Make your Japan trip a CAKEWALK in 5 easy steps

Make your Japan trip a CAKEWALK in 5 easy steps

About 90% of people doing their Japan trips 
for the first time end up overcomplicating things wasting a ton of time and adding 
unnecessary hassle, not to mention extra stress. And I should know because when clients come to me 
to get help planning their dream Japan adventure, there’s usually one, two, or all of 
these missteps going on in their thinking so in this video I’m gonna show you 5 dead 
easy moves that take your chaotic ideas and turn them into a calm plan worthy of the 
Dalai Lama himself. no, not that llama. So imagine you’ve never tried skydiving before, 
but your crazy friend convinces you to give it a go. Safety protocols out the window, you’re diving 
solo on your first run, and you jump out of the plane without a single Scooby as to when you need 
to pull the cord on the parachute. I mean, you’re gonna need to pull it at some point, but obviously 
not so late that you strawberry jam yourself. But see that’s what a TON of people do on their 
trips. They’ve been on Reddit far too long, reading advice from numpties who stayed in 
Tokyo the ENTIRE TIME they were in Japan, and claim that they always used 
credit cards to pay for everything. Now I could say, put all your eggs in one credit 
card, but the truth is, that’d be BAD ADVICE. Are you planning on checking out any temples or shrines? You can’t pay those 
entrance fees with plastic. Thinking of eating out a lot? There are plenty 
of restaurants and cafes that don’t accept cards, even in the big cities. I live in one 
of them, and my favourite breakfast eatery has a big sign up saying NO CREDIT CARDS. And it’s not uncommon for museums, attractions, 
even ryokan to hold their noses whenever you hold out a Visa or MasterCard. And no, 
American Express won’t do nicely either. So instead of waiting until you’re right 
there in the I HAVE NO CASH ON ME fiasco, the smoothest move you can make in 
the very first moments of arriving in Japan is to visit the ATM. Do it right there in the airport. Because the first C is currency. And 
it’s only a matter of time before you need some. You might be wary about carrying around a big 
chunk of paper money in your home country, but this is commonplace in Japan, mainly because 
of a super low crime rate and people being very trustworthy. Police generally spend more time 
looking for stolen bicycles than stolen wallets. This way, you’re covered whenever 
an attraction or shop is cash only, you’ve got a back up if you have trouble using 
your credit card (which has happened to like, literally ZERO tourists since 
the dawn of time, hint hint) AND Well, there’s another Godzilla-sized reason why you should get some cash as 
soon as you finish up at customs. There’s always a risk of earthquake, 
tsunami, or typhoon knocking out power. And while I hope you don’t have one 
of them happen during your trip, if one DOES, it’d be good if you could 
still buy some food and drinks, right? Because do you really think the credit 
card network functions without electricity? Some pro-tips about getting cash for 
you, since you’re so good looking: – the most dependable ATMS that work with 
foreign debit cards are in post offices and 7-11 convenience stores. Post offices 
are everywhere, even in the countryside, so that’s generally where I’ll go 
for money machine monkeying around. – When you’re pulling out cash, 
always ask for it in Japanese yen, not your home currency, so you don’t get 
whacked with a terrible conversion rate. – It also helps if you have a debit card that 
doesn’t charge withdrawal fees. So check out if your bank’s going to fleece you, and plan 
accordingly. Like, I don’t know, changing bank? – If you can’t get a card with no added 
withdrawal fees, one option is to get something like a WISE card. This is a prepaid 
card, so you load up money before you leave home, and you can use it to withdraw yen in Japan. 
You don’t get fleeced on the exchange rate, and a bonus is and you can also use it to buy 
yen when it’s really cheap and just save it for your trip. It works as a credit card as 
well, so, I think it’s pretty handy to have. So you know how making an earl grey hot is a 
complete faff? You’ve got the water boiling, the waiting, the brewing, the waiting, the milk 
adding, and more waiting until it’s cool enough to drink? Wouldn’t it be great if you could just 
skip all that faffing around with just one button? Well, unfortunately, that’s not possible yet. But 
when it comes to staying connected on your trip, Holafly can make getting a 
data plan ridiculously easy. Here’s how it works. Before you fly out, 
go buy your eSIM, and then Holafly sends you a QR code and instructions. You go to the 
eSIM settings on your device, scan that code, and your eSIM is installed. And as soon 
as your plane touches down in Japan, you turn on that eSIM and you’ve instantly got 
data. Super simple and zero faffing around! It’s so much better than dealing with all the timewastery with physical sim 
cards or pocket wifi bricks. When I went to Turkey last year I found it was 
an absolute nightmare to get a physical sim card, so I actually bought myself a second 
phone that supported eSIMs just so I could use one for my trip. That’s 
how gamechanging this move is. And the other gamechanger with Holafly is that 
you don’t just get data. You get UNLIMITED data. I mean, I guarantee you’ll be using a ton of 
apps on your trip. There’s google translate for every restaurant menu that doesn’t have 
English translations. You’ll be using Google maps to navigate so much that you’ll start to 
mimic the lady who gives the directions. And let’s face it, you’re going to be watching 
a ton of youtube on those long Shinkansen journeys, and who can blame you? So instead of 
second guessing how much data you’re going to need on your trip, or relying on lacklustre hotel 
wifi to catch up on the best streaming content, streamline your adventure with an unlimited 
data eSIM from Holafly, and quit stressing. I’ve put links down in the description 
and pinned comment, so go get yourself set up with unlimited data before you 
fly out. And if you want a 5% discount, just use the coupon code JAPANUNRAVELLED. So according to the title I gave this video, it’s going to make your trip into more of 
a cakewalk than, well, an omnishambles. But imagine it’s your first day of your first 
time in Japan and you’re literally walking around carrying a cake. How long is that little charade 
going to last before you smash into a policeman and wreck his pristine uniform? Because just like 
cake, your state of mind is going to be pretty fragile when you’re wiped out with jetlag. You’re 
not going to know what day of the week it is, and all you’re going to want to do is get 
straight to the land of nod, via your hotel. So, how do you reach your hotel without 
adding any extra complications to your plan. Time for the third C, kotsu which means 
transportation, and let’s do a flowchart. If you’re hotel is RIGHT OUTSIDE a train station, and you don’t need to change trains along 
the way, then go ahead and hop on the train. But if your hotel ISN’T RIGHT 
OUTSIDE a train station, I three million percent recommend you 
take an airport limousine bus instead. The bigger hotels in the bigger 
cities commonly have a limousine bus stop right outside, or at least very close by. So with a bit of planning, you can 
easily make it just A SINGLE HOP from the arrivals floor to passed out 
on the floor of your room, sorry, bed. This is so much easier than hauling cases 
through subway systems and multiple trains, because moving through busy stations is a 
complete nightmare with lots of luggage. The worst part is waiting for lifts because 
there’s commonly only one for each platform. Anyway, I’ve put some links in the description for 
checking airport limousine timetables and routes, and while you’re down there, drop me a thumbs 
up if you’re finding this video useful. So when you’re travelling across Japan, one of the 
common problems you’ll see with a lot of tourists is they get a bowl of ramen, udon, somen, or some 
other noodly food and their eyes swell up to like 3 times the size of their stomachs. And not 
only does this cause trouble with other diners, but it also annoys the kitchen staff a 
lot when half the bowl is left uneaten. And while that’s not an entirely factual story, 
it’s pretty much the exact same thing that happens when you plan your trip. I mean, I remember the 
first big adventure I took in Japan – I went right down to Kagoshima on the southern island 
of Kyushu for some tomfoolery at a place that’s actually called Jurassic Park on Sakurajima. After 
that I spent a few days in Kyoto and other spots in Kansai before taking one of the old sleeper 
trains all the way to Aomori at the top of Honshu. But while I had a thoroughly incredible time at 
those destinations, I’d been a tad crazy with the timings. I must have been off my face on marmite, 
because I completely underestimated how long it took to get to Kyoto from Kagoshima, and ended 
up burning a lot of hours on that journey. It was the same deal getting back from Aomori to Tokyo 
– I thought it’d be super-fast with the bullet train all the way, but I’d forgotten I’d need to 
take slower express trains before and afterwards. But you can easily keep your itineraries within 
the realms of the reasonable. Enter the 4th C, the regional rail pass. Yeah, I gave up on 
this one. Anyway, if you use one of these, your journeys are going to stay within 
the boundaries of a particular area, meaning it’s hard to bite 
off more than you can chew. For example, with the Kansai Wide Area Pass, 
you can enthrall yourself with countless hidden gems in the region around Kyoto and Osaka, and 
all of the places are easily reachable as day trips. If you’re up in the monstropolis, the 
Tokyo Wide Area Pass also gives you plenty of 1 day exploring options, and you won’t need to 
worry about straying too far from your hotel. If you plan your trip this way, you’re never 
going to be stuck on a train for an excessive amount of time, but there’s another bonus 
to using a regional rail pass – and that is, you won’t need to worry about buying tickets. 
That’s because these rail passes work like an unlimited ride ticket, letting you 
onto as many trains as you want to ride. So instead of gallivanting all across the country, 
explore in a smaller area and delete the need to worry about buying tickets. This is way easier 
than trying to visit multiple destinations separated by hundreds of miles! And if you want 
to know how to pick the best regional rail pass, I’ve made a video to help you, so 
go look down in the description. Now I’ve got some bad news for you. Unless you’re 
the Bank of England or you actually live here, at some point you’re going to run out of time and 
have to leave Japan and go back home. And when you get to that last day, there’s huge potential for 
tons of extra stress. I mean, I don’t particularly want to give you more things to cry about, but 
I see a lot of visitors making this mistake. For example, recently I was working with 
a client who’d got a hotel all picked out for his last night in Tokyo. It was in a great 
location up in Ikebukuro. The price was good, and there was even an in-house aquarium. And when 
I looked at the flight details for the next day, I saw Haneda Airport and thought, 
oh that’s fine, he can just take the Yamanote line down to Hamatsuchuo 
and then get on the monorail, job done. And then I looked at the departure time. 10 am. So that means, sensible people would 
want to be there by 8 or earlier perhaps. But that would mean travelling across 
Tokyo, with suitcases, during the rush hour. And that is what they call in 
the trade, a schoolboy error. Because my friends, one does not simply take cases 
on the train during Tokyo’s rush hour. I know, I tried it once, and ended up waiting in a cafe 
for an hour until I could fit on the train. But that’s ok, because there’s a better 
strategy you can use that’ll make your last day in Japan so smooth, it’ll make 
lifting a finger seem like hard work. Because if you really MUST 
bring large cases with you, do yourself a favour and send them back to the 
airport ahead of time with luggage forwarding. You cut out all the tedious lugging 
around stations, off and on trains, finding a space in the luggage rack, and 
generally just getting in the way of everyone. And then you just head up to the 
departure’s floor, collect your case, and wheel it over to the check in desk. Yes, 
the collection point and the check in desks are on the same floor – often, I only touch 
my case for a few seconds on departure days, and I wouldn’t have it any other 
way! It cuts out so much stress! To send luggage directly back to the airport, you DO need to be organised though, because you 
have to send it two days prior to your departure, rather than the day before. If you plan 
ahead, this is actually pretty easy, and stops you from having additional packing 
stresses the night before your flight. So now you’ve got no excuse but to have 
the smoothest possible trip in Japan, but it’s all going to be for nothing 
if you don’t pack the right things, so go and find out what all the essentials 
are in this video up here. See ya!

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/// LINKS
Kansai Wide Area Pass video: https://youtu.be/Axqxa-FB73s
Tokyo Wide Area Pass video: https://youtu.be/B2XQSTtukWw

Wise card: japanunravelled.com/wise

Tokyo Airports Limousine Buses: https://www.limousinebus.co.jp/en/
Kansai Airport Limousine Bus: https://www.kate.co.jp/en/timetable/

*There are some affiliate links in this description and using them helps to support this channel.