Hi everyone, just wanted to do a summary of our trip report with some updates (post-Covid travel) etc. along with new JR pass rules and reservation tips & tricks.
Overview of us as travelers – mid-30s couple, have been to Japan twice before. Main goal this time was to visit Sapporo Snow Festival and have some king crab. Literally this was the main reason for visiting in winter, otherwise, winter travel is so hard on packing.
**Flights** \- these were booked via points and thus my husband and I arrived with a 12 hour difference, but we each got to experience the amazing ANA first class Suite. Arriving in HND airport, we had the Visit Japan app open to the “quarantine” page. They are no longer issuing QR codes, but the screen does have the blue outline. I opened it when I got off the plane (using my Canada SIM card for the data) and literally showed it to every single person that was waiting to check. I walked down the long corridor and probably showed that app page to about 10-15 people.
Immigration required the yellow QR code. If this has not been completed, you can do so in line / complete the paper form. I just showed my QR code to the guy managing the line but didn’t show it to the immigration officer.
Customs is the sky blue QR code. This is where things got confusing. There are booths along the pillars that you are to scan your passport, the QR code and have your photo taken. You have to do this first. A lot of us didn’t know about that and got in the long line to take the automatic gates. You’ll get turned away by the officer there. But once you’ve done that and taken the photo and scanned QR code, the automatic gates will match your face to the photo and then let you through.
**Communication** \- both my husband and I purchased SIM Cards – i bought the JAL ABC 30 days unlimited data sim card for 7,700JPY. He pre-ordered a MOBAL SIM card (7,000 JPY) that included a Japanese phone number. This became an important thing as ordering tickets on any site now require a Japanese phone number. Note that this SIM card took an extra couple of steps to set up and because he landed closer to 7PM, the MOBAL SIM desk was closed and he had to use their desk phone to flag down an attendant.
**Cash v Credit Card** \- credit card is more widely accepted across Japan now. There are still smaller restaurants that only take cash, or PayPay (which is Japan’s version of WeChat pay / AliPay). Visa and Mastercard are the most widely accepted (I had one store not accept American Express). We brought about 200,000 JPY in cash which turned out to be a good number. About 75% of our expenses were done on card and 25% in cash.
**IC Cards** \- we had our suica and passmo cards from previous so all it took was a reload. Reloading was still cash only, with very few other payment options. Please keep an eye out on the ticket machines as in major stations (Tokyo, Shinjuku , Sapporo etc), there are newly installed “Ticket exchange machines” that are meant for printing out online ticket purchases so you can’t do IC Card recharge on them. So you might have to run to another machine. Something we noticed – JR fare adjustment machines only allow topups in 500, 1000, 2000 + etc increments. Tokyo Metro machines allowed us to top up in the fare difference (a way to use up the 1JPY coins or other increments).
**Japan Rail Pass (JRP)** \- This part of our trip had the biggest change since we were there in 2019. Near the end of 2019, Japan Rail created a website where you can purchase the JRP directly. This allowed us to purchase our JRP 30 days before the first day of use. It would also allow you to increase / decrease travelers in your group, change your start and end dates.
First major change is that the JRP is now issued in the regular ticket size with a QR Code. You must insert this ticket into the gates and pick up on the other side. You no longer go through the manned-gates. If you lose this ticket, you cannot get a new one re-issued.
You can also pre-reserve seats on trains (30 days before the train is scheduled) and the print out the seat reservation tickets from the machine or the JR office at the station. The attendant in the office was able to print out all our reservations for us when we picked up tickets. Once you’ve printed the seat reservation, you cannot change the reservation online anymore. You can only do it through the office.
**Duty-Free shopping** \- another major change is that Duty free shopping no longer requires the store to staple the receipt etc into your passport (Mandarake in Nakano did still do this procedure), but most stores scan and upload the digital copy into the system. When you leave Japan, you will type in your passport number on the machine and it either says you’re good to go, or they may have an officer pull you aside to inspect.
5 comments
Was that a typo or did you actually need ~15k usd (¥2,000,000) for only 25% of your expenses? We’re planning a 10 day trip a few years from now for 3 of us (2 adults 1 child) and we’re hoping $5k covers everything (not including lodging). Granted were not rich and tend to stick to mid range priced activities/places.
Thanks for the write up though! Very helpful for planning our trip!
Did you need a stamp/sticker in your passport to pick up the JR Pass? At what point in customs/immigration do they apply it? Visiting in May and I’m a bit confused about the new customs and immigration process.
Thanks for the detailed info. I’ll be travelling soon for almost the same duration and currently have half in cash, half in my Wise visa debit card but wondering if I should take more cash or add to Wise…. Was it mostly Sapporo/big cities you were in where your cards worked? Did tapping work with your Canadian cards or was it all chip inserts?
We’re planning on getting a JRP from the official site because we want to reserve seats in advance and heard you can change your reservations online up until a few minutes before your train in case something happens. Is this true?
Did you connect through the US? Last I saw, ANA flights from YVR were on 787s (no first class) and I don’t know of them having flights to anywhere else in Canada.
I noticed the JRP online costs a bit more than through their usual reseller agents. Did you intentionally pick the online one for easier use? I think if you buy through a reseller agent then you can’t book seats online, though I think you can do so at kiosks in the station (so you don’t have to go talk to anyone).
Also, maybe you cover this in your other thread, but what things did you reserve that you found having a JP phone number was handy for? I have a pocket wifi reserved but am seriously thinking of swapping it out for an eSIM (much cheaper, though it sounds like you have to be careful who you pick lest your traffic get proxied out to Europe first) but if there is a benefit to us to having a phone number there then I want to consider it first.