5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Going To Japan

Andrew Jung
Dec 29, 2018
4 min read

So, you're going on a trip to Japan. The land of the rising sun. But, you have no idea what to expect. Should you do some research? Should you wing it and hope for the best?

The obvious answer is... NO!

My first trip to Japan, if i'm being honest, was a rather unpleasant one. Now this was in no way the fault of the country, but my own ignorance and lack of preparation.

The problem lied with the fact that I foolishly thought being in Japan wouldn't be too different from being in Korea and boy was I WRONG!

So without further ado, here's 5 things I wish I knew before going to Japan.

Number 1: Be Wary of Monday

The strangest thing, in my opinion anyway, was that Mondays in Japan are more like Sundays. Many of the attractions and touristy things I wanted to do were closed on Mondays.

Now, if I had planned accordingly I would have known this.

But unfortunately, that first Monday in Japan I was met with disappointment after disappointment by the things I wanted to do that day not being open for business.

Things like the Ueno Zoo, Tokyo Imperial Palace, National Museum, and many more all close on Mondays. Some of these bigger tourist attractions are even closed on Fridays!

Awesome for employees! Sadness for us travelers.

So before you go to Japan, make sure that the things you plan to do on Monday are actually open!

Number 2: Wake Up EARLY!

So one of the best things about being on vacation is that you can sleep all you want, right?

WRONG.

Even though attractions are meant for tourists, most things operate on a 9AM-5PM schedule. Sometimes things will be open later, but even then the last entry of the day may be several hours earlier than you may believe.

So be sure to check the hours of operation before you plan out your day. It's a bit more work that way, but you'll thank me later for the time you'll save in the long run.

Number 3: Public Transportation Nightmares

Now one of the things I love the most about Asian countries like South Korea and Japan is the abundance of public transportation options. It's so easy to get where you want to go, and it's much more affordable than taking a taxi all the time.

But, the public transportation system in Tokyo, unlike in Seoul, can be SUPER confusing. Even locals sometimes have a hard time with it!

Yeah, it's that crazy.

The biggest issue I found with public transportation was the fact at the bigger stations there could be multiple platforms with the same number designation.

Oh, go to platform 1? Easy. Wait.... oh I'm supposed to be at the other platform 1 across the station. Anddddd, I've missed my train.

Oops!

Number 4: Eating in Public

This one may be a bit strange to some of you (myself included at first) but actually makes a lot of sense.

Japan is a country that is known for its cleanliness and good manners. One of the rules that helps Japan stay so clean is that eating anything should only be done in designated areas. This makes so much sense, because unlike Disney World, trash bins are hard to come by.

One of the rudest things you can do in Japan is to get your delicious street food, convenience store snack, or any food item really is to take that food on the go and munch as you travel.

In Japan, eating a bag of chips while walking is akin to having a full course meal on the go.

So if you do happen to be strolling through the local street food markets in Tsukiji, make sure you are eating your tasty treat in a designated area!

Number 5: Cash is King! And so are Coins?

Now I'm sure you seasoned travel veterans out there already know this, but Japan is a cash based society. In America, and most other countries for that matter, people have transitioned to having less and less sweet paper in their wallets. However, this is not the case at all in Japan.

Although, Japan has recently started to see more and more businesses accepting credit cards as payment. There are still a ton of small businesses that will only accept cash as payment.

I mean, on my first trip to Japan, I went into a McDonald's thinking that surely a western chain would at least accept credit cards but I was wrong.

(McDonald's takes credit cards now though just FYI)

Lastly, the smallest bill you'll get in Japan is 1000 Yen, which is roughly 10 USD. So, if you're going to Japan be sure to get yourself a coin purse to hold all those sweet 100 and 500 Yen coins. You're gonna need them!

All in all make sure to have plenty and I mean PLENTY of cash with you before you travel!

So you've made it to the end of this post.

Thanks!

I hope you found my list helpful, I'm going to be doing a lot more of these in the future so be sure to subscribe to the blog to know when I post.

Until next time!

Andrew