16 Things to Prepare for A Japan Trip!
UPDATED ON 28 JAN 2020
ORIGINAL POST ON 26 JUN 2016
Having said that I would be writing about my 18 days Japan itinerary in the previous post, I have decided to talk about what preparations you need before going on to that. Why? I just thought that it might be less confusing later on and well, you gotta work your plans out before having fun!
In my previous post, some of the preparations I mentioned are mostly about transportation such as the JR 7 Days Pass (or 14 Days depending on your needs) and domestic flight. In this post, I would be going into more details. Hopefully, it would help you to plan your awesome trip to Japan too! :)
Here is a checklist of what you are going to need to prepare for a smooth trip to the land of sushi, sashimi and matcha:
1. Cities and Places to Visit In Japan
Most likely than not, a trip to Japan probably starts with the question "So where should we visit in Japan?" Different kind of travellers have different preferences so that really depends on if you are more of a culture, food or scenery person. One site which would definitely be helpful in helping you to make these decisions would be Japan Guide. Find out what each city has to offer as well as what other travellers thought about these places too!
2. International Flight Tickets
This is something no one will forget to prepare... but I think the airline which you take matters a lot if you are a 'picky' passenger like me. If you like to have a big enough space for yourself, a good variety of entertainment, decent flight meals, more flight timings options and perhaps sufficient luggage check-in, you might want to consider Singapore Airlines (SIA). I have to admit 30kg is just right for a big food shopper like me (you have to look at the food I stuffed in my giant gold luggage, you might just faint)!
UPDATED (2020) In my 2019 trip, I took Japan Airlines (JAL) to & fro Tokyo, Handa Airport. At the time of purchase, the JAL tickets were slightly cheaper than SIA. JAL's baggage allowance is pretty good too - we can check-in 2 luggages of 23kg each. Only downside is you really have to make sure each luggage does not go over 23kg or you would have to pay for the excess! In terms of food wise, I got to say I still kind of prefer SIA. :)
3. Travel Insurance
Before any overseas trip, I have the habit to always purchase travel insurance. Just because, you never know what would happen. Better to play safe, right? There are so many brands you could choose from, you will probably be spoilt for choice. Usually, I go for NTUC Income since it is easy to buy online. If anyone has any recommendations, do share!
4. Pocket Wi-fi/ Sim Card
If you do not know Japan well or if you are a social media addict where you need to constantly upload photos onto Instagram to show the world what you are doing, you would not be able to live without Wi-fi. In my case, I rented a pocket wi-fi from Global Advanced Communications (GAC) for 18 days. Basically, I did a research on which company to rent the pocket wi-fi from and I saw quite a few good reviews about GAC. Other than that, they have a promotion for Standard Wifi. It worked fine except we could not get any reception in some places. Perhaps, consider Changi Overseas Wi-fi Router Rental since they have a new and affordable deal!
UPDATED (2020) Speaking of Changi Wifi, I tried it out on my 2019 Japan trip & it worked extremely well! I managed to stay connected throughout my whole trip. Overall if I have to compare it to GAC's one, I would say go for Changi Wifi instead!
5. 7 Days/ 14 Days JR Pass
For travellers planning to tour quite a few places in Japan over 7 days or more, you should consider purchasing the JR Pass. Transportation in Japan is definitely not cheap, not to mention their Shinkansens (Bullet trains). A Shinkansen ride from Shin-Osaka to Tokyo would already cost you 14,450yen (S$191.21). A 7 Days JR Pass (Ordinary) would only cost you $370. A few Shinkansen rides would make your pass worth the price you paid for it.
We got the 7 Days JR Pass (Ordinary) from Japan Experience. I received the exchange passes in less than a week via Fedex. Along with the exchange passes (which you got to exchange them for the usable JR Pass in Japan), you would also receive the JR Pass User Guide and the Timetables & Maps (which I did not use).
If you are wondering how much I saved on JR rides (JR subways, Shinkansens etc), let me show you! In total, I took 8 JR Shinkansen rides (with reserved seats) and they are as follow:
-Kyoto to Nagoya: 11,090yen
-Nagoya to Takayama: 6,030yen
-Takayama to Toyama: 3,360yen
-Toyama to Kurobe-Unazukionsen: 2,940yen
-Kurobe-Unazukionsen to Toyama: 2,940yen
-Toyama to Tokyo: 12,730yen
-Tokyo to Hakodate: 23,010yen
-Hakodate to Sapporo: 8,830yen
If I had paid individually for each Shinkansen ride, I would have spent 70,930yen (S$938.59) just for Shinkansens (not even talking about JR subway rides). Just from this, I have saved S$568.59. WOW, right? Go get it now!
UPDATED (2020) I also got the 7 Days JR Pass for the 2019 trip from Changi Recommends at S$363/pass, slightly cheaper than from Japan Experience. If you are setting off from Singapore, Changi Airport & getting other items (e.g. Changi Wifi, Japan Sim Card etc.), you might want to consider purchasing the pass here and collecting everything in 1 go on the day of your flight.
6. List of Shinkansens to Book
This is extremely important, I would say. If you ('suay suay') visit Japan during their holiday periods or it just so happen that many people reserved their seats for that shinkansen you want to get on, then your travel schedule would be delayed due to not being able to board the Shinkansen to your next stop. To save yourself from all these hassle, the simple solution is to book all your Shinkansen tickets on the day you exchange for your JR Pass in Japan! It is really simple, go over to Hyperdia and get these information down: Date, Departure Time, Arrival Time, Train Name & Number, Departure Station and Arrival Station.
UPDATED (2020) In the original post, I had mentioned Hyperdia as the platform which you can depend on getting all the train timings. In the situation of disruptions due to natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes & typhoons), the train timings would definitely be more accurate when you visit the JR websites as Hyperdia might not be updated real time (it is not the official JR website). Examples: JR East Pass website
7. (Optional) ICOCA & HARUKA Ticket Deal / Suica Card
The special ticket deal of ICOCA & HARUKA is only applicable if you are landing at Kansai Airport. You might ask, what is ICOCA and HARUKA? In simple terms, ICOCA is basically our ez-link card. Many subway stations allow you to pay using ICOCA card with an exception of few trains where you have to buy the train tickets to board their trains.
As for HARUKA, it is a Kansai-airport express which provides direct access from Kansai-airport Station to Tennoji, Shin-Osaka and Kyoto Stations. This package deal allows you to get the HARUKA ticket at a discount. Find out more and book them here!
UPDATED (2020) Besides ICOCA card, you may also purchase SUICA card for subway transport. I got mine from Changi Recommends too! At the cost of S$28, it comes with a stored value of 1,500yen & is valid for 10 years from date of card issuance.
8. Domestic Flight Ticket(s)
Good news for you if you want to take domestic flight(s) in Japan! There are quite a few discount air tickets offers for tourists. I would like to highlight the cheapest ones - ANA and JAL. Both airlines offer Japan fare of 10,800yen for each domestic flight. For our 18 days trip, we took the JAL from Sapporo back to Tokyo.
9. Accommodations
Where to stay? Usually, people look for the cheapest accommodations so they could spend more on food, souvenirs and so on. Personally, we wanted both affordable and comfortable accommodations which offer privacy as well. Agoda and Expedia did a great job for us in terms of providing us with suitable choices and okay prices. We paid around S$100/night for the both of us, so it was about S$50/night for each of us. Most of our accommodations were fine, more on that in my later posts!
10. (Optional) Reservations for Attractions
If you are visiting popular attractions, make sure to reserve them in advance if they have a reservation system! It is likely that you have to join a long queue if you do not have a reservation, or even worse, make a wasted trip down there and be told there is no extra tickets. By making a web reservation for our visit to the Tateyama Alpen Route, we did not need to join the long queues to purchase tickets and true enough, we exchanged for our tickets almost immediately at the web reservation counter!
UPDATE (2020) For my 2019 trip to Tokyo, Hokkaido & Aomori, I mainly made use of Changi Recommends & KLOOK to book attraction passes to places such as Tokyo Skytree & JR Tower Observation Deck T38! One obvious benefit is that you get to skip the long queue for tickets & the other is you may get to enjoy a small discount on the passes or it comes with other small perks e.g. packaged deal with drinks.
11. Register Your Trip with MFA eRegister
Often than not, most people would not think about recording their trip details with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Similarly, I myself had nearly forgotten all about it till my travel buddy reminded me of it. So just spend 10 minutes or less and register your trip with the eRegister System! This would allow MFA to assist you in case of emergency such as natural disasters, especially since Japan is prone of earthquakes.
12. Keep a tab on the latest updates on weather with Japan Meteorological Agency & News
ADDED (2020) Just a couple of days before I set off for my trip in Oct 2019, Typhoon Hagibis happened, affecting some areas in Tokyo. I started tracking of the news on the Typhoons near / forecast to affect Japan with the Japan Meteorological Agency's website here. Thankfully, other than having heavy rain & wind on one of the days we spent in Tokyo (had to cancelled my trip to Mt. Fuji), the rest of our planned trip was not affected much.
You can also keep track of other Japan news here on NHK World-Japan (news that are more specific to Japan).
13. Check Weather and Temperature at Holiday Destination
To pack right! I have to pack clothes of various seasons since I was going to visit cities with both hot (such as Kyoto, it was damn hot) and cold weather (Tateyama Alpen Route and Hokkaido with temperature bordering 10 degrees or less). Go figure why I had to carry a large luggage.
14. Packing List
Other than planning what to wear, make sure you pack your travel adaptor and of course, your travel documents and money. A packing list would make it easy for you! Remember to bring along a printout of your air tickets reservations, as well as your ICOCA + HARUKA reservation too.
15. Activate your Credit Card
Although Japan in general prefer cash over credit card anytime, it is always good to have your credit card activated for overseas use just in case.
16. Download Google Maps App on Your Phone
Trust me, Google Maps is going to be your best friend for the whole trip especially if you do not know Japanese at all!
Alright for now, that is all I can think of! I shall try to find time to start on the actual 18 days we spent in Japan! :)
