Any Japan Travel Tips?

[SecondAttempt]

The other thing is, should you unfortunately become seriously ill, I'd suggest getting back to the US rather than deal with Japanese hospitals. Despite all the modernity of Japan, their medical system is pretty medieval. Heard a lot of horror stories from fellow expats...one of my employees was never the same after a back injury.

I am intrigued by this. My only experience with the Japanese health care system was 25 years ago when my boss (and 3 other colleagues) were in a car accident in Japan. No one was seriously injured but my boss injured his hand and was taken to emergency room. He said he was impressed how he was treated. Not a lot of English before the hospital but once at the hospital they had an interpreter and the doctors mostly spoke English. They did many tests and xrays and kept him overnight for observation. Total bill was $0.

Maybe things have gone way downhill since then. Maybe he was just lucky. In looking into this on the internet tonight I read that healthcare in Japan is very expensive, especially for tourists. So maybe things have changed a lot.

I mentioned in another thread that my company hired a travel doctor to advise us about travel to some developing countries in Asia around that time. Her list of preferred self-evacuation cities at the time included Tokyo but Beijing, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore were the first choices. This is consistent with your experience. Her criteria likely did not include cost but rather quality of care and distance.

 

[marko]

I am intrigued by this.

I mentioned in another thread that my company hired a travel doctor to advise us about travel to some developing countries in Asia around that time. Her list of preferred self-evacuation cities at the time included Tokyo but Beijing, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore were the first choices. This is consistent with your experience. Her criteria likely did not include cost but rather quality of care and distance.

All I have are anecdotes from fellow ex-pats but they were fairly consistent and in agreement.

- Our company had a policy of evac'ing back to the States for anything more serious than a broken bone. We had one guy who got a slipped disc...went to a doctor and then the hospital in Yokohama and never walked again. They had done all kinds of strange procedures on him including a spinal. Back home the doctors just shook their heads.

- A young Australian woman had a serious head injury. I met her mother who was working feverishly to get her evac'd back home as she was horrified by the care and cost. They were charging by the day for sheets, pillows, pillowcases etc and the doctors were not forthcoming with any information and she found them almost negligent unless she was there hounding them.

- I'm told that if you have a terminal disease like cancer, your doctor may not tell you if he doesn't think you can handle the news. Also told that the certification process for a dentist is only a little more stringent than getting a hairdresser's license.

Again, all this is anecdotal (and maybe somewhat dated), but having spent a good deal of time and lived in Japan, it does sound quite believable as much as I love the place!

They do have an entirely different way of looking at things. (let's not get into the lack of reporting missing children) As always, it's a mistake to expect people of a foreign country to have the same attitudes, values and approaches as we do.

And remember: Japan does not consider itself "Asia" and a "Gaijin" is anyone who is not Japanese; it does not mean "American" or of a particular race.

 

[Popsicletoes]

We rented a portable wifi ahead of time for our time in Japan (this was pre-Google Fi) and had it sent to our hotel so we just picked it up from concierge upon check-in. From what I understand, getting Japanese SIM card in Japan for non Japanese is quite complicated (or was anyway, when we were there a few years ago).

My husband has always had a hard time using chopsticks, so he carried his own fork in Japan (which came in extremely handy for their delicious ramen noodles!). They didn't always have fork to offer for tourists, especially if you go to the really small eating places.

 

[Boose]

Went to Japan 3x during 2015-2016: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Nikko, Sapporo, Noboribetsu.

I'm always looking for value, novelty and pop culture rather than luxury, so keep this in mind when it comes to my recommendations!

- Tokyo ryokan in Asakusa, near Senso-Ji temple: Sukeroku no Yado Sadachiyo Ryokan. It's on various English-language booking sites and is pretty accessible for the uninitiated.
- Stayed in an onsen (hot spring) town, Noboribetsu, via a 2-day bus/hotel package from Sapporo. It's charming, like the Cape Cod of Japan! Elderly folks, ice cream shops (I liked black sesame), souvenirs, all-inclusive hotels with breakfast and dinner, unlimited crab legs if you get to the buffet fast enough. We enjoyed the onsen at our 3-star hotel but also paid the day fee to use the fancy onsen at a neighboring 5-star place.
- Kyoto classes in indigo dyeing of fabric: roketsu.com
- DH and I stayed overnight at a love hotel near the airport in Osaka to catch an early-morning flight. Fun experience! Cheaper and more spacious than a conventional Japanese hotel, and the included breakfast was delivered to the room via a discreet two-way hatch.
- Look for buffets or lunches at department stores/malls advertised as "Viking"- they are all-you-can-eat for a fixed amount of time (say, for 1.5 hours or between noon and 2 p.m.). "Viking" is a somewhat-translation of "smorgasbord." There are Italian vikings (Japanese-style Italian food) and cake or dessert vikings.
- Also look for covered shopping arcades in the older sections of cities. They have open-front stores and restaurants and are an opportunity to get out of the rain. Kyoto's Nishiki Market is a famous example.
- Don't hesitate to use the Tourist Information Offices at JR stations. They'll give you free maps and orient you to the city. We booked (ahead of time) a local English-speaking tour guide for Kyoto.
Have a great time!

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

We rented a portable wifi ahead of time for our time in Japan (this was pre-Google Fi) and had it sent to our hotel so we just picked it up from concierge upon check-in. From what I understand, getting Japanese SIM card in Japan for non Japanese is quite complicated (or was anyway, when we were there a few years ago).

Yeah, getting a data sim card is way easier nowadays IMO. Years ago, I had to somehow painfully call to register the sim. Now you can go into a major electronics store to buy one and plop it in, though you may have to fiddle with your settings a bit.
We've also used a pocket wifi device. We find it's handy because you can share the data with the minor negatives being that it doesn't help having only one if you get separated and needing to charge another device.
For a few vendors, it's cheaper if you order ahead and you can pick-up and drop-off at major airports.

Having data is great if just for the navigation/transport info.

- Also look for covered shopping arcades in the older sections of cities. They have open-front stores and restaurants and are an opportunity to get out of the rain. Kyoto's Nishiki Market is a famous example.

This is one of my favourite activities. We find the covered shopping arcardes (and smaller/less trafficked shopping streets in general) pretty vibrant areas of activity with interesting things to see and places to snack/eat.

 

[SecondAttempt]

We rented a portable wifi ahead of time for our time in Japan (this was pre-Google Fi) and had it sent to our hotel so we just picked it up from concierge upon check-in.

The last time we were there in late 2018 both the hotels we stayed at provided a cell phone to use during the stay. It was not advertised so not something one can count on. We have an international plan with Verizon so it was unnecessary.

 

[SecondAttempt]

- I'm told that if you have a terminal disease like cancer, your doctor may not tell you if he doesn't think you can handle the news. Also told that the certification process for a dentist is only a little more stringent than getting a hairdresser's license.

Well the first dentists were barbers!

I truly apprciate the information. I had assumed Japan had good healthcare but you clearly have more experience than me. If I get hurt or sick in Japan I might need to use that evacuation insurance!

 

[SecondAttempt]

Yeah, getting a data sim card is way easier nowadays IMO. Years ago, I had to somehow painfully call to register the sim. Now you can go into a major electronics store to buy one and plop it in, though you may have to fiddle with your settings a bit.
We've also used a pocket wifi device. We find it's handy because you can share the data with the minor negatives being that it doesn't help having only one if you get separated and needing to charge another device.
For a few vendors, it's cheaper if you order ahead and you can pick-up and drop-off at major airports.

This is not something I have experience with. But upthread someone mentioned Akihabra for gaming culture or something like that. I knew Akihabra as an electronics wonderland. It was our go to place to find components, have things tested, and so forth for the engineering projects I worked on. Even with the vast resources of Hitachi at our disposal it was usually easier to just take the problematic device to Akihabra and walk around until you found someone who could fix it or had the right part. Akihabra may have changed in 25 years but I bet you can still find someone to set you up with a cheap cell phone and plan for a month!

 

[sweetana3]

Are you sure they will let you in on a single travel for tourism visa (due to Covid restrictions)?

 

[bearkeley]

Are you sure they will let you in on a single travel for tourism visa (due to Covid restrictions)?

No, as of today, only people going through tour companies can get in. We will be flying on ANA in late Dec/early Jan to the Philippines then from there, Japan in April. Hopefully it will be ok by then, but if not, ANA has confirmed they will refund our points if the country has entry restrictions at that time.

 

[SecondAttempt]

This article https://www.travelcaffeine.com/when-will-japan-reopen-allow-foreign-tourists/ suggests there may be a big announcement tomorrow increasing the cap to 50,000 entrants per day BUT they might require you book through a tour company, not a guided tour like now but they want a Japanese company to be responsible for you if you get sick.

Personally it is pretty hard to believe you will not be ok in April. But I thought in March of 2020 it would blow over in a month or two so what do I know.

Japan is seeing more daily new cases than ever.

 

[WhenIsItTime]

Pack granola bars.

 

[SecondAttempt]

This article https://www.travelcaffeine.com/when-will-japan-reopen-allow-foreign-tourists/ suggests there may be a big announcement tomorrow increasing the cap to 50,000 entrants per day BUT they might require you book through a tour company, not a guided tour like now but they want a Japanese company to be responsible for you if you get sick.

Personally it is pretty hard to believe you will not be ok in April. But I thought in March of 2020 it would blow over in a month or two so what do I know.

Japan is seeing more daily new cases than ever.

And here is the official word: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220824_01/

Bottom line is, beginning in September individuals tourists can come but must book through a travel agency that "manages their schedule." Baby steps...