Here are some tips for travelling in Japan, compiled from my experience.

Trip preparation

• Purchase esim on klook before coming. The esim on klook is much cheaper than sim cards at the airports, and it works well. Note that this esim is data-only, cannot be used to make calls.
• Exchange money at Lucky plaza. They offer very, very competitive rates, some are very close to the exchange rate found on Google.

Food

• Use Google maps as the primary means of finding food, Tabelog to verify food quality. Tabelog is more catered to locals, Google maps is more catered to international travellers. If you can speak Japanese and blend in, then you may benefit more from Tabelog.
• You may want to book your slots at izakayas, they usually do not have space left for walk-ins.

Transport

Limited express/shinkansen

• If a train is limited express, it is likely to have only reserved seats, unless there are parallel local trains on the same track. You need a reserved seats ticket to sit in a reserved seat.
• Reserved seat tickets or tickets for shinkansen can be purchased on the day at ticket booths. No need to reserve online in advance, unless it is a popular train like Hida train.
• Highway buses need reservation in advance. Highway buses to and from Shirakawago are extremely popular, so make sure to book them at least one month in advance.
• Consider purchasing area passes to cover inter-region train tickets. Even when a pass is barely profitable, you may still want to purchase the pass, since passes allow you to get unlimited tickets for reserved cabins which have much better atmosphere to travel in.

Local trains/buses

• IC cards are used to travel on most local trains and buses. You can purchase one at the airport.
• For local trains, do not confuse between JR trains and non-JR trains. A JR train station and a non-JR train station can be at the same spot with the same name, you need to make sure to enter at the correct entrance.
• Some local buses do not accept IC cards. Instead, take a ticket when entering from the back and pay in cash when exiting in front.
• Trains are very on-time. Buses are mostly on-time, sometimes they are late up to 10 minutes. You can track their arrival times on Google maps.

Places to visit

• Take AI recommendations with a grain of salt. They may give wrong information, or suggest you to go into sus places without telling you the places are sus.
• Think about whether you really want to visit the places recommended online. Most are good, but some may not fit you. I had a poor experience visiting the “popular” temples in Fukuoka.
• You may also want to search for the places that you are expecting, which may not be popular but you enjoy. For example, I searched for history museums in Tokyo, which are not popular but I really enjoyed.

Language

You do not strictly need to know Japanese because you do not need to talk most of the times. At restaurants, you just need to use Google translate to image translate the menu and point at the menu to order. Use Google voice translation at bike-renting facilities if needed.

However, if you enjoy small talks with the locals, you may want to learn some conversational Japanese. In big cities people don’t really do small talks, but in smaller cities or remote areas, people will start small talks with you. I missed out on this experience so much, and had to use Google translate all the time: shop owners in Iya valley, fellow hikers on Mt Miune, staff at bike center in Nagato, people in church in Kagoshima, the cute flight attendant on the flight from Kagoshima 👉👈. I wished I had learn some Japanese to be able to talk to these people.