Here are all our Japan travel tips from a couples’ trip to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka! This includes current restrictions for early 2023, all our advance reservations, and recommendations and what to plan to do, see, and eat!
Need to do Prior to Arrival
Japan Rail Pass
Use the Japan Rail Pass to take the shinkansen (bullet train) between cities! We did this to travel between Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka on this trip, but on my previous trip we tool the JR to Kanagawa (with a “G”), Yokohama, Hakone, Nara, Hiroshima, and Kanazawa (with a “Z”) as well. It is also valid on certain ferries and local lines (but not all). JR just does not include the express “Nozomi” lines and that’s okay, that is not necessary.
Reserve the JR Pass in advance online but you have to pay and pick it up at the airport! I could have sworn I made the reservation in advance online but it never went though, it’s okay though we were able to purchase it at the JR office at the airport. The 7 day option worked for us, it can only be activated on a specific date so we chose the day we were headed to Kyoto and it would cover until our trip back from Osaka to Tokyo on the 6th day of the active period.
Visit any JR office at any JR station to reserve your actual seats a few days in advance (see second photo), it’s more complicated to do it online. Reserve in advance so you are guaranteed to sit with the people you’re traveling with; however on the way from Osaka back to Tokyo, Ronak and I got to the station super early and just hopped into the non-reserved car (they are clearly marked) of a shinkansen leaving one hour earlier than our reserved time with plenty of space to spare.
PRO JAPAN TRAVEL TIPS: Check which local lines you are taking might be JR, and use your JR rather than your Suica/Pasmo so you don’t have to pay (if your JR is already activated)! Ronak and I didn’t realize this until we cam back to Tokyo on the last day. Not sure how many local lines we took in Kyoto and Osaka were JR because we disregarded that and always used Suica/Pasmo but keep this in mind!
There is a 150cm limit to luggage otherwise you have to purchase the oversized luggage option when you reserve your seats, however we got away without doing that the entire time with our huge luggage that still fit overhead!
Pocket Wi-Fi
It’s usually cheaper than setting up data through your carrier, another option is purchasing a SIM card but I haven’t looked into that, having a pocket Wi-Fi is easy and reliable. I heard good things about Ninja Wifi (powered by Global Wifi) so I booked that in advance and we easily picked it up at the airport and returned it at the same place before flying out (I’m sure there are plenty of other good companies). I went with the 5G per day rather than the baseline 3 which has been MORE than enough, and we definitely had room between both our phones to make some FaceTime calls; multiple devices can be connected.
PRO JAPAN TRAVEL TIPS: Continuous navigation with Google Maps throughout the day does not really take up a ton of data. However don’t make too many FaceTime calls, we maxed out one day by mistake!
Money
Bank of America has a quick and simple way to order foreign money through the app, we did this just 3 days prior to our trip and it arrived for pick-up at our nearest BofA the day prior, it was super simple! We used credit card for plenty of purchases there but street vendors and some other businesses are cash-only.
Pre-arrival forms
Visit Japan Web within 72 hours of your landing time and register with your information. You will need 3 things: Verification of your covid19 vaccination (Japan requires triple vaccination) called “Quarantine procedures (fast track),” and QR codes for “preparation for immigration clearance” and “preparation for customs declaration.”
Pasmo or Suica Card (Not prior to arrival, do at arrival)
Google maps will really only show you the local subway routes when navigating around Tokyo, for which you only need a Pasmo or Suica card (they’re essentially the same). There is a way to upload the Suica onto your phone through their app but I found it easier to just have the physical card. Purchase one of these types of cards at one of the ancient-looking kiosks at the airport. Each person needs their own, and you essentially tap into the subway station and it charges you anywhere between 100-500 yen when you tap out at your destination. They can be reloaded at any of those ancient-looking kiosks at all the stations. Pretty easy and convenient to use!
PRO JAPAN TRAVEL TIPS: When navigating with Google Maps which is essential and very reliable, pay attention to which DIRECTION the line you need to take is going (e.g. “towards Asakusa,” “towards Shibuya”) as well as which entrances and exits to take into and out of the subway stations.
Things we Reserved in Advance
Hotels
I tirelessly searched Google Maps (mostly “art hotels,” “boutique hotels,” “3-4 star hotels”) and followed the ratings and reviews that seemed helpful and accurate to guide what I was looking for; Google Maps also made it easy to figure out if there was availability at a place for our dates (admittedly I procrastinated a lot and barely booked our stays less than a month before our trip, but it worked out so don’t feel bad if you’re in the same boat). Air BnB is an option but we stuck to hotels only.
PRO JAPAN TRAVEL TIPS: I used Expedia to book all the stays because I’m very comfortable with its platform and it was nice to have everything in one place. With Expedia all the stays came with a very generous full-refund cancellation window, most places within just a couple weeks of the stay which helped me feel better about booking. I’d recommend not being afraid to jump on a booking this way if a certain type of room is available, knowing that with more searching or a change of heart you will have plenty of time to cancel and reserve something else. I wish I had been more brave and done this, it would have saved me unnecessary feelings of anxiety!
Our hotels (see respective blogposts for more details):
BnA Wall Tokyo (Arts hotel in a quiet part of East Tokyo, I recommend staying in the West part such as Ikebukoro, Shinjuku, or Shibuya to be close to the action, although central Tokyo/Ginza wouldn’t be a bad place either)
Miru Kyoto Nishiki (One of the very few hotels with all 5 star reviews)
Ryokan stay: Kyokoyado Muromachi Yutone Kyoto
The Lively Osaka Honmachi (Lively chain hotels will generally be modern and hip with a free beer happy hour)
Capsule hotel: The Millennials Shibuya (also a Lively hotel, one of the few that we were able to book capsules next to each other)
Restaurants
We booked our Michelin Star restaurant Daigo through Pocket Concierge, which is an excellent resource to book top restaurants in Japan in advance from anywhere in the world.
City Views
I recommend booking Shibuya Sky, Tokyo Skytree, and/or Tokyo Tower tickets in advance just so you have a time reserved. If you are going to do just one, Shibuya Sky at night is the best, it was booked out on the day of, but we got tickets for when we were coming back to Tokyo 6 days later. Reserve before your trip though because the website required text verification that I couldn’t receive (my dad had to book for us from the States lol).
Kimono Rental
Kyoto Kimono Rental Yumeyakata Gojo (see Kyoto blogpost for more details)
Sake Brewery Tour and Tasting
Kyoto Insider Sake Experience at Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum (HIGHLY RECOMMEND, we did the 3 hour tour + tasting with 10 types of sake, see Kyoto blogpost for more details)
Other Activities to Reserve in Advance (we did not do these)
Museums
If you are visiting the Mori Art Museum or TeamLab I would also recommend booking in advance, we did not do either one this time and only stopped by the Tokyo National Art Center, but I do recommend Mori. TeamLab is mainly worth it for the ‘gram. There is also a TeamLab Botanical Garden in Osaka if you miss it in Tokyo. From what I could tell, generally TeamLab tickets are available to reserve online until the day before.
Nintendo World/Universal Studios Japan
Reserve in advance! We didn’t do this but it worked out because we ended up going to sumo wrestling anyway.
Disney in Tokyo
I recommend checking out the nautical-themed Tokyo Disney Sea rather than the Disneyland since it’s unlike any other Disney park (I went during my 2006 trip).
Sumo Wrestling
We got lucky to meet folks who had extra tickets and invited us to the sold-out sumo wrestling tournament in Osaka. Look up what months the tournaments are occurring in Tokyo and Osaka, tickets generally go on sale one month in advance from what we heard. You can also look into sitting in on sumo wrestling practice.
Go-Karting
We looked into this and decided to skip it, but it’s something to look into that I’ve heard is fun! You need an international driver’s license beforehand which is about $20 through AAA.
More PRO JAPAN TRAVEL TIPS: What (not) to Bring
You don’t have to bring a water bottle from home, our hotels provided at least two free water bottles and water was pretty cheap at konbinis. There were also snacks galore at 24-hour konbinis at every corner (sometimes multiple on one corner) so don’t worry about starving.
Essentially all toiletries are provided by all hotels so unless there is a product you can’t live without, don’t be afraid to pack really light with toiletries! The one thing is that their lotions were not that moisturizing for the dry Winter.
Every hotel we stayed at provided lounge clothes or a cover-up to sleep in (except one that provided a bathrobe only), so don’t bother wasting too much luggage space on pajamas.
There are low chances that your hotel will be right next to a station, our walk from any JR station to our hotel averaged 10 minutes. There are often several flights of stairs to go up and down at stations, there may or may not be an accessible escalator or elevator, so you will be lugging your luggage around. Pack as light as you comfortably can and just do laundry at your hotel or a laundromat.
Vegetarian/Vegan Japan Travel Tips
You will likely have a hard time at traditional izakayas although they are not always impossible if you translate your restrictions.
In general have a plan and a couple back-ups in advance about where to eat (we found all our spots by typing vegan and vegetarian into Google Maps).
Trying to find a place on the fly when you are somewhere random or later at night is a lot more difficult. But overall you will have plenty of options in the cities 🙂
Other Random Japan Travel Tips
Everyone is still wearing a mask even though the indoor mask mandate is lifted.
Most stores still close pretty early at 8pm, so an area that is supposed to be lively at night (e.g. America-mura in Osaka) might be dead if you are visiting early post-country opening. Bars and restaurants are still open later.
There were two restaurants and two bars that told us they were “reservation only” or “full” when there was obviously room inside, I would not take it personally but you may encounter this as a foreigner. Generally people at the places we were hosted were extremely friendly and helpful.
Pinterest is by far the best resource to find blogs (like this one!) for ideas on where to stay and what to do/eat (specific or general) as well as itineraries, YouTube is good too.
Of course a capsule wardrobe and packing cubes are musts. For footwear I brought comfortable walking shoes, running shoes, and boots. In additional to generally looser-fitting clothing, such as wide-legged pants, the most popular trend is to wear a long coat over an outfit with tennis shoes, so bring a long coat particularly a long and light trench coat, (even though it’s not raining) to throw on and fit in! In the warmer months this would obviously not be necessary, I do remember it being very hot and humid in the month of June.
