Japan Navigation
I was intimidated to plan our first trip to Japan (and Asia in general), especially when it came to transportation. But have no fear, fellow traveler! Everything went smoothly.
A handful of things were difficult to research from afar, though. So, I hope this one-stop-shop of a blog post will help clear some of those up:
1) General Navigation
We used a combo of Google Maps and the Japan Transit Planner app for directions each day.
Btw, if your home phone plan doesn’t include international data, get yourself an eSIM. We got ours through the Saily app. It was very affordable and easy to use, but there are lots of other apps to choose from too.
The larger the city, the easier it was to navigate. Tokyo has a metro line going literally everywhere and the stations are numbered, so it’s very straightforward, whereas the smaller cities required that we find a bus or walk a lot in between metro stations.
There’s no need to purchase train tickets, train passes, etc. before you get to Japan. You’d have to stand in a line to pick them up anyway.
2) IC Cards
You will need an IC card to get around on the metros, buses, etc. (similar to London’s Oyster Card, but your IC Card will work almost everywhere across Japan). The confusing part is, there are 10 different brands that all do the same thing.
Which one you choose really comes down to: do you have an iPhone? If so, make your life easy and use the digital Suica card through the Apple wallet. If you have Android, get a physical card at the airport.
Do a quick Google search for which IC card brand(s) your airport has available/where to find them, as the availability keeps changing.
Loading/reloading the physical card is a cash only process, so you’ll need to find an ATM first thing.
(7/11 is never far away and they always have an ATM. Make sure to use a debit card that refunds ATM fees.)
At Narita Airport, we took out cash at 7/11, then got my Pasmo card from the Skyliner and Keisei information center. (The initial cost was 1,500 yen, but the amount went toward the card balance, so the card itself was free.)
3) Buses
Buses aren’t always the most economical, as they charge a flat fee of 200+ yen no matter how short your journey is. So, if it’s going to take you 15 minutes to walk somewhere vs. 12 minutes by bus, it’s not worth it.
4) Trains
We rode a lot of trains, so we had to somewhat get the hang of them. But they were THE most confusing part of navigation in Japan.
We mainly road on: local, limited express, and bullet trains, like the Shinkansen. Each type has slightly different rules for ticketing and seating, so make sure you pay attention to the icons on Google Maps.
For example: in order to travel from Tokyo Station to Shin-Osaka Station (2.5 hours), we got Shinkansen tickets for $89/p. (You can get these tix from machines, but we opted to stand in line at the ticket counter to minimize the risk of mistakes.)
For the Shinkansen bullet train, you either pay a little extra to reserve a seat (i.e. car 9, seat 21A), or you opt for non-reserved seating (available in the first three cars only). We never paid extra for seats, but did make sure to be first in line when the train came, because those first three cars can fill up and leave you standing your whole journey.
When in doubt, ask a human at the ticket counter. Most spoke enough English to help us, and Google Translate filled in the gaps whenever necessary.
Practice saying Konnichiwa (Hello) or Ohayō Gozaimasu (Good Morning). And Arigatou Gozaimasu (Thank you).
Oh! And on days you have a long train journey, take advantage of the Ekiben (bento boxes sold at train stations) — they’re a whole experience!
5) Train Passes
The JR Pass covers most train routes throughout the country, but with the recent price hike, it was nowhere near worth it. Instead, we opted for a regional pass: specifically the Kansai-Hiroshima Rail Pass (5 days).
Train tickets from Osaka to Hiroshima alone would have cost us $136/p, so this pass (for $111/p) was a great value! Obviously, it depends on how you’ll be spending your time, but definitely look into the regional pass options.
Another confusing thing: If you do get a pass, you’ll still need tickets for the specific train/time you’re traveling. When you get these (free to you) tix, you’ll enter both your rail pass and your regular ticket into the machine at the same time. Not one after the other. Both together.
Stacked. Together. Got it?
(If you can’t tell, we did not get it.)
Phew. It’s a lot, I know.
If something still doesn’t make sense, it’s best not to worry about it. Figure out what you can from home. The rest can wait til you get there. Really. You got this.
