Here are my observations from our trip. We spent a few days in Tokyo prior to a cruise that visited… Shimizu, Nagoya (cancelled due to high winds), Kobe (overnight for Osaka and Kyoto), Kochi, Naha, and Miyakojima before dropping us in Taiwan. A special thanks to many contributors on this sub for the many tips I’m confirming here. 😊
Arrival at Narita:
– Fill out the immigration forms online before you leave for the smoothest experience for everyone. It does not really save you any time… you go through the same line and process as folks with paper forms. The difference is that online validates your entries, if you do something wrong on the paper form you have to correct in front of the agent which creates a delay for everyone.
– Plan at least an hour for customs clearance – maybe more. There’s free wifi while standing in line.
– We took the Narita Express from the airport to Shinjuku. It was the easiest option from my research and was super easy in practise. Cost was reasonable… buy tickets on arrival at the in person ticket office or nearby kiosks. Watch a video on YouTube to familiarize yourself with the process. There’s lots of room for luggage on the train
Language and Reception:
– I read a lot about language barriers during my research but English was not a problem… the same as nearly anywhere else in the world these days. Almost everyone speaks English that we encountered but in the rare circumstance that wasn’t the case, Google Translate on our phone was helpful. It was also helpful for reading the occasional product label or sign that wasn’t in English using the photo option. Everyone smiles or chuckles if you use Konnichiwa or Arigato even if they speak perfect English. Hello and thank you are really the only words you need to know in any language in my experience to just show you’re aware of where you are and making a small effort.
– Everyone appeared happy to have tourists as customers. Not annoyed or even indifferent, but happy. We didn’t experience any disapproving attitudes at all. People were even very happy to go out of their way to be helpful.
Hotel:
– We stayed at the Kadoya Hotel in Shinjuku which offered the best value and location for our needs. I would definitely stay again. The rooms were very nice and decent sized. It’s a one block walk to entrance S2 or S3 for Shinjuku station on the quiet side of the station.
– Being near the Golden Gai was nice as I could walk over there for a beer or drink after dinner while my wife rested. The Golden Gai is fun… tons of tiny hole in the wall bars/pubs. Some have a cover charge and some don’t. I chose one without a cover as I was only there for a single beer and had a great time chatting with some UK and Oz tourists.
Money:
– We used a mix of Visa (with no foreign transaction fee), cash (obtained before departure) and Suica. Cash is helpful for snacks or other small purchases, and some small restaurants that only take cash. We used Suica for all trains, metro, buses, etc.
– If you have an iPhone, you can’t beat the convenience of adding a Suica card to your Apple wallet. We loaded it before leaving and again mid-trip a couple of times from our Visa (also in Apple Wallet) – as long as you have internet access you can reload it anytime.
– Overall, Tokyo and Japan are MUCH more affordable than Vancouver. Everything from metro fares to bottled water and restaurant food and beer was probably half the price on average compared to Vancouver. We typically paid about 1000 yen for a bowl of Ramen and 500-600 for a draft beer. The exception was espresso coffee drinks from Starbucks or any other cafe where they were equivalent price to what we pay at home.
Transportation:
– The Tokyo (and Osaka/Kyoto) train and metro network is very easy to navigate. Probably one of the best in the world because you can just focus on line and station numbers and not on long unpronounceable station names. For example… if you’re going from Shinjuku to Asakusa, you could take the Shinjuku line to Bakuro-yokohama and switch to the Asakusa line at Higashi-Nihomnashi… which is a mouthful and says nothing about direction of travel. Thankfully you can just take the S-Line from S1 to S9 then the A-Line from A15 to A19. It couldn’t be easier.
– Google Maps “Directions” is awesome for recommending routes with lines, station entrances, platforms, etc. When you get to a station, pick your destination in Google Maps and choose “Directions” and it will give you several train choices with full details.
– As you might expect the cars at either end of the train will be less crowded than the cars in the middle or near the stairs/escalator… it’s worth the walk to the end of the platform.
Food:
– I think I figured out why no one eats or drinks on the go… there’s no public trash cans. So, for example, if you buy a Starbucks coffee and walk around with it, you will have a tough time trying to dispose of the cup. Starbucks became our tourist oasis because they have bathrooms, wifi… and trash cans. LOL. It’s really very bizarre and encourages everyone to consume what you buy, where you buy it. Of course most convenience stores also have a trash bin for their customer use you can use as well.
– Snacks… there’s no end of amazing snacks available from small stands, shops, and convenience stores. I’m not a big snacker, but my wife was snacking constantly and loving every minute of it.
– Sushi… I think living in Vancouver has spoiled us with amazing Japanese restaurant and food choices. One big difference in Vancouver is that sushi restaurants have a lot of exotic rolls… dragon rolls, volcano rolls, etc. we didn’t see any of this in Japan. Sushi in Japan tends to be heavily focused on sashimi with simple rolls as an add on. Our fav sushi experience was at a conveyor belt restaurant where you just pick a plate as it passes by. Each plate has a color/pattern that represents the cost of the item on it. When you’re done, they just add up the types of plates you have.
– Ramen… There’s an insane variety of ramen and all are good.
– Japanese Beef!!! We had a great but expensive Teppinyaki experience in Tokyo at Ginza Steak Shibuya. They offer all you can eat (within a time limit) A5 Wagyu beef but you can’t choose the cut and they don’t offer rib or tenderloin. Never the less, it’s fantastic beef and we left stuffed and smiling. I would only recommend it if you don’t mind spending over $100pp. The best beef I’ve ever had was at a Kobe steakhouse (Kobesteak Propeller) we visited on the cruise portion of the trip. They served us rib cut beef and it just melted in our mouth. Amazing! You get a small 160g portion but it’s quality over quantity and reasonably priced given the great appies and desert included.
– We made reservations for the steak outings but otherwise just picked locations as we walked by or looking at nearby options on Google Maps.
Bathrooms:
– Every toilet in Japan is high tech with a full suite of cleaning options and automated heated seats. The only feature it may be missing is a wifi hotspot 😛
– Bathrooms are easy to find at nearly every metro/train station and tourist attraction (and Starbucks and department stores). They are all very clean.
Communications:
– I have a work funded roaming package so didn’t buy a local SIM plan. If I didn’t have my work plan I would have looked into this.
– Free WiFi is plentiful and an app called Japan WiFi Auto Connect enables you to authenticate once with this app and then it runs in the background and auto authenticates you for a variety of free wifi hotspots streamlining the connection process.
– Take advantage of downloading Google maps for offline use if you don’t have a cell plan in Japan.
Cruise Logistics:
– I believe a lot of cruises depart from Yokohama, but ours departed from Tokyo.
– The Tokyo International Cruise Terminal is very conveniently accessed by an elevated metro line (Yurikamome) from the Shimbashi metro/train station which is readily accessible from the Yamanote line or Ginza or Asakusa lines.
– We used the Yamanote line and I was concerned about this for taking our luggage but fortunately we needed to do this on a Sunday and not during rush hour. My tip is if you’re taking luggage on a train or subway, go to the furthest car platform at the front or back end of the station as the cars in the middle or nearest the escalators/stairs will be standing room only packed while the end cars are much less busy and have seats available and plenty of room – to a greater or lesser extent depending on the time and day.
by Virtual-Chris
