Japan is a must-do travel destination, but there’s one thing you’ll never be able to prepare yourself for mentally and physically, but there are things you can do to help
Nothing could have prepared me for this in Japan
Japan seems to be the hottest travel destination for young millennials at the moment, and my fiancé and I had been planning a trip for years.
From the bright lights of the biggest cities to all things Pokémon and Sanrio, Japan has always appealed to both of us, so it just made sense to plan a trip there. So, we put on our thinking caps and planned the must-see places for my first time holidaying outside of Europe.
We started in Tokyo, then went to Fujiyoshida, Matsumoto, Shibu Onsen, Togakushi, Kyoto, Osaka, and then flew to Ishigaki, off the coast of Okinawa, before heading back to Tokyo for one last hurrah before we came back to Manchester.
Of course, the biggest places mentioned are Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, and we went during blossom season, so we were prepared for a lot of exploring.
I’ll also caveat this by saying, since January 2025, I’ve adopted a rigorous, almost daily, exercise regimen to prepare myself for the fact that some tube stations have 100 steps to simply get out, and many people share videos of themselves in shock at how many steps they’ve done per day.
I wanted to be able to enjoy Japan to the absolute maximum and not feel physically unable to do anything, which I managed to do!
Nothing can prepare you for how much you’ll be walking – so take blister plasters
However, what I wasn’t expecting was that by just day three in Tokyo, I’d have blisters almost the size of my whole feet from how much we’d done and be in tears of frustration, worried I was done for the rest of the trip and would have to keep the walking to a minimum.
Because we had some foresight that nasty blisters might happen, thankfully, we’d brought a mega pack of trusty Compeed plasters at the ready. I bought some more plasters from a convenience store, and every day I was strapping my feet up with a DIY remedy, laying blister plasters over other plasters, praying they’d stay.
And, lo and behold, by some miracle, it did work, and every day my feet were feeling much better, and I could walk, and walk, and walk! Over the whole trip, we racked up a whopping 420,556 steps – and when we were in Ishigaki, we were predominantly relaxing in our villa!
I pretty much lived in my Ugg Tasman’s, and have no idea what I would’ve done without them. They provided comfort and a reasonable amount of support and saw me through the whole trip, except when I wore my Teva sandals and Primark x Rita Ora sneakers for something a little fancier.
If you are planning a trip to Japan, however, and find yourself in agony with your feet (trust me, it will happen), then if you head to Don Quijote, aka Donki, the biggest discount store in Japan (with a very catchy jingle that will have you going back for more!), then you can get a saviour product.
The second that I started to feel pain in my feet, we headed to the store and picked up some foot packs – but they’re not like the ones you can buy in the UK that make your feet feel soft as a baby’s; although you can get these.
These were individual or you could get them in packs, which we did eventually. The heat pads you stick on your feet seem to reduce fatigue.
The warming sensation feels amazing on the soles, and you leave them on overnight. The rest and heat seem to make your feet feel as though they can take on another day of 30,000 steps.
Of course, it doesn’t do anything for the countless blisters, so I’d recommend walking around with plasters at the ready so you can catch a blister before it fully forms.
But you live, and you learn, and regardless of the blister drama, I had an absolutely incredible time. And in a few days, my feet were right as rain!
Just make sure you take your comfiest shoes you can imagine walking in, walking in, walking in, because otherwise you might regret it.
AloJapan.com