Plan Your Trip
How Much Does a Trip to Japan Cost? A Real Daily Budget
Three budgets built from actual prices — backpacker, mid-range and comfortable — plus the four costs that blow a Japan budget apart…
Region
Nationwide
Guides that apply anywhere in Japan.
Guides
55 articles
Reading list for Nationwide
Plan Your Trip
Japan for First-Timers: Everything to Sort Before You Fly
The twelve decisions that shape a first trip to Japan, in the order you actually have to make them — from when…
Getting Around
When Things Go Wrong: Missed Trains, Lost Tickets and the Last Train
You will miss a connection, feed the wrong ticket into a gate, or look up at 11:40pm and realise the last train…
Getting Around
Luggage in Japan: Coin Lockers, Takkyubin and Oversized Baggage Rules
Japanese trains were not built for suitcases, so Japan moves the suitcase separately. How luggage forwarding works, what the 160cm rule means,…
Getting Around
Renting a Car in Japan: Licence, Tolls, ETC and Parking
The permit you must get before leaving home, why an ETC card matters more than the car, and the parts of Japan…
Getting Around
Domestic Flights: When Flying Beats the Shinkansen
The train wins as far as Hiroshima. Past that, flying is faster and often cheaper — especially with the foreign-visitor fares that…
Getting Around
Highway Buses: The Cheapest Way Between Japanese Cities
Tokyo to Osaka overnight for the price of a decent lunch. How Japanese highway buses work, which seat class is worth paying…
Getting Around
Airport to City: Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose
Every major Japanese airport has at least two rail options at very different prices. Which to take from each one, what it…
Getting Around
How to Read a Japanese Train Timetable, Sign and Platform
Station codes, colour bars, the four kinds of train that stop at different stations, and the one column of a timetable that…
Getting Around
Regional Rail Passes: The 12 That Actually Save Money
Since the national pass got expensive, the regional ones are where the value moved. Twelve passes, what each covers, and the trip…