Japan Little Tips: Independent Travelers, You've Got It!

It's that time of the year when my family gets to plan our annual summer vacation. Hoping to escape from the Southeast Asian heat, we all agreed upon Japan due to its respectable reputation. Since many have told me they are hesitant about traveling by themselves to Japan, I think it'll be helpful to recap some logistics to help you best prepare for your trip.

1. Tour or Independent?

At the beginning, we considered taking a tour since we've heard English speakers are scarce in Japan. We scanned a few itineraries of some popular travel agencies, but none satisfies us. Most tours only cover 5 nights (which already include 2 on the plane), and do not leave much room for sightseeing. It's almost impossible to find one that allows us to stay for a few nights in one place.

Since we used to roam non-English speaking countries like Taiwan and Malaysia (without knowing local languages), we finally decided to handle this trip on our own. We picked Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo as our destinations and spent 2-4 nights at each city, thinking it would be the better way to learn about Japan's people and culture.

It worked out well in the end!!! Language barrier is not as worse as they say, as long as you use gestures and body language. Everything in Japan is well calculated, so you'll see English at where it needs to be. Mastering their complex train and subway system feels like a big accomplishment. Being independent travelers also opened plenty of chances to communicate with locals and witness how welcoming they are (let me speak about this in a separate post).

*** However, day trip (which starts and ends in about 8 hours) is a good option if you want to visit Mt. Fuji, since it's two hours away from Tokyo. I booked the Spectacular Mt. Fuji tour from Panoramic Tours on TripAdvisor. The tour guide told us on our way to Mt. Fuji, there's a place where a lot of people committed suicide. If you stay completely silent there, you will hear the moaning and crying. It seems like another reason to join a larger group tour...

(A sample one-day itinerary)

Sadly, I didn't see the mountain top due to the thunderstorm :( Winter and Spring are the best times to get a good view of Mt. Fuji, while Summer is the ideal time to climb it.

2. Tourist visa

I applied for my visa in the US, while my family did it in Saigon. The visa process is not difficult if you follow instructions carefully. Therefore, I highly suggest applying by yourself, since some travel agencies require more paperworks than needed.

Here are the links for the checklist:

http://www.hcmcgj.vn.emb-japan.go.jp/vn/visa/dulich_v.htm (in HCMC)

http://www.chicago.us.emb-japan.go.jp/Consular/visa/requirements/tourism.pdf (in Chicago)

• For flight itinerary, Vietnam Airlines has a delayed payment option where you can print out flight confirmation without actually paying.

• For hotel reservation, I recommend booking.com as many hotels have free cancellation and do not require pre-payment.

3. Transportation within Japan

***Japanese travel mostly by public transportation. Among the places I visited, only Tokyo has Uber Black/SUV, so it's cheaper and easier to catch a regular taxi.

About public transportation:

• Japan Railway (JR):

The national train system is called JR, which operates trains, subways, and the renown Shinkansen (high-speed bullet train) across the country. Most JR trains can take you from the airport to town. Some JR lines can even take you from Osaka to Kyoto in less than an hour, with some short transfers. However, if you want to travel longer distance (eg. from Kyoto to Tokyo), Shinkansen is the best option. Although it will cost you more than 10,000 yen, its speed can tackle 500 kilometers in less than 2.5 hours.

I suggest buying the Shinkansen ticket at JR office in the airport when you land. The staffs here speak good English, so it's easier to ask them about the routes. If not, English is available at ticket machines as well. There are two types of Shinkansen tickets: reserved and non-reserved. Reserved tickets give you a seat number in a specific car, while an unreserved one may make you stand for the whole period if the car you hop on is filled.

(Shinkansen platform with information in Japanese and English)

(Another tourist-friendly sign)

• Local subway and bus system:

Although JR can take you to a lot of places, each city also has its own subway and bus system. Google Map will let you know carefully which is JR, and which is the local one. Even when you need to transfer from JR to local lines, it's no big deal since they're all located within one station. You just have to buy separate tickets. Think about them as different transport providers sharing the railway (public facilities).

All subway and JR signs at the station have English translation. On the train, the loudspeaker also speaks two languages. Some even has an electronic board counting down its arrival time at each station in both Japanese and English. However, I tried to avoid buses, since many lines are not translated into Latin alphabet on Google Map.

(Subway ticket at Osaka. The price will differ depending on your destination. You have to keep your ticket as it will be collected at your final station.)

4. Internet connection

At the airport there are booths that sell 3G sim cards. Most of them have pocket wifi rental, which is a lot cheaper. This wifi can be shared among 10 devices, with the unlimited 7-day rental price of about 8,000 yen. If you are arriving and leaving Japan from different airports, check with the sales person to see if you can return it at your departure point. For my case, I rented it in Kansai Airport (Osaka) and returned it at Narita Airport (Tokyo). All you have to do is leave it in the returning box.

(Internet photo)

That's simply it! Completely do-able if you want to have a taste of Japan at your own pace! Feel free to message me with any trip planning questions :)