TRAVEL ADVICE

Hotel Check-in Times

Check-in times are strictly enforced in Japan, so it is unlikely that you will be able to access your room early. Please don’t be offended if the hotel is unable to grant your request for an early check-in or if they charge you for using your room before the official check-in time. You are always welcome to leave your luggage with staff before check-in or after check-out. Please refer to the accommodation section of your travel pack for check-in and check-out times. 

Tips on Tipping

For the most part there is no tipping in Japan; leave change behind on a restaurant table or at the cash register and you may find yourself chased down the road by staff desperate to return your "lost property.” 

However, tipping is common when staying at a ryokan (Japanese style inn), in which meals are served in your room. The tip should be handed directly to the service staff assigned to your room. JPY 1,000 in a small envelope is customary (up to JPY 3,000 when staying consecutive nights), although a small gift from your home country is also acceptable.

Luggage Forwarding

Japan has a very efficient network for forwarding on luggage, known as takuhaibin (宅配便 in Japanese). A large suitcase of up to 20 kg can be sent anywhere in the country with next day delivery for just under JPY 2,500, with smaller or lighter bags costing less. For forwarding to/from Hokkaido (Japan’s north island) or Okinawa (the southern islands) please allow two days for delivery. Luggage forwarding is secure, efficient and reliable; the Japanese use it all the time! We highly recommend you use this during your stay to make travelling between destinations more pleasant. 

Your hotel reception will be able to advise. If they do not offer this service, you can take your bags to any convenience store and they will do it there. If you are forwarding luggage to an airport, be sure to allow adequate time for it to arrive for your flight. Some airports have a specific time limit—ask at your hotel if this affects you. 

Note: Hotel front desk staff can be very busy in the mornings, especially around check-out time. We suggest asking staff to assist you with luggage forwarding the previous evening rather than in the morning, especially if you have an early start, or a  train to catch. Staff will be able to help with the admin and paperwork in the evening, then you can simply drop your bag off in the morning. 

Japan Railways 

JR reviews its timetables annually in late March. Details of any schedule changes are not available until nearer this time. Trains will still run as frequently as shown below, but exact departure and arrival times are subject to change by a few minutes. We strongly advise you to check all train times locally once in Japan. Thank you for your understanding. Up to date train times can be viewed at Navitime.  

IC Cards

We recommend purchasing a rechargeable Icoca, Suica, or Pasmo IC card at a major train station during your first day in Japan. These are similar to London’s Oyster or Hong Kong’s Octopus cards. Even if you have a JR Pass, you will not be able to use the pass on private railways such as the Tokyo Metro and Toei subways in Tokyo, or the Osaka Metro subway in Osaka. The pass also cannot be used on some buses. In some cases, it is more convenient to use private railways to get to your destination. Having an IC card topped up with some money will save you the hassle of purchasing tickets for each journey. Read more about IC cards here. 

How to get back the 500 yen refundable deposit?

Bring your card to the ticket counter of the issuing operator in order to get back your 500 yen deposit. Unused credit can also be refunded; however, most companies will subtract a 220 yen handling fee from the remaining balance. Note that IC cards can be returned only to the issuing company, e.g. it is not possible to return a Suica card in Osaka or an Icoca card in Tokyo.

Visas and Passport

Please check that your passport has minimum validity of 3 months before travelling to Japan (we recommend 6 months), and that it has sufficient blank space, usually a single page, for entry and exit stamps. Please also check with your local Japanese Embassy or Consulate whether you will require a visa before travelling to Japan. It is a requirement of Japanese law that travellers carry their passport with them at all times in Japan. 

Please have a photocopy of your passport details kept separately from your passport in case of loss. This will help speed up the procurement of a replacement. You may also wish to have a photo of your passport on your phone and saved in your email. 

Personal Medication

If you regularly use certain forms of medication, bear in mind that Japanese customs can be very strict regarding the importation of some relatively common drugs, including any opioids, psychotropics, tranquilisers, and certain antihistamines. They can also be strict regarding medical equipment like syringes. If you have any doubts, please refer to the official guidelines by Japan’s Ministry of Health. 

Access to Cash

Changing foreign currency at a bank can be a time-consuming endeavour. We recommend arriving in Japan with some Japanese currency, using credit cards, and withdrawing cash from ATMs. It is important to always have some cash on hand, as many establishments still do not accept card payments. This is particularly true outside major cities, though it is generally applicable to small businesses across Japan. You will also need to have notes and coins to pay for bus fares in more remote areas, as some are not equipped to accept payments by IC cards. 

ATMs in post offices provide cash against the following credit/debit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club International, PLUS, Maestro, Cirrus, Union Pay and JCB. Post offices are ubiquitous in Japan and are found even in the smallest village. The daily withdrawal limit for international cards is JPY 30,000.

Seven-Eleven convenience stores also offer the same service with the exception of MasterCard cards (this includes Cirrus and Maestro cards). The ATMs at Seven-Eleven stores are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Most Japanese bank ATMs do not provide cash against credit cards, nor will they provide access to foreign bank accounts with the exception of Citibank and Shinsei Bank branches.

However, branches of these banks are only found in the largest cities. ATMs can also be found at airports and some major department stores. All ATMs have an English language screen for ease of use. 

Before leaving your home country, please check that your credit/debit card can be used abroad. You may also wish to enquire as to fees for overseas withdrawals, and to notify your bank that you are going abroad, as occasionally a card that is suddenly used overseas may be suspected of being used fraudulently and blocked.

International Calls, Mobile Phones, and the Internet

Making international telephone calls and using the internet outside of major urban areas can be difficult or impossible. Most G3, BlackBerry, iPhones and other smartphones operate in Japan but please confirm with your service provider whether your handset will work. If your phone does not work in Japan you may rent a mobile phone from providers such as NTT Docomo, Cellhire, World Roam, SoftBank, or Vodafone, etc.

Internet access is usually available in hotels but not necessarily in Japanese inns or other establishments. Please refer to the itinerary for details on internet access. 

You may wish to rent a portable ‘pocket WiFi’ device during your travels in Japan.

Alternatively, you may wish to download the Travel Japan Wi-Fi application to your smartphone. This allows you to connect automatically to over 200,000 hotspots across Japan, while eliminating the need for signing in multiple times a day. The map function allows you to quickly find a hotspot, and it can even be used in offline mode.  

Electricity

Japan uses a 100v 50/60mhz electrical system. Electrical goods use the “American” (Type A) plug, with two vertical pins. If the device you wish to use says something like “100- 240V, 50/60 Hz”, it will work anywhere in the world with the right plugs. This covers most, if not all, computers, iPads, mobile phones and battery chargers.

Communicating and Translating 

While Japanese people are required to study English from middle school onwards, not everyone can communicate smoothly in English. There may be times when translation apps will help with communication issues. 

Travel and Transportation

For checking train times and timetables, we recommend using Navitime, Jorudan or Hyperdia. For walking routes between places, we suggest using Google Maps. If you miss the last train or are in an area with few public transportation links, the JapanTaxi app may come in handy. You can call a taxi with a tap, or make a reservation. Paying your fare is also simple, as the app connects to your preferred payment method. 

Eating in Japan

To find restaurants, GuruNavi and Tabelog are good websites. OpenTable is perhaps better known as an app/site for making restaurant reservations, but it’s also a great tool for discovering restaurants in your area. You can search for cuisine, budget or availability. HappyCow is the perfect resource for vegetarians, vegans, and flexitarians. 

Luggage Storage

If you’re on the move between destinations but still want to explore without lugging your suitcases around, try Ecbo Cloak. Plug in your location, and a map will help you to quickly find a place to store your luggage. It connects you with different storage spaces shown on a map, where locations and prices are shown, whether they are in a train station or somewhere else close by. Simply pay online by card, and enjoy the rest of your day sightseeing without your luggage. 

Proper manners are valued highly in Japan, and foreign visitors should be familiar with at least the most basic rules. That being said, most of these manners are in practice not so difficult. Japanese people are also very forgiving towards their guests, and making the effort is greatly appreciated. 

Essential Manners

Never enter a house or ryokan, with your shoes on. Within the entrance there is usually a step up into the building proper. Indoor slippers will often be lined up inside for guests’ use. This is a common indicator that you are at the appropriate place to remove your shoes. 

Do not wear slippers into tatami, straw mat, rooms. Slip them off and leave them at the entrance to the room. Always walk on the tatami in stockinged or bare feet. Slippers are also taken off when entering a toilet. Inside you will find another pair of slippers for exclusive use there. Always remember to leave them in the toilet after use and do not walk around the building in them. Everyone will be amused! In public toilets, however, you will generally keep your shoes on. 

In Japan, people wash before soaking themselves in the bath. By the side of each bathtub is a shower unit. Completely rinse off any soap and shampoo before getting into the bath. The bath is shared in turn by everyone so do not empty it after bathing.

The Japanese like bathing in fairly hot water (40-48°C, 104-118°F). If you find it too hot you may add some cold water, but not so much that it becomes tepid. Others in the bath queue will not appreciate it.

In hotels with en-suite shower or bathing facilities you may bathe in the same manner as you would at home.

Dining Manners

Do not stick your chopsticks vertically into a bowl of rice and leave them there and do not pass food to someone else with your chopsticks. These are both taboo because they are associated with Buddhist funerals.

Do not play with, point with, or spear your food with chopsticks. You may, though, very occasionally see Japanese people surreptitiously spear a particularly slippery morsel.

Try not to leave any food on your plate, especially rice. It is also frowned upon to pour soy sauce over rice.

When eating sushi or sashimi, and the like, you will be provided with a separate small dish for soy sauce. Pour in only as much as you will use. You can always add more to your dish should you run out.

When sharing a meal, or just drinking, you should fill or refill the glasses of your companions. They will return the compliment. If you have an empty glass and nobody has noticed, serve someone else. The Japanese will respond in kind. If you do not want a refill, leave your glass full.

It is polite to say Itadakimasu once before eating or drinking, and Gochiso sama deshita to your host or the restaurant’s staff after finishing your meal.

Other Manners

Do not sit on tables or in the tokonoma, an alcove traditionally displaying a scroll with a seasonal theme, flowers, and/or a ceramic objet d’art.

In a ryokan your futon will be laid out for you but if you lay out your own have it such that your head is pointing in any direction except north. The deceased are laid out at funerals with their head to the north.

Refrain from blowing your nose in front of other people and only use paper tissues for the purpose.

Japanese tend not to eat while walking along or standing around on the street. Eating and drinking on local trains is also frowned upon. Eating on long-distance express trains or bullet trains, however, is entirely acceptable. 

When riding on trains and buses turn your mobile phone to silent mode and do not use it for conversation. Text messaging, though, is not considered a problem: you will see many younger Japanese furiously tapping away.

When visiting a Japanese family take an omiyage, a small gift. A food item is ideal.

Do not point your fingers, feet, or chopsticks at people. If you have to indicate a person, object or direction, wave your fingers with the palm downwards in the general direction.

Umbrella stands are often found outside shops and restaurants. Use these on rainy days before entering. Some establishments provide plastic covers for umbrellas. Slip this over the wet article and walk in with it in hand.

For a more comprehensive guide to Japanese etiquette, see this link: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e622.html 

Documents

• Passport

• Visa

• Travel tickets (airline, etc.)

• Copies of important documents (passport, tickets etc.)

• Boarding pass

• Driver’s licence

• Health insurance card

• List of medications, prescriptions

• Travel insurance

• Student card

• Suitcase 

One medium-sized, wheeled suitcase should be sufficient. 

• Backpack

The backpack is to carry your overnight items while you are hiking along the Kumano Kodo trail. You will need room for your documents, water bottle, food, camera, spare clothing, etc

Clothes

• T-shirts / Long-sleeved shirts 

• Long trousers suitable for hiking in

• Wind and waterproof jacket

• Wind and waterproof trousers

• Hiking boots/trekking shoes

• Fleece-style jacket/zip-up top

• Gloves

• Scarf

• Warm hat

• Warm hiking socks

• Underwear

• City clothes: slacks, shirts, dresses, etc.

• City shoes/sandals

• Night clothes/sleepwear

Financial

• Japanese yen 

• Emergency money 

• Credit/debit card

• Money belt

Electronics

• Mobile phone and charger

• Camera, charger, and SD card

• Laptop, iPad or Tablet, and charger

• E-reader and charger

• Travel adapter/converter 

• Headphones

Toiletries

• Personal medications

• Sunscreen

• Hand sanitizer 

You may wish to bring some of your preferred brands of toiletries, e.g. face wash or deodorant. Sunscreen and hand sanitizer are available in pharmacies, but you may wish to have your own supply. 

Miscellaneous

• Sunglasses

• Pencil/pen and notebook

• Water bottle (refillable)

• Waterproof Ziplock bags (to contain any important documents, etc. in your backpack)