15 Japan Travel Tips for First Time Travelers (What I Wish I Knew)

15 travel tips to Japan for first-time travelers or if it's not your first time But it's been a while then these tips are going to help you kind of figure out what's new in Japan I also have my itineraries down below linked for you If you want to get an idea of what to do when you go to Japan. Number one getting a digital Suica card So I've heard that the Suica cards are back if you wanted the physical one and you can just tap and go By using your phone is a lot easier because you also are most likely going to use Google Maps or any type of map on your phone It's nice to just have it in your hand and not be worried about two different things on iPhone That's called the wallet. Then we press the plus sign. So then you're gonna go to Transit card. We're gonna look for the Suica card Then we click on that and you add the Suica card Then I'm gonna press continue then you're gonna put add whatever amount you want I'd say 5,000 yen, which is about 30 US dollars is a good place to start and you can always reload I'm just gonna put 5,000 and the minimum is 1,000 Then you press add agree and then you can use your Apple Pay add money to your Suica card But basically it's a little card It works on transportation systems and it also works at convenience stores to also pay for your snacks or anything like that The convenience stores also take credit card or cash, but it's just another option to have There's also the PASMO card, but the Suica card is just the one that I ended up using. Now This does not work for the JR pass So if you are trying to go from Tokyo to Osaka or Kyoto, it's a totally different train Convenience stores are life and there's a meme where it's like Oh, I spent a thousand dollars to get to Asia just to eat ramen at a convenience store The food is so much better at 7-eleven, Lawson's, Family Mart The 7-elevens in the US are so sad and the food is not good. But in Asia, it is totally different Same with Korea, same with Taiwan The food is made fresh and I literally saw the 7-eleven workers Making the onigiri in the back all fresh and it's really well priced too pretty much all my breakfast came from the convenience stores. The three most popular cities that a lot of tourists will go to for Their first time is Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Now in Japan, there is food everywhere, literally everywhere. For context, Tokyo itself, just the city of Tokyo has 160,000 restaurants. There are about 1.5 million restaurants all throughout Japan Which is roughly the same amount as the US as a whole and if you want reviews You can check Google reviews or table log. Table log is what the Japanese locals like to use in order to review their restaurants And the Japanese are very hard critics So if anything has a three star that means it's good value and it's good. Anything above that is like Spectacular. While here in America, if it's three stars, it's kind of like I'm not sure how I feel about it So that is a big difference and in Japan the food quality is so good You really can't go wrong. If you see a group of people eating there, it's gonna be great So that's the thing about my last two trips to Japan I pretty much planned all my meals because I feel like if there's something I have to eat Then I want to make sure I hit it But if you go to Japan more than once then you can really just go and eat and you're gonna enjoy pretty much Everything you find. You are going to walk a lot. I walked 30,000 steps. That is more than New York Japan requires so much walking. You're going to need comfortable shoes So make sure your shoes are already broken into Don't bring brand new shoes and expect to be fine because my feet were so sore and my friends ended up getting a foot massage Because we were walking so much. If you feel like that's going to be a problem of course You can kind of pull back your itinerary and make it a little more chill or increase your stamina By walking a lot before your trip to next you are going to need an external battery pack Because if you are out all day, you're using your maps. You're using your Suica card. It's going to drain your battery I feel like when we're traveling we're already holding a lot of things with us all day long So you want to maximize space? So an option is an ultra compact and light battery pack and mine is from Taurus and Taurus has very kindly Sponsored this portion of this video having a light battery pack is so helpful But I always worry with these kinds like what if it ends up falling off you can see it is incredibly strong It's the size of my card wallet and it's literally able to fit anywhere in my bag without it bulging out and I can put My whole phone while it's charging in my bag It is 0.88 centimeters thick and it has a 13n Magnetic force so it stays attached even when I shake it vigorously like look at this It's not going anywhere and has an advanced lithium polymer battery and it can charge your phone from zero to a hundred and two Hours and then you can also pair it with the Taurus all-in-one stand case So Taurus is the first originator of the stand case That's a case magsafe a phone grip and a kickstand it also offers all-around protection and you can use it vertically or Horizontally when you're watching videos or slide your finger in if you need a better grip So you can use my link below to check out the Taurus battery pack Next is eSIMs or pocket Wi-Fi if you are going in a group like you are a family and you know that you're gonna be Sticking together all the time. I would say get a pocket Wi-Fi It's just like a traveling Wi-Fi with you everywhere you go and everybody can connect to that Wi-Fi, but if you get separated That's the problem that person who's off by themselves They're not going to have internet if you know that that's the case Then I would get an eSIM now setting up an eSIM can take some time I have shared in previous videos how to do it So I'll just give you a quick little run-through but basically an eSIM You're just setting it up in your phone. And once you set it up, you don't have to set it up again You just turn it on and off. So I use you biggie arrow low is another very popular one It was so fast Highly recommend and it's nice because I literally just turn it on when I land in Asia Then I turn it off when I leave. I have T-mobile one where I have global internet everywhere I go these international Wi-Fi plans are not good You're going to need a pocket Wi-Fi or an eSIM to roam around. I think Google also has an international Wi-Fi system I've heard that one's good, too But the eSIMs they can range from 10 to 15 dollars just depends how much data you need because I'm a content creator I'm uploading things all the time So I tend to get the most that I can. If you get a pocket Wi-Fi You can have it delivered to your house in the US or wherever you are or you can pick it up at the airport At the post office, but the post office closes around 7 p.m So you just have to make sure your flight gets there before then or you're gonna have to come back and pick it up And then my friend was able to actually mail their pocket Wi-Fi out at the post office in whatever city We were in to return it or you can return it at the airport, too Which is what I did like I mentioned Tokyo Osaka and Kyoto are the three most popular tourist attractions You can stick Nara in there because it's in between Tokyo and Osaka, but it's all within the same area But there's so many other places in Japan. That's so beautiful that you can go to too So I went to Hokkaido my second time and I have a whole itinerary on that too But Kanazawa is another city that's like a mini Kyoto So people say you could probably see all of Kanazawa in a day or two while Kyoto is definitely a lot bigger And it's a lot more crowded because of the tourists. It just depends what kind of vibe you're going for You're looking for the crazy chaotic wild nightlife That would be Tokyo If you're looking for like a calm type of place where there's not a lot of tourists Then you want to go to the other surrounding cities number eight in terms of Japanese culture Do not hand your cash directly to the cashier They're usually gonna give you a tray and then you put your money on the tray They pick it up then they give you your change on the tray and hand it to you on the counter Same with your card Don't hand your credit card directly to the cashier or the taxi driver put it on the tray Next I found that Google Maps was very accurate to the public transportation in Japan, especially in Tokyo It'll even tell you which train literally like which one that you should board on because that's going to be the most efficient spot when You're exiting but again, you're just really saving like a few steps many hotels in Japan offer a soft Like down pillow then they offer a pillow that has a bunch of beans in it So it's very interesting but if you're not a fan of that you may need to ask for an extra down pillow and like stack it to make it Like a fluffy pillow, but don't be alarmed if you're like, what is this pillow with beans in it? Google Lens or Papa Go are two apps I would recommend because you can take photos of the menu or of signs and it'll translate for you live Is it super accurate? Not really But it will totally help you kind of get the context clues of what you need to be ordering or if it's the right place You can also use ChatGPT now to upload files and photos I'm sure it's a lot more accurate but Papa Go and Google Lens is just fast easy and I don't have to worry about Oh if ChatGPT is too busy Next something to be mindful of is the lack of trash cans in Japan There are not a lot of trash cans and even in the convenience stores They are tiny trash cans so you can't even put a lot of your trash in there So just be prepared to hold your trash whether you have a ziploc bag a plastic bag or something to put it in Some people also like to have like hand wipes or things like that because the bathrooms won't have towels if you are washing your hands There are so many stairs in the public transportation areas So you need to make sure that whatever luggage you have you are prepared to carry it So I had a giant check-in luggage as well as a carry-on my first time in Japan And it was so tiring to lug it around when I was arriving and when I was leaving So just make sure you take what you can carry because there's a lot of stairs and the elevators are sometimes very far away So whether you have a baby and a stroller just be prepared You need to be able to carry everything Or you're gonna have to go up and down the stairs multiple times and make multiple trips The best months to visit Japan or just East Asia in general It's going to be March, April, May Skip the summers if you can And then end of September, October, November So that's avoiding the super hot humid heat Humid heat and then really really cold winters But in Japan, it is a little bit warmer than Korea But it still snows and the humidity is a lot Now lastly the dates you want to avoid going to Japan are Golden Week Which is from April 29th to May 5th and then New Year's which is from like the 1st to the 4th Pretty much so many things are closed during that time And all the touristy fun things are very crowded Because people from all over Japan, they get a break And that's when they come into the major cities to like have fun Those are the weeks where the hours are going to be so different for every restaurant Disney is going to be so crowded And you just want to make sure that if you can, you want to avoid those weeks Or you want to go off to the smaller cities during that time Because a lot of people will be traveling If you have any questions, please leave them down below And I'll try my best to get back to you But Japan is a beautiful city There's so much to see But they're also a very respectful culture So I hope that tourists, we continue to be considerate of their culture Of their mannerisms and to be respectful If you like what you see, please like and subscribe And I'll see you later Bye!