5 Things to Bring When Traveling To/In Tokyo Japan
I wanted to share five things that I found helpful to have while traveling in Tokyo - it may seem like common sense, but some of these items you actually need to bring with you, or plan to secure after you’ve arrived. Also this isn’t limited to just Tokyo, but is helpful in the major cities of Japan (as I haven’t traveled to the countryside of Japan):
1. To reduce plastic waste, BYO reusable bag. I hadn’t brought one with me (because I forgot), so I got one while shopping at the Ikea in Harajuku. It really came in handy for convenient store (konbini) visits + consolidating items while shopping. In konbinis, literally everything is packaged in some kind of single use plastic, and upon check out you can decline a bag, but if you don’t have an alternative reusable bag, backpack or large enough bag, then you’ll have to figure out how to carry the items.
2. Learning from my mistake with my first Tokyo visit (and being forewarned by my brother), I brought a coin pouch this time because previously, I had so many coins I was stuffing everywhere. When paying with cash, you receive most change in lower denominations of JP¥50-500 (~ $0.35-$3.52), but most places try to be cashless & it’s nice when you can use an IC card to pay ⤵️
3. IC cards like Suica or Pasmo, are used for the railways & most buses, vending machines, convenient stores, and more wherever an ICcard logo is displayed. I got the WelcomeSuica card - no deposit required & it’s valid for 28 days but you can’t get a refund for any funds left on the card like w/a regular Suica Card. There’s currently a suspension on suica + pasmo card sales due to a shortage of the chips used in the cards, but the mobile version is available (can be hard to navigate though) and the welcome Suica is still available for purchase.
4. The Japan Rail Pass allows unlimited rides on JR lines & you can also reserve for Shinkansen (bullet train), we bought 7-day (ordinary/2nd class) vouchers from Japan Experience for $209.18/pp (charged as €), as of 7/27 it’s $219 pp and there’s now a shipping fee. - Klook is also another recommended site to purchase from (we purchased our theme parks tickets off klook, but they do sell the JRPass vouchers as well). Vouchers are sent via FedEx and should arrive in 2 days w/the lowest transit time. It’s worth the cost if you plan to ride the shinkansen, because RT tix can be $200+ for Tokyo/Osaka. Major things to note: don’t lose the voucher, exchange it at a JR ticket office (used to be passport sized pass shown to an attendant, but is now a ticket that goes through the turnstile, also HUGE $INCREASE Oct 2023) & DON’T LOSE THE TICKET (like Scott did + have to buy shinkansen train tix🤦🏻♀️)
Photo:
henry perks @hjkp
5. We found that almost all restrooms had the hand dryers closed off or no paper towels, so it’s helpful to bring your own hand towel and hand sanitizer. When using the metro restrooms, I noticed the locals brought their own hand towels.
Bonus: Pocket Wi-Fi! What would you bring?