I just got back from Japan and I’m on Cloud 9! It was an amazing trip that I didn’t want to leave from. Seriously counting down the days until I return to Japan because I compiled a list of cities that I have to visit besides Tokyo. This blog post will be a bit short and sweet as I want to divide this content up to include every single thing that you guys asked about!

In this post, I will highlight things that you should know before visiting Japan and things I wish I would have known before going. Let’s jump right in..

So first things first.. 

Tokyo is Expensive.

This shouldn’t have taken me by surprise because I had done research prior to going and I knew how expensive it was going to be. Tokyo is the most expensive city I’ve traveled to. Still, it was a bit of a shock at how expensive everything was. This leads me to believe that the rest of Japan (may not be as expensive as Tokyo) is relatively expensive compared to other foreign cities. But for example, a 20 minute uber is almost $40. Meals (even the cheaper ones) can dent your pockets. The crappier hotels still charge a pretty penny. Even the subway was more expensive than it should be.

Pocket Wifi’s.

A pocket wifi will be your best friend in Japan. Both Haneda and Narita airport will have them readily available for you. Just make sure to look at the airport map and find them before arriving or ask the airport staff for directions once you land. We used Ninja Wifi and spent about $10 USD a day for our pocket wifi. Although you do have to charge it, battery lasts about a day and some.. so the battery life is great! Signal was amazing, we only experienced crappy signal only once or twice and for no longer than an hour. I highly recommend getting one because it makes getting around that much easier without having to ask too many questions or running into the language barrier. Keep your social media fam updated in real life with a pocket wifi.

If you’re flying into Haneda airport the 2nd floor of international arrivals has a couple of wifi options.

The Time Difference.

Jetlag is reaaal. I highly recommend sleeping the majority of the flight there if you’re landing during the day. If you’re landing at night I would recommend not sleeping that much so that when you land you go right to sleep and wake up the next morning feeling refreshed. You will randomly wake up in the middle of the night. You will feel tired in the middle of the day during your trip. And you will want to take naps throughout the day and I really urge you to not. I took a “nap” before dinner one night and woke up at 5AM the next day. Take some redbull and fight those urges. On your way back home I recommend taking an extra day before you get back into your daily routine.

Respect the Rules.

Japanese people are super clean and super organized. It’s common courtesy to not eat while you’re walking. There are close to zero trash cans in the streets of Japan, so if you have any trash with you then you’re suppose to carry it until you get home or to an establishment with a trash.

The subway stations are very organized. People get in lines to wait outside of the doors prior to getting in (New York could never), and they wait for people to completely come off before going in. No one talks loudly on subways or even on the phone, it’s super quiet. I found myself talking on the subway way too loudly a lot of times.

There’s also no tipping in Japan! You will definitely have to fight the urge because it doesn’t feel right to leave a restaurant without tipping.

Suica Cards.

The best way around Tokyo and getting to other cities in Japan from Tokyo is through subways and trains. A Suica card makes your life so much easier when traveling this way. The card is basically an e-money card for subways, bus rides, and JR east trains. You purchase one and you load money on it. You can use it for transportation fares + vending machines and newspapers! Here is some more detailed information on the Suica Card.

Sidenote: Subway stations in Tokyo are huuuge. The biggest one is Shinjuku. It has dozens of exits. I would recommend to not go out of any exit you see, make sure it’s the correct exit for where you need to go or you will be going around in circles all day. With your pocket wifi you will be able to use google maps to see which exit you need to use.

Debit/Credit Cards.

Surprisingly, for such a big city Tokyo likes cash more than they do cards. If you’re an American, the 7/11 ATMs will be your friend. 7/11’s ATMs are some of the only ATMs that take american cards. If you want to be on the safe side, I would bring cash from the states prior to landing in Japan and then exchanging for the Japanese Yen at the airport.

I only remember using my debit card at burger king and 7/11.. everywhere else was strictly cash.

Spaces are Small.

Hotel rooms, bathrooms, etc. are smaaaaall. Our hotel room was very tight and that’s just the standard. I could have probably did four spins in our room and touched every wall in the room. The bathrooms are also very small and borderline claustrophobic. I’m not sure how small in comparison airbnbs and homes are from America since they cost as much as hotels if not more, so we ended up going with a hotel. But, I would probably look at more airbnbs next time to see if I can get more room.

We stayed at Apa Hotel, Apa is a chain of hotels in Japan. We stayed at Apa Hotel Higashi Shinjuku Kabukicho. I chose this particular one because I read an article that Shinjuku is a good neighborhood to stay in on your first trip to Tokyo, and I agree. It was in the perfect spot. Small but nice location.

Language Barrier.

This is the one I got the most questions about. Yes, the language barrier is really real. The language barrier was probably the worse than other places like Paris or Amsterdam ONLY because I can’t read the Japanese language. When you’re in a place like Amsterdam at least you can sound out words that you see and street signs, etc… you can’t do that in Japan. But, I will say the Japanese people I encountered were SO friendly. I got sick during my trip and found a pharmacist + asked for medicine all by describing my symptoms by pointing at my body. The 7/11 worker who pointed me to the pharmacist walked out of the store and gave me physical directions on taking a right or left.

When it came to restaurants, the workers try their best to speak English. Hotel workers speak English as well. Bars and night life are a little different and they won’t speak as much English but a smile goes a long way. And again, with your pocket wifi you can pull up google translate and take pictures of things, type things out, and even speak into the microphone for a translation. At all the subway stations, they have names of stations written out in the English alphabet so you can easily find where you have to go next. If you’re nervous about this barrier, don’t be.

My next post will be a guide on all of the things I did while in Tokyo! I hope this one helps answer some questions and prep you for your next trip to Tokyo!

 

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XoXo,

Wynee