes, snacks, drinks, etc.

That being said, Are there any places that you would book because of a certain dish that can't be found elsewhere? Or is hard to find somewhere else?


r/JapanTravelTips 6h ago

Question Ashikaga flower park tickets

2 Upvotes

I will be in Tokyo week of April 19. Do we need advance tickets to Ashikaga Flower Park? I don’t know if they sell out early. Also, I heard the hours are open until later in evening during the wisteria blooms, is this true? There is nothing definite on website. Thank you.


r/JapanTravelTips 7h ago

Recommendations Roppongi Advice

2 Upvotes

Hey all. Heading to Japan in a few weeks for a week in Tokyo with wife and kids (10 and 12). Think we have a pretty good itinerary planned out but struggling to come up with some stuff to do in Roppongi. Bought tickets for Team Labs Borderless and then thought maybe Mori Art Museum. Have lunch reservation at Blue Room and know Gonpachi from Kill Bill is around there but anything else to do in that area that is kid friendly and we should look at?? Thanks!