Ever dream of going to Japan, not just once, but every year. Me too. I'm John. And that dream became my mission, which is why I started rewarding Routes, a podcast about making Japan travel possible. Year after year, I learned how to leverage credit cards to earn points of miles, turning everyday spending into flights and hotel stays across Japan.

Each episode I'll share what I've learned from booking award travel to building meaningful itineraries and deep diving into regions, traditions, and experiences that make this country so special. Let's build your rewarding route, one trip at a time. Welcome back to another episode, and I just wanna take a moment here and thank everybody who's reached out to me.

, This is the first podcast I'm recording since the launch. And. I received so many messages and comments and I just wanna thank everybody. I know I thanked you [00:01:00] guys in the messages, but I just wanna say here, , because I really have been wanting to do this for a long time, and this is kind of just a passion project of mine, and whenever you really, you put yourself out there and try to pursue something that, uh, means a lot to you, you really start to doubt yourself and you really tend to get, , in your mind and as I did a lot.

So , I just wanted to say thank you to everybody who's reached out and it kind of relieved that, um, part of my mind that was so scared to have started this. So thank you. And again, and I want to say. I'm extremely excited for this episode because I know we've really been focusing on points and miles and learning about credit cards.

, And in this episode, I wanna shift that over to the side of talking about Japan. And I'm going to be talking about all the [00:02:00] basics, kind of, , a beginner's guide or everything you should know about Japan before visiting because, um, there are some helpful tips that I've learned, , especially before I went to Japan and I've experienced, now that I've been twice and I thought I share those things that I've learned and share some of my experiences with those trips and from other, , things I have researched online and heard from other people.

So I think this will be not only a great episode for somebody going for the first time. But also it'll be a really good episode for those who have gone already before, because when I was creating this outline for this podcast, I was kind of reminding myself of memories I had during these trips, um, these two trips that I had so far.

And they're good. They're good memories. Also, if I miss anything in this episode, please write it in, send me a comment. Uh, maybe [00:03:00] send me a direct message because I personally love to learn from these and everybody listening, I'm sure would appreciate learning from those tips as well. So yeah, definitely always feel free to write in.

,. I have an email, a Gmail rewarding routes podcasts@gmail.com, so feel free to reach out there too. Alright,, let's get into this episode and planning a trip to Japan, and let's start with airports. Most of you. So far, I have flown into Tokyo.

Uh, there's two major airports in Tokyo. There's nata, which is a further out airport from Central Tokyo, and you have Haida. So in NATA it's about a little over an hour away. , It's mainly a major hub for international flights, , with points of miles. I tend to find the better deals for nata. , , There are options and deals also for Heida and personally, [00:04:00] Heida is my favorite airport to fly into.

, We'll have a whole episode about transfer partners and. Flying into, these airports, and I'll go more into depth, but I'm just giving you kind of like this baseline knowledge of, um, Tokyo Airports and some others I'm gonna list. But with nata, it is further out. , The prices tend to be a bit cheaper and you do have a few options to get into Central Tokyo.

So you have the Skyliner train. You have the NATA Express, you can also do a bus. Last time we flew into Tokyo, we flew into nata. Actually, both times we've , been to Japan. We've flown into NATA and flown out of Haida. So we have experience with, uh, both of these airports. But when we flew into nata, we actually ended up taking the Skyliner train, , really affordable, not bad.

It took us from NTA over to Eno, and then we transferred, I believe, to the YA Mante line from Eno over to X Juku, [00:05:00] uh, with the NTA Express. I believe it takes you to most of the major stations in Tokyo. We, I haven't done that one, so I haven't looked too much into it. Uh, I know it is a little bit more expensive.

And I believe it gets you there slightly faster, but not by much. Uh, also the last time we went into nata, we took a bus. So how I booked this bus was on Klu, and I'm gonna mention this throughout the, uh, episode because Klu is a great place to book either transportation or activities or park tickets like Disneyland, Disney Sea, universal.

Most of you might be interested in that, . And, uh, so are we. We've been to, so if our universal, , studios, Japan and Disney Sea, next time we go in, we'll probably go to Disneyland. So getting more to the point, we did take a bus from when we landed in nata, I [00:06:00] booked it on Klu and the bus took us down to Tokyo Bay where.

We were going to Disney Sea the next day, so that's an option too. The bus does take a bit longer. I mean, you run into traffic as well, but it's more affordable. It's really comfortable actually from our experience. Uh, they handled our luggage, put it , under the bus, and the driver was even kind enough to drop us off at our own resort.

I believe there was only some designated places for drop off. went on Klu, I remember it just gave me the option to select,, Tokyo, Disney Bay, but he didn't give me specific areas. So we told the driver our hotel, and he dropped us off right in front of our hotel. So it was really nice, really good experience.

Um, so I can highly recommend the limousine buses in Japan. Now another option from NATA is taxi, but just know a taxi [00:07:00] ride from NATA all the way to Central Tokyo is gonna cost probably several hundred dollars. So probably look at the other, , options. Everything is super convenient. It's pretty well laid out.

You don't have to worry about like translating too much. A lot of it's in English, so I think you'll be just fine. Now we move over to Ada. Personally, ADA's my favorite airport. , We've flown out of it both times. We've been in Japan, let me just say at terminal three, level four, they have a place called the Edo Marketplace.

Look it up on Google. , It is a really cool spot, so I would recommend getting there. A few hours early, like earlier than you would normally think for a, uh, flight, because you can just do any last minute shopping in this area. You can eat really good food in this area. So I highly [00:08:00] recommend if you're flying out of Heida, go to terminals three.

It's before security, so you can actually take your luggages up there and if you wanna do any shopping, you can go ahead and stuff it in your bag. And then once you're done, you eat, maybe then you can go through, um, check-in and then security. So Nita's really good. You can take the Tokyo monorail, you can take the

kai Q line. Also the limousine buses that we talked about and taxis from here are a lot more affordable to Central Tokyo and , it's a good option if you have larger suitcases and if you're with a family. So that's something to consider as well. Um, we've taken the taxis several times during our trips, um, whenever we found it to be convenient for us, and it just made sense.

Other airports to consider are KCI over in Osaka, New Chi over in SA and [00:09:00] Fuca. So just know domestic travel. We haven't done it personally, but I heard and read that it's super convenient as well. I know you can take the chin k, the bullet train across Japan, but. You know, flying domestically, it's another option.

There are some budget airlines like Jetstar and Peach, so you can kind of weigh your options and decide what you would prefer. All right, let's talk about some essentials now. So you'll want to carry some cash with you. , Japan is still a cash based society, even though you can get around most of the time with a credit card, you should be fine.

But you're gonna run into like these smaller family owned businesses, like a ramen shop or something like that. You'll most likely have to pay in cash. You'll, you'll see a little sign saying cash only. So just be aware of, um, older establishments and maybe it's [00:10:00] run by an elderly couple.

Uh, ATMs are pretty available all throughout Japan. , There's convenience stores everywhere, so you can go into a seven 11 Family Mart, Lawsons, , you can also take out cash at the airport once you land. Uh, one tip I am gonna give off of this is, , I have a Charles Schwab debit card.

So it's an account I opened up back in 2016 and it has no foreign transaction fees plus ATM fees get reimbursed on this card. , So it's just a good card and a good account to open if you travel a lot and travel internationally because whenever I go to another country, I always bring that card. I'll make sure to have transferred money over to that account.

And then that's my debit card that I use for all the ATMs. That way I don't ever have to deal with the airport exchange fees or getting ripped off in any way. I could just go to an ATM , not have to worry about any fees. I get reimbursed [00:11:00] 'em. So it's definitely a, a good tip that I learned back in 2016 from, , I believe it was, a travel page that I read it off of.

So just passing that forward to you guys. Also, when paying in cash, you'll notice these money trays sitting on the counter. Uh, once you're paying, be sure to just put your cash on there. Your coins and the staff member or the cashier's going to exchange your, cash, put your remaining change on there and then pass it forward.

You normally don't hand cash over, hand to hand. You just use the money tray. And that's something I didn't know going in. Uh, I found out, I was like, wait, I don't hand 'em the, the cash. Oh, use the tray and they'll tell you, oh, use the tray. So just, just letting you know because it happened to me when I went out there.

So just be aware of that. Alright, next passport. You actually have to carry your passport at all times. It's actually a legal requirement out there. So say a police [00:12:00] officer was to ask for your identification. You have to present your passport. , I know I read a lot of people feel safer when it's at in their hotel room, but just make sure you carry it with you.

And also on top of that, you'll need it for tax free shopping. And who doesn't like to have some tax free shopping? Right? And I know these rules are going to be changing in 2026 and how they do things, but if you're going right now, uh, in your passport, you'll have your little visa and it'll have a little QR code on it.

So whenever you're shopping and you spend over, I believe, 5,500 yen, uh, you'll present your passport. They'll go ahead and scan that barcode, and then they'll give you the tax free. But I believe in 2026, uh, what you'll have to do is just keep all your receipts and then you'll be doing that process at the airport.

That's what I believe. I haven't looked fully into it yet, and I don't know all the rules, but just know it is changing in [00:13:00] 2026. All right, next is gonna be connectivity. So during our first trip in 2023, we used a portable wifi router, and it worked really good. I wish I remembered the name of the brand we used, but I cannot remember right now.

, But , it was good. It worked really fine. , The only downside is it was another device to carry in my bag and it had to be charged. But the pros of it was like my wife and I could be on the router at the same time. And I believe you can have up to several people on it. So if you're in a family, it's nice to have the wifi because everybody in that party, as long as they stay close by, can be on that wifi and have service while you're going around Japan.

But personally, off of our last trip that we took a few months ago and we did eims. I prefer to do that because it's one less thing I have to worry about charging. [00:14:00] Uh, also, whenever I'm away from my wife, , like I go to the bathroom or I go into a shop and she's in another shop, , we can't really both be on the wifi.

So for us personally, I, I preferred eims and I used Arlo as a carrier. And it worked. It worked , just as good as the wifi. I didn't have problems with either of 'em, , so yeah. , It's whatever you prefer. Eims seemed to be just easier for me.

Um, everybody was always on data, me and my wife, And Alo also, I'll just throw this out there, not sponsored, but they have regional packages. So they had an Asia package and we had, since we started our trip in South Korea and then we're going to Japan, it actually allowed us to have like this Asia package. So we, we bought one package, I believe I bought maybe 20 gigabytes and my wife maybe had around 10 gigabytes.

[00:15:00] And, 'cause I'm the navigator and I'm doing all like the research and um, guiding our way. But when we went to South Korea, we had service and then once we got to Japan, it just switched the network for us. So it was really like seamless. Um. In that way. So that was my experience, and you just go with whatever you feel is best for your , situation.

Next we'll be talking about no tipping. So in Japan, you're not expected to tip. It's part of the job and this service is already included in the price. So say you do tip, they, I've heard stories that they will chase you out the door and make sure you get your money back. It's just not a part of their culture.

Um, so don't worry about tipping. Just enjoy your meal and enjoy the service because Japan really is world class Next trash cans, they're pretty rare to find in public. You, you won't [00:16:00] see them too often. And the reason why is I. It's actually a story I heard from, uh, John Dobb. He has a YouTube channel called Only in Japan, and only in Japan Go.

The difference is , one of his channels is like documentary style. The other channel, the, um, only in Japan go, are like live streams of him talking about Japan, just doing walk arounds and, and really going deep into, um, certain aspects. I, I love that channel. John Dots. He's lived in Japan for 27 years.

I thought I'd just give him a quick, , mention, , because I, I watched so much of his content and he, you can tell he's super passionate about living in Japan and just Japanese culture in general, but he did tell a story, , on one of his lives. , Back in the nineties there was actually a domestic terrorist attack.

I believe it was, uh, cen gas. In trash cans [00:17:00] in a Tokyo subway. I'm not gonna get all the facts here, right. Maybe you could Google it. But after that incident and , after that scare that, , Tokyo had, they decided to pull the bins.

So I I found that fascinating. 'cause I, I didn't know that. I thought they just didn't have bins they already had that culture of taking home their trash. But when I learned about that accident that happened back in the nineties, , I thought it was interesting and. I don't hear about it too often.

I heard it in his live stream, so I thought I'd share that 'cause yeah, it's just an interesting fact about, , something that happened in Japan's history. But a tip on trash is whenever you eat something, say at like a stand, um, just move over to the side and eat the food. And then once you're done with the food, usually that stand where you bought the food will have a trash can for those who bought the food and, and ate it.

Uh, same thing goes for, , convenience stores. If you get something at a convenience store [00:18:00] or drink, just go outside, step to the side, have it right there and there are actually bents inside of the convenience store you can use. , So that's kind of a, a tip that you can use that way whenever you eat something or drink something, you can just toss it at the vendor wherever you got it from, and then you stay trash free throughout the day.

And if you do have trash, maybe just bring a small little bag, , within your bag and just put it in there and then throw it out at your hotel when you go back. Next, I'm gonna mention hand towels. And you'll notice a lot of public bathrooms don't have paper towels, and the dryers are very weak. Whenever I've experienced this is from my experience personally.

, It feels like if I was to put my hand in front of my face and just kind of blow on it. , So hand towels, you'll see them all throughout stores., We personally have a large collection. For some reason we just keep [00:19:00] buying, , our favorite anime hand towels. Uh, we have a few Ghibli hand towels, , some Pokemon hand towels, other anime hand towels like Sailor Moon, and gosh, what, what Dragon Ball.

, Spy family. So, so maybe if there's, , an anime or something of interest, I'm sure there's a hand towel for it. . It's a cool souvenir, but it's also very helpful because I had it in my bag and whenever I went to the bathroom in a train station or any public bathrooms around, I had my hands.

How I whipped it out, dried my hands and I was good to go. So just a little tip right there. Next we'll be talking about, you're gonna be doing a lot of walking, so we're comfortable shoes, something that you're okay doing 20 to 30 K steps in because there's a lot of walking involved. , You're getting on trains, you're getting off trains, you're going to visit places, you're walking around [00:20:00] neighborhoods.

So just wear comfortable shoes whenever you go. I know the, , fashion in Tokyo and in Japan, people dress nice and , you want to dress nice too. But yeah, those comfortable shoes definitely come in hand when it's the end of the day and you're back at your hotel room. So just a tip there. So to kind of finish off the essentials, uh, part of this list, I think this is one that I've really enjoyed the service of and found it extremely convenient to get around Japan and that's shipping your luggage.

, Because I know some of us can do a lot of shopping and we have bigger luggages, but let me tell you, there are a lot of stairs that you'll encounter throughout Japan and you don't want to really bring your luggage to train stations and, and take it from. One hotel over to another using public transport, walking on the sidewalk with it, it becomes kind of a hassle.

So [00:21:00] you can use either your hotel service, you'll talk to them at the checking counter, be like, I am checking out on this day. And we're gonna be, say, in Osaka on this day, they can fill out a form for you and ship that luggage over. And , there's a service called Yato Transport.

It has a black cat logo on it. And we've used it every single time, whenever available. I think there's one time, um, when the hotel just had a separate service, but shipping your bags to different parts of Japan to eliminate having to walk around , and. Carry it all over with you was like, stress free.

Like, and, and like our hands are, are a lot more free. Uh, I think one of us had would have like a small check-in bag or we have our bags, like our backpacks and stuff. So definitely, definitely look into shipping your luggage to different destinations to avoid [00:22:00] having to like just lug it everywhere and go up and down steps with it and, and get on the, the public train with it.

No, like, that's too much for me. So, uh, I'm always gonna be shipping my luggage. It's really affordable. I mean, I think I was paying maybe 20 bucks or so to ship it to different cities. So , look, look at the option, see if it's for you. But I personally, this is one of my highest tips, like shipping your luggage.

It's gonna make your experience and your life a lot easier. I actually have one more essential, and that's learning a few extra phrases in Japanese. So something like, excuse me, sum or, or thank you AMAs. , Learning a few phrases. For me personally, it really enhanced my experience in Japan.

Um, you can see the appreciation [00:23:00] in people when you try, and I've actually had Japanese people open up to me because I was able to just say a few simple things in Japanese and they saw the effort that I was making and made an effort to talk to me in English. So.

Uh, it's a great way, if you want to maybe talk to people in Japan. I know Japanese tend to be reserved and to themselves, but say you're at a bar and you're ordering in Japanese, , it happened to me,, a salary man, sitting right next to me, heard me, making my order for my naru, my draft beer, and he decided to talk to me.

, He just, he wanted to get to know me and why I'm in Japan and if I'm enjoying my time in Japan. And I, and I loved it. And you could see the expression on his face that he was very happy to hear that, , coming from me. So, Learn a few [00:24:00] phrases. , It'll take you a long way.

Alright, for timing your trip. , This is a question I do get asked sometimes. , Like, when's the best time to go? There are some public holidays that are worth knowing about and avoiding, and one of 'em is Golden Week. That's gonna be April 29th to May 6th. , A lot of places are gonna be closed and the places that are open are gonna be packed.

That's a public call that you should, try not to. , Plan your trip around. Same thing for, that's gonna be in August, August 13th through the 16th. , Go ahead and try to avoid those dates. Typically, some good months to visit Japan and both trips that I've done with my wife have been in May.

Um, may, the weather is very nice. Not too hot, not too cold. Uh, I know October, a lot of people [00:25:00] that I've heard and read, , say October is a very good time to go as well. , For cherry blossoms, no, it's gonna be a very, very high season. And that's, , March through April, depending, , where in Japan you are, if you're further up north.

It could be in April, if you're further down south, it could be in March. , I know forecast for cherry blossoms come out. , Early in the year, , or around maybe February to get the most accurate ones, February, March. So be on the lookout for those. Maybe follow some, , social media pages that post those things.

Same thing for the, , fall foliage. , That's between October to early December, , with peak times being in November. So that'll be a very good season to, to go in and see all the beautiful colors and temples being surrounded by all that foliage. So that'll be really nice. And then, uh, rain season's gonna be in June through September.

No, it's gonna be very hot during the summer. , I know summer when I [00:26:00] research Japan, , people say avoid the summer 'cause of how hot it is and the humidity, and, . I live in Florida, so I get the heat and I, I get how uncomfortable it is, and I'm sure it's probably even a little bit hotter in Japan.

So yeah, that's something, , to keep in mind. , Expect the heat, expect to be hot, expect to be uncomfortable at times. But I know there are some amazing festivals, , Matsu during this time, and it's something I truly want to experience. I want to see these festivals. I wanna see the fireworks.

, That's just a vibe that I really wanna be around and see for myself. So, we plan to go into summer, , maybe not next year. Uh, it'll probably be the year after that or just down the future, but it summer's definitely on our list. Just know it's also typhoon season, , around August. So. In July, August or so.

Something to keep in mind. Rainy season, very hot typhoon [00:27:00] season. So a few things there that could, uh, disrupt your trip. But honestly, I think anytime you go,, as long as you're in Japan and, you're enjoying yourself and I'm sure you planned a, a very good itinerary and you have things you want to see, I mean, it, it's an incredible place and you're gonna have fun regardless.

So that's just my timing, your trip section there. Next, we'll move on to transportation. So for transportation, you're gonna want a IC card. In Tokyo, it'll be the Sika card, but you'll also hear about pa, SMO, Koka. , I believe there's 10 regional cards. , They all do the same thing. They all work for all the trains and like vending machines and convenience stores, uh, buses.

So the differences, basically, the regions you get 'em in, I believe there's different companies that issue these cards, [00:28:00] these IC cards. Um, but for most of you in Tokyo, it'll be the Sika card. , I know in the airport and major train stations, they have a welcome Sika card. , That one's good for 28 days once you first use it.

So that's an option too. If you don't want like the other Sika card, you just want one for visiting. And then once. You're gone, it expires. So that's another option. But yeah, having a sweet card is super convenient. Just being able to use it for all the trains and for the vending machines and for the convenience stores, and know that you can actually have this card on your phone.

So I know for Apple users, I'm an Apple user.

I have it on my phone in my wallet. And you can top it up through the, wallet. I remember having trouble topping it up with my Visa credit card. Um, I did have a MasterCard as a backup when I used that, it worked. So I believe MasterCard in American Express, you're [00:29:00] good visa.

Uh, it's kind of iffy. It might work, it might not work. So if you're trying to top it up with a Visa card, may maybe have a MasterCard or American Express as a backup , to top up that, , Sika. And another tip for the Sika, you don't have to unlock your phone to use it at the train station. You can just pull it out of your pocket, tap it against the little scanner, and then go through the little gate so you don't have to unlock your phone or anything.

And this actually works if your phone dies within that four hour time period there, I believe there's an internal battery and , it'll continue to work so you're able to use it . If your phone dies, you should always have a portable charger, especially for the long days you're traveling around.

But yeah, just know you don't have to unlock your phone. Just tap it. It'll work. Super convenient, very handy to have on your phone. All right, now let's talk about some train etiquette. And Japan's a very respectful country [00:30:00] and everybody's very considerate of others. So you'll want to stay quiet when you're on a train.

And a good rule of thumb is just follow what the Japanese are doing. , If you're unsure of something or you're unsure to talk, just kind of observe your surroundings and, and see, oh, okay, everybody's quiet here. Let me try to be as quiet as I can. So on trains, , try to stay as quiet.

Don't be on the phone. , What I do, I just put my AirPods in. I'll watch a YouTube video or I'll listen to some music and then we'll be at our next stop. So yeah, just a way to keep yourself entertained for the train ride, but no. That rush hour is very real. If you've seen those videos of people getting crammed into trains.

This Yeah, this, this happens. The, the train gets very packed. So , between the hours of like 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM and [00:31:00] about 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM that these trains get very packed in Tokyo and yeah, just expect it, expect to be shoulder to shoulder. , Very tight. It is kind of uncomfortable and awkward.

And, , one thing I noticed is if you have a backpack, , this is something by just observing. I didn't know this before my first trip, but if you have a backpack and it, and you notice that it's getting very crowded, and I think people do this even when it's not crowded. You take your backpack off, you either have it on your front or you carry it low with your hands.

That way you're, you're not hitting anyone around you with your backpack behind you. Uh, you have it in front of you and you can keep it close to you and, , not bother anyone or, or hit anyone with your backpack once again, being considerate of others. So it's just something I've noticed, , by observing the surroundings and being on the train.

Another thing to note [00:32:00] is train schedules. Most of the trains stop around midnight and then they start up around 5:00 AM So if you plan on going out drinking in KU or Shibuya or any other parts of, uh, Tokyo or Japan, the trains normally stop running around midnight. So if you plan to have a later night, just prepare to take a taxi back to your hotel because either that or you're gonna wait, keep drinking until 5:00 AM and then you can hop back on the first train to your hotel eating on trains.

, Other than the sheen, the bullet train. Uh, yeah, don't eat on, the local lines or anything, like staying quiet on a train. Also, don't eat on it. Uh, they like to keep things very clean, very nice. So just keep that in mind when you're on a local train. If you wanna snack on anything, , try to avoid that.

But we'll get to the sh in a moment. I'm just gonna get through these other, , points real quick. So [00:33:00] another way of transportation throughout the city is, , taxis. So they can be pretty pricey, but. Honestly, it's whatever's most convenient for you. , I think I already touched on this, but if you have like larger suitcases or you're with a family or a larger group, maybe taxis make sense.

, I know we took a few taxis because we wanted to kind of avoid like bus lines that had really long cues and wanted to expedite, , things we wanted to see. , And say you have like a dinner reservation and you're running a little bit behind, maybe you'll have to take the taxi.

So even though taxis are a little bit pricier, definitely pricier than just taking a train line or a bus. If it's convenient for you, they're really handy and, , almost most of the time they're taking credit card. Uh, I believe it. They'll have a little sign saying [00:34:00] cash, only if they only do cash. , But all the taxis I took were able to take credit card and I had cash just in case, to navigate around, Japan, Google Maps.

It's been the most reliable map and it's the only one that I know of actually, 'cause everyone talks about it, but it's very detailed and it's very accurate and it's super helpful. , Even tells you like when you're traveling from one location to another on a train, it'll tell you , what car you should be in that's closest to your exit.

It'll show the exit that you need to get out of. , So once you exit your train, you'll see maybe your exit will be a three. So Google Maps will say a three, and then just look throughout the train station and you'll find a one, a two, a three. So it'll kind of guide you exactly what street and what exit to take to get to your destination.

So Google Maps super reliable, , very good app. I mean, it's the only one you need [00:35:00] to navigate. Japan. Now we're moving on to the bullet train, the Chinen. One of my favorite things about Japan, I love, I love trains, by the way. I love all the trains in Japan. I love that there's all types of trains in Japan.

There theme trains, there are very fast trains, like the bullet trains. They're old and more traditional trains, and I don't know, I'm just a train guy. That's just me. , But the Sheen content, it should definitely be on everyone's list to at least ride and, and experience once. But it's a, it's a great way to get from point A to point B.

Wherever your trip is taking you or wherever your itinerary, uh, has mapped out for you. My advice for this is to book in advance. , Maybe you'll want specific seats or if you do have luggages with you, there are certain seat seats on the bullet train that you'll need to reserve that allow you to store your luggage behind those [00:36:00] seats.

It's kind of the seats at the very end with a wall behind you. There's a little bit of space to put luggage there. You'll have to book those to use those. You can't just throw your luggage there and then have a different seat. So just know that I booked the seats for the Ong Sun using , klu is very easy to do.

, I didn't need those back seats 'cause we had shipped our luggage, , forward from Tokyo over to Kyoto. So , that's another reason why to ship your bags. 'cause you don't have to worry about booking those seats. Your bags are already being transported for you. You don't have to bring it around.

Just kind of hands free. It's, it's really nice. Also a tip for writing the han send a bullet train. I would recommend getting to that train station early, um, two, maybe even three hours before, preferably three in, in just my experience. , It's good to get to the train station early 'cause these [00:37:00] train stations like Tokyo, , station, it's massive.

It's like a mall in there and you'll get, you'll probably get lost, but it's awesome in there. So it's a good reason to get lost in, in Tokyo Station. Give yourself some time because when you ride the shingen. It'll be nice to bring an ECU bin, which is like a little bento box on the train with you to eat.

And this is when it's okay to eat on trains. So you can grab an ECU bin, you'll see these stores throughout the station. You'll see ECU bins, and you'll have really nice displays of what's inside of the, uh, ECU Ben. Uh, so I definitely, definitely recommend get grabbing one, maybe grabbing a dessert to go with it.

, Feel free to grab a drink. You can use the vending machines, , over at the station. And honestly, Tokyo Station, it has so much to offer. , One thing we haven't done yet is there's this, uh, area called Character Street, and they [00:38:00] have like the Kirby Cafe, Pokemon, uh, Ghibli. Hello Kitties. Snoopy.

They have like a store full of go poems, so we haven't done that. But I mean, you can find really cool things like that, like. If there's anything that you're interested, like Character Street or maybe it's Ramen Street within Tokyo Station that you want to bowl ramen before you get on. , I don't know.

I think it's just really cool to go through, through Tokyo Station, maybe get lost a little bit, , be aware of your time, of your train and , enjoy Tokyo Station. 'cause it's, it's kind of cool to get lost in there and, and see all these different shops and it's like, wow, this is a train station.

It's, it's pretty awesome. So yeah, get there early, get there two, three hours early, you'll probably get lost. We did, we get lost every time, but we managed to find our way

so. Next will be the food. Oh, the food. I would say my tip for [00:39:00] when it comes to Japanese food is try as much of it. , Honestly, have a list before. You'll have a list of like, meals you wanna try, like meals you wanna experience, , because it can get very overwhelming with the amount of options there are once you're over there.

Um, there's a lot of restaurants, there's a lot of stands, so this will help narrow down your search when you're looking for a place to eat. Also for higher end restaurants or fancier restaurants or any restaurant really, when that you have saved, um, and you have chosen specifically, make sure you check if you need a reservation for that spot.

Most times when it's higher end especially, you'll definitely need a reservation. And sometimes this will be a reservation, maybe a week in advance, maybe two weeks in advance. Maybe it's just a few days. So just make sure you research those places. You know, [00:40:00] you really want to visit and check out, because I know , if it's in the higher end, , category, it will require a reservation.

And Japan's a hot spot right now. So you'll be competing with, uh, several other people who are wanting to go to the same spot. Now, if you go to Izakay, Japanese Pub, uh, no, most of these have table charges and , most of the time they'll bring out a small appetizer to your table and you'll think, um, we didn't order that.

But this is actually the table charge, it's called oi and. They'll bring out, like for us, , I remember one time it was like pickled vegetables. It was really good. It was really good. But we had a table charge of I think three or 400 yen, which isn't much, honestly.

We love them. We've been to multiple of them during our trip, so highly recommend, , going to a zaki and just be aware , whenever you see your check or you get [00:41:00] this appetizer that they are, table charges. Alright. Another thing to note for dining in Japan, the servers won't often check on you or won't check on you at all.

You'll have to kind of look over your shoulder and say, Sue me my scent, raise your hand. I know it feels awkward. , I know it feels rude, but honestly, the servers like to give,, their customers respect of space and don't want to interrupt their meals or their time. So just know, just to call 'em over.

Sometimes there'll be a button on the table to call the servers over. They're not being rude or anything, just know that they're, , just respecting your space and they'll make sure you get the service that you need once you ask 'em to come over. And, , once they get that food out for you. And yeah, it's, dining in Japan is, is excellent. [00:42:00] It's really good. And even sometimes, , when you go into shops, , we went into a ramen shop, you'll notice actually, vending machines inside or outside, and they'll be labeled sometimes with photos.

Some places do this, you'll see, little vending machines. So you'll have to just select what you want. You'll put your cash in, you'll select what you want, and you'll get a ticket. And then once you have the ticket, you find a place to sit and you give that to them, and then they'll bring out your food.

So that's , another dining experience that we had. So just to something, be aware of if you sit down but you notice a vending machine. You'll probably want to go over there, put your order in, just press on whatever you want. , If you don't know if it's all labeled in Japanese and you're not sure, you can always ask for a recommendation.

, You can learn that term, uh, o which is recommendation. , And I'm sure they'll gladly give you a recommendation for something. I've done this several times [00:43:00] just to be a little bit, uh, more adventurous. So highly recommend. And, , yeah, just be aware of those, uh, little vending machines in some restaurants.

And another tip for finding places. If you feel like, I don't know, maybe you're not sure where you want to go, or, uh, you're struggling on like finding a place, you can always ask. Like your hotel staff, if you have a hotel staff, you check in, ask 'em for a recommendation. It might be like a surprising recommendation that's something that you really enjoy and something that's not like plastered all over, all over social media where it has a massive queue.

So , you might find some gems there, I don't know. But it's always good to ask recommendations from like staff or locals. ,, You probably will find something that you really like , from that recommendation, alright, for some dining etiquette, , know that eating and walking isn't really a thing in Japan.[00:44:00] 

So whenever you're eating, , I'd say whenever you get food from like a vendor, like an outdoor vendor, there's like a strip of vendors outside and you find one that you like, just eat near the shop, like right next to it. Just stand over there, eat. And it's also just like we talked about earlier with the trash, once you're done, you'll probably be able to throw your trash away with that vendor.

, Eating and drinking, well, you'll see people do it. Um, but it's not super common, , to do. And also with the trash thing, it's just easier to eat and drink in that one spot and then toss your trash away so you don't have to carry it with you all the way back to your hotel. Also, modifying meals is not a thing in Japan, so don't expect them to, , change your meal and like, make adjustments to it.

It'll definitely cause confusion. And it'll probably feel really awkward, so, ,, don't try modifying meals. You get what you order. Okay. Also for some dining etiquette, , don't [00:45:00] stick chopsticks directly into your bowls, like your bowl of rice. , This is actually a funeral custom, so don't stick your chopsticks directly down in rice and don't pass food from one pair of chopsticks to another.

That's also a funeral custom. Now say if you have allergies, something that I've seen online, , and I've seen in some videos of, how people go about with allergies in Japan is they'll actually print out like a note or, or they'll have like a note card laminated, and on the note card it'll have in Japanese, the allergy that the person has.

So whenever they go to different restaurants and places, they can just like show this note card to the staff and then they'll be aware of that allergy. So that's something to keep in mind if you have an allergy. , Maybe make a card , or something that's already translated. That way the staff can take that information and, hopefully they can [00:46:00] accommodate you. Just make sure you research the place that you're going to, and, uh, make sure that place has something for you. And then from there they can kind of manage the allergy, , if there are any contaminants or not. Now you'll notice whenever you're on Google, , or log, you'll notice the, , restaurant reviews.

You'll want to read 'em. , Know that when you're looking at 'em and you're seeing a lot of three stars or low three stars or 3.5, . That's pretty good in Japan. Japan's, I mean, Michelin I think is just about four stars. , People are very, , I guess critical on how they rate things. They rate everything.

They rate the, the service, the food, the presentation. Whenever you see a three or like a 3.5 or, or maybe a little bit lower, that's still really good in Japan standards. Um, you're gonna see that in Tave log for Google Reviews. It might be a little bit skewed [00:47:00] based on tourist opinions.

You'll get more, , tourist, , reviews on Google reviews. You'll get more locals from Tablo. But yeah, just look at the reviews and just know that if it's a lower three, it's probably really good still, , because Michelin's only getting about a for or around there. So yeah, just know that. This takes us over to cultural experiences, and I think something that I highly recommend and we did on our first trip to Japan is stay at a Rio Con.

And that is a traditional inn with like Tommy mats. You have the futons, you can get, uh, a dinner package included. , If it offers that, they're called kaki and they're absolutely delicious. I mean, it's a multi-course meal with just a different variety , of things. I remember having [00:48:00] fish and wagyu and vegetables and some kind of rice pudding and oh, it was just, it was really good.

This was in our art Ocon was on Gima Island, so over by Hiroshima. , So if you ever get a chance to go to Hiro Shima, definitely visit Mia Shima Island. It's a beautiful island. , You just take a ferry over and I know John Dobb, and I'll , bring up, only in Japan again, in one of his, , live videos.

, He was in Jema and he was talking about the island and he had recommended, if it's possible to, for you to stay a night here, definitely do it because in the mornings when you wake up, you really have the whole island to yourselves. I mean, there's like nobody on the streets and people start flooding in around maybe 10:00 AM 11:00 AM but if you wake up early at like seven or eight, you're gonna get [00:49:00] this very peaceful and quiet island.

You'll have the big Tory gate and the water and , it's really beautiful. You have the pagoda there and. There's so many small shops and you can try the Moji Manju. They're like these, , little leaf pastries with like a filling inside, um, red beans sometimes. Um, matcha, uh, you have custard, I believe is one of 'em.

So yeah, that's probably one of my absolute highlights of visiting Japan twice so far was, , spending the night in a over in Miya Gima Island. And that takes me to my next point is to try an onsen try in the hot spring. , These are incredible. And the han we had in Mima, I believe it was called aso.

I wanna say that was the name of it. I could be getting it wrong, but it had a onsen at the Han. And, , I do have a [00:50:00] tattoo, it's on my arm, and I made sure to research it before I went and booked it. It was a tattoo friendly onsen, just the only role they had for me was to go after 10:00 PM because they didn't want, you know, me to be around other people.

, Just showing my tattoo. So, and I was fine with that. So at 10:00 PM I had the whole onsen to myself. , You take a, a quick shower before, you know, you sit on the bucket, take a quick shower before you get in, and, the SEN was right outside and it was right next to a creek and you can hear the running water.

And I don't know, it was just a, a truly freeing and, . An incredible experience. So if, if you get the chance, definitely try an onsen. I know it can be awkward being, being naked, um, but it is, just very refreshing and rejuvenating and, , something that I, I can't recommend highly enough. [00:51:00] So definitely give it a go.

Just know if you have tattoos, make sure it's tattoo friendly, wherever you're going or trying to book. And yeah, do it. Go for it. So for the next cultural tip, I would say try, booking an activity, a cultural, either if it's a, , maybe a tea ceremony or calligraphy or cooking class.

, Something that we did, we went to a local baseball game, , in Tokyo. It was the alt swallows. And wow, what, what an amazing experience that was. The energy was so high. That was, I mean, I've been to MLB games here , in the us but going to a Japanese baseball game was just, , one of those experiences that I, even if you don't watch baseball, you should go, like, the food is great.

The, the food is fantastic, and you can bring food from outside, inside. , So you can do that too. And they have like food trucks and stands [00:52:00] outside. , I think I was too late, but they had a little yaki soba stand that you could bring in and, , yeah, the energy. So good. So good.

So I, I highly recommend that. But yeah, definitely. I look into creating, , some kind of activity, especially early on in your trip if you can, because a tip I can give you here is whenever you book these activities, , with locals, like we had a matcha making class, , pretty early in our Tokyo trip when we last went this year.

, You can ask for recommendations from them so you can say, Hey, where should we go to eat for this? Or, what do you recommend around this area? And it's a good way to find, , a really good food spot from a local and, you know, it, it, it just adds a little bit more charm to the, to the experience. And , I highly recommend especially doing that early on in your [00:53:00] trip so you can maybe get a little list from them and, see if you can try all the different spots they recommend.

I find it special, , being able to connect with people. , We also had a baking class. This wasn't in Japan, but it was in South Korea. We had a baking class in wan and she was so happy to give us recommendations. It is just a good way to not only meet people, even though the classes we took, it was just us because nobody else booked those days or times.

, It would've been a great, , opportunity to meet people. , But also it gave us a chance to talk to, and meet some locals and ask what do they recommend to eat? What are, what are spots that are their favorite? It's just special to, to take those, , moments and, and enjoy a meal , that's somebody's favorite.

So that's something that I recommend early on in your trip, if you can. That way you can use the rest of your trip to, , hit up those spots. Alright, a few more general [00:54:00] tips that I have, especially for accommodation here is try to find a hotel, , near a train station if you can, or at least five minutes from a train station.

After so much walking and, and exploring and getting yourself around, , all over Japan, , it's really nice to get on a train back to your hotel and only walk a very short distance. So if you can stay near a hotel station, I highly recommend that. So it's a good way to filter out hotels too.

You just find stations that maybe you want to be nearby and, , try to find that one. And we'll be having an episode about, , points for hotels and different ones that you could possibly stay at. Something to note for myself now is to make sure, I know the hotels and how far they are from stations.

So that's something I'll have prepared in, a future episode coming up. This is a pretty big one. I should have mentioned it earlier in the [00:55:00] episode, but I have it written all the way down here and it's pre-book Your key experiences. There are gonna be certain things that are maybe on the top of your list and they require you to make reservations way in advance.

Uh, I'll give some examples here. Shibuya Sky for Sunset, we were able to do that, but I had the book that almost a month in advance. I believe this was our first trip in 2023. So I'm struggling to remember if it was one month or if it was two weeks. But just know you had to book it in advance.

Uh, same thing goes for themed cafes. We've been to a few, , we've been to the Pokemon Cafe. That was 30 days in advance. , We tried very hard to get into the Kirby Cafe 30 days in advance and we failed. So just know, , these things are in high demand. , And just book it in advance if there's something specific, , like a themed [00:56:00] cafe or maybe it's a restaurant, like I said before.

Or even, , time slots for like team Labs. I know Team Labs are very popular. We've been to planets and that was a really, really cool experience. But you have to book that in advance to get to certain time that you want. We wanted mornings, so I had to book that in advance. Whenever you're building your itinerary and you have these key experiences that you wanna do, research it, go on Google or go on YouTube.

And um, even Reddit, Reddit's a fantastic place to find information about booking it in advance and, , find out what you, , need to do and you'll find some kind of guides to help you book those things. I don't want you to get to Japan and then miss out because. It got booked out like 30 days in advance.

I know. Old Ojibwe Museum in Ojibwe Park, that's something that's high on our list. Uh, same thing goes for the , Nintendo [00:57:00] Museum. Those are things we haven't done, but, , we plan on doing when, whenever we go back and those things we have to book in advance. And it can be difficult and you can possibly not get the slot that you want.

Just like for the Kirby Cafe. For us, it was something , we really wanted to do, but I just could not secure it. They just get booked up so quick. So keep that in mind. Oh, I should have touched up on this portion, , in transportation, but at train stations, if you want, if you're looking for a free souvenir. Uh, something that I've been doing, during my last trip was collecting stamps throughout Japan. , I have a, a blast doing it, and those train stations are a fantastic spot to get free stamps. They even have like stamp rallies for different things. , Like Pokemon will have their own stamp rallies, or maybe it's another anime coming up, or, , maybe it's an anniversary of something.

So if you're looking for, , souvenirs that are [00:58:00] free, the stamps sort of way to go, and they're really cool. They're on Facebook. You can actually join a, , stamp group. , I believe it's hosted , by Nelly, the, uh, n show. , She has a really good Facebook group on, , stamps and manhole covers.

That brings me to a, another quick point is, , be sure to look on the ground when you're walking and you're seeing these manhole covers because there are some very, very cool manhole covers in Japan. Like they're very nicely decorated. You have the Pokemon, , manhole covers, you have, , castle manhole covers, and you have just a variety of different ones.

And it's really cool to see just as you're strolling around and you bump into these. So, uh, yeah, definitely, , be on the lookout for those. So overall, these are all the things that, , I could come up with and personally from my experiences and [00:59:00] from what I read and listened to others of, , things you should know before visiting Japan.

And hopefully this helps be a guide. . Towards just a fantastic Japan trip. And remember this, this is not all the tips, these aren't all the things you should know. I'm sure there's so many that I missed and I'd love , if you know of those, I'd love to hear 'em from you. So feel free to reach out, send them my way, and then, , we can share it amongst all of us., Enjoy Japan at your own pace and as long as you're respectful and you follow as the Japanese do, you'll have a fantastic time when you visit. I mean, there's so much to do. There's so many niche things , to enjoy.

And I mean, Japan's just, I. Really an incredible place, and you'll have an incredible time and, , take these tips , and hopefully guide you to understand what you should know and you can build a better itinerary. And with [01:00:00] that, I'll leave you with one more tip. And Japan's a very safe country.

And when you're visiting, it's good to have your key things that , you want to do. But I would say try to create a balance and also allow yourself to enjoy the areas that you're in. And with Japan being safe, , it really gives you that opportunity to get lost in those areas that you're in, and you'll find such amazing spots.

Just around the corner, I swear. Um, whenever we walk around, we just walk around and we have a certain place or a destination in mind, but within that area, we like to explore , and see what we can find, see things that, you know, that we haven't researched or just I haven't seen anyone talk about.

And you can really enjoy these moments of getting lost and, and feeling safe while you're doing [01:01:00] this. It really makes it special when you're able to do that. And I guess a quick story here is when we were over visiting the Tokyo Sky Tree, we decided to just walk around the area and just stroll the different streets around.

And I am a person who loves bananas. I love. Banana, everything. And we ran into a banana pastry shop, and I did not know of this shop. , I had not seen a shop ever, and I wouldn't have found that shop if I wasn't wandering around. And let me tell you, it was absolutely delicious. So those are the kind of things that you can run into, you know what I mean?

It, there's so much out there. , ,

Tokyo itself is incredibly massive and so are the other major cities. And yeah, don't feel like you have to be tied to a, like a strict itinerary. Just feel free to really enjoy and embrace those neighborhoods you're in [01:02:00] because.

You might find something around the corner that you truly enjoy. So I'll leave you with that and, um, definitely reach out and share any, uh, experiences or any tips that you may have. And we'll see you on the next episode. Take care.