Tips for FIRST-TIME Japan Tourists | 18 Things I Wish I Knew

Japan is one of the top travel destinations in the world right now. I don't know, it's cool now. When I was younger and liked anime, I was bullied, but now it's cool and trendy, so great for everyone else. I've been living in Japan for almost 8 years now, don't do the math. And prior to moving here permanently, I came as a tourist a few times, I studied abroad, you know. And I very much remember being very lost and very confused about so many things. I also get lots of comments asking about basically the basics of how to travel in Japan, just general advice, tips, that kind of thing. So we're going to cover that today. It's going to be kind of an overview of just things I think you should know to make your trip go smoother, to make it just a better experience overall. There are a lot of things that I wish I knew and a lot of things that I tell basically all of my friends from the US who come to travel here. So first of all, nowadays Japan is very safe, it's always been safe, but it's very easy to travel in now, using English especially, compared to pre-COVID. For the Olympics, that kind of didn't really happen, Japan really kind of English-fied a lot of things, so great for you now. So my first tip is just seriously do not be like super nervous, don't feel like you have to do a lot of pre-studying or whatever. You will have a good time, I promise, even if you make mistakes along the way, that is part of traveling. One of the things that my friends often want to know is how can they interact basically with locals more smoothly, and to make interactions go well. So I'm going to give you advice, because I also see a lot of tourists out in Shibuya and stuff just make these mistakes, and I almost want to like stop them. If you learn just a very small handful of basic Japanese phrases that you probably already know kind of, and just try to use them a bit, it's going to go a long way. Like Japanese people really appreciate when you just try to speak just a little bit of the language. I'm not saying you need to learn Japanese. You don't need to learn Japanese. But there are like four phrases especially that I pinpointed that if you could just remember to use, it would just be really nice, you know? So the first you probably already know, arigatou, arigatou. The full version really is arigatou gozaimasu, but I know that's kind of hard to remember, so just arigatou. Thank you. Sumimasen. It basically just means like sorry or excuse me. So like if you bump into someone, sumimasen. And then if you're like, you know, approaching someone to talk to them, just saying good morning, ohayou gozaimasu, ohayou gozaimasu, or like hello for the afternoon, konnichiwa. You know that one. Konnichiwa. And if you want to point at things on a menu, just kore, kore, kore, this, this, this, kore. Of course what I'm saying right now is really the basics and not like super polite, but it's fine. Another thing that if you do, will really, I don't know, show you're trying, is if you bow, but just a little bit. I know in the US, when you hear bow, you think like the full, like almost 90 degree bow, but as a tourist, you will never need to do that. Most bows are more casual, like just like a slight nod of your head. Like oh, thank you. Just that. That's it. You might be bowed to like in the full or almost full angle, but that will only be service staff to you, so you're not in that role. If you do the full 90 degree bow back to them, it's like super awkward, but putting aside the Japanese, let's say you're going to speak English. That's fine. Actually, a lot of people in Japan, especially in like Tokyo, Kyoto, and the people who work service jobs can speak very basic English, like enough to accept your order of a coffee or something. However, I see so many tourists do this and it kind of drives me crazy. You need to cut out all the small talk if you are going to speak in English to someone, especially Americans I know, we have this tendency to kind of like have a full like introduction sentence kind of before we get to the question. So like you don't want to go up to someone and be like, oh, hey, how are you? So I just was wondering about and then starting your question, you need to just cut all that out and just say, where is the bathroom? Seriously, keep your questions short. Even just stick to the key vocabulary words. Your interactions are going to go so much more smoothly, I promise. Also don't speak that fast. So some things you can do before you go. As far as mapping apps go, Google Maps works great here. It is the best. It's what I use every day. It has walking, it has the train information. It's good. Apple Maps also works, but I prefer Google Maps. What you're definitely going to want to do is get Google Translate and make sure you download Japanese as a language for offline use too, just in case you don't have service somewhere. Something else that might be handy depending on your trip is there's like a Japan travel app. There's a few apps that do this, but they kind of help you plan out longer trips. Like if you're going from Tokyo to Kyoto and then somewhere else by bullet train, for example. It's also good if you're getting the Japan rail pass, but for just general train travel and even bullet trains, I just use Google Maps. It works fine. For taxis, Uber actually does work now as a taxi calling service. It's not going to call a private car. That's not really allowed in Japan. But I also heard that GoTaxi, the app, also works now with US phone numbers. If you sign up in advance in America, because it has to send you like a code or whatever. And GoTaxi is what most like local people use here. Something else I really recommend, especially if you have an iPhone, is to download Suica. All you have to do is go into the wallet thing on your phone and go into the transit options and Japan Suica should be there. This is like the train card here. Unfortunately, it does not work with Android. So if you do have Android phone, you're going to have to buy a physical transit card once you get to Japan, which you can do at the airport or basically any station. So something else you're going to need is you're going to need cash. A lot of small restaurants, local shops don't take card still. Most places do take credit cards, but there are going to be the rare few occasions where you need cash. Personally, I would withdraw about 20,000 to 30,000 yen in advance just in case, ideally with a lot of 1,000 yen bills. This is the most common denomination. Or you could hit up a 7-Eleven when you arrive or to withdraw more money during your trip because they take international cards. They're great. Also, a tip I have is when you first arrive, try to use some cash somewhere at like a convenience store or whatever and get your hands on the small change because you're going to need these... The dollar and things like that are in change form here and you're going to need this for like vending machines, like if you want to do gacha machines, just like kind of random stuff. One of the most fundamental things you need to check before your trip is if it overlaps with a Japanese holiday period, especially Golden Week, which is the end of April, early May, Obon, which is in August, Silver Week, which is in mid-September, and the New Year's holiday period, I would look into your trip dates and maybe consider changing if you can. If you can't, it'll be fine. It'll just be crowded. Except for New Year's. New Year's is just kind of strange. But something I do in advance every time I travel Japan, any country, is I make sure I get an ISIM. You need to stay connected, of course, on your phone whenever you're traveling, right? There is also pocket Wi-Fi, but I don't really like carrying around this thing in my bag all the time and remembering to charge it. So that's why I'm excited to say the sponsor of today's video is Saili. If you don't know already, Saili is a new eSIM service app brought to you by Nord Security. And eSIMs like Saili let you stay connected while you're traveling without having to try to find spotty Wi-Fi networks, carry around a pocket Wi-Fi, whatever. It's just your phone is connected to data all the time. Just like back home. Saili lets you connect directly to local cell networks, so you will stay connected your whole trip. I have tried it myself for a month, long story, in Japan. And seriously, it worked totally the same as my normal cell phone plan here, so I really recommend it. Saili is also super easy to use and install on your phone. All you have to do is download the app, which you can do so through my QR code right here. And once you're in, all you have to do is choose what country you're going to. They have over 200 destinations available, so even if it's not Japan, they probably have what you're looking for. And then choose how much data you want. I always get more data than you think you're going to use. You need more data. Trust me. And then all you have to do is install the eSIM on your phone and activate it before you travel. Very important. Before. And then once you land, it's just going to easily connect to the local cell network. That's all you have to do. When you do go to buy your eSIM, make sure you use my code, alisonintokyo at checkout or through my link at saili.com slash alisonintokyo to get an exclusive deal of 15% off your first purchase. So thank you, Saili. Next, getting around. So I know the train system in Tokyo looks super intimidating, and it can be, but it's pretty efficient, it's pretty easy, and it's usually on time. So first, like I mentioned earlier, you're going to need a transit card. This could be Suica, there's a ton of brands actually, there's like Pasmo and a bunch of local ones, but Suica's fine, they all do the same thing. It just looks like this. Here's my Suica. And these are basically rechargeable IC cards, if you have the physical one. And you use it to tap in and out of train stations. You can also buy drinks at vending machines and like stations and stuff using the card. And you can even pay for things like at the convenience store with them. They are just a very useful card to have. Then general train advice I have for people is don't talk loudly or on your phone on trains. It's very rude. You'll probably immediately notice that people in Tokyo especially tend to be very quiet when riding the train. You can talk, just don't, you know, don't be super loud. Also for escalators in general in Japan, you're going to want to stand on the left side. People are very orderly usually about this. They stand on the left and walk on the right even though they're kind of trying to stop this. But the only exception is in Osaka, you're going to actually want to stand on the right side. Just follow what people are doing. Also wait for people to get off the train before you get on the train. This is not a rushing on pushing match. I would also really recommend trying to avoid rush hour if you can. If you don't want to experience like those pushing videos you see online, they can be very real depending on what train you're trying to get on. I'd say rush hour in the morning is from about 7 to 9. And in the evening, it's about 5.30 to 7, 7.30. Let's say you don't want to use the train, that's fine. Taxis are actually very good here. They just, they're kind of expensive. I don't know, 15 minutes is probably like 2,500 yen. It's, I don't know. However, the apps I mentioned earlier are great for calling taxis if you want. There is just a little bit of a service charge for it. You can also just flag one on the street yourself just like, you know, by raising your hand. Or if you're at like a large hotel or like the station, they usually have like a taxi circle or whatever. Also, always give yourself some extra time if you have like a reservation or something to get through the station because they can be super confusing, especially if you're trying to go through one of the bigger stations like Shinjuku. I get lost like every time. So, bullet trains. You're probably going to ride one if you're going from Tokyo to Kyoto. I really recommend reserving it in advance, making sure you get the ones that have assigned seats. Choose your seats. There's basically unreserved and reserved seating sections on the train, but unreserved seating is a lot smaller. And honestly, it's very stressful if you're traveling in a big group and depending on when you're traveling, like if you're doing this on a weekend, get the assigned seats. Trust me. Lately, the bullet trains have just been so crazy. Also, if you're booking your seat, if you can, I recommend getting it on the right side of the train from Tokyo to Kyoto because this side is going to have Mount Fuji. It's also the side of the train that gets booked up the fastest. For luggage, you might have seen that the luggage rules on the bullet train have changed a lot in recent years. So actually, most standard suitcases that you can take on the airplane, like the big 50-pound ones even, can actually fit on the overhead rack. The problem is if you can lift it onto the overhead rack. So use your judgment. If you can't and you still want to travel with your large suitcases, you're going to need to reserve the seats in the back of the car that have the luggage section attached to it. I think you're going to see a prompt for it when you reserve. If you don't want to do this, another option that I recommend is going through Yamato, which is like UPS in Japan, and sending your suitcase ahead through them. If you're staying at a hotel, just ask the front desk. They will help you with it. Going from Tokyo to Kyoto, your luggage usually takes less than two days. It's very fast and only costs like 20 bucks. I think it's really worth it because it can be a big hassle to drag a giant suitcase around. So while we're talking about transport, a lot of people ask me how I recommend getting from the airport into Tokyo itself. So if you don't know already, there are two airports basically for Tokyo, Narita, which is a big airport kind of out in the countryside, but has a lot of international flights. And then there's Haneda, which is really close to Tokyo, but not as many international flights. So for either airport, you basically have the options of taxi, airport bus, or train. For Narita, I personally recommend using the express train. You don't need to reserve it in advance. This is what I use every time I go. I don't recommend a taxi from Narita because it can cost over 200 to even 300 US dollars. Very far away. And also the buses kind of take a long time. I don't know. I think the express train is your best option. And then for Haneda, it's quite close to the city, so honestly you can kind of do whatever you want. Taxis cost around 70 to 90 US dollars, just depending on where you're trying to get to in Tokyo. The bus is good, but it's kind of hard to find for tourists. And then the trains are also good, but it kind of depends on your luggage situation because it's basically just like a normal train. You know what I mean? So restaurants in Japan. So to call a server in Japanese, you just want to say sumimasen, like this. If you don't want to say sumimasen, that's fine. Just do this and try to make eye contact. That's how you get your server's attention. Depending on the restaurant, a lot of them really are not going to pay attention to you at all unless you call out to them. So paying is often done at the front of the restaurant. On your way out, there's a register. However, you do need to ask for your check at the table usually. For more casual places, usually order and pay all at the front, you know, like fast food. But then for some more Western or like fancier restaurants, you will pay at your table. I would say the majority of restaurants though, you're going to pay up at the front of the restaurant. So something that is hard, I think, is that Japanese restaurants generally will not alter menu items. Like if you want to order a burger and say no onions, there are places that won't do that. It has gotten looser in recent years, in my opinion, but there's still a lot of inflexibility. The exception for this, I say, is now I think restaurants are a lot more understanding about allergies and things like that. So if you say that you have like an allergy to onions, for example, they might take it off for you. Also, asking for takeout boxes for leftovers is generally not going to work because they don't want like the liability of if you get like food poisoning at home or whatever. Also, no tipping at restaurants. Don't do it. No tipping. One of the best parts about traveling in Japan for tourists I know is tax-free. If you don't know if you are a tourist and you show your passport at a lot of the larger stores, if you're spending over 5,000 yen, you're going to get free tax. That is 10% off your purchase, basically. A lot of the stores that do this do advertise it pretty well, like with a sign or something. So however, in November of 2026, the rules are changing. Right now, it is a system where it's like an instant refund, so you like immediately get the tax refunded at stores right now. However, this is changing, so now you're going to have to claim it all at the airport on your way out of the country. So you'll get refunded later, and I think there might be a higher risk that they ask to see all your items. I don't know. We're going to have to see. This is from November 1st, 2026. Okay, so these are my tips, my general overview of advice to make your trip go smoother. Let me know what you thought. If you have any other advice, please leave your tips down in the comments, or if you have any questions, please feel free to leave it down below if I can't answer, someone else hopefully will. So thank you. Please like the video. Subscribe to my channel for more videos about my life and traveling here in Japan, and I'll see you guys back here again soon. Bye.