14 things you NEED to know before going to Japan

I just got back from spending 22 days in Japan and while on our trip we visited Tokyo Kamakura Yokohama kiyoto Nara kashiki Kojima hoshima Mima kazua takayama and hakone hakon 12 cities in 22 days I think I need a vacation from my vacation but during our travels there were some things that we absolutely adored about Japan and other things that left us scratching our heads for today's video I'm going to give you 10 things that I wish I knew before visiting Japan for those of you who don't know me my name is Drew would it do it's nice to meet you let's talk Japan number one the most important detail other than lodging is knowing how you're going to get around while in Japan you don't need to be as ambitious as we were visiting 12 cities in 22 days but if you're visiting the hot spots like Tokyo Osaka Kyoto Etc this is what you need to know every major city in Japan has excellent and well-connected train bus and tram systems in Tokyo for example you literally have everything from it's always on time Jr lines to the subway getting around in Tokyo is simply a matter of deciding your mode of Transit based on your itinerary but in smaller cities like Kojima which is a part of the okama prefecture you don't have as many options and you have to plan ahead to make sure you get from point A to point B in the most efficient manner as possible let's get into the nitty-gritty while in Tokyo the majority of the time we used our Jr pass to get around using the train systems the Jr PASS gives you access to all train and bus systems operated by Japan Rail we found that it fit our needs due to how much we had planned to travel between cities within Japan something to note that there was a price increase starting October 2023 for the Jr pass which unfortunately does decrease the value added to a foreign visitor purchasing the Jr pass and using it while in Japan but for us we thought of it as well we still need to use the Jr pass it's the most efficient way it's one of the easiest quickest ways for us and we decided to go the Jr pass route I would be curious to know even for myself if you've traveled to Japan before and before the price increase happened for the Jr pass would you still purchase and use the Jr pass in 2024 2025 or are you someone who's saying well it's not really worth it even for the amount of travel that we did in 202 days that kind of information would be great for the community if you could leave it down in the comments to reiterate our experience with the Jr pass was pleasant especially in Tokyo all trains were on time they were clean and if there were delays they were clearly outlined on Google Maps or they were being outlined within the train tram system itself now there were some experiences that were not covered by the Jr pass meaning that we had to pay round trip fairs for certain day trips that we want wanted to take one example is visiting the neighborhood of shimokitazawa which is actually an hour away from like Tokyo Station that just gives you an idea of how large Tokyo is traveling an hour away from a place and it's still the same city we also had to do the same thing when visiting Kamakura which is one of Japan's ancient capitals the fairs weren't crazy expensive probably less than $10 in total price but something to keep in mind if you're going to use a Jr pass there are some train system or train lines that do not go from where you want to go that carry the Jr name so you have to pay a fair price you have to pay a ticket price in order to get on the train and go to where you want to go assuming that you're going to be visiting Tokyo when you go to Japan I think it's probably the number one place that people visit if they're going to go to Japan at least it's the number one place for me something you need to know about Tokyo is that it's absolutely massive the urban sprawl of Tokyo is unfathomable honestly it's fathomable from a North American standpoint I live in New York City and I think New York City's urban sprawl is massive Tokyo is on another level walking from point A in Ginza to point B in shabuya is impossible day in and day out you cannot sustain that level of walking every single day so you will need to use public transit you will need to use a car or a tram or a train or something like that to give from point A to point B or you will exhaust yourself unless you're some kind of like Pro Walker priker I wouldn't recommend walking everywhere you go as dumb as this sounds number two of things I wish I knew is to bring and to make sure that you bring good walking shoes we walked 20,000 steps every single day for 3 weeks we had one day where we walked damn near 40,000 steps we had 38,000 steps in a single day which is just that's just a lot of walking even as someone who I'm an athlete I'm an athletic person I played Sports you just don't walk that much in a single day usually you're you know you're sedentary you're sitting around you're doing work you're on the computer maybe you go outside for a walk with your dog or your cat or whatever it may be and get some fresh air but you don't walk 40,000 steps in Japan if you want to see the things like maybe we're crazy ambitious but if you want to see the things you're going to walk you need good shoes and because this is a fashion Channel my inside would be something with like a foam midsole something that has good breathability so you're not overheating when you're wearing the shoe maybe a shoe that you've already broken in as well you don't to be breaking in shoes walking 20,000 steps the amount of blisters and just grossness that will be on your feet is not going to be cute while uh you're in the onon in Japan okay so make sure to bring good walking shoes Okay number three is in regards to Inner City travel and we're talking about Transportation here this entire section is about Transportation but I want to really hone in on inter city travel one of the absolutely coolest experiences that I had in Japan was taking the bullet train here here in the United States there's really nothing like it we have Amtrak but it doesn't go nearly as fast and to be in this essentially rocket train was epic it was truly epic I don't know any other word to describe it other than epic this is where the value of the Jr pass I think comes more into play and this is where things get a little complicated and you'll have to hone in your itinerary based on what you plan to do and how long you're in Japan for the shinson or bullet train it's just called the shenson in Japan operates sort of like prepaid Airline fairs with the Jr pass you're able to reserve your tickets in advance so that you can have a seat on the train right makes sense now to be fair I'm not sure how much the cost of tickets are currently for the shinson per route but the value for us was we knew we were going to travel to multiple cities that needed bullet train type of speed in order for us to accomplish visiting 12 cities in 22 days and so because we use the bullet train several times because the cost of the bullet train is maybe I'll put a value on the screen so you can understand why we decided to go with the Jr pass because we used to train a ton while in Japan because the value of just being able to bundle all of the cost on a Jr pass and pay for the prepaid tickets that's why we went Jr pass as opposed to using something like paying for each individual Fair one by one and bundling the fairs under one Jr pass management system just made the most sense for us there were three people in our party and so it just worked out that we wanted to use Jr make sure you do your homework when it comes to Inner City travel using the bullet train in Japan for me like I said it was one of the absolute coolest experiences to be whipping like on the ground level through the country of Japan Mount Fuji out the window like it was just unbelievable I wouldn't I wouldn't trade it for anything else I love the experience on the shinson number four public transit goes to bed early and I do mean early in Japan this is a big big thing that we almost had to learn the hard way while in Tokyo essentially the final trains and buses stop operating at midnight and then don't operate again until 5:00 a.m. so that 5H hour gap if you miss the train at midnight you're basically screwed right because you're either going to have to pay a taxi which is 10 20 times the fair of what maybe taking the Subway or taking the train would be or you're going to have to walk and depending on how far you are that could be a very very long walk but hopefully you brought some good walking shoes it's not uncommon in Japanese culture that you'll see people who just sleep on the street if they miss the train now we weren't out we were out late like that a couple of nights and we were in walking distance of our lodging and we saw people just kind of like posted up outside not homeless in suits looking and dressed really well but they were just sleeping on the street because they're they missed that Midnight Train they missed that midnight bus so they could either pay a taxi fair and sometimes people don't want to pay that taxi for or they could sleep on the street it's a very common thing in Japan that we learned very very interesting thing maybe depending on where you're staying just go out at like 1:00 a.m. just to see what that's about because it's a very different cultural thing than what I've seen here in the US when it comes to going out and drinking and partying and things of that nature number five the last thing I think is really important when it comes to getting around in Japan is don't be afraid to take a taxi especially if you're pressed for time I Love Trains I prefer trains to cars 10 out of 10 times the week but sometimes there are a couple of instances where you're going to have to take a car as opposed to a train because either a train doesn't go to where you want to go even though Japan is very well into connected there could be a situation where a train does not actually go or there's a delay or there's a problem and so what you have to do is you have to take a car we had to do that on two different occasions in okama when we were in kashiki and we went down to Kojima and we went from kazuwa to takayama which is like the mountainous region there was no train that went through these mountains right so we had to take a car and honestly the perspective of driving through Japan is really interesting it's really fascinating to like as simple as it sounds to be in another country to have uh the point of view of being in a car they drive on the other side of the road compared to the US so that's a lot of fun and very different but what you gain in a taxi is time what you lose is the cost right because it will cost more to take a c to take a cab a taxi or a car service number six let's talk about shopping in Japan holy [ __ ] shopping in Japan is essentially non-stop it's it's crazy it's crazy in Japan it really is it's crazy which is both a good and a bad thing as my audience knows I'm a big fan of Japanese fashion Japanese denim Japanese architecture Japanese Kitchen wear art I like Japanese things you know what I mean I like Japanese stuff this jacket is Japanese right like I like the stuff if it's Japanese made I tend to have a bias thinking that it's well-made which in a lot of cases it is because Japanese people take a lot of care and attention to detail and to the products that they put out there but beyond talking about my interest the sheer amount of markets and food and trinkets and luxury is is honestly unfathomable you guys I wish I could explain to you in words and pl in plain English how much stuff there is to just look at and buy and Tinker with but it's just crazy and you will really only understand how crazy it is once you begin to start traveling around in Tokyo it's crazy kyot it's crazy and hoshima it's crazy just everywhere you go to it's just shopping shopping shopping shopping shopping so be prepared for that shock right like it's just I don't and even in New York City I don't feel like it's as crazy as it is in Japan it's just unbelievable one thing that I had to tell myself quite often is that I shouldn't experience fomo for not picking up or purchasing as much as I think that is available to me right like right now the yin to the US dollar to the euro is it's pretty weak it's at an all-time low which means that you get a lot of value for your foreign currency within Japan and with all the things that there are to buy it felt like you know in a way every store every instance every shop every Market there was something that would just be like you know Drew buy buy me like I'm I'm only 88 cents like just you know things like that right so take a deep breath when you're in Japan and if the value of the Y is still is what it is if you're traveling there pretty soon take a deep breath don't have that fomo realize that you know be intentional with your purchases that's what we did I made an entire pickups video highlighting the things that we got we got a lot of things but I think all the things that we purchased were really cool Japan exclusive things things you really can't get in the US and it made the you know it kind of stamped the memory of Japan with these physical products that for example you just can't get in the US this is like a jean Japanese denim keychain from Pure Blue Japan or Japan blue jeans I think it is but yeah if you're curious to know the items that I picked up while in Japan it's just the previous video to this one you can watch it after this one's over number seven this is a small But Mighty tip and it is always bring your passport with you while you're traveling and adventuring around Japan and I mean like bring it with you while you're out and about don't leave it in the hotel don't leave it in the air BNB don't leave it in the hostel bring it with you I think it's actually illegal to not have your passport in your possession while walking within the streets of Japan but for a better reason better reason a lot of shops are tax-free if you bring your passport and show them your passport if you're going to buy something so while I just told you to not over bu when it comes to shopping in Japan there are some incentives that they also place on top of the fact that the yin is lower to hook foreigners into purchasing and buying things from their country and one of those things is like the tax-free system in a lot of places whether you're at a shrine or whether you're at a store even like the more fashiony stores the the fashion labels that I care about they even had tax-free items and tax-free systems in place so that if you wanted to you could buy the things for cheaper even even cheaper because there was no tax to it which is awesome for Value number eight this is for the fashion MF who are watching to this deep in the video and it is that when it comes to sizing for clothing in Japan overall my experience while shopping in Japan was great for those of you who don't know I am 6'3 I'm about 180 fiveish pounds I'd probably give myself right now I put on a couple pounds while in Japan not going to lie and there were no instances where if I tried on a piece or tried on a pair of shoes or tried on a garment that it didn't fit me this is the prime example right like this is a capital jacket and capital understands that its audience is maybe more Western as well but like sizing wasn't really a major issue when it comes to the deciding factor for whether I was going to buy something or not it was more so about do I like it enough is it something that I can wear is there a cool story behind it that was more the deciding factor number nine the food was fantastic in Japan but there were a lot of instances that annoyed us when it came to eating out while in Japan now now the annoying moments all came outside of Tokyo to be fair Tokyo was a 10 out of 10 experience in my opinion I love Tokyo Tokyo is the shining star of Japan for me when it comes to cities that we visited within Tokyo we had some of the best Japanese Italian Indian American food that we have ever had ever it was that good but once we left the cultural Powerhouse of Tokyo that's when our frustrations started to pop up more and more now our frustrations mainly stem from the fact that as a group my girlfriend myself and the third party we like to eat relatively late in the evening we like to explore go hard in the morning in the afternoon and then as we build up our appetite maybe we have a couple snacks here or there as we build up our appetite we like to eat later in the evening and one of the things that kept happening and I'll give the example in takayama is that we just spent all day exploring went to the Old Town went through all the different markets saw really cool building saw cool stuff and we were hungry right and so after we were hungry takiyama is known for this particular type of like beef so we went to the first restaurant that was selling this kind of like beef completely booked out completely completely full okay maybe we we just went to the wrong restaurant at the wrong time same thing at the second one same thing happened at the third one at the fourth one now we weren't looking for beef anymore we're just looking for a restaurant the fifth restaurant was full the six restaurant was full we eventually settled and found a Italian place in takayama and um just had pizza but it was just that kind of like frustrating like boom like over and over and over again like maybe bad luck but at the same time like it was just frustrating trying to find places to eat and this happened in Kyoto as well and maybe it happens in places that are very touristic it just was a very annoying experience after a while it happened several times really happened several times even in one of my favorite cities was kazuwa we had just tra traveled 4 hours from Hiroshima and we got to kazuwa we settled in and you know this night actually I wanted pizza for whatever reason we had eaten Bento boxes and I kind of just wanted some pizza and I went to the pizza spot that was closest to the kazuwa station and I walked in you know gave him a good Kwa and you know was talking about Japanese it it began and ended at Kwa and I asked them can I make an order for pizza to go it's a pizza restaurant and they said that they had sold out of pizza and it was like 8:00 and I was like okay to 7-Eleven I go which is the perfect segue for number 10 one of the best things about Japanese food culture is the convenience store culture and all of the wonders of convenience stores from 7-Eleven to Lawson and Family Mart and we even went to a couple like local grocery stores in Japan which is really cool they were all fantastic let me explain why now before visiting Japan I didn't get why so many people cared about 7-Eleven in Japan because from my point of view as an American as a United States are 7-Eleven isn't all that great it's a place where you know you can get like a quick if you need it if you're down bad beverage a Gatorade a Red Bull or something just something to drink um or like a quick snack if you're on a road trip and there's nothing else within sight because you're traveling across the country I wouldn't recommend going to 7-Eleven as a daily thing for Health right but in Japan this concept of the dingy old raggedy don't want to go to 7-Eleven is flipped on its head completely and I want to say this if you are going to Japan and if you are from the United States and you have this idea about 7-Eleven discard your old mindset about 7-Eleven when you go to Japan 7-Eleven please please please experience 7-Eleven and Lawson and family Mark and convenience store culture in Japan I would say a good 40 % of our dinners because of how frustrated we were with eating outside of Tokyo were from 7-Eleven right and it's because they had such a selection of onigiris and snacks and just different things that you just don't see in the US it was really one of the things that made our experience fun and and unique was the convenience store culture in Japan I don't want to spoil it too much I'm going to be showing more of what I'm talking about in Vlogs and other videos that I created about Japan just don't miss out on convenience store culture in Japan I'll say that side note my favorite convenience store probably was Lawson they had these particular uh Mochi bread pastry filled just so good snacks that it's probably why I put on a couple extra pounds I'm about 185 right now okay that's it's probably because of 7-Eleven in lawon and all the goodies Within These stores let's get a word in for today's sponsor Squarespace are you interested in making your very own website for a brand or creative project Squarespace offers a comprehensive amount of features to help you create the website that you've always wanted if you want to sell your products direct to consumer or if you want to showcase your body of work Squarespace makes it easy to do that and more currently I'm using my Squarespace website as a hub for all of my content and as a way to direct those interested to my podcast and social media if you needed a sign to help nudge you into creating your first website this is your sign visit squarespace.com Drew jooin for 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain hopefully you guys are enjoying the video if you are like the video if you want to stay for more subscribe let's bang out some bonus tips before we conclude first we stayed in the combination of airbnbs and hotels throughout our travel in Japan you can do it in several different ways you can stay in hosts you can stay in hotels you can stay with friends whatever it may be um but we went the Airbnb Hotel route but I do want to warn you from my experience there was one hotel chain it's called APA or Opa that was just absolutely horrible I would not recommend staying there um we stayed in the one in R Goku maybe you've had other experiences with AAS in other parts of Japan but the one we stayed out in Tokyo was horrible they kind of Hoodwinked us into believing that a double room had two beds and they wouldn't give us another bed so we were all sleeping in one bed and the checkout system was horrible so just stay away from APA if you can but even with the problems that APA had I think for every bit of lodging or every lodging that we stayed at one thing that really impressed me there were two things that really impressed me about Japan that I wish I knew about maybe before coming which was the the toilets unbelievable with their toilets maybe I had known that but I just didn't put it together before I left I didn't really care I was focused on so many other things toilets absolutely fantastic not saying I use a bed cuz I don't I I I didn't use the bedet guys sorry I don't really like using public bed um maybe if I had my own I would use it but I don't really use it um so that's just me though but like argue amongst yourselves in the comments and then I absolutely loved the showers in Japan the pressure of the showers were on point every single Hotel every single Airbnb just the the pressure was so nice and um pleasantly surprised so if you are someone who you know if you come to Japan you're worried about those things toilets showers on PO in Japan another really small thing that I'll mention is that while we were traveling within Japan on Wednesdays a lot of things are closed so if you make plans to do things on Wednesdays in Japan some parts of the country the tourist departs Kyoto takayama we went to some markets that were just absolutely closed on Wednesday and we shouldn't have planned to be in the cities that we were in um because we just totally missed out on an experience that we could not get back because we weren't w't staying in the city for that long so that's something to make sure you know also for shopping and with stores some stores open at like 12 and close at like 5: so there's only like a 5H hour window to actually experience and shop at the store something that you need to make sure you keep note of if you're traveling if you want to visit a specific store like for example I was in coima which is this is a bit of a easteregg to future videos I was in Kojima which is Jean Street which is the birthplace of Japanese denim and we arrived at probably two 2:00 and most of the stores closed at 6 and while 4 hours seems like a lot of time to do shopping for me wasn't really as much because I had to do I was making a video and I only got to visit a couple stores and you know by the time I was at my like third store within coima everything was closed which I'll explain more about that in in in the coima birthplace of denim video the last thing I'll say about Japan is this Japan was undeniably one of the most incredible if not the most incredible arguably the most incredible place that I've ever visited on planet Earth from the beaches of Mima to the Onsen of hakone and the glittering lights of shabuya and Shinjuku there was just so much to like and take in and I'm still processing honestly the culture and everything that I experienced in Japan and I plan to go back many many times over because the culture and the people really made an impression on me that was something that I want to experience again and maybe share with more people or just experience it in a different way right if you have any additional questions about Japan leave them down in the comments if you're someone who's been to Japan and can answer these questions and has even more information about transit or Transportation or shopping or just any tips if you're local Japanese anything that you can impart on the community to help make their experience while in Japan better do that I would appreciate it the community would appreciate it as always I'm spreading peace love and positivity in 2024 so that means I'm spreading peace love and positivity to you and more wherever you are in the world have a wonderful rest of your day ABI onto peace yo what is good p v here the fist bom for the one time popop thank you so much for staying to the end of the video you know we have to hit it with the two time fist bump get your fist ready if you didn't do the first fist bump this one's for you okay here's the second fist bump come on give me some love bro or sis B thank you so much for staying to the end of the video it means more than you could ever know let's talk pvv what else do you want to know about Japan pvv my next video is going to be me talking about my experience as a person of color as a black man in Japan which I think will offer some interesting insights for other people who aren't you know Anglo tourists or european tourists or American Tourist coming to Japan so I think that that perspective will be valued and will be interesting for the internet um also it'll have a a bit of fashion flare to it as well so just anything else you want to know about Japan leave it down in the comments # pvv when you comment so I'll see it I'll see you guys in the next week's video anything else you want to talk to me about let me know down in the comments hasht pvv I'll see you guys soon okay peace

2024-06-16 17:48

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