The Perfect Japan Guide
We live here — let us walk ahead. A couple in Japan, keeping this honest & current.- ☀️ Hot & humid — hand-fan and water-bottle weather
- 💴 ¥100 ≈ $0.62 LIVE
- 🛍️ Prime Day expected mid-July — real dates posted here once confirmed
Where are you on your trip?
Tap any card — it takes you straight there 👇
💴 Yen ⇄ your money
🗣️ Say it in Japanese
Tap 🔊 to speak — or just show the big Japanese to staff. Each one is designed so the answer comes back as a point, a nod, or a number — no Japanese needed to understand the reply.
（指をさして教えてください）they’ll point — no words needed
これは大丈夫ですか？show the ingredient word in a translator tooWhich allergy? Tap to say it:
🛬 Just landed
Three things. Twenty minutes. Then you’re free.
📶 Get online
Buy an eSIM before you fly — land already connected.
- ✈️ Before: install the eSIM on home Wi-Fi
- 🛬 Landed without one? Airport SIM counters sort you out
- ⚠️ Street Wi-Fi is patchy — you want your own data for maps
📱 Apps to install before you fly
Five apps do 95% of the work. Install them at home — future-you says thank you.
Nice to have:
💳 Money
Cards work in cities. Cash still rules the small places.
- 👛 Carry ¥5,000–10,000 ≈ $46 as a cushion
- 🏧 Best ATMs: 7-Eleven & Japan Post — everywhere, English menus
- 🧾 Tax-free: ¥5,000+ in one store, one day, passport in hand
- 🙅 No tipping. Ever. It’s never rude not to.
🚉 Getting around
One Suica taps everything — trains, buses, konbini.
- 🚄 Narita → city: Skyliner or N’EX · Haneda → monorail or Keikyu (~30 min)
- 🚕 Taxi from Narita: ¥25,000 ≈ $155… take the train 🙂
- 🧭 Google Maps handles Japanese transit beautifully — trust it
🧳 Bags & lockers
Hands free in minutes — ¥400–800/day, paid by Suica.
🛍️ Shopping & deals
Drugstore beauty beats brands 3× the price.
- 🗓️ Prime Day ~mid-July · Black Friday late Nov — confirmed dates posted here, no fake urgency ever
🍜 Eating out
“Sumimasen!” is how you call staff — polite, not rude.
- 🎫 Ramen shops: pay the ticket machine first, hand over the ticket
- 🏪 Konbini food is genuinely good — zero shame
- 🙅 No tipping — a warm gochisousama! beats any coin
🏨 Where to stay
The local formula: ryokan for one night, business hotel for the rest.
- 🏯 Ryokan — do one night for the full experience (dinner + onsen). One is magic; five is a budget crater.
- 🏨 Business hotels (Dormy Inn, Mitsui Garden…) — small, spotless, great value at ¥8,000–15,000 ≈ $71/night
- 🛏️ Capsules & hostels — fine for a night; pack earplugs
- 📍 Rule of thumb: book near a JR / metro hub, not “near the sights” — the train is your magic carpet anyway
🎒 Packing checklist
Screenshot this. Everything else you can buy here.
- 🛂 Passport — needed on you for tax-free
- 📶 eSIM installed before the flight
- 💳 Visa/Mastercard — tell your bank you’re travelling
- 🪙 Coin purse — Japan will hand you coins
- 👟 Comfy shoes — 15,000 steps happen by accident
- 🖐️ Small hand towel — dryers are rare
- 🗑️ Small bag for rubbish — bins are rare
- 🔌 Type-A adapter (US-style, 100V)
- 💊 Your meds — some common ones are restricted, check first
- 🔖 This page, saved to your home screen
🆘 Quick answers
💴 How much cash should I carry?
¥5,000–10,000 a day as a cushion (≈ $46). Cards cover most city shops.
📱 Can my phone hold a Suica?
iPhone — yes, two minutes in Wallet. Android bought abroad — usually no; get a physical Welcome Suica at the airport.
🚄 Is the JR Pass worth it?
Only for several long-distance legs (e.g. Tokyo → Kyoto → Hiroshima and back). Add up your actual routes first — since 2023 it’s not an automatic yes.
💸 Do people tip in Japan?
No — never. Great service is the default. A sincere “gochisousama deshita” lands better than any coin.
🚨 What if something goes wrong?
Police 110 · Ambulance/Fire 119 · JNTO 24/7 visitor hotline 050-3816-2787 (English OK). Konbini staff and station attendants are quietly heroic too.
💄 Drugstore beauty a local actually buys
🏪 Konbini must-tries · coming soon
We light these up one by one — honest guides only, starting from home.
OUR HOMENagoya & Tokai · the Japan tourists miss — our backyard. First guides land here.
Tokyo · one honest piece at a time 🔜
Kyoto · quiet corners, not crowds 🔜
Update log — 13 Jul 2026: compare-and-book panel · Japan map · where-to-stay + regions framework · our own photo up top · This week in Japan · regions preview · Letter from Japan · 12 Jul: apps-to-install section · native voice audio · v2 overhaul · locker finder · phrasebook · launched.
Disclosure: some links may earn us a small commission at no extra cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
By a local girl in Nagoya (and her husband, the spreadsheet half). The exchange rate updates automatically.
Impact-Site-Verification: 7400f4a1-4c13-4436-8d12-0bb3501aa7a4
ALL 33 GUIDES
Everything we have written
Every price on this site was paid and photographed by us in Japan. Nothing copied from other websites.
Before You Go 7
Planning, money, transport, packing
- Japan Packing List: What to Bring, What to Leave, What Is Banned
- Where to Stay in Japan: Business Hotel, Ryokan or Capsule
- Money in Japan: Cash, Cards, ATMs and the New Tax-Free Rules
- Suica and Getting Around Japan: IC Cards, Airport Trains and the JR Pass Maths
- Coin Lockers in Japan: Prices, Where to Find Them, and What to Do When They Are Full
- How to Get Online in Japan: eSIM, Pocket WiFi and Real 2026 Prices
- How to Prepare for a Trip to Japan: The Order That Works
Places & Days Out 12
Cities, neighbourhoods, seasons
- Don Quijote, Explained: How to Survive Japan’s Loudest, Cheapest Store
- Tokyo Sweets Crawl: Matcha Stands to the Emperor’s Anpan
- DAISO: What Japan’s ¥100 Shop Actually Sells (Best Souvenir Store, Quietly)
- Fresh From Our Camera Roll: A Week in Tokyo
- Our Kimono Pre-Wedding Photoshoot in Japan: What It Really Cost (Receipt Included)
- New Year in Japan: A Local’s Guide to Hatsumode
- Ginza’s 150-Year-Old Sweet Bun: The Kimuraya Anpan Walk
- % Arabica Tokyo & Japan’s Coffee Culture: Kissaten to Azabudai Hills
- World-Champion Neapolitan Pizza in Nagoya for ¥980: Solo Pizza, Osu
- Beppu Hell Tour (Jigoku Meguri): Japan’s Weirdest, Steamiest Day Out
- Christmas in Japan: KFC, Strawberry Cake, and Date Night
- Yanagawa: Japan’s Venice, Minus the Crowds
Food & Drink 8
Every price checked in person
- Dorayaki, Decoded: Tokyo’s Gong-Shaped Sweet, from Edo to Doraemon
- Nama-Donuts in Tokyo: Inside the i’m donut ? Boom (2026 Edition)
- Tokyo Matcha Stands: What to Order and What It Costs (2026 Edition)
- Kaiten Sushi Made Easy: First Plate to Ordering Like a Local
- How to Order Food in Japan Without Speaking Japanese
- Hambāgu: The Japanese Hamburger With No Bun
- Onigiri: Japan’s Original Fast Food, Upgraded
- Inarizushi: The Sushi With No Fish (Foxes Approve)
Made in Japan 6
Shops, stationery, beauty, craft
- Minimal Tokyo: Bean-to-Bar Chocolate That Tastes Like One Place on Earth
- Ginza Itoya: Japan’s Stationery Heaven, Floor by Floor
- New Glasses in 30 Minutes: Buying Eyewear in Japan (JINS & Zoff)
- Japanese Stationery Souvenirs: A Local’s Buying List
- I Got Married in a White Kimono: Shiromuku, Explained by a Bride
- Japanese Drugstore Beauty a Local Actually Buys (2026 Edition)