top of page
Search

Key Lessons Learned from My 2019 Travels in Japan

  • fotaquest
  • Jan 2
  • 4 min read

Updated: Feb 3

Key Lessons Learned from My 2019 Travels in Japan

By Lars Guo

Published: January 2, 2025


Opening message: Hi Folks! I hope you all are doing well! This is going to be talking about what I learned about my trip overall. Like I said this is not 100% facts and is just what I learned personally and everyone’s experience is going to be different. This is also likely to be partially dated since it was a long time ago. I hope you can learn something from this. Blog links from the other trips will be listed in the next section. I hope you enjoy it!


Blog Links:






Exploring Japan Day 5 of Our Adventure Begins








The most important tips that is specifically tailored to Japan that I found includes:


As a foreigner coming to Japan, you will have to fill out immigration forms so have your boarding pass with you, contact phone number, passport, and so forth for customs.


Hotels: Checking into a hotel as a foreigner, be ready to sign, pay, and show your passport. Everyone in your party must show their passport.


Bring face masks because not only is it a cultural norm to wear them when you are sick, coughing, and sneezing. On that point, not only does it make you not be one of those awkward foreigners, but there are very few trash cans in the cities that you would have to carry your trash with you. You would be lucky to find them. Some exceptions are train stations, airports, Tokyo Disney Land, and maybe some museums. It saves you money on tissues as well and people around you would appreciate you not spreading your germs.


If you use the bullet train or rather the Shinkansen for more than seven days or more, please do get the JR pass because it will save you money and time in the long run to get to your train on time.


Have yen in cash and coins because there are definitely places that do not accept credit cards. Arcades, subways, vending machines, certain museums, and so forth do not accept credit cards.


Know as much Japanese as possible because it will make your life easier when navigating yourself through Japan. For everyone learning Japanese, do not be afraid to talk to people in Japan ,especially service people, because it is a great way to learn Japanese and apply it.


Bring snacks on to the plane or eat beforehand because airplane food is a hit or a miss on quality. On the way to Japan, my brother and I had amazing plane food. However, when returning to the US, the plane food was absolutely gross.


Every hotel that I have been to supplies you with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and slippers. Some come with wet brushes and razors, but do not rely on that too heavily.


Fast food places have some different menu items and some of the same products that are offered have slightly different tastes. The burgers apparently taste the same, but the chicken nuggets do not.


There are plenty of vending machines to get beverages throughout the city so do not fret about not having any options for the beverages. They are convenient and easy to use. They however do not accept credit cards.


Sensoji temple does not allow foreigners to see the inside of the temple, but there are parts outside of the temple that you can see. Not every place outside the temple will allow you to take pictures so be aware of those signs.


At temples and shrines, there are some cheap cultural activities, take the time to do them because it is unique to the country. For example, there was a fortune activity in the Sensoji temple where you pay a dollar and you grab a number out of a container and that number determines your fortune. If it is a bad fortune, then you go and hang it up in a certain place.


My brother and I regret not getting a SUICA card because we used the subway so many times that paying tickets at the machine every time we wanted to use the subway took extra time that could have been spent somewhere else.


Get reserved seats on the Shinkansen bullet train for long train rides and anything regarding having luggage because life will be that much better for you. It made it simple for my brother and I especially because we were traveling together.


Not everything has English translations so keep that in mind and get something like a dictionary or a translator to help you be able to understand the text. If you are too lazy to do either of those things, then look at the visual parts of the museum and call it a day.


There is a decent amount of rain in Tokyo and Kyoto, our rain was warm so my brother and I were too lazy to use a poncho or buy an umbrella, but it is something you should keep in mind when traveling to Japan.


American Godiva rewards cards do not work in Japan.


Near the Picasso Museum in Hakone district, there are no places to eat dinner. We were lucky to find a place to eat at all for a quick snack at 4 o'clock. Places close early there.


Time equals money.


Stay in as few hotels as possible because my brother and I went to five different hotels and we were both tired of packing and moving every couple of days. We could have just done some day trips into Osaka because it is only a thirty minute commute from Kyoto to Osaka.


Closing Message: I hope you found this to be helpful and that reading about my trip was a lot of fun! I look forward to you all reading the next blog! Have a great day!





 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page