Travel Tips - Tokyo/Japan Edition

General

Carry Cash!!!: Most places take cash.  Some places take credit-cards, but it is kinda rare.  This can be particularly annoying at train stations, when you need to top up your Suica card (see below), and the vending machines never (?) take cards.

ATMs are not open 24x7!  OTOH, look for a 7-11, there are plenty, and usually have ATMs in them

7-11s also have excellent food in them.  In particular, the cold nori-wrapped hand rolls are awesome.  (Really)

Lookout for the owl / cat / bunny / robot / maid cafes.  They are more fun than you can shake many sticks at.

Travel

There is plenty of signage everywhere.  Once you get past the initial sensory overload, it all starts making sense :-)

The vending machines have an "English" option. Again, if you can't find it, its because of sensory overload.  Take a deep breath, and look again!

People are helpful. Very helpful.  There are information booths most everywhere.  Also security peoples who are happy to help.  Also, well, everybody is helpful.

The Shinkansen are awesome for inter-city transport, unless you are heading to Hokkaido, in which case there are many low-cost airlines.  Use them - they are good, inexpensive, and efficient.  Note that they tend to mean it when they talk about weight restrictions!

Train
Cities frequently have train and subway lines run by (multiple) different companies. Make sure that you're buying a ticket for the line you actually want to be on!

If you're not planning on sticking in Tokyo (or any one city), get a Japan Rail Pass.  Its ridiculously effective, and one inter-city trip pretty much takes care of the cost.

"Japan Rail" is a group of companies, and the Japan Rail pass only works on those trains!  That said, it pretty much takes care of your intercity trips, and the Yamanote line in Tokyo (think "circle line" that takes you around most of the common places)

Subway

For "local" travel pretty much everywhere, get yourself a Suica card.  It is a rechargeable card that you can top up in a lot of places (and virtually all train/subway stations), and allows you "tap in / tap out" of most (all?) intra-city transit options.  It also beats the pants out of standing in line waiting to buy a ticket.  Buy one at a vending machine (look for helpful signs next to the ticket-vending machines at stations), and top it up with ¥1000 ($10) - you can specify the starting amount when you're buying the card.

Note that there are a couple of alternative cards, all of which are interchangeable.  Depending on where you are in Japan, you'll see PASMO, PiTapa, etc. as options.  They're all the same, and usually cards offered by different parts of the JR Group.

Assuming you have a Suica card, walk confidently up to the gate, and tap the card on the sensor.  The gates should open (and on most gates, a little screen at the far end will show you how much you have remaining on your card.  It'll flash yellow if you're running low, and red if you're below the minimum to get out of the subway.

If you don't have enough fare on your card, and you're in the subway station, look for a top-up station on the inside (they should be near the gates, look for the signage).  Worth reporting again, most of these don't take (US) credit cards, so have cash on you!
Google maps is ridiculously useful at giving you your routes - take advantage of it!

Phone

If you're on T-mobile (US), you probably have free data, which is pretty much all I care about. I'd check however...

If you want to get a local SIM, note that virtually all of them are "data-only" SIMs.  Which is great in your tablet, but most iOS/Android phones freak-out at this - they ramp up their radios 'cos they think there is a problem with the signal.  The result - your battery gets wiped out really really quickly. So, your choices are

• Rent a local phone (expensive, but you can go for it)
• Keep your phone in "airplane mode" except for when you need to Google/whatever
• Get a (large!) spare battery, and lug it around with you  (this is what I do)

Food

Oh lords, where do I even start.  The general standard of food is high, very very high.  You'll find any number of "top ten" lists, don't freak out about it.  There are so so many excellent places that everybody has a list of their own, and they are all awesome.
Mind you, what I like to do is get some recommendations, and use that as a baseline - places that I can go to that help me get acclimated to the area.  For example, the places that I have in my map are really quite good.  You'll probably like them too - go to a few of them, get your bearings, and then build your own top-10 list :-)

Train stations in Japan tend to be excellent places to eat.  Seriously.  Just...awesome. Restaurants, food courts, and my favorites - the ekiben vendors (think bento-boxes, with each vendor typically selling something unique from a different region).  You can actually spend tons of time just browsing!

Ramen: There are an infinity of Ramen-ya (ramen establishments). At quite a few, you'll find a little ticket vending machine outside - or just inside.  You get a ticket (or many. remember, they might have gyoza.  And beer. Don't forget the beer), hand it over, and get your ramen in return.  Note that they mostly don't have english (If you're lucky, they have pictures). Just ask for help!

Street Food : If you're there during festival season, the street food is...exceptional.  Try it. Whatever it is.

Bread: The bread-products are insanely good.  You'll find bakeries and patisseries, large and small, all of which are, well, excellent.

Tempura is a thing all unto itself.  If you haven't seen it done well, then, well, you haven't actually had tempura worth a damn!  Done well, the chef is making the pieces a few at a time, the batter is fresh, the fried food barely has any oil in it, and the entire dinner can take a few hours. It will also fill you up - so be warned!  You owe it to yourself to do it at least once (or a few times like us :-)

Web: If you have any Japanese, look at the listings at http://tabelog.com/tokyo/.  The english listings at http://www.bento.com/  are worth perusing too!

Pork Products are, well, distilled excellence here, in all its forms.  There are many and varied types, but my favourite, by far, is Tonkatsu.  Try it - you'll thank me for it. (And yes, you haven't actually had pork products till you've had them in Japan)

Sake is a revelation.  Stick to it, or beer (Sapporo!).  You'll be surprised how excellent it can be (or not. you might already know).  Nurukan Sake in Shinagawa station (its at the 2nd level of the food court) is an awesome place to get your tasting on.

Food Courts are like the train stations - purveyors of brilliant food.  Please, please let go of your American misconceptions re: food courts (and train stations, for that matter).  Some of the best Ramen I've had has been in the JR tower food-court in Sapporo!

Milk Products: What you probably don't know is that Hokkaido - the northernmost island - generates some of the best milk (and cheese, ice-cream, etc.) in the world. Seriously.  Like - ridonculously good stuff.  In particular, if you see soft-serve, try it (especially the wacky kind where you can pick/add your own flavors).  Check out the Sugi Honey shops in particular.

Italian : An entire genre unto itself, and about as good as it gets (yes, equivalent to Italy).  There are Mitoya - places that are "Meat Sauce" restaurants where all they do is ragu + pasta.  The pasta, as you might expect, is awesome.  The ragu, as you should have expected by now, is just as awesome.  So, if you get a chance, check it out :-)

Misc

Gardens: Japanese gardens are things of beauty and wonder - little oases of quiet and beauty in the middle of The Metropolis.  Walk into every one that you go by (some of them, like Shinjuku Gyoen) are, well, huge, and some are smaller.  Either way, check them out!

Art Deco: If you like Art Deco, go check out the Teien Art Museum.  The gardens are reminiscent of the Rodin museum in Paris, and the museum is, itself, a masterwork of the genre.

Restrooms : There are restrooms everywhere - especially in the train stations.  And they're clean. Really really clean.

Trash: There are no trash-cans anywhere!  Seriously, if you're lucky, you might find one in one of the public restrooms, but you'll find that most people just lug their trash (small amounts thereof) with them.

Handtowel: You'll also find limited amounts of paper towels - so take a wee hand-towel (from your hotel!) with you.  You'll thank me later :-)

Umbrellas: For the rain.  Your hotel probably has them, but if not, just buy one (or two).  Note that most restaurants/shops/places have little racks outside for your umbrellae.  And no, people don't steal them

Automation as a window-shopping attraction is ubiquitous.  Take advantage of it!



Note: The majority of the above are courtesy @slfritchie, @lhoguin, and @wrathofchris.  Without their advice, our visit(s. hopefully many more!) would not have been half as much fun