Top Tech Tips for Traveling to Japan

Power, wireless standards, and the sheer availability of technology varies from country to country, and if you behave effectually whatever sort of electronics away you lot should know what to await earlier you go on the aeroplane. Every countryy has sure rules, limitations, and helpful tips to be aware of if you don't want to be defenseless with your phone disconnected and your tablet battery tuckered.

Nihon is a fantastic destination for tourists and business travelers. It'due south the domicile of several major multinational corporations, the birthplace of anime, the origin of two out of the three major video game consoles, and full of gorgeous scenery and interesting culture and history to explore in a relatively small-scale space. If you're planning to travel to Japan, hither are some useful tips on how to stay connected and charged, and how to get the nigh out of your vacation or business concern trip.

Don't Worry About Power Outlets

The skilful news is that you probably don't take to worry most any issues with keeping your devices charged. Nihon uses the same 2-slot power outlets equally North America does, and then your chargers will work fine without any sort of adapter (which you lot would need if you were traveling to Cathay or Europe). You won't observe as many grounded (3-hole) outlets in Japan, though, then don't await to plug heavy-duty power strips in when y'all get to your hotel room.

Japanese power outlets carry 100 volts rather than 120 volts similar in North America, which won't touch your chargers in whatsoever significant mode. However, if yous're using any sort of apparatus that generates oestrus or otherwise uses a lot of power, like a hair dryer, it tin be a safety chance. Leave your space heaters and toasters at dwelling, but bring all the USB wall adapters you desire.

And for charging up on the go, no thing where you are, check out our list of the all-time portable chargers and power banks.

Internet Access: Rent a SIM Menu or Hotspot

Some prison cell phone plans offer international roaming and data, but their terms can vary wildly. On T-Mobile, for instance, y'all have unlimited text messages and data, but that data is throttled down to 2G speeds, and you need to pay actress for voice calls from outside the country. Our usual recommendation for users with unlocked phones is to just selection up a SIM card when y'all arrive in your country of destination and pop information technology in for temporary phone and data access. It isn't quite as unproblematic in Japan.

Yous can choice up a temporary SIM carte at the airport and pop apply it in your phone, but it volition probably exist information-only. Temporary SIM cards for tourists almost never include voice service—if you demand to call or receive calls, the next section covers information technology. SIM data plans are cheap, but usually limited to a certain amount of data, either daily or over the full fourth dimension of your utilize. Once y'all run out of data, the network either throttles your speeds down or cuts you off entirely. You can expect to pay nearly $30 for 1GB of information over the course of 15 days, but terms vary between MVNOs. Also, make certain your phone supports GSM networks; if it's CDMA-but, it won't work in Japan at all. If y'all're on AT&T or T-Mobile your telephone is definitely GSM, merely Dart and Verizon subscribers should do some more research to see if their particular handset supports it as their networks are based on the CDMA standards.

You lot can also spend a bit more than to rent a 4G Wi-Fi hotspot. This is a much better selection, considering they usually offer unlimited data over the course of the rental, which is worth it fifty-fifty if it's around twice as much equally SIM data plans. They usually require some preparation before you travel, though. Hotspot rentals should be bundled before your trip, after which you lot can choice upward your hotspot either at a counter at the airdrome or have information technology delivered to your hotel. Before you go home, put the hotspot in the included prepaid mailer and put it in any Japanese postbox.

Portable hotspots can exist arranged directly through providers like Ninja Wi-Fi, or ordered through licensed travel agents (explained beneath with the JR Rails Laissez passer). The travel agent choice is actually more than convenient, even if you don't society a travel package through them.

Telephone Service: Rent a Phone

If you need a phone number in Nihon, you can simply rent a phone. Several companies let yous hire Japanese phones by the day or week, with Japanese SIM cards that include a local phone number that can make and receive calls. SoftBank rents out smartphones for 210 yen per mean solar day (about $two) and vocalization phones for 260 yen per day (about $ii.forty), with minimum rental periods of three days. Renting a phone is similar to renting a Wi-Fi hotspot: Order it before you travel and selection information technology upwards at the airdrome, and so put it in the render box at the aerodrome (or mailbox, depending on the service) when y'all leave.

Rented phones by and large let you receive unlimited calls for free on a temporary Japanese telephone number that will exist sent to you before yous pick upwards the telephone. Approachable calls will price you, though, even if they're to other phones in Nippon. SoftBank charges 110 yen per minute (about $1), and xv yen per text message (nearly $0.12) to Japanese telephone numbers. International calls have their ain rates, and text messages to phones exterior Nihon cost ten times the price of domestic texts. Unless you lot really need a phone number, a information plan is a amend deal.

Beyond Tech: Get a JR Rail Pass

Japan is a country with a lot of trains. Tokyo alone is served by multiple subway companies, each with a number of lines, and once you travel out of the city there are regional train companies to consider. Yous can easily get to nearly whatever tourist location without a machine, but you demand to be able to navigate the trains. That's where the JR Runway Pass comes in, and it volition make your vacation in Japan and then much easier and more than flexible.

Nippon Railways (JR) is a group of vii companies that, together, consist of the virtually comprehensive and widespread runway provider in Japan. They run the shinkansen bullet trains that let yous travel across the entire state in a matter of hours at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour. And, to concenter tourists, Japan Railways offers the JR Pass and other train passes.

The JR Pass is a national train pass available only to tourists. This means yous tin can't become information technology if you're traveling to Japan on concern or staying for more ninety days. If y'all're going on vacation, though (and y'all aren't a Japanese citizen), you're set. It provides unlimited admission on almost all train lines served by JR companies in Nihon. That means you can travel on the shinkansen (at least, the non-commuter shinkansen) as much as you want.

A JR Laissez passer costs around $260 for one week and $420 for two weeks. That might sound like a pretty big cost on summit of your airfare and hotel, but consider that a unmarried one-way shinkansen ride from Tokyo to Kyoto costs around $140. If y'all take one round trip ride between those cities on your trip, the pass has already paid for itself. The laissez passer as well provides unlimited admission on local JR lines, including the Yamanote Line in Tokyo, which is the easiest way to travel betwixt the major hubs of the city. If you're flying into or out of Narita International Aerodrome, you lot besides save about $xxx each way with the Narita Express railroad train betwixt the airdrome and Tokyo included.

JR Passes must exist ordered alee of fourth dimension from a number of authorized travel agencies, most of which have sites with "japan," "jr," "rails," and/or "pass" in their URLs (japanrailpass.net doesn't sell JR Passes, simply every bit the official JR site for the pass you can check it for useful information without dealing with a specific agency'south sales pitch). You tin buy them online, later on which you will receive a voucher for the pass in the mail. Trade the voucher for the laissez passer at a JR counter when you country, and yous're ready to ride.

Just larn how to navigate the dissimilar trains before yous go, and recall that shinkansen seats usually take to be reserved at a counter even with the pass (you lot won't pay any extra, unless you desire to upgrade to Light-green Car first class). You can usually order a portable hotspot when y'all order your JR Pass, which adds to the convenience.

Become Cash and a Smart Card

If you're used to walking around with no cash and using your credit card for everything, you'll find a bit of awkward inconvenience when you get to Nihon. Most credit cards are withal accepted at major retailers, just for everyday items cash is much more than common. Stock up on a expert amount of yen at a reputable currency exchange, and free up space in your wallet for some bills. Also, consider getting a separate coin pouch, because you won't find newspaper coin in denominations smaller than i,000 JPY (approximately $x USD). 100 and 500 yen coins are mutual.

You tin however use cards for drinks, snacks, and train tickets (practiced for the Tokyo subway lines that aren't covered by the JR Pass) if you get a PASMO or Suica smart card. They're prepaid cards with chips inside that let you easily make small purchases with just a tap. These cards are primarily used for train and bus fares, but nigh vending machines and many stores (any store with an IC logo on the door or window) accept them for purchases. Don't worry about whether y'all get a PASMO or Suica card; while they wait different, they're effectively identical in utilize, like the difference between whether a store accepts Visa or Mastercard (the vast majority accept both interchangeably).

If you get a JR Pass and hotspot from Japan-Rail-Pass.com (I've used it and it'southward reputable), yous tin order a smart card from information technology also. New PASMO and Suica cards are currently $24, and come with 2,000 yen preloaded. If you want to purchase a card in Japan, or top if off once yous get there, y'all need cash. Getting a new card is typically 500 yen (well-nigh $5 USD) before you load it with money, and yous demand to use bills rather than a credit card to refill information technology at a vending machine in almost railroad train stations. Once information technology's filled, though, that's less paper and coins to go on in your pocket. And don't worry most using the vending machines; they have English modes you can go to with a tap.

Another overnice bonus for PASMO and Suica cards: If you nevertheless have money on them when y'all leave the land, you lot can go that money refunded from an attendant at the airport, along with the 500-yen deposit you paid for the card itself.

Need Electronics in Tokyo? Go to a Photographic camera Shop

Nosotros all forget gear sometimes, and in Japan that'southward an like shooting fish in a barrel fix. For pocket-sized things similar chargers and cables, Japanese convenience stores like 7-Eleven and Lawson are well stocked, and frequently have Wi-Fi if you need to utilize it. If you lot need something a scrap more substantial, you need to go to an electronics store. Or rather, a photographic camera store.

Two of the biggest electronics retailers in Japan are Bic Camera and Yodobashi Camera. More chiefly, they're some of the biggest and easiest-to-find electronics stores in Tokyo. When I say biggest, I mean they're massive super-stores with multiple floors of every kind of electronic device you lot might want. If yous need a piece of technology, you can go it at one of these stores. You tin find Bic Camera or Yodobashi Photographic camera a few blocks away from the main train stations in Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ueno, Ikebukuro, Kichijoji, and of course the technology and nerd oasis of Akihabara.

If yous need gear and you lot're not in a Tokyo city center, Yamada Denki is another major electronics retailer with over 200 stores throughout Nihon.

Remember these tips when planning for your trip to Nihon, and you'll easily be able to stay connected and get effectually while yous visit. There are plenty of other not-tech tips also, especially regarding etiquette. (Acquire to say "sumimansen," pronounced "soo-mee-mah-sehn," before asking whatsoever clerk, receptionist, guide, or passerby for help; it means "excuse me.") But now you know how to stay online from Hokkaido to Okinawa.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/feature/20567/top-tech-tips-for-traveling-to-japan

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