Arriving in Japan for the First Time! 🇯🇵 Japan Travel Vlog

Arriving in Japan for the First Time! 🇯🇵 Japan Travel Vlog

We’re finally arriving in Japan for 
the first time. Over the next 2 weeks, we’ll be making our way from Fukuoka 
to Tokyo using just about every form of transportation we can find: express buses, 
city trams, local trains, and of course, the famous Shinkansen. We’ll stumble across 
cherry blossoms, climb castle towers, feel the weight of history, and fall in love with 
so much good food. We have got a ton we want to see and do over the next 14 days. And if we’re 
lucky, we might even catch a glimpse of—okay, I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ve got to get 
there first. Hey, Captain! We’re going to Japan. [Music] We’re Mike and Ashley, and for the last 2 
and 1/2 years, we’ve been traveling all over Asia—immersing ourselves in the culture, learning 
the history, and trying so much delicious food, all without wrecking our budget. But this 
is going to be our first time in Japan, and we’re equal parts excited and mildly 
overwhelmed. I’ve been dying to come here since I was a little kid, and I’m just hoping 
Ashley falls in love with it like I hope to. All right, let’s get checked in. Success! 
We’ve got our boarding passes. My bag, even though it’s 21 kg, is A-OK. Okay—no 
extra charge. Now we have to go on the saddest staircase maybe in the world. This 
was the best, most fastest, most efficient visit to Savi airport I think we’ve ever had. 
It took us—so we got here at just after 7:00, like 7:05. It’s 7:51 a.m., and we are 
done. Like, we’re tucked in. We’re good. Wait—we got here at like 7:30. 7:30? Oh, ’cause we left at 7:00? Yeah—73 minutes maybe? Yeah. It was crazy. And that was like mostly 
waiting in line. The actual, like, security and customs, immigration checks and everything, 
was like automated and done and brilliant. Except for you. What did you get screened for? What did I get screened for? 
Green tea. I had green tea. Ocha kasite. [Music] You ready? So ready. [Music] 35 [Music] Back in China, but it’s not for 
what you think—it’s a layover. Okay, so we found our gate. 
There’s not a lot going on here, and we’ve got like two-ish hours 
to kill. We’re going to go try and find some food that’s better than 
reheated microwave airplane food. [Music] Finding food is proving way more 
challenging than I thought it would be. Yeah, there’s like nothing going on. 
There’s like lounges and duty-free shops. Yeah, we have like two restaurants 
to choose from. It’s crazy. Yeah. And one’s a Japanese restaurant—which, 
sorry, I’m not eating airport Japanese food before going to Japan—and one’s a 
Korean restaurant, which is great, but I just—I’m—I’m not feeling Korean food. 
I’ll eat Korean food when I go to Korea. So anyway, we got some fried chicken, which is 
not at all Chinese or healthy. So we’re going to eat our food and wait, and we’ll 
update you if anything fun happens. Boarding the flight! Excited? Yeah. Last flight. We’re so close. 
We’ll be there in 3 hours, I think. 4 hours. 4 hours? Yeah. We lose another hour. Oh, really? So we just boarded our second flight headed to 
Fukuoka, and we are trying a little experiment. So we were able to choose our seats on 
this section of the flight. We weren’t able to on the first section. Um, and so 
I chose the window. He’s chose the aisle. We’re going to see if we get lucky and don’t 
have anybody that wants to sit in the middle. Nope, we don’t. It didn’t work. It was worth a shot though. Always worth a shot. Yeah. 
Anyway, we’re almost to Japan. [Music] I just wanted to take a quick minute to 
talk to you about some of the apps we used during our trip and some of the things 
we did to prepare before arriving. I’m sure everyone’s list is going to look a little 
bit different, but this is what worked for us. First things first—the quickest thing you can 
do to save yourself some time when you arrive is to fill out your arrival card on the Visit 
Japan website. It’s really straightforward. You can find the link by scanning the QR code, 
or we’ll leave a link in our description. As far as apps, we use Google 
Maps and Google Translate. I’m sure there’s other translation 
and map apps out there. However, this just always works for us. We love 
Google Maps because we can save places to custom lists of places we want to go, places 
we went, and even places we miss for next time. Next up is Tabelog. This is basically TripAdvisor 
for Japan. And while we typically just wander around till we find a place that feels right, 
sometimes it’s nice to know where the locals eat. And that’s where Tabelog comes in. It’s basically 
Google reviews on steroids—specifically for Japan. If you’re planning on taking any public 
transportation—and let’s be honest, you’re going to, it’s Japan—an IC card is a must. 
It’ll save you so much time on the metros, buses, trains, even in the konbinis like 
7-Eleven, Lawson, and Family Mart. We use the Suica card directly in our Apple 
Wallet. All you gotta do is open the Wallet app, tap the plus sign to add a card in the upper 
right-hand corner, look for a transit card, and scroll down until you find Japan and 
choose Suica. From there, you can load it with money directly from your Apple Wallet 
and you’re all set. Now you can just tap on, tap off, and it is super easy. You 
don’t even have to unlock your phone. We have heard that this isn’t really an option 
for Android users, so I’m not really sure what to do there—but you can always grab a 
physical card at any one of the metro stations. One thing to keep in mind: usually, 
you have to pay a deposit. Like, for instance, this one was 500 yen. And you can only get 
that deposit back in the prefecture where you bought the card. So keep that in mind, or you’ll 
just end up with a little souvenir like Ashley. Okay, lastly and maybe most importantly—when 
you’re arriving in a new country, it’s really key to know how you’re going to stay connected 
and access the internet on your mobile devices. Whenever we travel to a new country, we always 
opt for an eSIM. For this trip to Japan, we’re using Holafly. It’s our go-to for hassle-free 
internet data and the sponsor of today’s video. Let’s face it—landing in a new country is already 
pretty overwhelming. You gotta go through customs, find your baggage, try and navigate 
some new transportation system that you’ve never seen before. You don’t want 
to waste a bunch of time scrambling trying to find Wi-Fi or trying to pick 
out a local SIM at the airport. With Holafly, you get unlimited data right from 
the moment you arrive. And since it’s unlimited, you don’t need to worry about running out of data 
when you’re using maps, looking for restaurants, booking activities, or—let’s be real—sharing 
your travels on social media. Plus, it offers a personal hotspot feature so you can share your 
data with your friends and family for your trip. Just select your destination, set how 
many days you’re going to be traveling, and go through the checkout process to get 
your QR code. Scan the QR code and follow the instructions, and you’re all set. 
You’ll be online the second you land. Holafly is available in over 200 destinations. And 
if you’re hopping between countries like we do, you can get a regional plan that 
covers entire regions. And there’s even a global plan so you don’t have to 
swap SIMs every time you cross a border. Honestly, eSIMs make travel easy, and Holafly 
makes eSIMs simple. So grab a Holafly eSIM for your next adventure by scanning the 
QR code or checking out the link in our description. And don’t forget to use our 
code MIKEANDASHLEY for 5% off your next eSIM. Thank you to Holafly for sponsoring this video. Now let’s go to Japan. We’re in Japan! Yo, that might have been the easiest, 
fastest immigration ever. We are in Japan! I’m so excited. In a crazy turn of events, right 
after I slapped the camera with the passports, Ashley realized that she left her suitcase and 
her backpack all the way back past customs. So luckily, I was able to run back and grab it, 
and someone was wheeling it right to us—so nice! What do you have to say for yourself? I thought you got it. Why would I have your thing? I don’t know. ‘Cause this is your 
backpack. I’m used to seeing your backpack. Haven’t left the airport yet—first 
pickle. There’s only one ATM machine in the international terminal here in Fukuoka. 
It’s a 7-Eleven bank ATM. It does not accept my debit card. There’s also no exchange places 
because I came with money to exchange, and yeah, there’s nowhere to do that. So yeah, we have 
no idea how we’re going to get out of here. Now, the lady at the information counter was very 
kind and very empathetic. She suggested that we can maybe take the free shuttle bus from the 
international terminal to the domestic terminal, and they have a wider selection of 
ATMs—but I don’t think they have any cash exchange places. So I don’t know what 
we are going to do, if I’m being honest. [Music] Is it working? This is making— It looks like it’s working. Looks like it’s working. Okay. So… Oh, that’s amazing! We have… Oh, that’s so cool! Oh my god, look at 
that. That is—that is the most epic—yeah, it’s got like a ghost face. Oh, it’s so 
neat. Look at that. Oh, it’s so cool. So I pulled out 40,000 yen, which is roughly 
about $300. They gave me 10,000 yen bills, which feels not usable. So I’m hoping that 
someone can help me break—we can maybe go to the information center, but I doubt 
they’re going to have a cash register. No, but if it’s like a cash-heavy country, I have to imagine I can go to one of 
these shops and buy something—’cause like, why would they only give me this, right? 
Like, what am I meant to do with that? And what’s the conversion? 
Like 146 yen to a dollar? Yeah. Like, I always round. So it’s 
like roughly 150 to a buck. 150 yen to a dollar is like about where it is. 
One of these 10,000 yen bills is $70. Wow. So, means I got $280.66 in my hands 
right now—according to Apple’s handy calculator conversion, which is like my new 
favorite feature of the Apple iOS systems. All right, let’s—let’s move on. 
Let’s go to our place. It’s not even our room. I’m like—we don’t even have a room. We don’t even have a room. We have a hostel. Got changed because I bought a Pocari 
Sweat—because I’m basic like that. Had to buy a Pocari Sweat in Japan at a Lawson. Now we’re 
going to go try and figure out subway or taxi. Subway. We have to walk for like 25 minutes 
and we’re really tired, so I think we’re just going to take a taxi. I believe we can use 
Uber, so we’re going to give that a try. Okay. Okay, so this was our first mistake. Actually 
second—but that’s for a future video. I know it can be tempting when you’re tired 
to just take the path of least resistance, and cruising the streets with the glow of all the lights can be mesmerizing—but take 
our advice: don’t take taxis in Japan. But the driver was nice, and the 
very short ride was peaceful. And now we’re checked into our hostel. 
There’s only one thing left to do. We had big plans to hit the town when we arrived, 
but travel days can just take it out of you. This is our first time trying Yoshinoya, and it is exactly what we needed 
right now—cheap, hot, and delicious. And now it’s time to get to bed. We’ll see you next time. [Music]

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We are finally going to Japan, and we couldn’t be more excited. In this video we take you through some of our travel day from Bangkok, Thailand to Fukuoka Japan. Along the way, we’ll give you some practical tips to help you prepare for your trip to Japan.

Over the next two weeks, we’ll be exploring from Fukuoka to Tokyo and experiencing as much as we can while sticking to a budget. We had a blast on this trip and can’t wait to share some of our favorite moments with you.

Subscribe to follow along! Thanks for watching.

*Where We Stayed in Fukuoka*
Fukuoka Guesthouse CAMP: https://booking.tpx.li/V8x5oUzL

Visit Japan Web App: https://www.vjw.digital.go.jp/main/#/vjwplo001

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