Embrace promptness and speed

Rule #1: Japan is a country that values promptness. Being late is hugely disrespectful. So in everything you do, be on time. For all your reservations, meetings, tours, classes, etc, don’t “try” to be on time—actually BE on time. If you have to be late, apologize profusely. But seriously, don’t be late.

Ensure a fast and efficient arrival: Register online at Visit Japan Web before your plane takes off. It’ll cut your airport arrival line time down to a fraction of the time it takes non-registered tourists to get stamped into the country.

Instead of filling out the paper form upon landing, you can fill out the form online ahead of time, telling them your arrival address, length of stay, basic itinerary, flights info, home address, etc. It takes about 5 minutes. When you’re done, they give you a QR code to show at your airport’s arrivals checkpoint. Screenshot that. That QR code is your golden ticket to a speedy entry.

This is a no-brainer because it saves you a ton of time on the ground. When you land in Japan, you don’t wanna stand around the airport for an hour. You wanna get going, so do it this way.

Trains and buses all arrive and leave on time: They won’t wait for you. If you’re late, don’t run, or push, or try to hold the doors open. There’s no need to be frantic, or freak out or angrily start yelling curses if you miss it. Just chill—another train or bus will be arriving momentarily.

Personal Wifi / Mobile Wifi

Make sure you’re never without wifi by reserving a mobile hotspot, also called a MiFi. It’s way cheaper than using Verizon’s TravelPass.

You can make reservations online ahead of time and then either pick it up at the airport counter or at your hotel’s front desk when you check in.

I got mine from Japan Experience.

If you want to pick up at your hotel, make sure that the hotel reservation and the MiFi reservation are in the same name, and tell the MiFi company that you’re picking it up at the hotel’s address.

I preferred to pick up the MiFi at the airport counter, so I’d have reliable wifi on my route from the airport to the hotel. Many trains have wifi, but I like to be over-prepared.

I left my phone on airplane mode and just used wifi the entire time I was in Japan.

When you’re done with the MiFi, you just stick it in the prepaid, pre-addressed return envelope that it comes with and drop it in a post box before or when you get to the airport.

Two must-have apps

The two main apps you need to survive are Google Maps and Google Translate. You will use both apps constantly. When you’re on wifi, be sure to download the Japanese language in the Google Translate app, so translation still works if you don’t have cell service or wifi.

Google Translate: Tap the camera icon and point it at anything you can’t read to translate it from Japanese into English. Image translation is more accurate if you load a still photo. If you’re talking to someone who speaks no English, tap the Conversation button in the app. Then you take turns talking in your own language and it translates back and forth in real time.

Google Maps: Download your Japan area maps over wifi so they’re usable offline. When planning subway travel, pay attention to the directions about which train car it suggests boarding—it makes a huge difference in how long it will take you to get out of your arrival station. 

Deal with your trash yourself

You know why there’s no litter in Japan even though there’s no trash cans? Because people keep their trash on them during the day and deal with it at home. You are expected to do this too.

You’ll rarely see a public trash can. You’re expected to carry your trash with you in your backpack or purse and dispose of it in private like at your homestay, hotel, apartment, or hostel where you’ll separate it into the proper bins. 

Keep a plastic bag or big Ziploc in your backpack or purse to carry any garbage you acquire while going around the day, e.g. vending machine drink bottles etc. Sometimes you’ll see a trash can next to a vending machine, but the only trash that’s allowed to put there are the bottles from that vending machine. 

Putting your trash in an “unauthorized” place, like with a pile of other people’s trash bags piled on the street corner, is actually considered littering. 

Courier your luggage from city to city

If you’re like most tourists, you’re planning to see both Tokyo and Kyoto, and maybe some extra stops along the way. Make use of the incredible luggage-forwarding services like Yamato Transport so you can travel hands-free, while your big bags and rolling bags are couriered to your next hotel for you. You and your fellow crowded train passengers will appreciate it. The service is cheap, convenient, safe, reliable, and available almost everywhere. 

Your hotel’s front desks can take your luggage from you (serving as the departing location) and they’ll give it to the courier company. The arrival address must have a human there to sign for and receive the delivery, like a hotel or hostel front desk. 

If you’re staying at a private apartment rental, you can take your luggage to a convenience store, and the clerks there will give it to the courier company (as I did in the image above). Very convenient indeed! 

Just make sure you fill out the delivery form — called a Waybill — correctly—here’s clear instructions on how to do that.

Coin lockers galore

Japan’s coin lockers are ubiquitous. Train stations, malls, busy streets, they’re everywhere.

When you’re walking around with bags or just tired of carrying your backpack, and know that you’ll be looping back past this route again later, you can just pick a locker and stash it.

Some are even big enough to hold an entire rolling luggage.

Some only take yen coins and some take either coins or Suica card to lock and unlock it. 

It’s safe, convenient, and really cheap, like a couple dollars. It's so worth it to stash your stuff so you can walk around hands free.

Learn basic survival phrases

Showing up expecting to get by solely on English is rude and entitled. Don’t be that guy who just starts talking to people in a foreign land in English and assuming everyone must adapt to you. 

At a minimum, know the basics and lead with them in every encounter:

Please: Kudasai

Thank you: Arigato gozaimas

I’m sorry: Gomen nasai

Excuse me: Sumimasen

Toilet, restroom: Toire, otearai

Side note: A good language app to practice with ahead of time is Pimsleur. It teaches you a language through listening, the same way you learned language as a toddler. It’s faster, easier, more logical, and a million times more effective than Duolingo. After completing the first 5-7 lessons on Pimsleur (they're short audio lessons), I felt ready to have basic conversations entirely in Japanese.

No shoes inside

• Take off your shoes whenever you enter your lodging, yes even your hotel room. Shoes are never worn indoors. Switch to socks or slippers; in most places, slippers will be provided. I was even given a gratis pair of slippers on my Zipair flight.

• If you’re staying in a place with tatami mat floors, don’t wear shoes or even slippers on the delicate tatami woven mats— only socks or bare feet.

• Some stores and restaurants with dressing rooms will require you to take off your shoes to enter, so make sure you have a pair of socks to wear inside. Even a store in a mall may require you to take your shoes off before entering the dressing room. 

• If you’re going to a restaurant, definitely wear socks; naked bare feet in a restaurant is gross and in many places, they won’t allow you to be seated that way. Socks is the way.

Respect in public areas

• Don’t become tourist paparazzi. In certain areas of Kyoto, like the Gion neighborhood, tourists aren’t allowed to walk down certain streets or take photos in certain areas. There can be fines for breaking these rules. This area has a lot of geisha and maiko who are on their way to work; don’t interrupt them, block their path, or get all up in their business trying to take photos of them. It’s so cringe. Don’t be this lady.

• You’ll notice that many sidewalks are divided into lanes, just like cars. Walk in the proper lane and go with the flow of foot traffic.

• About nose-blowing. This is random, but it’s very different from the U.S., so it bears mentioning… Don’t blow your nose in public or around other people like in a bar, restaurant, or subway. It’s considered terrible manners. Like, you wouldn’t fart loudly in public, would you? Same idea. Go to the bathroom and blow your nose in private.

If you have a runny nose, and you’re someplace public like on a train, just dab it discreetly with the tissues you keep in your bag.

And on a related note: if you’re sick or sneezy from allergies, be considerate and wear a mask. At a minimum, move away from others when coughing or sneezing.

• When interacting with others, it’s customary to bow. I actually miss bowing now that I’m back home. A small short bow is sufficient. No need to make it a whole ceremony. 

How to pay for stuff

Suica is your friend. It’s like a debit card. You can pay for nearly everything using Suica (say: “swee-ka”), because many places don’t accept foreign credit/debit cards. You can use a Suica card to pay for basically everything: trains, stores, cafes, restaurants, bars, vending machines, you name it.

• If you have an Android phone, buy a Welcome Suica card at the airport; the kiosks are near the JR train desk in the Narita Airport. It’s good for 28 days. Load it up with spending money.

• If you have an iPhone, you can download the Suica app and use that instead of a physical Suica card.

• Note: Suica doesn’t work to buy high-speed train tickets that take you between large cities, it’s just for tapping in and out of local train turnstiles. Use the Klook app to book tickets on the high-speed trains between large destination cities.

It’s also good to get some cash from the ATM at the convenience store (say: “konbini”) because smaller businesses often prefer cash or only accept cash. You’ll also need coins for lockers and various small expenses.

There’s no tipping. Seriously. 

Don’t tip, even if you want to. Nowhere: not in a restaurant, a taxi, a hotel, literally nowhere. Japanese workers are paid a fair wage, and accepting tips is often forbidden. Leaving tips is also considered impolite.

They don’t rely on tips to survive, nor do they only give good service because they expect a tip. They give impeccable service anyway.

They don’t want tourists to ruin this aspect of Japanese culture by spreading the habit of tipping. So please don’t do it. 

Just be happy that things are affordable, and the service is wonderful, and the price is the price, period.

Quick currency conversion

Bookmark a Yen-to-USD tool in your browser. I just kept the Wise currency exchange tab open in my browser all the time. 

When that got annoying, I made a little grid of common prices’ exchange rates, and I kept this in my pocket notebook (pic above).

On iPhone, you can type your currency query, e.g. “700 yen to usd” into the search box at the top of the screen and it’ll convert it right there.

Quiet & Orderly

The reason the subways can be quiet and peaceful in a metro area of 41 million people is because people keep quiet in the shared space of the subway car. If you absolutely must talk to your companion, whisper and keep it brief. Definitely do NOT make a phone call or talk loudly.

Even talking at “a conversational level” is too loud, because in a quiet train, a conversational volume means that everyone on the train has to hear you, and trust me, they don’t want to. Respect the peace. Keep quiet. (And honestly, even when you’re not on the train, try to talk quietly. Americans are too damn loud.)

Also: To get on the subway, everyone lines up orderly in the order they arrived. No shoving, no cutting. When the doors open, wait for everyone to exit, then enter single file. Wear your backpack on your front, so you don’t bump people with it.

❌ EVER EVER DO IT, NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT

This applies to all local trains and subways. There’s a reason they’re all immaculately clean, like in the photo above of an astonishingly clean green velvet seat on a subway train. 

No one eats, drinks, sips, snacks, or nibbles while riding them, and neither should you.

The ONLY exception is the long-distance Shinkansen bullet trains — that’s the only train where eating and drinking is allowed, and it’s a delightful experience because the train stations sell snacks and adorable bento boxes specifically for eating on the Shinkansen; some of the boxes even look like trains. 

Stock up snacks for those long-distance trains, but otherwise, never ever eat on any local trains.

Get in and out of the station quicker

Download your Japan area maps in the Google Maps app when you're connected to wifi so you're maps are still totally usable  for directions when you're offline. 

When planning subway travel, pay attention to the instructions about which train car Google Maps suggests boarding, because it makes a huge difference in how long it will take you to get out of your arrival station. 

Look on the ground to see where there are numbers indicating which train car you're about to enter. Be sure to line up behind the people who got there before. No pushing, running, or freaking out if you miss your train, another one will be there in a couple minutes.

Get ready for toilet heaven

Every bathroom is immaculately clean and they all have heated seats with fancy Toto Washlet bidets for your undercarriage. Even the public restroom in train stations and parks!

If you’re a germophobe, use the wall-mounted cleaning spray and some toilet tissue to wipe down the seat first, or use the paper seat cover.

Never hover and spray piss on the fancy heated toilet seat bidet—sit your ass down and enjoy it. You’re not drunk in a disgusting club restroom at 2:17am. Act like you’re in the heavenly spa restroom you’re lucky to be in… Enjoy it and treat it with care. (And please take this habit home with you.)

P.S. Don’t leave any trash on the floor or anywhere. Clean up after yourself so the space can be beautiful for everyone. Which is, essentially, the entire vibe of Japan.

Things to carry in your daypack

You’ll rarely see paper towels in restrooms. Most Japanese folks carry a small tenugui (think: handkerchief or washcloth). You dry your hands with this. It’s sustainable and the patterns are fun. You can buy these little cloths everywhere, from 7-11 to specialty shops that sell beautiful embroidered tenugui.

• Coins. Lots of coins. You’ll be given them as change and you’ll need them all the time. Get a cute coin purse.

• Period supplies. Their pads are good, but the tampons leave much to be desired. Bring the stuff from home that you like.

• A small pack of tissues to dab your nose when you can’t blow it (see below).

• Your MiFi wireless internet device with its accompanying charger.

• A portable battery charger for your phone and wireless MiFi. I like this one.

• Sunscreen.

Prepare to stand up, a lot.

You’ll rarely see benches in a big city like Tokyo, unless you’re in a park or near a mall like Takashimaya Times Square, which has a wide landscaped garden hangout space. (Be sure to visit the ice cream vending machine while you’re there btw.) 

There are lots of reasons why Japan doesn’t provide public seating, but the inconvenient truth is, you’ll rarely have a place to sit down unless you’re in a restaurant, cafe, bar, or on a train. Be prepared to stand up, A LOT. 

Wear your most comfortable shoes. You’re not allowed to sit on stairs, railings, curbs, or god forbid, the ground. In some places, it’s not even ok to lean against the wall. Be prepared to stand. 

Don’t walk around eating and drinking

This is a cultural rule that goes back to the emperor days. Sucking on a Starbucks and chomping away at a sandwich (or anything, really) while you walk around is a no-no.

Even if you buy food from a street vendor selling snacks, you’re expected to eat your snack right there next to the vendor. Or, wrap it up and carry it to your hotel or apartment to eat later.

Even if you buy a drink from a vending machine, you’re not supposed to walk around drinking it; you can stand next to the machine to drink it. Put whatever’s left in your backpack.

Never, ever eat or drink on the subway. The only exception is on the Shinkansen high-speed bullet trains. I ate this cute lil bento box on the Shinkansen just because I could (and it was delicious).

Get "Set"

Many meals are served as a “set” that includes a drink, and a small salad or soup. It’s cheaper and easier to get the set than to order a la carte.

My fave breakfast spot (not the pic shown here) had an awesome set deal: if you bought a coffee for ~$5 USD, you could get a breakfast sandwich, soup, and green tea added on for an additional ~$1. No lie.

You’ll be given chopsticks but many places will give you a fork if you ask. 

Never stick your chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice, bc it’s reminiscent of a funeral/memorial ritual.

Common types of meals

Teppanyaki is where you can order a bunch of small dishes, like in the pic below. Most of it is grilled.

An izakaya serves drinks and grilled meat on sticks, like yakitori (chicken skewer).

Okanomiyaki is a savory pancake piled with veggies, meat, and seafood.

You know what sushi is. If you’re being adventurous, just know that “nikuzushi” on the menu means horse meat.

There are some vegan and vegetarian places but they’re kinda rare. Even vegetable soups might be made with a fish stock. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Don’t be afraid to get meals from the convenience stores aka konbini. The food is fresh, cheap, and freaking delicious.