6 Things We Wish We Knew Before Travelling to Japan
Okay, I've been gatekeeping these for too long now. So here are 6 Things We Wish We Knew Before Travelling to Japan.
Hey, Hi, Hello!
I just returned from a two-week trip to Japan with my brother. If you have had the chance to read my previous blog post; featuring Athens then you will understand that one thing is certain in my life - I love to travel.
There are certain things that you discover as you travel around a new country. No amount of TikTok videos or Instagram reels, blog posts or accommodation reviews can set you up for a new experience. Sure, they give you the stats and tools, but it is definitely up to you (and whatever your comfort zone allows) to adventure for yourself. That's the fun in travel. I'm sure that one thing my brother didn't know before travelling Japan was that his big sister would take a lot of pictures, reaching the point of obsession, and that he would be the photographer....if he had known this then maybe he wouldn't have decided to go on the trip with me.
Okay, I've been gatekeeping these for too long now. So here are 6 Things We Wish We Knew Before Travelling to Japan.
1. Buy a Coin Purse.
You will get a lot of coins during your stay in Japan and a coin purse can help ease the weight of your wallet and also accumulate loose change for 7/11 and FamilyMart snacks. We found that by the fourth day we had to stop using cash because it was getting too annoying trying to store the coinage. Buses don't give you change.
I wish we knew this but maybe it's because we were too lazy to read the obvious signs in front of us. But the buses in Japan don't give you change. So say the ride fare is 230 yen (around $2.50aud) then if you put in x3 100 yen coins, then sorry mate but you're losing 70yen. Which brings me to the next point about bus transport:
2. Exchanging for Transport
You can exchange notes on the bus for coins but nothing higher than 10000 yen notes. And make sure you do this exchange BEFORE exiting the bus as it can be quite stressful to be paying whilst everyone is attempting to leave the bus behind you.
3. You don't need to pre-purchase your Japan Rail Pass before leaving home.
It ended up being more stressful for us to time the delivery to our home for our JR Pass than it was for us to purchase it when we arrived in Osaka. Our passes didn't arrive in time in Australia so we took our chances to leave without it. We were out of pocket while waiting for our refund for the original passes but it was super easy to stop into the Osaka Rail Station and purchase another pass which was instantly activated for the 7 days we requested.
4. Reserve a table at Restaurants
The restaurants are tiny, some with only a few seats in Japan; especially in places like Kyoto. It is strongly advised that if you really want to eat somewhere specific then you need to reserve. Even though it was only my brother and I, there was one particular night in Hiroshima where we were turned away by three restaurants. We were starving on the street, didn't want to eat a bad meal, and were drastically looking for good restaurants in the area. I also cannot stress this enough that if you want to try Kobe beef in Kobe then you NEED to reserve at least a month in advance. Thank god someone had pulled out of their reservation the night before and we had stolen their spot because damn that beef was worth it.
5. Another train or bus is just around the corner - chill out
We were so excited to travel on the Shinkansen from Osaka to Kobe for the first time. We got our snacks prepared from 7/11 at the station and were eager to see how fast the train really went. As the train approached, we saw so many people on the non-reserved seats since there were delays in the area. So we jumped onto the first carriage we saw and it was full of people. We stood the whole journey, saw nothing and were so confused why it was so busy. The main mistake we had wasn't because of the delays, it is because we weren't patient. The public transport is that reliable in Japan that if you miss a train or bus, or simply don't like how busy it is, there will be another one right around the corner. Be patient.
6. Be observant, most tourist attractions you don't have to pay for.
A prime example of this is the Torii Gate which is located on Miyajima Island just out of Hiroshima city. You can still get an incredible view of the Torii Gate without paying to go into the shrine. We only realised this as we exited the shrine and walked along the beach up the stairs to the other side and it was free. You'll see what I mean when you're there.
So there it is! The 6 Things We Wish We Knew Before Travelling to Japan. I hope that you have found this post insightful and encouraging to travel Japan in the future. Keep in the loop via my instagram here:
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Until next time lovelies,
EG X
