Advice for visitors

Hey there everyone who is thinking of coming to visit! We thought we’d try and compile some hints and tips for you. We will continually update this page as we learn more and more, so please check back just before your trip for the most up-to-date information!

Basic Stats

Background Info

Here are a few sites where you can get area specific information in English. Tohoku is my region, Akita is my prefecture (state), and Noshiro is my town.

Here is a great site which gives sample itineraries about the region based on your interest (history, hot springs, flower viewing, etc…)

If you book a shinkansen ticket through a travel agent, they may give you a free hotel room at your destination city. This is called the “Otoko” plan (the Man Plan, though women can use it too).

If you travel domestically in Japan during the week before or after your birthday, you can get discounted airline tickets for you and 3 people travelling with you from JAL. Common travel discounts are explained at japan-guide.com*.

*many tickets must be purchased outside of Japan for the discounts to be valid

There are GREAT train discounts out there(trust me, you’ll be taking the train at some point). Check here and there.

Some very thorough advice on discounts for train tickets and local travel providers have been compiled for JETs, and most of it is not JET specific. Please check out “Travel as a JET” (A and B) at the bottom of this page.

Want to figure out how to get from point A to point B in Japan? Hyperdia will do it all for you… in English!

Cash Society

Japan is a cash society, which means that very few people are going to want to deal with your credit card. There may be exceptions to this rule in the metropolis that is Tokyo, but be prepared to carry around huge chunks of change with you.

This whole principle works because petty theft is almost non-existant. An added bonus of this type of monetary society is that people don’t blink an eye when making change for a 10,000¥ bill (~$100).

Another consequence is that the coins here are for absurdly large amounts of money. Lose the change in your pocket, and you may be out 10-20 bucks. for this reason, I suggest bringing some kind of change purse with you.

Getting Yen

We’ve experimented with changing dollars to yen in several ways. the cheapest way to go we’ve found so far is to use your ATM card at the post office. We’ve got Washington Mutual, and this worked just fine for us, with a 1% service charge. When we tried the same manouver at a Citybank ATM, we got charged like $10 in silly fees on top of the percentage. No idea about traveller’s checks; we haven’t used them.

Etiquette

  • You may (will) be asked to remove your shoes when entering a residence or temple. For this reason, it is convenient to wear shoes w/o laces for easy removal. if you remember only one thing: NEVER STEP ON A TATAMI MAT WITH SHOES ON. These are the mats which line the floor of a traditional residence, and stepping on these w/ shoes would be a huge insult.
  • blowing your nose in public is supposed to be very rude, but I’ve already seen someone in my department do it.
  • women’s wear. We were warned against spaghetti straps, and I’ve heard mixed things about the need for pantyhose. Many of these restrictions may only apply to me because I’m a teacher, which is supposed to be a dignified position, and as a tourist, you may be able to get away with it. Just keep in mind (if you’re trying to fit in) that Japan has a more modest dress sensibility. Though in tokyo, anything probably goes.

Language

English really is ubiquitous here. Even in our little out of the way ken, there are still some signs in English… perhaps not the signs you need, but they’re there nonetheless. Many of the road signs and subway information in touristy areas should be well signed enough for you to get around easily. As for restaurants… make good use of those little plastic models out front! Write the kanji down or (better yet), take a pic with your digital camera to show your server!

That said, if you are feeling ambitious and want to do some language preparation before visiting, this can only positively enhance your experience. The best bang for your study buck is to learn the Katakana alphabet. All foreign words (and some Japanese words that you’ll recognize, like ramen) will be written in this alphabet. With katakana under your belt, you’ll be able to read words like chicken, taxi, ice cream, and pizza. Don’t get this alphabet confused with hiragana; that one is used explicitly for Japanese words, and will do you no good at all unless you learn some Japanese vocabulary along with it.