How to (not) Utterly Ruin Your Trip to Japan

Save yourself from these beginner mistakes, before it's too late

The 8 Most Common Ways Travellers Sabotage Their Japan Trips

Usually when I’m going somewhere in Japan, I don’t pay much attention to other tourists. Unless they look like they could do with some help, or ask me, I leave them alone.

But this summer, I couldn’t help but pay attention to what visitors were doing, because what I saw shocked me.

So many people were just making life harder for themselves, and there’s just no reason to do this.

Let’s start with the tinier boo-boos, and work up to the brontosaurus-sized blunders.

Poor positioning

When you’re looking for the perfect hotel for whichever city you’re visiting, the cheaper deals are often very tempting. These places are usually a bit out of the city centre, a few subway or railway stops out on the map, or even in a nearby suburb.

Don’t choose these places.

Unless you know what you’re doing, and unless you want to visit somewhere that is right outside the hotel in question, do yourself a favour and just avoid them.

In most cases, you’re going to be trading time for money. A 10 minute subway ride is actually a 20 minutes round trip. And if you’re staying in that city for 5 days, that’s an hour spent on the subway that you’d probably rather spend sightseeing or souvenir hunting.

But that’s not all. You also have to think like a commuter.

Consider the morning rush hour. Most people heading into work are going towards the city centre, and often to major interchanges between subway and railway lines. The closer you get to these mega-stations, the fuller the train’s going to be in the morning and evening peaks.

Consider Gojo Station on Kyoto’s subway. It’s slap bang in the middle of two major interchanges: Shijo (connects with the Hankyu Railway) and Kyoto Station (connects with JR, Kintetsu Railway, and the Shinkansen).

Good luck getting on!

The solution is simple. Stay as close to a major station as possible.

Putting your trip on hold

So you’ve chosen your hotel, you get to the airport, look up the location and get on your bus or train. But as you’re looking through your booking confirmation email, you notice that check-in doesn’t open for another 6 hours.

You’re lugging around an enormous suitcase, so it makes sense to grab a Double Frappalappa Bambachino at Starbucks and a leisurely lunch before checking in, right?

Wrong.

There’s a very easy way of freeing up that 6 hours for proper sightseeing.

It’s called luggage lockers or luggage storage.

You can find lockers almost everywhere in Japan, especially at railway and bus stations, and often at museums and art galleries too. Lockers are usually charged by the day, and range from 300 yen for something that will hold a small backpack, to 1000 yen for a temporary home for your supersized suitcase. And when there aren’t any lockers at all, ecbo cloak will come to your rescue.

Protip: take a photo of the surroundings of your locker to help you find it again later. For example, in a station, snapping the nearest exit sign (because stations often have multiple exits) can be immensely useful when it’s time to come back.

Zero Buffer

Since Japan has such a stellar transport system that often counts it's delays in seconds rather than minutes, you might feel like pushing your travel plans to the absolute limit.

Once I did this by spending my last full day in Nagasaki, when my flight home was from Tokyo the following morning. The schedule said I could make this work with a few hours to spare if I took an overnight train.

But as luck would have it, that overnight train was catastrophically delayed. I missed check-in for my flight by about 90 minutes, and was promptly put on the next day's flight. But not before I was relieved of a wedge of cash.

Unless you like living dangerously, build buffers into your itinerary. For example, don't plan anything on your first day, in case your plane arrives late. And on the last day, plan to do something in the city near your departure airport.

Carbon Copy Trips

If you buy an iPhone, you expect to get exactly the same experience as everyone else using an iPhone, right?

But why do this with your trip to Japan?

Because literally everyone has already been to Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo. Everyone's seen Fushimi Inari being Instagrammed to death already. And real-life Mario Kart (how exactly is this Japanese culture?) is real old news. Avoid these, because you already know too much of what to expect.

Instead, bring back the thrill of the unknown to your travels by going somewhere you and the rest of the world doesn't know about. Need inspiration? In last month’s Insider I talked about some lesser-known standout cities. And next month I'll tell you about the more unknown yet stellar attractions. (You might want to subscribe!)

So have some imagination and do something different. Trips are way more enjoyable when you're surprised by what you find.

Zero Prep

Ever since the ordeal of the past few years, attractions have been shifting to using advance booking systems. This can be annoying, especially if you can't be bothered to do some prep for your trip.

Wanna visit Ghibli Park? Tickets go on sale 2 months out. Sumo tournaments are also best booked way in advance. And Naoshima's incredible Chichu Art Museum is a 100% advance ticketing deal.

If you want to visit specific attractions like these, do a smidgen of research as early as you know when you’re coming to Japan. That way, you can avoid the pain of turning up, only to find you have zero chance of getting in.

The Kitchen Sink

When I'm dishing out advice, the most common thing I tell people is to cut right back on luggage.

If you want to struggle pulling your case over tactile paving, stress over luggage space on trains, hunt for elevators, and generally get in the way of everyone else, feel free to bring a big case.

Otherwise, minimise your packing list and bring the smallest container you can.

If you want to take back lots of souvenirs, think about buying a cheap case here.

Over the years, I’ve gone from bringing a carry-on size case everywhere, to fitting everything into a 14 litre backpack.

I’d never go back. Travel is too convenient this way.

However, if you must bring a lot of stuff…

Japan's transport systems are not designed for people accompanied by everything they own, and their kitchen sink. That's what luggage forwarding is for. It’s incredibly good value, can be sorted out at most hotel front desks or at the convenience store, and is exceptionally reliable.

Fighting the rush hour

You must have seen the photos or videos of rush hour in Tokyo with staff jamming extra commuters onto trains. I've heard of people saying that they've even been lifted off their feet in these mêlées.

And if this doesn't sound like your idea of cloud nine, you're not alone.

But imagine taking a suitcase, yes even one of those small ones into this kind of sardine tin.

It's just about the worst faux pas you can commit on trains in Japan, since it causes a huge nuisance for people who just want to get to work.

Not a good look, right?

Chances are you won't get on.

If you must travel with luggage between 7 and 9, get a taxi.

This advice doesn't just apply to Tokyo. You'd be surprised just how busy smaller cities like Kyoto, Nagoya, and Sendai get in the morning peak.

Tokyo vs Kyoto

Tokyo (the city) is home to a grand total of 1 UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kyoto on the other hand has 17. This is why I cannot for the life of me understand people who stay in Tokyo for 6 days and “do” Kyoto in a day.

My personal recommendation is to switch things around.

Spend 1 day in Tokyo, and 6 in Kyoto.

You can thank me later.

---

---

Videos you may have missed…

🎬 In Fukuoka? Check what’s hidden in the main station…

🎬 The best pass if you’re visiting both Kyoto and Hiroshima

---

Trip Essentials

Everything you need in one place - get ready and support my work at the same time!

Basics: eSIM / Sim Card / Pocket Wifi / VPN / Travel Insurance

Youtube: Get ready for Japan playlist

Transport: JR Pass / Regional Passes / Shinkansen Tickets / Car rental

---

That’s all for this month! See ya!

Andrew

*There are some affiliate links in this email: I will earn a small commission if you buy something, and it costs you nothing. Cheers!