The Best Japan Travel Tips

A Collection of 35+ Years of Experience & Wisdom
(…and What So Many Others Leave Out)

You can have a fantastic trip in Japan! And contrary to what so many other people say, you can do it on a budget. There are many discounts and opportunities for international travelers that residents of Japan can only dream of. Perhaps some crackpot with an ax to grind has told you about the $20 cups of coffee, $100 melons, sky high price for this or that…what you need to remember is that for nearly every wild price they quote, there is often a cheaper alternative available – if you only knew about it. Your main costs will be accommodations, food, transport, and incidentals. Each of these will be looked at more closely.

What to See, Where to Go, When to Travel

Japan has something for nearly anyone. Many have expressed interest in seeing Japan, but don’t have any idea on what to see. It’s all up to your own individual interests – and nobody knows what those are better than you. So what interests you? There are many aspects to Japan, including its many temples/shrines, castles, shopping, arts, museums, gardens, hot springs, hiking, folk crafts, festivals, nature, pop culture, cuisine, and many more. Don’t be afraid to try something new. You absolutely do not need to hire some overpriced tour guide at all.

Once you know what to see, you can determine where to go to see it all. Do you prefer to see some of the best in many places? Or fully immerse yourself in a given region? Do you travel fast paced, or go really slowly? Either way, those who have a better experience are people who are realistic and don’t try to bite off more than they can chew, nor those who just linger and loiter. You don’t have to see it all in one trip. Japan will always be here. So if you think you might return to Japan again, it makes more sense to stick to just a couple of regions, and leave the rest for the future. And please don’t be a clod who only spends all your time in Tokyo, then flies home to tell your friends that you’ve “seen Japan”. You haven’t.

The best seasons to visit Japan are spring and autumn. But there are some nice things in each season. It’s important to note that Japan actually covers a lot of latitudes, and Okinawa starts warming up more than 3 months earlier than Hokkaido. Summertime in Hokkaido and the far north of Honshu Island though are excellent.
The peak expensive seasons in Japan are the end/start of the year, Golden Week (end of April & first week of May) and O-Bon. That said, getting a hotel in popular places like Kyoto during the cherry blossom season (usually the end of March through the first week of April) can be hard. Choosing a suburb or Osaka is a good alternative. While the cherry blossoms are famous and beautiful, the rest of spring’s beauty follows later – you can see the blossoms but the mountains are often still brown and dead until weeks later.
Late spring and early summer (June through early July in the southern half of Japan) brings the rainy season and there are many days of pouring rain, steam bath humidity, and lots of mildew for damp clothes. Summer brings some horrendous muggy and sticky weather (especially in Kyoto, which sits in a basin) everywhere except the high mountains and far north. Autumn brings some deeply yearned for relief as well as the beautiful autumn colors from November (or earlier up north or mountains). Winters are cold but not unbearable in most of the country. There are also many great places to ski in the Japan Alps and Hokkaido. Late winter around February through March brings the plum blossoms (ume) just before the cherry blossoms and they are exquisite too. If you have a choice though, autumn after typhoon season is by far the best season to go to Japan, as far as good weather goes.

Avoid Golden Week No Matter What. However….

You must have heard the stereotypes of the workaholic Japanese, staying til way late at night at work and rarely seeing home. There is truth in that for some of course, and Golden Week (end of April through the first part of May) is one of the few times in the year Japanese actually expect to have a holiday. Years ago many rushed to the airport and flew abroad. With Japan’s economy in a coma for 25 years, there is somewhat less of that these days. Prices can be high, airfare exorbitant, trains full, hotels booked up, you name it. Everyone says to avoid this time like the plague.

However, once again, there is opportunity here that few others see. As a foreign tourist, you are not bound to their work schedule, so you can start or end your trips through it or around it – and still do well as long as you are not fighting the Japanese for the same seats and heading in the same direction. So timing is crucial here. Avoiding Golden Week also means cheating yourself of some of Japan’s most beautiful sights, like the peak of the wisteria at the Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi and Kawachi Fujien in Fukuoka, or the beauty of Japan’s tulips such as the annual Tulip Fair in Toyama, Huis Ten Bosch in Nagasaki, Umami-kyuryo Park in Nara, the Nanohana festival in Nagano, and Shinrin Koen in Saitama, among others. The shibazakura at the Fuji 5 Lakes, the Hitachi Seaside Park in Ibaraki, and Nabano no Sato in Mie are all gorgeous in springtime.

The Nuts & Bolts – 2 Keys To A Fantastic Japan Trip
1. Budget

These are the same anywhere, yet few people consider them. The first is properly budgeting your trip and knowing what standard you’re satisfied with. If you want to splurge, you can. If you don’t, you still can be comfortable without skimping, scrooging or starving.
You can eat quite decently at a restaurant for ¥1000 (about $10) per meal. You could even go lower by getting food at a grocer’s, convenient store, fast food, or department store basement (especially after 6 PM when they start discounting their bento meals). Don’t be afraid of someplace if you can’t read the menu. Many places have displays of the food they serve in a window-front. Just take the waiter or waitress outside and point at what you want.

In Japan, bars can be moderately expensive to insanely high. Some ex-pat places can have some good deals and happy hours. But if you want to save some money, grab a few drinks at a convenience store, find some benches on a street or park, and do some people watching. It just might be even more educational and enjoyable for you – and yes, in Japan you can get completely plastered on the street and as long as you aren’t a nuisance, nobody cares.

Can you find a cheap, clean, decent, and convenient place to stay the night for US$30 a night where you’re from? How about just $20? You can in Japan! Yes, even in Tokyo at some hostels like 1980stay or even your own hotel room at places south of Minami-Senju Station like the New Koyo or Juyoh Hotel – and countless more. Even including AC, fridge, and free wi-fi. And many others across Japan too. Cheap capsule hotels also exist for the non-claustrophobic.
Beyond that, there are many business hotels which offer en suite rooms and usually breakfast thrown in for free. Most are conveniently located near train stations and there are independent hotels as well as nationwide chains like Toyoko Inn, Superhotel, Comfort Inn, Dormy Inn, Route Inn, MielparqueHotel 123, and numerous others. There are also Japanese inns (ryokan) which range from cheap to exorbitant, and are well worth a night for the experience. Plus if with a significant other, there are many ‘Love Hotels’ made for couples which are roomy, cheap, and clean.

Above that of course are countless 3-5 star hotels. Use your favorite booking engine if that is what you need.

For transport, choose what best suits you and your itinerary. Do not listen to some simpleton’s one size fits all advice – for some, a rail pass might be perfect. For others, a bus pass might work better. For those going very long distance, flying makes more sense – and there are some low cost carriers like Jet Star or Peach. Can you take a safe, clean 2 hour flight for $50 (or even less!) across the country where you’re from? Again, you can in Japan! That and a regional pass can save a lot of time and energy. ANA and JAL both have foreign tourist fares for ¥11,00 a flight or less. You now have no excuse to stay chained down to the beaten trail.
Renting a car makes sense particularly if there are 3-5 in your group and you are going to some isolated place or mountains where public transport goes infrequently, if at all. Okinawa, Hokkaido, and the Noto Peninsula are a few places where a car might be ideal. The whole country is wide open for you – getting away from the tourist mobs might be the highlight of your trip.

If you are American, you should exchange your dollars for yen in Japan. In the US the exchange rates are terrible. Overall it is far more convenient to use your ATM card in Japan at a 7-11, a Japanese Post Office, and a growing number of Family Marts and Lawson’s convenience stores compared to exchanging cash. Make sure the bank knows about your trip so they don’t suspect fraudulent usage and freeze your account. Some British and Australians say that the rates are better in their home countries. You can see the current rates in Japan and decide for yourself. Be aware though that some banks will throw an out of network ATM fee at you, and/or a foreign exchange fee (perhaps 3%). Check with your bank to find out – and use a bank or credit union that doesn’t nickle and dime you.

You can also see what Japanese money looks like at:

A Guide To Japanese Money

Note that you cannot use 1 or 5 yen coins in vending machines and phones.

2. Do your research.

* Know what you want to see, and how long it takes to get there.
Use Hyperdia and Google Maps to help avoid getting lost. Remember that many places close their entrances around 30 minutes before closing time. Some places may be open or closed for a holiday. If open, they are frequently closed the following business day. Those who “just wing it” are far more likely to end up lost, waste time, and miss a lot of the best places to see.

* Have a back up plan. Stuff happens – someplace may be closed, the weather sucks, you suddenly find someplace better you’d rather see. Trip Advisor is especially good at listing other places close to somewhere you might go see. Every morning check the weather forecast and plan accordingly. If there will be heavy rain, someplace indoors like a museum or aquarium might be a good choice.

* Many comprehensive sites exist that you can look through, such as Japan Guide or the JNTO. Many official city and town websites have their own sightseeing info online also, and often you’ll find great places that are listed nowhere else. Many cities and larger towns have tourist info offices in or next to their main train station – USE THEM. Often you can get free maps and lots of helpful info. Some places may be under renovation, and that may or may not matter to you. Look for any local rail/bus/trolley day pass to save money. Tokyo has an excellent 48 or 72-hour subway pass.

* Take the tourist guidebooks with a huge dose of salt. Do not solely rely on them. The truth is that many have not been updated in several years. Most of them are written by “experts” who know very little about Japan, and only mention the most famous places. Rarely to never are the Japanese themselves brought in, and they know their own country better than anyone. The most accurate and up to date info is online. Nearly all the books almost exclusively focus on Tokyo and Kyoto. Allocating a good amount of your time on those two places is worthwhile and understandable. Tokyo is the capital and modern heart of Japan, while Kyoto and Nara are the traditional soul of the country. But Japan has so much more to offer, and most books shortchange and gloss over countless other places, if they even bother to mention them at all. Many “experts” don’t have a clue that so many more great unlisted places even exist.

* Do NOT automatically “Just get a JR Rail Pass”. Know where you will go and verify you’d save money on a pass first. If you only stay in one region, a regional pass might make more sense. If you travel too slowly or too little, a JR pass might actually cost you more money. Use this handy calculator to see if you’ll save something or use Hyperdia. If you travel very far, it’d probably make more sense to fly. Use a low cost carrier like Jet Star, or Peach. ANA also has its Experience Japan Fare. These days you can fly across the country for peanuts, and not murder a whole day sitting on trains. For some areas like the Mt Fuji area, Koyasan, and Tateyama, a JR Pass won’t help you at all. Look at other passes too by Odakyu, Kintetsu, Tobu, Hankyu, and Nankai. If you are just going from Tokyo to Kansai round trip for a week or less, the JR Flex Rail Ticket is actually way cheaper than the JR Pass, plus you can ride the fastest bullet train (Nozomi) getting you there 30 minutes sooner, as well as get some other free goodies.

Seven Myths About the JR Rail Pass:

1. Just get the rail pass and save money!

While you could save money on a rail pass, it is not a guaranteed money saver. If you don’t travel enough or travel too slowly, you could in fact lose money on a rail pass. Don’t listen to any uninformed person who tells you to just automatically get the pass. Always make your itinerary first, then see if the pass is worth it or not. If you have a very long trip in Japan, a series of regional passes might make more sense. And while taking the train from Tokyo to Sapporo or Kagoshima will likely get your money’s worth, it also kills a whole day doing it – flying most of the way and then using a regional pass might be more sensible – time matters too.

2. You can go anywhere on a JR Rail Pass!

Totally wrong. You can NOT use it on city subways, JR highway buses, or non-JR rail lines (with a tiny number of exceptions, such as the Haneda monorail). JR is by far the biggest rail network in Japan, but there are other private rail lines, such as Kintetsu, Keisei, Meitetsu, Nankai, Nishitetsu, Hankyu, Fujiden, etc where you cannot use the JR Rail Pass. The Kansai area is loaded with them. And there are a number of places where JR does not go at all. Plus, you cannot use the pass on Nozomi or Mizuho bullet trains, which are “faster” – you have to take other trains like the Hikari, Sakura, etc. And while there are up to 8 or so Nozomi departures per hour from Tokyo, there are only 1–2 Hikari, making it less convenient.

3. Get a JR Pass and never have to pay for trains!

Simply wrong, again. In addition to the above, there are a few places where JR trains run over non-JR tracks, and you do have to pay.

4. A Tokyo-Kyoto round trip makes a rail pass pay off!

No it doesn’t. See for yourself. You still come up a little short with the 7 day pass – although using the Narita Express just once would break even. And if you are on a 14 or 21 day pass, you are seriously losing big money. Besides, for those going from Tokyo to Kansai for a week, the JR Flex Rail Ticket is actually way cheaper and you can take the Nozomi train with it, getting you there 30 minutes faster. If you have an abundance of time (though few vacationers do), there is also the Platt Kodama Ticket, which will save some money but take an extra hour as you stop at every last shinkansen station on a Kodama bullet train. And for those wanting to see Kanazawa, the Hokuriku Arch Pass is cheaper than the 7 day JR Pass too.

5. You have to buy the rail pass before going to Japan!

Not any more. Since March 2017, as part of a trial basis you can now buy the full JR Rail Pass after arriving in Japan at select airports and major train stations – although it is about 15% more expensive.

6. The JR Pass is always the best choice!

Not hardly. Again, it depends where and how long you go. If you are not going far, a regional rail pass is not only much cheaper, but quite possibly more suitable. Plus if you are going very long distance, quite often flying just makes more sense. You can get from one end of the country to the other in a 1½-3 hour flight, which beats sitting on trains for 8–15 hours. And since we’re at it, while you’d reap huge saving going from Tokyo to Kansai and Hiroshima round trip on a 7-day pass, it would be rather hectic. If you get the 14-day pass, it does pay off; yet  here again, there is still a better choice. Just get regular fare tickets for the Tokyo-Kansai round trip, and use the Kansai-Hiroshima Pass for the side trip to Hiroshima – it still comes out cheaper than the 14-day pass!! And on top of that, you can take Nozomi trains the whole way, saving you even more time!

7. Only foreign tourists can take advantage of the pass!

Again, not true. Japanese living abroad for at least 10 consecutive years (and can prove it) can also use the pass. Though for them, they must buy the rail pass voucher outside of Japan.

So should you never buy the JR Pass, then? NO. Just don’t be a lemming and follow some well-intentioned but ill-informed “advice” to always get the pass. You could get huge savings from them – just check that your plans justify the cost of the pass beforehand.

Makes your itinerary first, then choose the best way to get there.

Some Important Other Items

Learn Japanese manners and etiquette – don’t come off as some clod while there. Japanese are quite tolerant, but you should do your best to avoid any embarrassment. If you are not on the metric system, then LEARN IT – nearly the whole world is on the metric system, and you will have to use it to get by. Such basic things are 23kg (50 lbs) – the typical airline suitcase weight limit, 1 mile is approx 1.61 km, 2.2 lbs = 1kg, 2.54 cm = 1 inch, 500 ml = a bit over a pint, 20°C=68°F, 30°C=86°F, and so on.

Bring the OTC medicines you think you may need – eye drops, aspirin, sunblock, vitamins, allergy pills, antacids, deodorant, etc – prices for them in Japan are pretty much highway robbery. That said, do not take anything with stimulants, psuedoephedrine or opiods, or you could land yourself in serious trouble. Plus if you are on some medication and unsure about if you can take it, then contact the Japanese government such as the local consulate or embassy. If you go to Japan in the summer, know that you will sweat like a pig unless you go way up north.

Don’t drag your bags all over the city or country – use a Takkyubin service! One of the worst things you could do to yourself is try to drag your bags all over on trains and buses – especially during rush hour. A takkyubin service is a baggage delivery service with offices at most airports and major stations – they can deliver your bag to your hotel while you go off sightseeing – often that evening if within the same city and you give it to them by mid-morning, or in a day or two for another part of the country. Costs are often 1300 yen or so per bag within the same city, or around twice that for somewhere further. Many convenience stores can be drop off points as well, so if your hotel won’t act as one for you, there are tens of thousands of convenience stores across Japan. It would be smart though to carry some clean socks, shirt etc for a day if you use this. The takkyubin office can also hold your bags for the day if you want – this is very good if all the lockers in a station are filled up (and with growing numbers of tourists, unless you get to the station in the morning, they very well could be), or your bag is too big for the lockers. At Tokyo Station for example, there is the Rail-Go Service (Yaesu South Gate), but you’ll find companies at most stations – if you have trouble, ask at the Information Desk. Costs are typically 600-800 yen per bag per day – but please note that for just one day, many offices will close around 6PM or 7PM – so you’ll need to get back to the station before then.

Beware of carrying liquids on your international flight. Most people by now know that you can only carry containers up to 100ml of liquids, gels or pastes on yourself or as carry on baggage. Anything larger must be in your checked-in bags. If you are flying to/from Japan with an international transit stop along the way, DO NOT purchase any duty free booze etc before your transit stop. When arriving at your intermediate stop, you will have to go through a security check again – any liquids like that duty free purchase will be seized. Wait until you are beyond the security check point of your transit stop or onboard your final flight before you buy any such goods.

Take a thin calculator, calculator watch, or a smart phone with a similar app for converting prices.

The truth is that few Japanese can speak English with ease. In school the goal is rote memorization and passing tests, not learning to communicate. If you take any taxis, there are extremely few drivers who can communicate effectively in English. But that doesn’t mean you are completely up the creek. If you get hopelessly lost, which is very easy in Japan, it is better to find some older school or college age students and *write out* your questions in simple words. Japanese are still very poor at speaking English but are often glad to help you out if you lose your way.

Write down the full address or take a business card of your hotel or destination to show someone in case you get lost. Get it written in Japanese as well.

Carry tissues or hand towels with you – most of the public bathrooms don’t have hand-drying facilities; a few don’t have toilet paper.

Have pen/paper ready; Japanese are better at reading than hearing English.

Consider renting a pocket wi-fi device  or a SIM card for your phone – free wi-fi in Japan is improving but still lags many countries.

Last Word

Finally, don’t just visit places to cross them off of a bucket list. Experience Japan while there, not just see it. Since Japan is relatively safe and extraordinarily different, take time to simply walk around. Visit grocery stores and see what people eat. Smell the cooking aromas at dinner time. Walk through a typical neighborhood and see how people live. Listen to the children playing. Everyday life is quite different than it is elsewhere, and may mean more than seeing some old temple.