A trip to Japan?
Question by Adam T: A trip to Japan?
Hey,
I have never done any kind of international travel, and I am thinking about planning a week in Japan. Aside from the basics like setting up a hotel reservation, food, spending cash, what else do I need to plan for that I might not think about off hand? Any insight would be appreciated.
Adam
Best answer:
Answer by c_pet
If you don’t speak japanese you may want to try and learn some before you go.
What do you think? Answer below!
Transportation.
Inside of Tokyo you will be taking the trains all the time. Either spend the big bucks to get a jr rail pass and get trains to anywhere in japan for free. Buy the tokunai, free anywhere in central tokyo for 700yen. Or hawk the 120yen per single stop trip or the 600+yen per long trip.
Assume local travel will cost just as much as food.
Just know that Japan is very expensive and be aware of the exchange rate. If you are going alone, do you speak the language so that you can communicate with people? If you do not go with a tour, know that there are day tours in the bigger cities in Japan and try to find one that speaks English.
you may want to get a JR one week rail pass (28000 yen, conever to whatever your local currency is ) before you go which gives you free travel on all JR lines (shinkansen even, that is the bullet train…and even some busses and ferries)..you have to buy that before you leave the country…other thoughts…hmm…just take tons of money (japan’s expensive!), keep inmind that not all places accept credit card, and you can buy almost anything (except antipersperant..its illegal there..can get deoderan, and tylenol is available but bloody expensive) there. have fun. i wouldn’t sorry too much about the language barrier, i went there without much english…take a berlitz pocket book if you need one
I’d suggest you go to the library and check out a couple of travel books on Japan. There’s alot of different thngs to see there, and one week won’t be enough. At least the books will give you an idea of things to see.
Check this blog.
Check what you can and can’t take on the plane with the higher security mesures, the less you take the faster you will get through immigration and quarantine.
Buy a travellers money belt and keep your passport and money literally on you all the time.
Prepare to be interviewed and have your fignerproints scanned at the airport as this is the new regulations.
Geting to your hotel from the airport cheaply, you don’t take suit cases on a train! Change you money before you leave as commision rates are too high once you get to Japan.
Get a number for your consulate before you go and keep it on you just in case.
Take your cameras usb cable with you so you can email pics to your account and empty your camera out so it does not get full and you can’t take any more photos. Also you might need to re charge your camera via 110V Japanese power, so either take a car cigarette recharger or you will have to pick up an aftermarket battery recharger in Japan.
Hi Adam,
A JR 7-day rail pass (from overseas travel agent) would save you a lot of hassle. check out the foll. websites as well for assistance. good luck!
“You don’t take suitcases on a train”? Perhaps you mean a subway during rush hour. Anyway, another thing to remember is that Japan is a cash-based society as someone else touched on. Don’t count on using a credit card, except maybe at a major hotel. The easiest place to get cash is from a post office ATM. The post office symbol is 〒 (if your computer can’t read that, it looks like a T with an extra horizontal line on top).
Also, do carry your passport as someone else mentioned. The reason is you are required to as a foreigner.
If you have any problems or need directions, the police are very helpful, but don’t expect them to speak English. Police boxes are often found outside train stations, and they have a big round, red light above the door.