A lot of posts on the Japanese subreddits make it seem like an intimidating place. I understand most of it is the desire to be a good tourist. I just spent around a month in Japan travelling from Tokyo through a few cities down into and around Kyushu also as a tourist and these are my thoughts based on my experiences. They could be wrong but this is what I gathered and other recommendations.
- There's bins everywhere in the cities, they're in every 7-Eleven or Family Mart.
Edit: plenty of time, with locals who said it was OK, I left trash in the konbinis that I didn't buy from. I also asked the workers if I could throw away my trash there a few times. I only ever had a bottle and a few wrappers so it was never a big deal. I probably had to carry rubbish for a max of 10 minutes in a city. I don't understand why this is such a big inconvenience to people who have to carry a few items for a couple of minutes.
-
People walk and eat/drink at the same time outside on the streets. I did it with some locals and they said it's an old school manners rule that doesn't really apply as long as you're not scoffing down a burger and making a mess. Just avoid doing it in busy or crowded areas or areas that specifically say not to like market areas of Osaka. Definitely not inside or in any of the train stations. Use your common sense. Walking and drinking alcohol seemed to depend on the city, as I noticed it was common in Hiroshima.
-
I don't come from a tipping culture and I don't do it and didn't do it in Japan but it's not "rude" to tip, everybody is happy with extra money and some places have tip jars. (But still, don't encourage tipping).
-
If you're in a bar, buy the bar people a drink because that's how you get good recommendations and as a former barman, it's appreciated. If you're into cocktails find a "Top 250" cocktail bar and speak to them about other local recommendations. This applies to every country.
-
There isn't too many tourists in Japan, there's too many tourists in specific areas. Japan is a massive place and it's easy to find places without tourists. Saying that, Kyoto has alot of tourists but they're in the same areas.
-
Honestly just try speaking Japanese. Butcher the language and make a fool off yourself, that's how you make friends. The locals were so friendly and inquisitive about us when we tried to do it. I noticed alot of rude Americans and for some reason, Italians, just shouting English at people and it was embarrassing.
-
Assume it's a cash only country, especially if you have an Android phone.
-
I noticed that other tourists always seemed to stay in the bottom floors and never dared ventured into the seedy looking places in the high rises and that's where you get a real glimpse into the city.
-
Kanpai is your friend.
-
search for local music and go to Live Houses, especially in Osaka and Tokyo. We did that a few times and it's good to buy local bands merch and support their vibrant music scene.
-
Americans and other western countries who review places are more likely to give 5*, but whereas Japanese people are more critical so when looking at places look at the original language to see where they're from. 3.9/5 on Google seemed to be the sweet spot for getting places that were good and frequented by locals. Also if you just follow a group of salarymen in the evening you'll normally find a decent and cheap ramen place or a strange girl's bar.
-
if you're staying in an apartment there's a "proper" way of using the wetrooms which is nice. They can also be used for drying clothes.
-
if you're Irish, the Japanese seem to love us; maybe because of rugby and whisky. Some of them loved the pogues and liked Irish music. That seemed to gather their interest and we made some short term friends because of it.
-
the socks from Family Mart are incredible.
-
alot of places allow smoking inside
-
it's impossible to be a vegan and very difficult and a bit more expensive to be vegetarian once you get outside the cities
-
The Japanese will do their best to avoid using cycle lanes and will only cycle where people walk.
Edit : I've seem to have upset the vegans so let me explain. We were a group of 3 with one vegan and his experience was that he wasn't able to eat traditional food or couldn't really just eat out on a whim with us and required alot more planning or had to become veggie. So it is possible, just twice as expensive and doesn't lend itself to spontaneousity. I had 2 vegan ramens and they were decent but about ¥2500 each. Outside the major cities it was impossible.
I found the Japanese to be extremely warm, kind police and curious people. But they're also just people who get horny, like getting drunk and shout and curse during rugby matches.
by lovely-cans
32 comments
It’s a legal requirement to keep your passport on you at all times here.
Edit: downvoted for this, what? lol
If you’re a tourist everyone has to bring their passport with them at all times. Anyone who doesn’t can and will be heavily fined for it if stopped by the police.
> if you’re staying in an apartment there’s a “proper” way of using the wetrooms which is nice.
What’s the proper way?
Generally agree with all but the trash cans. American cities have multiple trash cans at every city block corner.
The walking and no food/ drink was a thing 25 years ago.. I see Japanese people doing it all the time ..
You can definitely get by with no or little cash regardless of what phone you have
I feel like a lot of people who exclaim the virtues of the japanese have never been to japan and just parrot what they’ve heard on reddit and tiktok
Some really great points here about how to make casual friends or passing conversations but to add some further observations for people who *don’t* drink:
If you want the opportunity to meet everyday Japanese folk, then I’d encourage you to wander away from the golden route places and into some suburban or downright rural areas of Japan. People there are much more open to having random chats and conversations especially if you try your hand at speaking some Japanese.
Of course, YMMV, but generally speaking, you’ll have better luck with these random chance encounters in these areas if you don’t have the lubricating benefits of alcohol to help you.
Edit: Just realised that this might come across as common sense to some. But for first timers going to Japan, don’t feel intimidated by all the negative stuff that comes up about anti-foreigner sentiment. By and large, older Japanese people tend to be very open to chats and are super curious. Younger working Japanese? They’re busting their guts out at work, so yeah, mainly the only chance to meet them is at a bar over some drinks…
Pretty much agree with all the points that you’ve listed, except for point number 1.
You’re right that convenience stores (or “konbini”) have garbage bins, but please note that these bins are mostly for ITEMS that you BOUGHT FROM THE KONBINI i.e cans, bottles, food wrappers, plastic packaging etc. Increasingly, I have seen konbinis putting up notices saying that their bins are only for things that you have purchased in-store.
Japanese folks really don’t randomly show up at a konbini just to dump their trash…
I am ok with carrying some of my trash with me but I do think that Japan needs to have even more garbage bins at tourist hot spots and subway/train stations.
It’s not impossible to be vegan, you just need to plan ahead. I’ve already spent two weeks here as a vegan and have had no issues eating (too much) so far. Obviously you won’t be able to walk in anywhere and expect to find an option but it’s definitely not impossible.
In any country in the world, cash is king. It’s not taxable, trackable, and there’s no bank fees.
I loved paying cash in Japan, everything we did that wasn’t hotel or JR pass, we used yen. More than one bar thanked us for paying that way.
Most tourists treat Japan and its people like a zoo. They’re afraid to directly interact with anything. And then the same people spread all of the ridiculous misinformation about Japan online. You experienced Japan in the way I wish everyone would. Learning as you go, not being afraid to try things and make mistakes, using common sense instead of following the random “rules” foreigners make up online, etc.
I agree with so many of these except for the vegan one. I’m both vegan and gluten intolerant, and sure it was a little struggle at times, but I just got back from spending a month in Japan, finding food I could safely eat with no real issue at all. In places like Tokyo and Osaka it’s a lot more manageable, going further out there are less options but typically typing ベーガン into Google maps will bring up restaurants that are either vegan specific or do cater to vegan. Admittedly you’re not going to find many traditional foods, but I was still able to have some incredible meals covering breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
With grocery stores, if you have the means to cook in your accommodation, you got your veg, fruit, tofu, noodles. Some of the prepared meals they have were vegan, but for me still couldn’t have them due to gluten.
When it comes to konbinis there is much less selection I’ll admit but still options (salt rice ball my savior.) and I’ve noticed now in both Lawson and 7 Eleven either they’re making it a lot clearer what actually contains fish, or Google translate has improved a lot since I was last there in March. Also Natural Lawson as well in Tokyo has quite a range of vegan snacks
I am literally vegan and was in Japan for two weeks, mainly Tokyo with a few in Osaka. I lived to tell the tale so stop making it seem impossible. They’re are many of us who use HappyCow successfully. It just takes planning but so does the rest of traveling.
>There’s bins everywhere in the cities, they’re in every 7-Eleven or Family Mart.
I think the issue people have is that there aren’t many ***public*** trash bins here. Of course you can throw your trash away in the convenience store trash if you bought something from the store.
>Assume it’s a cash only country, especially if you have an Android phone.
If you’re in a major city and going to chain restaurants, bars, etc. you don’t need cash. If in the countryside going to a mom and pop place, it’s better to have cash in case they aren’t set up for electronic transactions.
Can co-sign the Family Mart socks
You’re not supposed to toss trash in a konbini trash though unless you just purchased from there.
Also lmao I barely used cash at all. I can count on one hand how many places I had to use cash versus the 50 hands I’d need to count card uses.
I am so upset with myself I didn’t buy more than one pair of the family mart socks. Comfiest and best socks I own. I’ll be buying an absolute stack next time
I had to laugh at the Italians yelling in English. Not because it’s funny or not rude but, because in Italy not everybody speaks English. Especially outside the big cities, English becomes a challenge
I love my Family Mart socks
Be honest with me.
How many drinks deep were you when you started this post?
>spontaneousity
I had to go back twice to spell this like you did. Marvelous
> it’s impossible to be a vegan and very difficult and a bit more expensive to be vegetarian
People never want to hear it but the best thing to do with (non-medical) eating restrictions is to just drop them at immigration and pick them back up on the plane back.
Doesn’t mean you should go wagyu all you can eat as a vegan, but being 250% religiously accurate is going to make things hard for you. The moment you go “oh there could be single molecules of fish left in the dashi after the filtering process” is just “päpstlicher als der Papst” (out-Pope-ing the Pope) as the Germans say and maybe it’s time to just loosen up and enjoy your damn vacation.
For the social norms, just keep in mind its not because some people do something that it isn’t rude.
If you’re in the west, you’ll see people litter or blast their Tiktok on speakers everywhere. Doesn’t mean its not rude as fuck. Same thing with some of the Japanese customs. It’s not because some locals do something that it isn’t rude.
Doesn’t change that some stuff is exaggerated, but still.
And please for the love of god don’t spread tipping culture more than necessary. Its something we should get rid of including in the west, not push further than necessary.
A lot of japanese people talk on the bus/train. I was under the impression that it would be dead silent. But read the room, if no one is talking, don’t talk. If people are talking, its okay to talk, just match the volume as everyone else.
I was also told there wasn’t a lot of public restrooms, but there’s public restrooms at train stations, which are everywhere.
Sorry to be so blunt, but they are just curious for any country that’s far away. They also loved that we were Germans and were excited about that. We were asked so many questions.
You‘re acting like you‘re the only one who experienced the „real“ Japan.
You should get to your mind, that the tips everyone is giving are just basics for first timers.
I would have struggled going to Japan with a vegan!
Cash is super useful but I used my UK credit card loads too. ATM withdrawals imcur a fee with all my UK bank cards.
“People walk and eat/drink at the same time outside on the streets. I did it with some locals and they said it’s an old school manners rule that doesn’t really apply as long as you’re not scoffing down a burger and making a mess”
Just don’t do it. Don’t eat and drink.
I’ve had food and drink dropped on me from foreigners trying to eat and drink and trying to navigate streets and stopping in the middle of the street.
I’ve seen it happen to others.
Don’t be disgusting.
If you’re eating, find someone to stop and eat. There are plenty of spots to stop and eat. You just have to look.
(I’m also a tourist to Japan and not living in country – the above is based on my experiences and observations when I’ve visited Japan).
My goodness, this post brought out some strong opinions! 🫣
Dude was in Japan for a month, now he’s an expert.
Wearing my new family mart socks right now and fully agreed
I’ve visited Japan a lot and being Irish has not really been something that excites people. Tbh, once people find out my wife is Taiwanese they couldn’t give a fuck about me and I’m fine with that hahaha. Always love how much Japanese like Taiwan. And it’s vice versa too. Always love meeting Japanese people in Taiwan.
Good write up OP. I think there is a lot of Japan glazing on reddit.
Sure there is a higher propensity for politeness and soft spokenness, and it’s a very clean and orderly country, especially compared to CBD area of places like LA or London.
But as someone who has been there over a dozen times, there are also negative parts. Like any large group of humans, rudeness, aggression and hooliganism still exist.
It’s not the perfect Utopia composed of impeccably behaved automatons that some people make it out to be.
While it’s true that their sense of civic pride is higher than is typical in the west they are just people, like the rest of us.
Comments are closed.