Taking the trains in Japan

Japan has one of the best rail system in the world. They're clean, comfortable, and super punctual... albeit a bit pricy. Although buses, taxis, and rental cars are also available, trains are by far the easiest way to get around Japan.

All train fares are based on distance traveled, and can range from 180 yen all the way to 20,000+ yen per person one way if you take a bullet train across the country. If you're planning some long-distance journeys, you should definitely look into obtaining a Japan Rail Pass.

Also, the fare can be divided up into multiple sections. For example, your fare for a bullet train might actually be your base fare (what you would pay on a regular train) plus express fare (for taking a faster train.)

Back in the days, you had to look at a huge map of destinations and figure out what your trip will cost you, then buy a corresponding fare from the ticket machine. Although you can still do that, the easier option is for you to obtain a proxy chip embedded reloadable charge card. In the Tokyo area, Suica and Pasmo are the more common options. These can be obtained from the same ticket machines and costs 2000 yen. Of that, 500 yen is a refundable deposit and the other 1500 yen comes preloaded on your card for your immediate use. So basically, it's free.

The future has been around in Japan since 2001.

Once you have your Suica/Pasmo, you can just wave it at the gate leading into a train station and voila! You don't even have to pull it out of your wallet. And if at the end of your trip, you don't have enough money on your card to pay for your fare, there's always a ticket vending machine nearby for you to add more money to your pass card.

Also, you can use your Suica to pay for a cold beverage out of a vending machine or even at some stores like Seven Elevens!

Now of course, if you don't mind waiting in lines, there's usually also a manned ticket office to go to for help.

The other thing that I should mention is that not all trains in Japan are run by the same company. By far the biggest of these companies is JR (Japan Railways). They run most of the trains around Tokyo as well as all the bullet trains. However, there are other companies as well such as Keisei, Odakyu, and Tobu. The Tokyo Subway system is also a different company, I believe. Fortunately, your Suica will work for all of these companies around Tokyo. From what I understand, however, that is not the case around Osaka. So beware what company's line your itinerary wants you to take!

Lodging in Japan

Lodging

Japan is infamous for their capsule hotels (literally, just a bunk bed built into the wall of a train station that you rent to sleep in.) But as these cost ~3000 yen per night while some of the cheapest hotels are ~5000 yen per night, the capsule hotels actually aren't that cost effective. These are more meant for people to use as a last ditch option if they miss the final train of the night. The train services in Tokyo actually stop surprisingly early... most trains stop running around midnight! With that said, you might consider these options for lodging on your trip to Japan:

Ok, capsule hotels might be novel. But really, do they look comfortable?

Standard hotels: What you might expect to see in other large metropolitan areas of the world. The prices can vary wildy, from 5000 yen per night all the way up to 50,000 yen per night. The one thing to be aware of with hotel pricing in Japan is that they charge PER PERSON. That hotel room that looks like it's 5000 yen per night might actually be 10,000 yen per night if you're sharing it with someone else.

The Shinagawa Prince Hotel is my family's go-to when visiting Tokyo

Business hotels: These are no-frills hotels that basically just has enough room for a bed, for your luggage, and a bathroom. These are meant to be used by business travelers, so although they're not luxurious by any means, they tend to be conveniently situated near train stations. Some of them have free breakfast included with your stay. Expect to pay 5000~10,000 yen per night for these hotels.

A small, no-frills room is typical of a business hotel.
This room is at a Toyoko Inn, a big business hotel chain in Japan.

Weekly apartments: Especially in larger cities like Tokyo, you can find apartments for rent by the week. If you're planning on staying in 1 city for your entire stay, these might be an attractive alternative as these can be found for as little as 43,000 yen per week. Some of these have shared common areas, however, so they may be more similar to hostels.

Ryokan: A ryokan is a popular Japanese bed & breakfast type inn that usually also has a hot springs bath as well. The price of lodging at a ryokan includes either a buffet or multi-course dinner and breakfast. The food at these places tend to be rather extravagant and delicious. (All you can eat sushi, anyone?) But accordingly, they are super expensive. You should expect to pay at least 10,000 yen per person to stay at even the cheapest ryokan. A popular ryokan in a popular destination like Hakone might cost you more than 40,000 yen per person per night!

Hotel Shikisai - a ryokan in Nikko

The dinner at Hotel Nanmei - a ryokan in Atami

Love hotels: If you see these around, chances are, you've entered a seedy part of town. As the name implies, these hotels have themed rooms with a specific purpose in mind. These hotels post prices for both "resting" (renting a room for a few hours) or "staying the night", so they should be pretty easy to pick out. I'd avoid them, but I guess it might be an interesting cultural experience for others. 

Love hotels... they're pretty obvious.
You can't possibly go into a building like that and feign ignorance!

General Tips for Visiting Japan

I was born in Japan and still go over for a visit almost every year. So I might know a thing or two about visiting the land of the rising sun. Take a look below for some useful travel tips!

When is a good time to go?

This depends on a lot of different factors. Which part of the country are you visiting? Do you care about seeing any festivals in particular? What's your heat tolerance?

-In terms of weather, April~June and September~November are probably the most comfortable. Not too hot, not too cold.

-Japan actually has a monsoon season that typically lasts from June~July in the Tokyo area. Be prepared for daily rain showers!

-Japan is an island nation, so it's very humid. Combining that with 90+ degree heat and the lack of central air conditioning in many older buildings makes Japan in the summertime (July~August) pretty miserable. It also doesn't help that they've turned down the air conditioning nationwide in an effort to cut down on power usage in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the subsequent shuttering of all the nucelar power plants nationwide.

-If you want to see cherry blossoms in bloom, you should take a peek at websites that feature cherry blossom forecasts before booking your dates. In general, the flowers bloom late March ~ early April in the Tokyo area. Even if the cherry blossoms aren't blooming in Tokyo, you might be able to go south to catch them if you get there too early, or go north if you get there too late as different parts of the country bloom at different times due to the temperature difference.

-There are other varieties of cherry trees that bloom in early May (see above) as well, so that might be a good alternative. It's much warmer and nicer in May compared to March!

-Traditional Japanese vacation weeks are during Golden Week (usually the first week of May) and Obon Festival (mid August in Tokyo, mid July in Osaka/Kyoto). Try to avoid these weeks as lodging prices may be significantly higher.

When are airfares the cheapest?

In my experience, Jan~Feb, May, and Oct~Nov seem to have the most consistently affordable airfares. On the flipside, typical school vacation months (June, July, Aug, Dec) have horrendous prices, oftentimes double the cheapest rates.

What's the best airline to take?

Let's face it, we're all most likely going to end up choosing based on price. But with that said, if prices were all the same, All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) offer superior services to domestic airlines. The flight attendants are mind blowingly polite, the in flight meals are better, and their aircraft fleets tend to be newer. If you're using frequent flyer miles to book your ticket, United Airlines miles can be used for ANA flights and American Airlines miles can be used for JAL flights, so that's a consideration. Among the domestic carriers, Delta has the best on-time performance and have the widest array of free alcohol in international economy class for those that care. On the other hand, United is the only domestic carrier at this time that flies the new Boeing 787 jets to Japan, once again, if that sort of thing matters to you.  

Cash or credit card?

Most people in Japan still prefer to use cash. Although most major hotels and restaurants accept credit cards these days, it's still a good idea to have cash on hand since there are still places that don't accept credit card.


What's a good conversion rate?

While it's easiest to simplify things by assuming 1 US dollar = 100 Japanese yen, the conversion rates have historically fluctuated between 80 yen ~ 120 yen per dollar. At the time of this writing (September 2014), the rate is relatively favorable for Americans at 109 yen per dollar. In my experience, the Mizuho Bank currency exchange offers super competitive exchange rates compared to our local American banks or God forbid, the rip-off that is Travelex exchange at American airports. And beware: Japanese bills are taller than American bills, so they don't fit American wallets very well! A money clip might be an easy solution to this.