Japanese Vacation
My Japan Trip At a Glance
Japan Vacation MASTER TODO LIST
Small gift ideas
Critical Basics
Emergency Numbers (Japan)
- 110 — Police
- 119 — Fire / Ambulance
- 7119 — Non-emergency medical advice line (varies by prefecture; Japanese only in most cases)
- 050-3816-2787 — Japan Visitor Hotline
U.S. Embassy
- Tokyo: +81-3-3224-5000
- Osaka: +81-6-6315-5900
Medical Treatment
- Medical Treatment: travel insurance, medical treatment costs in Japan
Recon
- Japan Lodgings
- Pre-Departure Planning
- Arrival Logistics
- Money & Payment
- Connectivity
- Operational Stack: Apps in Japan
- Transportation in Japan: How to get around
- Norms & Etiquette
- Food basics
- Tokyo History and Architecture
- Japan Travelogues - Attractions etc
- Japanese Language
- Travel Tips
- Small gift ideas
Travel tips
Tour guides
- Taisho Takata, a Tokyo tour guide, seen in this video about Tokyo's map $200 for 5 hours, $300 for 9 hours
- Tokyo's Beginner's course
- Stroll through the Streets of a Bygone Era:
- Get Your Guide
- Tokyo Urban Evolution Architecture Walking Tour (2 hrs) 10am, meets at Roppongi area
Cities & Regions
- Tokyo: Hyper-dense, highly organized, infinite subcultures. Great for architecture, film culture, design, niche neighborhoods.
- Kyoto: Historic capital; temples, gardens, traditional streets.
- Osaka: Food culture; more informal vibe than Tokyo.
- Hakone: Onsen town near Tokyo; Mount Fuji views (weather dependent).
- Kanazawa: Traditional districts + one of Japan’s top gardens (Kenroku-en).
- Takayama: Alpine town; preserved Edo-era streets.
- Nara: Famous for free-roaming deer and Todai-ji temple.
- Shikoku: Remote gorges and onsen
- Tottori: Famous for a landscape of sand dunes
- Jigokudani: Nagano area, winter destination famous for snow monkeys that have been seen bathing in hot springs there.
- Okunoshima (Rabbit Island): A small island off the the southern end of the main island of Japan known for relatively domesticated rabbits that inhabit the island.
- Sendai