Japan Travel Guides
Quick facts
Currency: Japanese yen (JPY)
Getting around: Get a Suica card at any major station on arrival
JR Pass: Worth it if you’re city-hopping – calculate your routes first
eSIM: Pick up an Airalo eSIM before you fly
Language: English signage is good in cities; use Google Translate’s camera mode in smaller restaurants and rural areas
Tipping: Don’t – it’s not customary and can cause awkwardness
Best time to visit: Cherry blossom (late March to mid-April) or autumn foliage (mid-October to mid-November)
Japan made no sense to us on paper and total sense in person. We’d been told it was pricey, you had to plan everything ahead, the language barrier would be exhausting. While there’s some truth there, none of it was quite right. What we found instead was a country of incredible detail, where the food in a train station basement is better than a lot of the restaurants we’d tried elsewhere, and where the people are so helpful that getting around without Japanese felt doable almost immediately.
We’ve explored the famous spots like Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka & Hiroshima, but we’ve also made sure to visit places in Japan that don’t make it into a lot of itineraries (like spending 6 weeks in Kyushu!). The following itineraries are for you if you’d like to experience more of Japan, or if it’s your first visit, you can’t go wrong starting with my Tokyo guide!
