Yes, there are some ways you can now load them with certain credit cards, and I also believe you can do it through Apple Pay. I’ve never seen them but I keep hearing that some of the IC card machines have a card option but I’ll be on the lookout. Whether they take American cards is of course a different question. I try and only use the Japan Post ATMS since they’re the most reliable for foreign cards.
Shinjuku gyoen was my favourite parc as well.
I recommend visiting parcs in the morning. And wandering through some of the different shops in the afternoon. Or maybe when its raining shops and sunny parcs…
The parcs and shrines when not so crowded are amazing.
Shops do the usual suspects. certainly add a 100 yen store and a don quijote.
Other than that get the suica card for using the trains. google maps is of big help allthough locals were using a different app.
Learn where to exit the station. a lot of stations have different exits and taking the wrong one can consume some time…
Try as many different drinks you can. I immediately hit the jackpot by getting peach flavoured water. its unlike any flavoured water you ever had.
Try the snacks in supermarkets. try stuff. if its not your thing you didnt spend a lot on it anyway. and it is an experience nonetheless. Don’t be afraid of joining a line for a restaurant. Food is mostly cheap and amazing.
Check out daytrips. I ran out of time . Only stayed 5 days in tokyo but Kamakura came heavily recommended to me. and i regret not going there.
Live by your own pace and explore. Do what you want to do there.
13 days is plenty. and note down what you like the most for your next trip to Japan.
Take some cash with you (yen) and have something like a visa or mastercard. you can get money in most 7/11 there was a transaction fee though of 5 euro…
Oh and i mentioned use google maps… Make sure to get pocket wifi.
Isn’t Donki also a 100-yen store?
That’s not too surprising - the Japanese have their own app for pretty much everything. You can get a Hyperdia app too, but sadly the iOS version requires a subscription, for some reason I’ve never understood in the slightest (considering both website and the Android app are free).
I got some white peach fanta on my last trip. Most tasty.
I wanted to do this, but mostly just found myself eating at restaurants all the time. Only got lunch from a kombini once.
That’s the trick - when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Found a really tasty katsu restaurant doing this.
I went there, and managed to accomplish about half of what I wanted to do before running out of daylight. Still trying to decide whether to go back for another shot at it on my next trip, or just go somewhere else altogether.
I have an enormous list of things I want to do when I manage to get back to Japan again. I even made a custom Google map out of them.
Or a data SIM. Means one fewer device you need to keep track of. Or charged.
Nah, Daiso is the big (biggest?) 100 yen chain there. But Donki is more like a “Store full of a lot of cheap crap and sometimes a supermarket”.
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Random tip: if you have an iPhone and can navigate some basic Japanese, download the Suica app and you can use your phone as an IC card. You can also top up using Apple Pay and don’t need to waste time at charging stations.
Another useful app for when you’re in Tokyo: JR East Train Info. It’s a tad sluggish to load, but it tells you everything you ever wanted to know about trains in Tokyo and the eastern bits of Japan but were afraid to ask. Including the aircon temperature for every single carriage of every single train on the Yamanote Line.
And, you know, service status alerts and so forth.
https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/jr-east-train-info/id969371473?mt=8
Random tips!
If you have T-Mobile, then you can use your phone without charge for data and texts and calls are also cheap or free, depending on your plan. Otherwise, a single pocket WiFi will be sufficient for all three of you to use your phones for data without charge.
If you’re going to spend any time learning Japanese, then practice your katakana and your food words. You’ll use them more than anything else, by far.
A trip to Kyoto and back on the shinkansen costs more than a 7-day rail pass. So, if you’re leaving Tokyo, then a rail pass is probably a good investment. I highly recommend trains over planes for most trips in Japan. Unless you’re going really far, the train will be faster and more convenient. Green ticks aren’t generally worth it unless you have a lot of luggage or you really don’t like having too many other people around. Please don’t take a bunch of luggage on the subway during rush hour. Taxis aren’t expensive and that’s especially true for three people sharing one.
Suica cards work great at vending machines, but you’ll probably want to spend your coins there instead. If you use cash in Japan, then you’ll get a lot of coins back as change. If you don’t consciously use them, then you’ll soon have far too many. Keep 100 yen coins for coin laundry, if you need to.
Canned coffee is both horrible and great at the same time. I don’t know why. Emerald Mountain and Fire are my favorites.
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Could not stress this enough. Coin lockers, too. Also, if there’s a separate laundry detergent dispenser, it’ll probably take 10 yen coins.
Oh yeah! good point on the WiFi!
Depending on the Airbnb, the host may provide a hot spot. It was a life saver for me!
Yeah the great awning is under construction, but you can still admire the front of it. And think of it this way; you won’t have to pay any entry fees.
I recommend taking a taxi as far up to KiyoMizu as you can and then just leisurely walking up the hill to it. It’s full of shops and street food. Great if the weather isn’t bad.
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Your data is at up to 2G speeds - which is painfully slow if you’re used to LTE speeds. It is unlimited data but most portable wifi rental places also have an unlimited data option as well.
You get unlimited texts and calls are USD 0.20/minute.
When I go I just get a pocket wifi since it lets me use all my devices. I have a Google Voice number so if I need to make a call I use the Hangouts Dialer app that lets me make calls over wifi for free.
Hi,
I just got back from my second Japan trip, so here’s some tips:
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If you really really want to practice your Japanese, and you’re anxious about trying, you might not want to start in Tokyo. People almost always started conversations with me in English there, so I just fell into speaking simple English, rather than practicing my Japanese. In Osaka there was a lot less English, and I think starting the trip there would have gotten me into the habit of actually speaking Japanese.
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If you drink, when in Tokyo, definitely try to go to one of the fancy cocktail bars. We ended up at Ben Fiddich in Shinjuku, where the bartender asked us what type of drink we’d like to have and then made up a drink to match our request. Watching him make the drinks was a spectacle in itself, and the drinks were all delicious. I asked for something with Japanese whiskey and citrus, not too sweet, and got a yuzu old fashioned. I think four drinks ran right around $80 or $90, which isn’t cheap, but it was a great way to spend a cold winter evening.
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If you’re staying in a higher end hotel, they won’t have coin laundry, and Japan doesn’t have drop-off wash and folds like New York does, so we wasted a morning sitting in a tiny laundromat waiting for our laundry. It probably would have been better for us to book a cheaper hotel so we’d have laundry there.
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If you’re going to be there before baseball season ends, try to go see a baseball game. We went to a late-season game between two teams at the bottom of the rankings and there were still sections of crowds singing and cheering. Each player has their own cheer for when they come up to bat. The food is also great. Where else can you get takoyaki and cheese curds and beer served by girls in Suntory themed costumes?
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Definitely get a Suica card. We didn’t our first trip and spent forever trying to figure out exactly how much to put on a ticket every time we took the metro. The second trip, all we had to do was swipe our phones and walk through.
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If you’re into video games, Round One is everywhere and awesome. They’re 24 hours, with floors of arcade machines, crane games, bowling, pool, and karaoke. The Bemani machines were set to 2 credits per 100 yen
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Generally, look up places that you want to go and mark them in Google maps, then use the Google maps app while you’re there to see if there’s anything nearby that you were interested in. There’s nothing worse than finding out that yesterday you were right beside a cool place.
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Accept that you’re not going to be able to see everything in one trip, so just relax and have fun.
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I wanna pop in here to advocate business hotels - in particular, the Toyoko Inn chain. Not a huge amount of English is spoken, but they’re affordable, while at the same time clean and shiny, and have all the amenities that business travellers could need - coin laundry, free breakfast, wi-fi, newspapers, luggage storage on the day of check-in/check-out, and they’re found very nearly everywhere you go.
I have a map covered in markers, but I still keep discovering I was right by cool places. When I visited Kamakura, I stood literally on the doorstep of a famous Japanese sweets shop, and even took a photo of the building, without realising it was there (though in my defence, it was closed that day).
That’s a great point! We stayed at a Super Hotel in Osaka on our first trip. The rooms were tiny, but clean, and though the staff wasn’t great at English they were really helpful. It also had laundry and gave females a great little amenity kit with a mini facial and loofah. There was even a choose-your-own pillow bar, and if you gave them back the toothbrush that they left in the room (unused), you could trade it in for a snack.
For this second trip, we used points to save money, but because we ended up staying at “higher end” Western hotels, we often missed out on things like coin laundry and atmosphere.
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Just to throw in my two cents, during a trip I took last year, one thing I found was that it was a refreshing break to get out of the cities and enjoy the Japanese countryside. I had a great time, even with limited Japanese experience. The atmosphere was incredibly different from the Tokyo experience, and felt a bit more traditional and authentic. If you have the money for it, stay in a minshuku or ryokan. The food is usually excellent and they treat you with only the utmost hospitality. The ones outside the cities are usually a bit cheaper and aren’t as crowded.
I would highly recommend taking a daytrip between Tokyo and Kyoto to visit the Kiso valley. There are 3 famous towns in the valley: Magome, Tsumago and Narai. All three towns have been preserved with care. It looks like old Japan, it feels like you stepped into a time machine and came out 200 years in the past. They’re nestled in the mountains and the scenery is beautiful. Not sure if you’re into Japanese history, but if you are these would make an excellent daytrip. Even if you aren’t it’s an area of Japan that gets overlooked by many foreign tourists.
You could easily visit all three towns in one day, round trip by train from any of Tokyo, Kyoto or likely even Osaka. Although it may be more authentic to stay in one of the minshuku there overnight.
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Many have already mentioned great places to see. From my experience:
Let your bank or credit union know where you are going and when. Most stores do not take cards. Seven Elevens ATMs are more likely to except foreign debit cards. They almost always give 10,000 yen notes. Most stores can give you change for this.
There really are convenience stores on every corner. Great for quick snacks and drinks. And they sell alcohol.
Japan has soft water. It’s safe to drink since Japan is a developed country. Be careful when you come home. I got sick on US water when I came home.
Beware of deer if you go to Nara and/or Miyajima. They are used to humans and want your food. One bit me!
If you do get a rail pass - keep it safe! Deer may try to it it! Seriously. Same with your passport. Deer love expensive food.
Many restaurants will give you a fork and an English menu when they see you are a foreigner. Some will not. Depends on the restaurant and location.
Legitimate maid cafes approach women, the shady ones shoo them away.
Make sure to not get run over by bicycles. And cross the street quickly. I almost got run over in Tokyo.
That’s all I have for now. If I remember any more, I’ll add them. Everyone else is saying where to visit. I listed other things. Sorry. Hope this helps.
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To add to this, don’t try to feed the deer in Nara unless you want to be mobbed. Don’t feed the deer on Miyajima at all, because they’re trying to wean them off their dependence on tourists.
If you play Pokemon Go, you’ll find Seven-Elevens are marked by Pokestops, so it makes them really easy to find. Also McDonalds. And Softbank and Yahoo, but you may find those less relevant.
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Only worked for newer iPhone equipped with FeliCa NFC chip such iPhone X /8/8+ and domestic iPhone 7/7+. Other model wouldn’t work because doesn’t have built in FeliCa chip (Including global iPhone7/7+)
If you have iPhone I’m described above, yes. You can buy normal suica card, then transfer onto your iPhone. In iPhone, you can linked suica balance with credit card instead manually reload them in train station.
For Android, probably a bit hassle for temporary visitor unless you long stay in Japan, because mobile suica of android version requiring you to register and required Japanese phone number which is impossible obtained by tourist.
Neat-0, I might try this next time I’m in Tokyo! I have a Japanese phone number so no problem 