Japan Travel Hacks | 7 Tips For First Time Tourists

First time visiting Japan? Here’s a collection of the top tips you need to know before heading on your trip.

VISIT JAPAN WEB:
https://services.digital.go.jp/en/visit-japan-web/

JR RAIL PASS:
https://japanrailpass.net/en/

SUICA (IC CARD):
https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/pass/suica.html

PASMO (IC CARD):
https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/normalpasmo/

DUOLINGO:
https://www.duolingo.com/
APPLE APP:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/duolingo-language-lessons/id570060128
GOOGLE PLAY APP:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.duolingo&hl=en_AU&gl=US&pli=1

AIRPORT SIM CARD INFO:

5 Best SIM Cards at Narita Airport | Unlimited Data Options

KENSHO QUEST eSIM INFO:

0:00 Intro
0:59 Visit Japan Web
2:05 Choose Train Card
5:41 Learn Japanese
8:04 Bring Cash
9:14 Visit Hotspots Mid-Week
10:06 Airport Sim Card
12:15 Avoid Bar Scam
14:18 Outro

so you’ve decided that you’re heading to
Japan for the first time let’s talk
about
it Japan has always been a destination
on many people’s minds when considering
their next travel destination but
something feels different at the moment
I don’t know if it’s just me but
recently A lot of people around me have
either been to or plan on going to Japan
more so than usual and for good reason
Japan is super safe has a rich culture
and history and is pretty accommodating
for westerners compared to a lot of
other English speaking countries also it
is obviously packed to the rim with fun
and interesting things to keep people
entertained even in just Tokyo alone I
myself I’m actually lucky enough to have
been to Japan three times in the past
two of those times being last year with
a fourth time coming up in just a couple
of months from now that being the case I
figured that I’m in a pretty good
position to talk about all the dos and
don’ts give some light advice and
hopefully help out anybody that’s
planning on heading to Japan in the near
future anyway with all of that being
said here are seven essential things you
need to know before heading to Japan all
right so I’m going to start off with a
pretty useful tip that I actually didn’t
see any other video on YouTube mention
when I Was preparing for my first trip
at the start of last year this will help
you save a bit of time when you first
touch down in Japan and that is to head
to visit Japan web in advance and fill
out your immigration and custom forms
online if you’ve ever traveled
internationally before you’ll know of
those little cards that they give out
that you have to fill out on the plane
they can be a bit of a pain if you’re
sitting in a cramped economy seat and
you’re trying to pull out your passport
and other documents to try and fill it
out you’ve forgotten to bring a pen and
they don’t provide one for you and then
when you finally hop off the plane you
see a desk with a pen you get there and
you fill out all your information and
you turn around and the line’s out the
door because youve taking too much time
feeling in your information maybe it’s
not that big of a deal but it can be
just a little bit of a mock around when
you first arrive and you’re just trying
to get through customs and all of the
nonsense and just start exploring
luckily with Japan you won’t have to
worry about any of that when you’ve
booked your tickets head to visit Japan
web which I’ll leave a link for in the
bio below fill in all of that
information in advance and you’ll be
provided with two QR codes one for
customs and one for immigration I’ve
used these before at both Kai airport in
Osaka and Nita airport in Tokyo and
they’ve been a bit of a lifesaver all
right so you’ve gotten off the plane
you’ve made your way through all of the
initial obstacles at the airport now
it’s time for you to head to your
accommodation if you’re on a budget like
me and like most other people you’ll be
taking the
train now if you’ve watched any other
videos here on YouTube or done any other
research before watching this one you
may have heard of something called the
Jr pass but if you haven’t according to
their website the Japan Rail Pass is a
ticket offered jointly by the six Jr
group companies and it is conveniently
and reasonably priced for traveling
throughout Japan by a train a ticket can
range anywhere between 50,000 to 140,000
Yen depending on your duration of stay
and the type of access you’re looking to
get I’ll leave a link to their website
down below if you want to look further
into the options that are available now
these six Jr group companies that I
mentioned make up a pretty large
percentage of the accessible trains
across Japan and it’s for this reason
that the Jr pass is a pretty common
choice for firsttime travelers but is it
the best choice for you
I don’t know it’s definitely something
worth considering and something that I
myself have doubled with multiple times
in the past but I honestly don’t see
myself using it again for a handful of
reasons the main one being the times
that I have had one I’ve never ended up
using it as much as I thought that I
would the Jr lines aren’t the only train
service in Japan they also have a pretty
Rock Solid subway system that runs under
all of the country’s major cities and
maybe it’s just me but I feel like when
I would be looking to head to my next
destination on a day out the subway
system entries would appear far more
often than any Jr station making it a
way more accessible and reliable option
so unless you’re keen on consciously
basing every move you make on your trip
around using only the Jr Railway system
it might be worth considering whether or
not the Jr pass is the right option for
you I will say though to its credit that
it does give you access to all of the Jr
Inc Consin or bullet trains that get you
to and from each major city in Japan an
individual ticket on one of these trains
can end up costing hundreds so if you’re
planning on covering a lot of ground and
visiting a lot of major cities while
you’re in Japan that could be the
Tipping Point when considering whether
or not this will be the more affordable
option just to make sure that if you do
have the pass you still get in line at
the station and allocate a seat for
yourself unlike me who stupidly just
jumped straight on the train realized
there was no seat for me and then had to
stand up in the baggage area for the
duration of the 3-hour train between
Tokyo and Osaka don’t do what I did I’m
a big dumb idiot keep in mind also that
when you’re buying the pass you have to
get a slip sent to your country of
origin take that slip with you to Japan
and then get it converted to the actual
pass when you arrive it’s a bit of an
annoying process also the pass is made
out of cardboard and if you lose it or
it gets destroyed there’s no reissuing
of it you’ve lost all of your money I’m
clearly a bit of a hater of the Jr pass
but hey maybe it could work for you I
don’t know if you want more information
on it as I said there is a link with
more info in the bio the alternative and
far superior option in my opinion is to
just buy your shin conson tickets as you
go and navigate your way around both the
Jr and the subway systems using
something called an IC card an IC card
is a rechargeable prepaid card that you
can use to tap on and off at every
single Jr and subway train station in
the country the two most popular options
for this are the posmo and sua which you
can get delivered to your house I
believe but the far easier option is
just to get the app downloaded on your
phone and tap on and off using it in the
same way that you would use a digital
debit card unless you have an Android
like me because for some reason both of
those companies don’t have apps that
work properly on Android phones uh so I
just go and buy all the individual
tickets at each station because as I
stated before I’m a big dumb idiot
anyway whatever I I do it because it’s
part of the experience for me
so the third tip I’ve got for you is if
you haven’t already learn a bit of
Japanese I know this might seem like an
obvious tip but it’s one that a lot of
people tend to skip Japan is known for
being super accommodating for Western
tourists and speaking English is a big
part of that you can pretty much get
around the major cities of Japan without
even needing to know a lick of Japanese
hotel and airport staff are generally
pretty fluent and even the locals tend
to know at least enough to be generally
helpful if you need their help a
testament to them for sure but then why
do I recommend learning the language why
should you learn Japanese the answer is
pretty simple it’s just because it will
make your trip so much better Japanese
locals are known for being pretty
reserved compared to us outwest but what
I’ve noticed is that when you learn even
just the basics of the language the
effort is often appreciated by the
locals and can be the Catalyst for
getting involved with the local culture
starting a conversation or even making a
friend what actually made me notice this
was when I went on a trip to Korea last
year as somebody who’d spent a couple of
years on and off learning Japanese
before my travels I didn’t realize how
much richer of an experience I had had
until I went to Korea and struggled to
interact with the locals in the same way
funnily enough when I was in a bar in
pan with a couple of mates there was a
woman behind the bar that didn’t speak
any English at all and it made the whole
interaction a little awkward and
difficult to navigate but luckily for me
we eventually ended up finding out that
she actually studied Japanese in school
and once that language barrier was
broken down it made the whole experience
a lot more enjoyable and memorable for
both me and all my mates we still talk
about it obviously learning a language
isn’t easy especially Japanese which can
take years to even reach just a
conversational level but learning and
maintaining just the fundamentals can be
quicker easier and still have so much
value so I really recommend it I
actually recommend it so much that I
plan on making a video for this channel
a little bit down the line so if if
you’re interested in watching something
like that or even if you’re just
enjoying watching this video please hit
the Subscribe button below so you don’t
miss out on any future videos in the
meantime though if you’re eager to get
started with something like that right
now there are plenty of apps out there
that are available to help you get going
I know that du lingo has a bit of a
rough r within the language learning
community but it’s one of the more
popular apps for a reason I mean you can
cater to get you started with learning
the essentials for something like
traveling specifically and although I
don’t recommend it as a long-term
language learning tool it’s definitely a
great point to get you started from yet
again I’ll leave links in the buyo below
for both the Apple Google Play versions
of the app and the desktop version of
the app as well now you may have heard
that Japan is still very much a cash
society and while that is true and I do
recommend you take cash Japan has more
or less caught up in recent years with
the majority of hotels restaurants and
attractions accep in card as payment the
reason that I still recommend bringing
cash though is that there are still
plenty of small businesses and Street
vendors with really delicious foods that
you’re going to want to try that only
accept cash also it’s just good to have
on you because you never know when you
might need it to get yourself out of a
pickle I can think of a handful of times
on the last couple of trips I went where
it helped me out even just in little
ways here and there like at the start of
my second trip last year when I arrived
with my two mates both of whom only had
a card both of whom were with the same
bank didn’t have any cash neither of
their cards were working none of the
transactions were going through luckily
I had some cash on me and ended up
spending pretty much all of it within
the first like 3 hours on everybody’s
Transit and accommodation they paid me
back in the end of course but you never
know it could happen to you you could be
left stranded somewhere with no money
available to spend so better safe than
sorry bring some cash if you’re really
not bothered bringing cash with you
though and then change your mind when
you arrive don’t worry you’re sorted
most of the convenience stores in Japan
like 7-Eleven have ATMs that will accept
cards from most major Banks and the
rates are pretty decent too sensor G
Osaka Castle Tokyo Tower Japan is
obviously packed with things to see and
do and if it’s your first time you’ve
likely got some of the more popular
hotspots on your itinerary which brings
me to my fifth tip and this is just a
quick one visit the more popular
tourists destinations midweek if you can
when I say that the tourist spots are
unbearably crowded over the weekends I
really mean it if you want to truly get
the most out of these experiences I
promise you you will benefit from going
midweek you’ll have a lot more Breathing
Room you’ll have better photo
opportunities there’ll be shorter lines
it’ll just make your life a whole lot
easier and what do you get up to on
weekends well you got a couple of
options you can use that time to Target
less tourist heavy spots that you’re may
be interested in visiting or
alternatively even do pre-booked
activities that manage the crowd size
obviously these activities tend to book
out on weekends faster than they do on
weekdays but if you make sure to get on
top of it early enough you should be
right the internet is truly your best
friend when traveling so finding the
best means of staying connected when
you’re abroad is absolutely essential
when you first arrive in Japan no matter
what airport there will of course be
free Wi-Fi to get you started but you’re
very quickly going to have to find an
alternative means of getting reception
the first of which that I recommend is
just to get a SIM card at the airport
these SIM cards can be purchased at
either rendor or in the case of Narita
Airport at a vending machine I didn’t
see one of these machines at Kai airport
though so if you are going to be
arriving late at night when the vendors
are going to be closed you might want to
be prepared for that situation also it’s
worth mentioning that the ones that you
get in the vending machine don’t come
with a little pin to get your sim card
out so remember to pack one I forgot to
do that last time that I went and it
ended up being a massive pain trying to
find various little objects to open up
my phone with just pack one it will save
your life now there are a bunch of
different options that you can choose
from when it comes to these SIM cards
the three most popular though are Sakura
mobile J aabc and SoftBank Global rental
I’ve tried I think it was SoftBank and
the connection was okay I guess to be
honest it was actually pretty slow and
after like five or 6 days I ended up
just putting my own SIM card back into
the phone and accepting the massive
international fees because the
connection was far better I will say
though that Sakura mobile did seem to be
a far better option because my mates
were using it and when I met up with
them they showed me that their
connection seemed to be fine using that
so yeah if you have the option to go
with them that’s probably the one that I
would recommend plans for these options
start at around 4,500 Yen for 7 to 8
days and have options that got to 30
days sometimes even 90 days I’ll leave a
link in the bio below that has a chart
with all of the information necessary
comparing the different uh options so
that if you want to look into that to
make an informed decision you can do
that an increasingly popular alternative
to this though if you have a phone that
was made in like the last 3 years and is
capable of doing this is to use an eim
now as somebody that’s never used this
option I can’t really spend speak on it
but there is a really good YouTube video
by the YouTuber Ken show quest uh and he
covers all of the various different
options that are available I will
mention though that he and I aren’t
Affiliated he doesn’t know that I’m
mentioning him in this video I just
thought it was a useful video so I’m
going to link his video in the
description below as well all right so
as I mentioned earlier in the video
Japan is a super safe country Japan has
a super high conviction rate compared to
other countries so most people tend to
behave themselves that being said Japan
isn’t some like utopian Paradise that is
completely devoid of sketchy characters
and Shady happenings I’ve heard stories
from friends who have been completely
taken advantage of drugged robbed and
all because they fell victim to
something that they probably could and
should have avoided which brings me to
my final tip do not let anybody on the
street lead you into a bar this tip
really only applies to Major cities
especially somewhere like Tokyo’s red
light district in chinuku these spots
can be absolutely riddled with people on
the street pretending to be your friend
trying to lead you into a bar asking you
if you’re out to get drunk asking if you
want to hang out with any Japanese girls
just a really sedy vibe off the bat this
might seem like a pretty obvious thing
to avoid but they generally tend to
Target foreigners who are there very
drunk stumbling around looking to have a
good time and are easy to be taken
advantage of so if you’re planning on
going over there and partying and
getting drunk this tip is for you I
actually had this happen to a mate of
mine a few years back who was stumbling
back to his hotel room after a night out
at a bar he was all alone and he was
blind drunk anyway he hadn’t heard about
any of these Shady characters and
thought that he was just going to go in
and have a fun time as they fed him
drink after drink they weren’t charging
him up front they weren’t letting him
know the price of anything up front and
before he knew it he was fading in and
out of Consciousness being told that he
owed the bar thousands of dollars and
I’m talking like Australian dollars as
some security guards pretty much
escorted him to an ATM made him put his
debit card in and they withdrew pretty
much everything that he had thousands of
dollars lost for something that he could
have avoided if he just had have kept
his wits about him this isn’t an
uncommon story either I’ve Heard lots of
similar stories from friends of friends
who have been taken advantage of in the
exact same way so just keep that in mind
don’t be afraid to say no and just keep
walking you will be left alone obvious I
know but worth mentioning anyway I could
probably go on all day giving tips and
advice about traveling to Japan but I
don’t want to make the video too long so
yeah those are just some of the main
ones that uh came to mind now this is
actually my first video on this Channel
but I plan on posting at least once
every 2 or 3 weeks so if you enjoyed
what you saw in this video and you want
to see more please feel free to hit the
Subscribe button hit the like button you
guys know the drill at the time of this
recording I actually have zero
subscribers so who knows maybe you could
be one of my first subscribers or even
the first subscriber I would really
appreciate any support on this YouTube
Journey that I’m trying to get going I
plan on posting more videos in this form
giving tips and advice uh also some
travel Vlogs maybe even some educational
videos so look forward to that anyway
thanks for making it this far into the
video if you have uh suppose I’ll see
you guys in the next one bye for now
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