暖簾 Noren · 図鑑 No.004

暖簾 noren

no-ren

A split fabric curtain hung in a shop's doorway, usually meaning "we're open."

noren illustration

What it is

A noren is a short, rectangular curtain, usually cotton or linen, hung across the entrance of a shop or restaurant. It's slit from the bottom up into panels, so you can part it with one hand and walk through without opening anything. Most carry the shop's name, a family crest or a single bold character, printed big enough to read from across the street.

You'll meet them at ramen counters, soba shops, izakaya, old sweet shops and public baths. At a sento (public bathhouse) or onsen, noren also mark the changing rooms: blue is usually men, red or pink usually women, and the bathhouse itself often hangs a big curtain with the hiragana ゆ or the kanji 湯 — both mean hot water. Inside homes you'll sometimes see a noren hung at the kitchen doorway to keep cooking smoke out of the living space.

The working rule: the noren goes out when the shop opens and comes in at closing. "Lowering the noren" is everyday Japanese for shutting up for the day.

Why it matters

Noren started as something practical, a way to keep sun, dust and wind off goods and customers while leaving the doorway easy to pass through. Some accounts put their history at around a thousand years, though the early details are hazy. Over time, shopkeepers began printing their names and emblems on them, and the curtain became a signboard.

Then it became something bigger: a stand-in for the shop's reputation. In Japanese business language you can still "damage the noren" (harm a company's good name), and "dividing the noren" (noren-wake) means a master letting a trusted apprentice open a branch under the same name. For an old restaurant, the noren is the brand, the history and the promise, all in one piece of cloth.

Where to see it

  • Any older shopping street or covered arcade, especially around lunchtime when shops hang their curtains
  • Sento and onsen entrances, with blue and red curtains for each side
  • Long-running soba, udon and sweets shops, where the curtain may be faded from decades of sun

Manners

  • Part the noren with your hand and step through; don't duck under it or push it aside with your head
  • No noren outside usually means not open yet (or already closed). Wait, or come back later
  • At a bath, double-check the color and the kanji: 男 is men, 女 is women
  • Don't tug on or lean against the curtain for a photo; it's the shop's face

psst,

If you see staff carrying the noren inside, last orders have probably passed. Don't try to slip in.

Related

寛ぎ Kutsurogi · 図鑑 No.005

玄関 genkan

gen-kan

The entryway where outside shoes stop and the raised floor begins.

genkan illustration

What it is

The genkan is the entrance space of a Japanese building, and it's built around one simple idea: there's a low floor for the outside world and a raised floor for the inside. You step into the genkan in your shoes, take them off on the lower level, and step up onto the wooden floor or tatami in socks or slippers.

In a home, a ryokan, a temple or an old restaurant, the step up is the line. Sometimes it's a few centimeters, sometimes a full knee-height. There's usually a shoe cupboard (getabako) nearby and, at an inn or restaurant, a row of slippers waiting for you, toes pointing inward.

Older and grander buildings may also have a shikidai: a broad, low wooden step in front of the raised floor. It's a formal landing, originally where guests stepped from a palanquin into the house.

Why it matters

The word comes from Zen temple architecture. An early layout of this kind of entrance appears on a 14th-century plan of Kenchō-ji in Kamakura, and by the 16th century "genkan" meant the formal guest entrance to a temple's abbot's quarters.

In the early Edo period, the samurai class adopted it, and a grand genkan with a shikidai became a status symbol. For a time, commoners weren't allowed one at all; by the 1700s, wealthy merchants, village headmen, doctors and inns had won the right. The everyday genkan of modern homes is generally traced back to the simpler entrances of lower-ranking samurai: just an earth floor for taking off shoes and a step up. A formal privilege became the most ordinary threshold in the country.

Where to see it

  • Ryokan (traditional inns), where the genkan is often the first impression and staff may greet you there
  • Temple halls you can enter, with shoe racks or plastic bags for your shoes
  • Older restaurants with tatami rooms, and izakaya with raised seating areas
  • Historic samurai and merchant houses open to the public

Manners

  • Shoes come off before you step up. Never put a shod foot on the raised floor
  • Step out of your shoes facing in, then turn them so the toes point to the door (or let staff do it at a ryokan)
  • Toilet slippers stay in the toilet. Don't walk them back into the room
  • Socks are a good idea; bare feet in temples and restaurants feel a bit too casual

psst,

Wear shoes you can slip off without sitting down. You'll take them off more times in one day than you think.

Related

寛ぎ Kutsurogi · 図鑑 No.006

縁側 engawa

en-ga-wa

A wooden veranda strip between a room and the garden.

engawa illustration

What it is

The engawa is the long, narrow wooden floor that runs along the edge of a traditional Japanese building, between the rooms and the outdoors. Slide open the screens of a tatami room and the engawa is what's beyond them: polished boards, a roof overhang above, and the garden right there.

There are a few kinds. In current usage, en (縁) tends to mean a veranda open to the air, while engawa often describes a corridor-like strip inside the building's outer doors, with sliding panels you can open to the garden. A nure-en, literally a "wet veranda," sits fully outside under the eaves and takes the weather. Some old buildings have verandas that wrap around all four sides; some use slatted boards with gaps so rain drains through and the wood dries faster.

It's not quite indoors and not quite outside. That in-between quality is the point.

Why it matters

The engawa is where a Japanese house stops being a box and opens up. In summer, with the panels slid back, rooms, veranda and garden become one continuous space for air and light. It's a buffer, too: the deep eaves and the strip of floor keep sun and rain off the rooms behind it.

At temples, it's how you're meant to see the garden. Zen dry gardens, in particular, are designed to be viewed from a seated position, from the abbot's quarters. Kneeling or sitting on the engawa, at the height the designers intended, the garden snaps into composition in a way it doesn't when you're standing.

Where to see it

  • Zen temples in Kyoto with dry gardens, such as Ryōan-ji, where the garden lies south of the hōjō (abbot's quarters) and is viewed from the building
  • Ryokan with garden-facing rooms; ask whether your room has an engawa or a hiro-en (wide veranda)
  • Preserved farmhouses and old residences open to the public

Manners

  • Shoes off. The engawa counts as indoors, even when it feels like a porch
  • At temples, sit quietly along the edge and leave room for others to pass behind you
  • Don't step down into the garden unless there are stepping stones and clogs set out for that purpose
  • Keep bags and drinks off the boards. Many are centuries old and kept polished by hand

psst,

Sit, don't stand. Five minutes at eye level with the garden tells you more than twenty minutes of walking past it.

Related

寛ぎ Kutsurogi · 図鑑 No.007

障子 shōji

shō-ji (long "o")

A sliding wooden lattice screen covered with translucent paper.

shōji illustration

What it is

Shōji are the sliding panels you see in tatami rooms: a light wooden lattice with thin washi (Japanese paper) on one side. They divide spaces and close off rooms, but they don't block light. Daylight passes through as a soft, even glow, with no glare and no hard shadows.

That's the job. Glass lets you see out; shōji let light in while keeping the room private and calm. Many have a solid wooden panel along the bottom, which protects the paper at the height where feet and luggage tend to hit it.

Don't confuse them with fusuma, the opaque sliding doors (often painted or covered in patterned paper) used between rooms and on closets. Rule of thumb: if light comes through, it's shōji.

Why it matters

The word is old, and its meaning has narrowed. In the Heian period, "shōji" covered almost any partition: opaque panels, wooden doors, even free-standing screens. The translucent version had its own name, akari-shōji ("light shōji"). From around the late 12th to early 13th century, these were removable frames covered with thin silk or paper. As washi got better, paper became the standard, and over time the light-letting screen claimed the name for itself.

Shōji are one reason Japanese interiors feel the way they do. Rooms built around them are about controlling light rather than letting it flood in, and the paper turns harsh sun into something closer to lantern light.

Where to see it

  • Ryokan rooms, often along the window side or between the room and the engawa
  • Temple halls and abbots' quarters open to visitors
  • Older restaurants with private tatami rooms
  • Historic houses and villas open to the public

Manners

  • Slide them gently, using the small recessed grip. Don't push on the paper
  • Never poke the paper, even if it looks like it would be satisfying. Repairs mean re-papering
  • Keep luggage and elbows away from the lower panels

psst,

Wake up early in a ryokan with the shōji closed. The light at dawn through the paper is half the reason to stay there.

Related

散歩 Sanpo · 図鑑 No.008

関守石 sekimori-ishi

se-ki-mo-ri-i-shi

A small rope-tied stone on a garden path that means "not this way."

sekimori-ishi illustration

What it is

You're walking a stepping-stone path in a Japanese garden and there it is: a stone about the size of a fist, sitting on top of one of the stepping stones and tied crosswise with dark rope, like a tiny wrapped parcel. That's a sekimori-ishi, literally a "barrier-keeper stone." It's also called tome-ishi, a "stopping stone."

Its message is simple: don't go this way. The path continues, but you're not invited to follow it. The rope, usually dyed palm-hemp or bracken fiber, is what tells you the stone was placed on purpose and isn't just lying there.

No sign, no rope barrier, no guard. Just one stone that everyone understands.

Why it matters

Sekimori-ishi belong to the world of the roji, the garden path that leads to a tea house. A host would use them to guide guests along the right route on the day of a gathering, quietly closing off other paths without spoiling the garden with signs.

That's what makes them such a neat piece of Japan: a rule enforced entirely by shared understanding. The stone doesn't physically stop anyone. It works because the person walking the path is trusted to read it and to respect it. If you know the code, the garden talks to you.

Where to see it

  • Tea gardens (roji) at Kyoto temples and sub-temples that have tea houses
  • Japanese gardens at temples, villas and historic houses, often where a side path branches off a main one
  • Some traditional ryokan and restaurants with gardens

Manners

  • Treat it as a closed door. Turn back and take the other path
  • Don't move it, step over it or pick it up for a photo
  • Photograph it where it sits; it makes a great detail shot
  • If you're unsure which path is open, ask staff rather than guessing

psst,

Once you've spotted one, you'll start seeing them everywhere: at tea houses, in temple gardens, even in the occasional restaurant courtyard. Most visitors walk right past them.

Related

拘り Kodawari · 図鑑 No.009

間 ma

ma

The meaningful gap: space or pause that gives shape to everything around it.

ma illustration

What it is

Ma is the Japanese sense that empty space and silence aren't nothing. They're part of the design. The gap between two objects, the pause between two notes, the beat before someone answers a question: ma is what you call that interval, and the idea is that it carries as much weight as what fills it.

The kanji 間 is a gate (門) with a sun (日) inside it. A common reading of the character is light coming through an open doorway.

In practice, you feel it more than see it. A tatami room with almost nothing in it. A single scroll in the alcove with bare wall around it. A dry garden where the raked gravel takes up more space than the rocks. A conversation where nobody rushes to fill the silence.

Why it matters

Ma explains a lot of things that can feel puzzling at first. Why a room is left nearly empty. Why a garden is mostly gravel. Why a bow has a pause at the bottom before you straighten up. Why a host doesn't rush to talk over a quiet moment.

It also runs through the arts. In traditional music and theater, the silences are part of the rhythm. In architecture, the tokonoma alcove sets one object apart against open space, so you actually look at it. Western design talk calls some of this "negative space," but ma is broader: it covers time and social distance as well as physical space.

For a traveler, understanding ma turns "there's nothing here" into "oh, that's the point."

Where to see it

  • The tokonoma (alcove) in a ryokan room: one scroll, maybe one flower, and a lot of air
  • Zen dry gardens such as Ryōan-ji in Kyoto, where empty gravel frames the stones
  • A tea ceremony, where pauses and silences are part of the choreography
  • Traditional theater and music performances, in the pauses between sounds

Manners

  • Don't rush to fill silences, especially with hosts or older people. A pause is not awkward here
  • In a ryokan, keep your luggage out of the tokonoma. It's a display space, not a shelf
  • In temple gardens, keep your voice down. The quiet is part of what you came for

psst,

When a Japanese friend pauses before answering, wait. They're not stuck. That's ma, and filling it for them is the rude move.

Related

拘り Kodawari · 図鑑 No.010

侘び寂び wabi-sabi

wa-bi sa-bi

Beauty found in things that are simple, humble, imperfect and aged.

wabi-sabi illustration

What it is

Wabi-sabi is a way of seeing beauty in things that are plain, worn and not quite perfect: a hand-shaped tea bowl with an uneven rim, a wooden post darkened by centuries of hands, moss creeping over a stone lantern.

It's two ideas joined together. Wabi is a quiet richness in simple, unadorned things, the feeling that less can be enough. Sabi is the beauty of things marked by time, weathered and patinaed, showing their age instead of hiding it.

Together they push against polish and display. A wabi-sabi object doesn't shout. It rewards a second look.

Why it matters

The ideas grew out of the tea ceremony. In the Muromachi period, tea gatherings among the elite were showcases for expensive imported Chinese wares. The tea master Murata Shukō, who served the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, pushed back with a quieter, more spiritual style of tea (later called wabi-cha) built on simpler, local utensils.

In the 16th century, Sen no Rikyū (1522–91) carried this further: tiny, bare tea rooms, a low crawl-through entrance, and plain bowls. His approach shaped the tea schools that still exist today, and with them the Japanese taste for the rustic and the imperfect, which runs through ceramics, gardens and interiors to this day.

Where to see it

  • A tea ceremony experience, where the bowls, the room and the pace all carry the idea
  • Ceramics shops and museums: look for raku and Hagi ware, with their irregular shapes and soft, earthy glazes
  • Moss gardens and old temple buildings, where age is left visible
  • Kintsugi-repaired pieces, which turn damage into decoration

Manners

  • At a tea ceremony, hold the bowl with both hands and admire it before and after drinking. Complimenting the bowl is part of the ritual
  • In shops, ask before handling ceramics. Many are one-of-a-kind and expensive
  • Don't call a handmade piece "flawed." To its maker, the irregularity is the point

psst,

The cheapest, best wabi-sabi souvenir is a rough-edged handmade cup from a local kiln shop. Use it every day for a year and it becomes yours.

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散歩 Sanpo · 図鑑 No.011

枯山水 karesansui

ka-re-san-sui

A dry garden of rock and raked gravel standing in for mountains and water.

karesansui illustration

What it is

Karesansui means "dry landscape": a garden that shows mountains, rivers and seas without a single drop of water. Stones become mountains and islands. White gravel or sand becomes water, raked into ripples, waves or a flowing stream. Plants are kept to a minimum, sometimes just moss.

Some gardens even include a dry waterfall (karetaki), an arrangement of rocks that suggests falling water. Others tell a story across a sequence of spaces, with a gravel stream that widens into a river and finally an ocean.

The style expresses nature in abstract form. It's less a picture of a specific place than an invitation to fill in the rest yourself. These gardens are meant to be viewed from a seated position, usually from the veranda of a temple building, not walked through.

Why it matters

The term goes back to the 11th-century garden manual Sakuteiki, but karesansui as most people picture it took shape in the Muromachi period and continued through the Edo period. Its look owes a lot to Chinese ink landscape painting, and its rocks often evoke legendary mountains such as Penglai (Hōrai in Japanese), the island of the immortals.

That mix of landscape painting and spiritual imagery made the dry garden a natural fit for Zen temples, where it became the standard garden of the abbot's quarters (hōjō). In the 20th century, karesansui found a second life, at home and abroad, partly because its stripped-down forms look so close to modern abstract art.

Where to see it

  • Ryōan-ji, Kyoto: the best-known example. Fifteen rocks in five groups on white gravel, south of the hōjō; the temple dates to 1450, though nobody knows exactly when the garden was made. From whatever angle you view it, you can never see all fifteen stones at once. Part of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto" World Heritage Site.
  • Daisen-in (a sub-temple of Daitoku-ji), Kyoto: a tiny, dense garden from the early 16th century, where rock and white sand show water springing up deep in the mountains and running down as a river, until it empties into a flat expanse of white gravel.
  • Many other Zen temple sub-temples in Kyoto; check each one's photo rules at the gate

Manners

  • Never step onto the gravel or touch the rocks. The raked patterns are redone by hand
  • Sit on the veranda and give it time. These gardens are built to be looked at slowly
  • Keep your voice down; others are there for the quiet
  • Respect photo bans where posted, and don't use flash or tripods in crowded halls

psst,

Go at opening time. Ryōan-ji first thing in the morning and Ryōan-ji at noon feel like two different gardens.

Related

拘り Kodawari · 図鑑 No.012

金継ぎ kintsugi

kin-tsu-gi

Mending broken ceramics with lacquer and gold, so the cracks shine.

kintsugi illustration

What it is

Kintsugi is the craft of repairing broken pottery with urushi, the natural lacquer made from the sap of the lacquer tree, and finishing the joins with gold. Instead of hiding the damage, it outlines it. A cracked bowl comes back with a bright, irregular line running through it, exactly where it broke.

The basic idea is simple. The pieces are glued back together with lacquer, and gold powder is applied over the seams, where it bonds to the lacquer and leaves a line of gold. In practice, it's slow, careful work in layers. Urushi needs the right temperature and humidity to cure, and a traditional repair can take up to two months.

You'll also see "simple" or quick kintsugi using modern materials. These are popular in workshops for beginners and get you a finished piece in an afternoon, but they're a different thing from the traditional lacquer process.

Why it matters

Lacquer has been used to fix pottery in Japan since prehistoric times, but kintsugi as a decorative craft is believed to have begun in the Muromachi period and been refined in the Edo period. Its rise is tied to the tea ceremony, where prized tea bowls were too valuable to throw away, and a well-made repair came to be admired for its own beauty.

There's a well-known story, best taken as legend, that the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa sent a damaged Chinese tea bowl back to China to be fixed, got it back held together with ugly metal staples, and that this pushed Japanese craftsmen to find a more beautiful way.

Today kintsugi is often read as a philosophy: breakage and repair are part of an object's history, not something to hide.

Where to see it

  • Lacquerware and ceramics museums, and special exhibitions of tea utensils
  • Kintsugi workshops in Kyoto, Tokyo and other cities; ask whether they use real urushi or a quick method
  • Antique and tea-utensil shops, where old repaired pieces are often valued

Manners

  • Ask before picking up a repaired piece in a shop. Old ones can be fragile and pricey
  • In a workshop, follow the instructor's handling instructions for the lacquer exactly
  • Don't expect to take a traditional repair home the same day. The lacquer needs time to cure

psst,

If you want to fix your own broken cup, ask a local lacquer studio about a repair service instead of a one-day class. It's slower, but you get the real thing.

Related

暖簾 Noren · 図鑑 No.013

もったいない mottainai

mot-tai-nai

"What a waste" — regret at letting something valuable go unused.

mottainai illustration

What it is

Mottainai is what you say when something useful is wasted: food left on the plate, a perfectly good umbrella thrown out, an afternoon frittered away. It works as an exclamation ("Mottainai!") and as a description ("that's mottainai").

"What a waste" is the usual translation, but the feeling runs deeper. It's not just about money. It's a sense that the thing itself deserves better, along with the people and effort that went into it. That's why it comes up most often at the table. A child leaving grains of rice in the bowl is the classic mottainai moment.

You'll see the idea in action all over Japan: chipped bowls mended rather than replaced, and the habit of finishing every grain of rice.

Why it matters

The word is commonly explained as coming from mottai, a Buddhist term for a thing's proper dignity or importance, plus nai, "without." To waste something is to treat it as if it had no value. Its exact origins and interpretations vary, and the history is debated.

The word went global in 2005. Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, heard it during a visit to Japan in February that year and was struck by it. During that visit, Prime Minister Koizumi explained it in terms of the rice-bowl lesson: finish your rice, out of respect for those who made it. Maathai took up mottainai as a single word that covered reduce, reuse and recycle, and added a fourth R: respect. Japan's Mainichi Newspapers launched a MOTTAINAI campaign the same year, and Maathai promoted it internationally.

Where to see it

  • At any meal: notice how clean people leave their rice bowls
  • Repair culture in general: mended tools, re-covered shōji, reused wrapping
  • Kintsugi-repaired ceramics, mottainai turned into an art form

Manners

  • Order what you'll eat, and try to finish your rice. Leaving lots of food is noticed
  • Follow local trash-sorting rules; they're strict and taken seriously
  • Turning down disposable chopsticks, bags or spoons you don't need is always fine

psst,

Say "mottainai" when a friend is about to toss leftovers and watch them smile. It's one word that instantly makes you sound like you get it.

Related

the field guide

ZUKAN 図鑑

Five ways into Japan. Pick a door, then sort by what you want: a word explained, a place to go, a story, news, or a voice.

暖簾Norenfood & drink散歩Sanpostreets & nature寛ぎKutsurogistays & baths遊び心Asobigokoropop & play拘りKodawaricraft & design
food & drink

暖簾 Noren

Counters, markets, kissaten, standing bars — and how to walk in like you belong.

図鑑 zukan暖簾 norenA split fabric curtain hung in a shop's doorway, usually meaning "we're open."
図鑑 zukanもったいない mottainai"What a waste" — regret at letting something valuable go unused.
streets & nature

散歩 Sanpo

Alleys, shopping streets, shrines, gardens. The long way round.

図鑑 zukan関守石 sekimori-ishiA small rope-tied stone on a garden path that means "not this way."
図鑑 zukan枯山水 karesansuiA dry garden of rock and raked gravel standing in for mountains and water.
stays & baths

寛ぎ Kutsurogi

Ryokan, onsen, sento, old houses. The art of doing nothing.

図鑑 zukan玄関 genkanThe entryway where outside shoes stop and the raised floor begins.
図鑑 zukan縁側 engawaA wooden veranda strip between a room and the garden.
図鑑 zukan障子 shōjiA sliding wooden lattice screen covered with translucent paper.
pop & play

遊び心 Asobigokoro

Arcades, karaoke, the stage, the ring. The loud side.

craft & design

拘り Kodawari

Makers, tools, ways of doing things. The things that last.

図鑑 zukan間 maThe meaningful gap: space or pause that gives shape to everything around it.
図鑑 zukan侘び寂び wabi-sabiBeauty found in things that are simple, humble, imperfect and aged.
図鑑 zukan金継ぎ kintsugiMending broken ceramics with lacquer and gold, so the cracks shine.
coming soon

Not written yet.

This card is a layout sample. The article will be published after it’s researched.

← back to ZUKAN

Past the guidebook, into the real Japan — told straight, with respect.

psst, JAPAN is like having a friend in Japan who quietly explains things for you. We're locals. You won't see our faces or influencer selfies here — just clear, checked answers to the questions no sign answers: why that curtain hangs in the doorway, what the little stone on the path means, when to take your shoes off and where to put them.

Our logo is a noren, the cloth curtain that hangs in the doorway of a noodle shop or a bathhouse. Look closely and there's a dot peeking through the gap. The dot is you. Stepping through a noren is a small thing, but it marks the moment you stop being outside, looking in.

Vision — Every traveler, through the curtain. We'd like every visitor to Japan to get past the surface at least once: to understand a place well enough to feel at ease in it, and to be welcome there.

What we value

  • Discover. We start with the everyday things you'll walk past a hundred times — a step, a screen, a pattern of gravel — and show you what's behind them.
  • Real. No hype, no guesswork. If a story is a legend, we say it's a legend. If we can't stand behind a claim, it doesn't go on the page.
  • Respect. Japan is not a theme park; people live and work in the places you'll visit. We point you to public places, not quiet residential streets, and we tell you the manners that keep doors open for the next traveler.

The ZUKAN is our field guide: one word, one idea, one thing to look for. Read an entry before you go, and you'll notice it everywhere once you arrive.

psst — the curtain's already open. Come in.

policies & legal
plan · first time

First time in Japan

Ten things worth knowing before you land. None of them are hard. All of them are easier when nobody has to explain them to you at a ticket gate.

1. Sort out entry before you book anything else. Japan has visa exemption arrangements with 74 countries and regions, usually for stays of up to 90 days, though some get 15 or 30. Residents of certain countries can apply for a tourist eVisa online. At the airport, the eVisa notice has to be shown live on a connected device. Screenshots and printouts are refused. Check the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pages for your passport, and use only the official site.

2. Carry cash, but don't live on it. International credit and debit cards work in most city shops, restaurants and taxis. Restaurants are still where cards fail most often, and smaller places may not show logos. Ask before you order. Seven Bank and Japan Post Bank ATMs are the easiest places to get yen. Keep enough cash for a meal and a bus fare at all times.

3. Get an IC card on day one. A rechargeable IC card (Suica, PASMO, ICOCA) handles trains, buses, convenience stores and a growing number of shops with one tap. Visitors can buy Welcome Suica at the Narita and Haneda airport stations, or a visitor ICOCA at Kansai Airport Station. Cards often won't cover short local train or subway fares, so the IC card does that job.

4. Trains run on quiet and queues. Line up along the painted marks on the platform and let people off before you board. Don't take phone calls in the carriage. Step out to the space between cars. On local and commuter trains, don't eat. The shinkansen is the exception: a bento on board is normal. Avoid the rush hours, roughly 7:30–9:00 and 17:30–19:00, if you have bags.

5. Tax-free shopping now works as a refund. From November 1, 2026, you pay the full tax-inclusive price in the shop. Spend ¥5,000 or more (before tax) in one store on one day to qualify. Keep everything in your carry-on, because customs checks your goods at departure. Scan your passport at the airport kiosk within 90 days of purchase. The shop or its refund agent then pays you back.

6. Carry your trash with you. Public bins are rare, and visitors complain about it more than anything else. Most bins are at convenience stores and stations, usually split by type. Keep a small bag in your day pack and take wrappers and bottles back to your hotel. People also avoid eating while walking, which cuts down on trash in the first place.

7. Don't tip. Restaurants, bars, cafes, taxis and hotels don't expect it. A thank-you and a smile do the job. Private guides who work with overseas visitors may accept a tip, but they don't expect one. If you want to give something, put the cash in a small envelope from a convenience or 100-yen store and hand it over discreetly.

8. Watch for the shoe line. Take your shoes off when you enter a home or a temple, and anywhere you see a row of indoor slippers waiting at the step. Some toilets have their own slippers. Swap into those and remember to swap back. Wear shoes you can slip on and off, and socks without holes.

9. Wash first, then soak. At an onsen you go in naked, with no swimwear. Wash your whole body at the seated showers before you get in. The small towel stays out of the water, and so does your hair. Tattoo rules depend on the facility. Some allow small ones or cover seals, and private baths avoid the question. Email ahead if you're unsure.

10. Keep your voice down. Trains, buses and waiting rooms are quiet, and nobody holds speaker calls in public. A low voice and silent phone go a long way. When in doubt, watch what people around you are doing and copy it. You'll rarely get told off, but you'll notice the looks.

Money

Money: cash and cards

32%of card problems visitors reported happened while eating out
46%of those: the card simply wasn’t accepted

Japan Tourism Agency, visitor survey (FY2025).

Bring two cards and some yen. Expect your card to fail at least once, usually at dinner.

What to know

  • International credit, debit and prepaid cards are accepted in most shops, restaurants and taxis in major cities. Rural areas and small businesses are less predictable.
  • Not every place displays card logos. Ask before you order or before staff ring things up.
  • In the Japan Tourism Agency's latest visitor survey, restaurants were the most common place for card trouble, at 32% of those who had problems. The top reason, at 46%, was simply that the card couldn't be used.
  • Cards work for shinkansen and Narita Express tickets, but often not for short train and subway fares. An IC card covers those.
  • Seven Bank and Japan Post Bank ATMs are the easiest places to withdraw yen.
  • Keep your card issuer's emergency number somewhere other than your wallet.
  • Leaving Japan costs ¥3,000 in departure tax, up from ¥1,000 on July 1, 2026. It's normally added to your airfare when you buy the ticket, so you won't pay it at the airport.

psst, a small izakaya with no card stickers by the door is probably cash only. Check your wallet before you sit down, not after the third round.

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Getting around

IC cards: Suica, PASMO, ICOCA

One tap for trains, buses and convenience stores. Get one before you leave the airport.

What to know

  • IC cards are prepaid, rechargeable cards. Suica, PASMO and ICOCA all work on trains and buses across Japan, at convenience stores, and at shops with the IC mark.
  • Welcome Suica (JR East) is the visitor version sold around Tokyo. There's no deposit. It's valid for 28 days from the purchase date, and the "good thru" date printed on the back is not the expiry date. Leftover balance is generally not refunded, and lost cards can't be reissued.
  • Buy Welcome Suica from dedicated machines at the Narita Airport and Haneda Airport Terminal 3 stations, or at JR East Travel Service Centers in stations such as Tokyo, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ueno. Sales are limited to one per person.
  • Top up Welcome Suica with cash only, up to ¥20,000 at a time, at station machines or Seven Bank ATMs. Credit cards can't be used.
  • Visitor ICOCA (JR West) costs ¥2,000, including a ¥500 deposit. Buy it at the ticket office at Kansai Airport Station with a foreign passport and temporary visitor status. One per person.
  • ICOCA is also available on Apple Pay.

psst, top up in small amounts toward the end of your trip. Spend Welcome Suica down to almost nothing on convenience store snacks before your flight, because whatever's left stays on the card.

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Getting around

Japan Rail Pass

PassUntil Sep 30, 2026From Oct 1, 2026
7 days¥50,000¥53,000
14 days¥80,000¥84,000
21 days¥100,000¥105,000

Ordinary car, adult. JNTO.

It's a fixed-price pass for JR trains, including most shinkansen. Since October 1, 2026, it costs more, so do the math first.

What to know

  • The nationwide pass comes in 7, 14 and 21-day versions, in Ordinary or Green (first) class.
  • New prices from October 1, 2026 (adult / child aged 6–11):
  • Ordinary 7 days: ¥53,000 / ¥27,000
  • Ordinary 14 days: ¥84,000 / ¥42,000
  • Ordinary 21 days: ¥105,000 / ¥53,000
  • Green 7 days: ¥74,000 / ¥37,000
  • Green 14 days: ¥116,000 / ¥58,000
  • Green 21 days: ¥147,000 / ¥74,000
  • The 7-day Ordinary pass went up ¥3,000, from ¥50,000.
  • The pass only makes sense if you're covering long distances. Price the individual tickets on your actual route before you buy.
  • Big suitcases on the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu shinkansen: up to 160 cm total (length + width + height) needs no booking. Between 161 and 250 cm, reserve a seat with an oversized baggage area. It costs nothing extra, but turning up without a reservation costs ¥1,000. Anything over 250 cm isn't allowed on board.

psst, the pass doesn't cover your luggage space. Book the oversized-baggage seat when you reserve your shinkansen seat, or ship your suitcase ahead and travel light.

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Entry & exit

Tax-free shopping

Pay the full price, tax included. ¥5,000+ (before tax) per store, per day.
Keep every item and receipt in your carry-on. Not in checked bags.
At the airport, scan your passport at the tax-free kiosk — before you fly, within 90 days.
Green: done. Red: show customs the goods. The refund comes from the shop or its partner.

From November 1, 2026, tax-free means you pay tax at the till and get it back when you leave.

What to know

  • Shops now charge visitors the full, tax-inclusive price. The consumption tax is refunded after a customs check at departure.
  • To qualify, spend ¥5,000 or more (before tax) in a single store on a single day.
  • The goods have to leave Japan with you. Gold and platinum bullion don't qualify, and neither does anything that's already tax-exempt.
  • The special sealed bags for food and cosmetics are gone. If you eat, drink or use any of them in Japan, that item no longer qualifies. Don't do the kiosk procedure for it. Tell a customs officer at the counter instead.
  • At the airport or seaport, scan your passport at a tax-free kiosk within 90 days of purchase. Green means you're done. Red means you take your goods to the customs inspection area.
  • Checks are done per receipt. If even one item from a receipt is missing, nothing on that receipt is refunded.
  • Everything must be with you at the kiosk, so it can't go in checked luggage. Bags that are already checked can't be retrieved.
  • At Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha, you can also use Visit Japan Web in designated areas.
  • Finish before boarding. If you miss your flight, nobody compensates you.
  • The refund is paid by the shop or its refund agent. Ask how when you buy.

psst, keep the receipts in one envelope and the goods in one bag. Do the kiosk before you check in, while you can still repack.

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Everyday rules

Trash

17.2%named “not enough trash bins” — the top complaint

Japan Tourism Agency, visitor survey (FY2025).

There are almost no public bins. Plan to carry your trash for a while.

What to know

  • Not enough bins is the top complaint in the Japan Tourism Agency's latest visitor survey, mentioned by 17.2% of respondents. The survey asked 4,110 departing visitors at five major airports, and bins came first again, just as they did in the previous survey.
  • Clean streets and few bins aren't a contradiction. People take their trash home.
  • Bins are mainly found at convenience stores and train stations. There are only a few on the street.
  • Eating while walking is considered impolite in most public places. Eat where you bought it, or sit down, and you won't be stuck holding the wrapper.
  • No eating on local and commuter trains also means no wrappers to get rid of. On the shinkansen, where a bento is normal, plan to carry the empty box off with you.
  • Carry a small foldable bag for the day's wrappers, cans and bottles, and empty it at your hotel.

psst, buy your drink and onigiri at a convenience store and finish them there. That way the bin is right next to you and you don't have to carry anything.

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Money

Tipping

Don't. Saying thank you is enough.

What to know

  • Tipping isn't customary at restaurants, bars, cafes, taxis or hotels.
  • That covers the porter who carries your bags, the taxi driver who lifts your suitcase and the bartender who remembers your order. Pay what's on the bill or the meter and nothing more.
  • Say "arigatou gozaimasu" and smile. A small bow with it is how people say thanks here. The deeper the bow, the more respect it shows.
  • Japan has its own custom of kokorozuke, a gift of thanks "from the heart". It's occasional and personal, not a fee for service.
  • Private guides and interpreters who work with overseas visitors may accept a tip, but even then it isn't expected. Treat it as a personal thank-you, not a percentage.
  • If you do give money, put it in an envelope and hand it over discreetly. Small envelopes are sold at convenience stores, stationery shops and 100-yen stores.

psst, if a guide made your trip, a small gift from your home country often lands better than cash. Hand it over quietly at the end of the day, not in front of the group, and keep it small enough that it doesn't feel like a debt.

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Food

Eating vegetarian or halal in Japan

It's doable, but plain-looking food often isn't what it seems. Ask about the stock and the sauces every time.

What to know

  • Dashi, the stock behind miso soup, noodle broths and many sauces, often contains bonito (fish). "No meat" doesn't always mean no fish, so say chicken, pork and fish explicitly.
  • Natto usually comes with a sauce packet made from dashi.
  • Be specific about what you can't eat, and carry a printed card in Japanese. Tell restaurants when you book, especially for set menus.
  • Shojin ryori, Buddhist temple cuisine, is traditionally plant-based and found mostly at temples and temple lodgings. Dairy can appear, so ask.
  • Directories: HappyCow, Vegewel, Japan VegeMap.
  • Halal: Cooking sake and mirin are used in many dishes, and some miso contains alcohol unless it's additive-free (mutenka). Gelatin and animal fats turn up in breads and sweets.
  • Japan has no central halal certification body, and halal-friendly restaurants may not have separate kitchens. Ask how they prepare the food.
  • Prayer rooms and mosques are mostly in larger cities, along with a growing number at major airports and tourist sites.
  • JNTO publishes a vegetarian guide and a Muslim travelers guide, including the Japan Welcome Guide for Muslim Travelers. Halal Gourmet Japan lists restaurants.

psst, the convenience store shelf is not a safe bet. Read the label, or get staff to read it for you.

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Seasons & holidays

Holidays and closures

Three periods change everything: New Year, Golden Week and Obon. Book early and check opening days.

What to know

  • New Year (late December to early January): Many businesses close for several days. Government offices and public facilities such as city halls and libraries typically close from December 29 to January 3.
  • Golden Week (late April to early May): A cluster of national holidays on April 29 and May 3, 4 and 5. Expect crowds and fully booked transport.
  • Obon (mid-August): A family holiday when many people travel to their hometowns. Mountain Day, August 11, falls in this period. There's no single official closure, and businesses set their own dates.
  • During peak periods, some services become reservation-only. Check the operator's website before you go.
  • Normal hours: city shops typically open 10:00–20:00 every day. Rural shops close earlier, sometimes by 18:00. Offices run weekdays 9:00–17:00.
  • Convenience stores, some chain restaurants and some discount stores stay open 24 hours, including national holidays. Over New Year, they're your fallback for meals.
  • Trains generally run from about 5:00 to midnight. Weekday rush hours are roughly 7:30–9:00 and 17:30–19:00, and holiday travel on top of that is worse.
  • January 1 is a national holiday in itself, and the quietest day of the year for business.

psst, if you're traveling over New Year, buy your rail tickets and book your dinners before you land. Assume a place is closed until its own website says it's open.

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Entry & exit

Visas and entry

Many passports get you in without a visa, but the answer depends on yours. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has the final word.

What to know

  • Japan has visa exemption arrangements with a list of countries and regions. If yours isn't on the list, you need a visa before you travel.
  • Visas can't be issued on arrival or while you're in Japan. Apply through the Japanese embassy or consulate that covers where you live, an accredited agency, a visa application center, or online where that mission allows it.
  • Eligible residents of Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, the UK and the US can apply online for a single-entry tourist eVISA.
  • Processing takes about a week when everything is in order. Extra documents can be requested, and that takes longer.
  • A visa doesn't guarantee entry. The immigration officer at the airport decides.
  • Foreign visitors are fingerprinted and photographed at immigration. Children under 16 are among the groups that are exempt.
  • The ministry warns about fake websites, social media accounts and emails that ask visa applicants for money. Use official channels only.
  • Questions about your situation go to MOFA's visa information line: 0570-011000, or +81-3-5369-6577 from overseas. Weekdays, 9:00–17:00, Japan time.

psst, rules change, and only the page for your passport counts. Check it when you book, and again the week before you fly.

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Entry & exit

Customs: what you can bring

Your personal things are fine. Meat, large amounts of cash and anything on the banned list are where people get stopped.

What to know

  • Duty-free allowances per adult: 3 bottles of alcohol (about 760 ml each); 200 cigarettes, or 50 cigars, or 10 packs of heated tobacco; 2 ounces of perfume; and other goods up to ¥200,000 in total overseas market value.
  • Banned outright: narcotics, including cannabis; firearms and ammunition; explosives; counterfeit money, securities and credit cards; obscene material; and goods that infringe intellectual property.
  • Declare cash and similar instruments (foreign currency, cheques, securities) worth more than ¥1 million. Gold bullion and gold products must also be declared.
  • Meat products such as jerky, ham, sausages, bacon and meat buns can't come in without a government inspection certificate from the exporting country. That applies to souvenirs, small amounts, duty-free and vacuum-packed items. Penalties go up to 3 years in prison or a ¥3 million fine.
  • Plants and animal products go to the quarantine counter in the baggage hall before customs.
  • Make your declaration in Visit Japan Web. It creates a code you scan, with your IC passport, at the e-Gates in New Chitose, Narita, Haneda, Chubu Centrair, Kansai, Fukuoka and Naha. Paper forms are available on board.
  • Nothing to declare: green channel. Anything dutiable, restricted or banned: red channel.

psst, the jerky in your bag counts as meat. Finish it before you land or leave it at home.

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Entry & exit

Bringing medicine into Japan

Small personal supplies are usually fine. Bigger amounts and some common drugs need paperwork before you leave home.

What to know

  • Without extra paperwork, a traveler can bring up to a 1-month supply of prescription medicine and up to a 2-month supply of other medicines.
  • Medicines for external use are limited to 24 per item. Injectables are limited to a 1-month supply, and only as pre-filled syringes or self-injection kits. Disposable contact lenses: up to 2 months.
  • More than that needs an Import Confirmation, often called yakkan shoumei. Get it before you leave home and show it at customs. Some applications can be made online through the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW).
  • Narcotics and stimulant raw materials are strictly controlled. Some can only be brought in with government permission obtained in advance, and some can't be brought in at all. Psychotropic medicines have their own application process.
  • Carry your prescription or a letter from your doctor explaining what the medicine is, why you take it and the dose.
  • This page can't tell you whether your specific medicine is allowed. Ask MHLW before you travel: arriving at Narita or Haneda, email yakkan@mhlw.go.jp; arriving at Kansai, Chubu Centrair, Fukuoka or Naha, email kiyakuji@mhlw.go.jp.

psst, sort this out weeks ahead, not the night before. Nobody at the arrivals hall can issue the paperwork for you.

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Entry & exit

Departure tax

¥1,000until June 30, 2026
¥3,000from July 1, 2026 — usually in your ticket

Leaving Japan costs ¥3,000. You've almost certainly paid it already.

What to know

  • The International Tourist Tax is a flat charge on travelers departing Japan. It went up from ¥1,000 to ¥3,000 on July 1, 2026.
  • It's charged once per departure. It isn't a nightly charge, and it's separate from the accommodation taxes some cities add to hotel bills.
  • In the vast majority of cases, the airline or ferry line adds it to your ticket when you buy it, so there's nothing to pay at the airport.
  • It's also separate from tax-free shopping. The consumption tax refund on your purchases works on its own system.
  • Exemptions and special cases are set by Japan's National Tax Agency. If you think one applies to you, check there rather than with the airline desk at departure.

psst, look for it in the tax breakdown on your booking receipt. If it's listed, you're done.

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Safety & health

Emergency numbers

CallFor
110Police — crime, accidents, theft
119Fire and ambulance

110 for police. 119 for fire or an ambulance. One more number for everything in between.

What to know

  • 110: police.
  • 119: fire and ambulance. The call is free, and so is the ambulance. Hospital treatment is not.
  • Some phones brought from overseas may not connect to Japanese emergency lines. If yours won't, use a public phone or ask someone nearby to call.
  • Some fire departments connect a three-way call with an interpreter in English, Chinese, Korean and other languages. It can take several tens of seconds to connect, so stay on the line. It isn't available everywhere.
  • Japan Visitor Hotline: 050-3816-2787, or +81-50-3816-2787 from overseas. Run by the Japan National Tourism Organization, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in English, Chinese and Korean. Call it for accidents, illness, natural disasters or general travel help.
  • Police general information (English available): 03-3503-8484.
  • Police lost and found: 0570-550-142.
  • In Tokyo, the fire department's #7119 line helps you decide whether you need a hospital or an ambulance.

psst, save the hotline number in your phone before you land, under a name you'll find in a hurry, such as "Japan help".

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Safety & health

Earthquakes, typhoons and alerts

Japan is well prepared for natural disasters. Make sure your phone is too.

What to know

  • Safety tips is a free app for visitors, overseen by the Japan Tourism Agency. It sends push alerts for emergency earthquake warnings, tsunami warnings, special weather warnings and volcanic eruptions, plus evacuation and heatstroke information.
  • It works in 14 languages, on iPhone and Android.
  • It also has flowcharts for what to do next and communication cards for asking people nearby for help.
  • The Japan Meteorological Agency publishes disaster-prevention weather information and typhoon information on its website in 14 languages.
  • For English news during an emergency, follow NHK World-Japan and JNTO's Japan Safe Travel account on X (@JapanSafeTravel).
  • The Japan Visitor Hotline (050-3816-2787) takes calls about natural disasters 24 hours a day.
  • The Japan Tourism Agency publishes a printable safety information card. Carry it with your passport.

psst, install Safety tips at home, then open it once and allow notifications. An alert that's switched off won't wake you up.

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Safety & health

Seeing a doctor

Medical care is good and easy to reach. The language and the bill are the parts to prepare for.

What to know

  • JNTO's "Guide for when you are feeling ill" lets you search for medical institutions that accept foreign visitors. It also explains how a visit works and which department matches your symptoms. It's in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese.
  • The Japan Tourism Agency publishes a guidebook on visiting a doctor, with a pointing sheet for describing symptoms when words fail.
  • Treatment can be expensive, and some clinics don't take credit cards. Ask how to pay before you're seen, or carry enough cash.
  • Since 2021, foreign visitors with unpaid medical bills in Japan can be restricted or refused entry on a later trip.
  • AMDA International Medical Information Center offers advice and help with interpretation.
  • The Japan Visitor Hotline (050-3816-2787) can help with illness 24 hours a day.
  • Which facility you need depends on the time of day and how serious it is. If it's an emergency, call 119.
  • This page isn't medical advice. If you're unsure, call the hotline or a doctor.

psst, save the pointing sheet as a photo on your phone. "Stomach" plus "since yesterday" covers a lot of ground.

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Safety & health

Travel insurance

Get it. Both the national tourism organization and the Japan Tourism Agency recommend it for every visitor.

What to know

  • JNTO strongly recommends travel insurance for all visitors. Japanese medical care is advanced, but treatment can be expensive.
  • The Japan Tourism Agency recommends private medical insurance with enough coverage for an emergency.
  • Look for cashless service, where the insurer pays the hospital directly. Some clinics don't take cards, and some insurers want you to pay first and claim later.
  • Check how the policy handles pre-existing conditions, which activities it excludes, and whether it covers injury or damage you cause to someone else.
  • Japan's embassies also suggest coverage for hospital referrals and medical interpretation.
  • Perinatal care usually isn't covered by travel insurance.
  • Your credit card may include travel insurance. Ask the card provider what it actually covers.
  • Forgot to buy it? You can still purchase insurance after arriving in Japan.
  • Foreign visitors with unpaid medical bills can be restricted or refused entry on a later trip.

psst, save your insurer's emergency number in your phone and on paper in your wallet. When you need it, your phone may be the thing that's broken.

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Getting around

Airport to city

Every major airport has a train, a bus and a taxi rank. Pick based on your luggage, not just the clock.

What to know

  • Narita: The Narita Express (JR) runs about twice an hour during the day to Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and Yokohama. Tokyo Station takes just under an hour. The Keisei Skyliner reaches Nippori and Ueno in around 40 minutes. It isn't a JR train, so the Japan Rail Pass doesn't cover it.
  • Airport Limousine and Keisei buses leave from each Narita terminal for hotel areas, transport hubs and Tokyo Disney Resort. Taxis offer flat fares to most central destinations.
  • Haneda: Two rail lines serve the airport, the Keikyu Line and the Tokyo Monorail. Buses run to the city center and the suburbs, and some areas have fixed-rate taxis.
  • Kansai: The airport is about 50 km from central Osaka, with rail, road and high-speed ferry links. The airport's KIX ACCESSMOOTHIE planner compares train, ferry, bus and taxi routes. Buy tickets at the Kansai Tourist Information Center in the airport.
  • Get your IC card before you leave the airport. See "IC cards" in part 1.

psst, with two big suitcases, a bus to your hotel's door often beats a fast train plus two transfers and the stairs in between.

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Getting around

Buses

City buses go where trains don't. Highway buses are the budget way between cities.

What to know

  • City buses: In most cities you board at the front and pay a flat fare. IC cards such as Suica work on many buses.
  • Distance-based buses, common outside the big cities: board through the center door and take a numbered ticket. Before you get off, match your number to the fare on the screen at the front, put the exact fare in the box by the driver, and leave through the front door. IC cards may not work on these.
  • Stop names usually show in English. Press a stop button on the wall as yours approaches.
  • Highway buses are generally cheaper than flying or taking the train, and overnight buses save a night's accommodation.
  • Buy long-distance tickets before boarding, and check the deadline and cancellation rules. Each company has its own terminal. Arrive at least 30 minutes early. Boarding usually starts about 10 minutes before departure.
  • Seatbelts are required while the bus is moving, and there's no smoking on board. Rest stops last about 15 minutes, so note where your bus is parked.
  • Regional passes include the SunQ Pass (Kyushu) and Tohoku Highway Bus Ticket. The Japan Rail Pass covers JR local bus lines but not express bus routes.

psst, if you can't follow the announcements, ask the driver to tell you when your stop comes up. People do it all the time.

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Getting around

Taxis

Clean, safe and metered. The door opens itself.

What to know

  • Doors open and close automatically. Don't touch them.
  • A red light in the windshield means the taxi is free. Green means it's taken.
  • In big cities taxis are everywhere. In smaller towns, look in front of the train station.
  • Fares are metered by distance, apart from some fixed-rate routes to airports and major sights. A 7 km daytime ride in Tokyo, about 25 minutes, runs roughly ¥2,500–3,000.
  • A late-night surcharge applies from 22:00 to 5:00. If the driver takes the expressway, you pay the tolls.
  • Credit cards generally work in big-city taxis. In the countryside, cash may be the only option.
  • S.RIDE, Uber, DiDi and GO all let you order a taxi in English.
  • Have your destination written in Japanese, especially if it isn't a well-known hotel or sight. Some drivers in big cities speak other languages.
  • Drivers don't expect or accept tips.

psst, show the driver the address in Japanese on a map app rather than saying the name. Hotel names often sound different in Japanese.

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Getting around

Driving in Japan

You can drive here on a short visit, but only with the right paperwork. Most permits that work elsewhere don't work here.

What to know

  • Visitors can drive with an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic. Permits issued under other treaties, including the 1968 Vienna Convention, aren't valid in Japan.
  • Licenses from Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco and Taiwan work with an official Japanese translation, carried together with the original license. The Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) issues these translations online, typically in 2–3 business days.
  • Either way, you can drive for up to one year from your date of entry, or until the permit expires if that comes first.
  • Get your international permit in your home country before you travel.
  • Japan's drink-driving rules are strict. Driving with any alcohol in your system is against the law, even below the 0.15 mg per liter breath level that triggers the main offense.
  • Residents and long stays follow different rules. Check with the local Driver's License Center.

psst, check which convention your country's permit is issued under before you book the rental car. The rental desk will check too, and a Vienna permit means no car.

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Getting around

Ferries

For islands, long coasts and the occasional slow trip to Korea or China.

What to know

  • Ferries in Japan range from short crossings to overnight trips, plus international routes.
  • Long routes run down the Sea of Japan coast and up the Pacific side from the Tokyo area to Hokkaido.
  • A ferry links Kagoshima with Naha, the main city in Okinawa.
  • Between Busan and Hakata (Fukuoka) you can take a high-speed or a slow ferry.
  • A weekly service connects Shanghai with Osaka and Kobe. It takes around three days.
  • Kansai Airport has a high-speed ferry link alongside its trains and buses.
  • In Tokyo, yakatabune boats serve food and drinks on the city's waterways. Day and night cruises run in Tokyo and Kobe bays and on the Seto Inland Sea.
  • The SUKIPPU round-trip ticket gives discounts on selected train and ferry routes in the Osaka and Shikoku area.

psst, check the weather forecast the day before. Ferries are the first thing to stop running when the sea gets rough.

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Connected

SIM, eSIM and Wi-Fi

Free Wi-Fi exists but comes and goes. If you rely on maps, sort out your own data.

What to know

  • Major international airports have free Wi-Fi in the terminals, including Narita, Haneda, Kansai, New Chitose, Centrair and Fukuoka.
  • The three big convenience store chains offer free Wi-Fi when you're in range. Cafes and fast-food chains often do too, after a sign-up, but the signal can be patchy and slow.
  • Most major city hotels have Wi-Fi. Ryokan and minshuku may not, so check when you book.
  • Pocket Wi-Fi: rental counters are at all major airports, or you can reserve online and have the router delivered to your hotel.
  • SIM cards: sold at major airports and at electronics stores such as Bic Camera and Yodobashi Camera. Your phone must be unlocked.
  • eSIM: if your phone supports it, you can set up a data plan before you fly. Check with your provider that it covers Japan.

psst, install your eSIM or test your rental at home on Wi-Fi. The arrivals hall is a bad place to discover your phone is locked.

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Connected

Plugs and voltage

Japan runs on 100 volts. Most phone and laptop chargers don't care. Hair dryers might.

What to know

  • The voltage is 100 V AC everywhere in Japan.
  • The frequency is 50 Hz in eastern Japan and 60 Hz in western Japan, including Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka.
  • Dual-voltage devices, such as many hair dryers, travel irons and shavers, should work anywhere. Check the label on your charger for a range like "100–240V".
  • Devices built only for higher voltages need a step-down transformer, not just a plug adapter.
  • Adapters and converters are easy to find in the cities. Try the electronics districts of Akihabara in Tokyo and Nipponbashi in Osaka, or big stores like Yodobashi Camera and Bic Camera.
  • Newer shinkansen have power outlets at window seats. Ask for a window seat when you buy your ticket.
  • Some hamburger chains and family restaurants have outlets you can use.

psst, pack one adapter with several USB ports rather than several adapters. Hotel rooms rarely have outlets where you want them.

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Stays

Ryokan, hotel or vacation rental

Each one sets a different pace. Choose based on how you want to spend your evenings.

What to know

  • Ryokan are traditional inns. Expect tatami floors, yukata robes, futon bedding (some rooms now have Western beds), and often a multi-course kaiseki dinner and a Japanese breakfast.
  • Western-style hotels usually have a bed, desk, fridge, kettle and private bathroom. Rooms are often smaller than you're used to. Japan has no official star rating system, so "4-star" and "5-star" are the hotel's own labels.
  • Business hotels sit near stations, cost less and have compact rooms that may not suit large suitcases. Most sleep two at most.
  • Capsule hotels give you a private sleeping pod and shared toilets and showers.
  • Minshuku are family-run B&Bs in the owner's home. Bathrooms are often shared, and you may be expected to put your futon away yourself.
  • Vacation rentals (minpaku) are often unattended homes, sometimes old townhouses. Under the Private Lodging Business Act, a registered home can host guests for no more than 180 days a year.
  • "Guesthouse" has no set meaning in Japan. Check whether it's hostel, minshuku or rental style.
  • Wherever you stay, you fill in a guest register with your nationality and passport number, and the property photocopies your passport.

psst, if dinner is included at a ryokan, it's served at a set time. Book your arrival around the meal, not the other way round.

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Stays

Accommodation tax

Some cities add a small tax per person, per night. It's set locally, so it varies by where you sleep.

What to know

  • Accommodation tax is set by each city or prefecture, not nationally. Rates and rules differ, and many places don't charge one at all.
  • Kyoto City, from March 1, 2026, per person per night, by room rate:
  • under ¥6,000: ¥200
  • ¥6,000–19,999: ¥400
  • ¥20,000–49,999: ¥1,000
  • ¥50,000–99,999: ¥4,000
  • ¥100,000 or more: ¥10,000
  • In Kyoto the room rate is the room plus service charges, excluding meals and consumption tax. You pay at the property, unless you already paid it through a booking site or travel agency.
  • Tokyo, per person per night: rooms under ¥10,000 are exempt, ¥10,000–14,999 pays ¥100, and ¥15,000 or more pays ¥200. Tokyo has proposed switching to a percentage-based tax of 3%, so check the current rule before you book.
  • It's separate from the ¥3,000 departure tax and from consumption tax.

psst, in Kyoto the jump from ¥1,000 to ¥4,000 happens at ¥50,000 per person. If you're right at the line, it's worth comparing rates.

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Stays

Sending luggage ahead

Send the big suitcase, carry a day bag, and take the train like a local.

What to know

  • Luggage forwarding is widely used in Japan. Look for counters with the official "Hands-Free Travel" logo, fill in a delivery form and go.
  • Narita, Haneda and Kansai airports all have counters that deliver bags from the airport to your hotel. At Kansai, same-day delivery to your accommodation is available.
  • Most major hotels can send bags to your next hotel. Ask at the front desk. Designated convenience stores also accept bags for delivery.
  • Choose same-day delivery where offered, or delivery on a set date and time.
  • Bags generally need to be under 160 cm in total length, width and height, and within a 25–30 kg weight limit. Valuables, fragile items, fresh food, liquids and hazardous materials aren't accepted.
  • Bags can also go the other way, from your hotel to the airport before your flight. Book ahead. At Kansai, the operators take bookings by phone 3–4 days before your flight.
  • Lost or damaged bags are compensated, though the amount depends on the carrier, and shipments can be tracked.
  • Coin lockers at most stations cost about ¥300–600 a day, depending on size.

psst, pack the next night's essentials in your day bag. Next-day delivery means you'll arrive before your suitcase.

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Everyday rules

Smoking rules

Smoking indoors is mostly over, and many streets are no-smoking too. Look for the signs and the smoking areas.

What to know

  • Since April 2020, smoking inside restaurants, bars and other large facilities has been banned in principle. Smoking is allowed only in a dedicated smoking room.
  • Heated tobacco can be used only in designated rooms. Some of these allow eating and drinking.
  • Some small, independently run bars and restaurants can still allow smoking. They have to post a sign out front saying so.
  • Places that allow smoking must post a sign. If there's no sign and no ashtray, assume you can't smoke.
  • Nobody under 20 may enter a room where smoking is allowed, even if they don't smoke.
  • Hotel guest rooms are outside the indoor ban, so the hotel decides. Book a smoking room if you need one.
  • Many cities ban smoking on certain streets and sidewalks. In Nagoya, for example, smoking in a designated no-smoking area costs a ¥2,000 fine.
  • There's no smoking on highway buses.

psst, convenience stores and stations sometimes have a small smoking corner outside. If you can't find one, don't light up on the walk. Fines on the street are real.

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Everyday rules

Drinking age and alcohol

The drinking age is 20, regardless of the drinking age back home.

What to know

  • Nobody under 20 may drink alcohol in Japan. Japan lowered the age of adulthood to 18 in 2022, but the drinking age stayed at 20.
  • Shops and bars are legally required to take steps such as checking age. Selling alcohol to someone they know is under 20 can cost them a fine of up to ¥500,000, so don't be surprised if you're asked for ID.
  • The same age limit applies to smoking rooms. Anyone under 20 can't enter them.
  • Drinking and driving: any alcohol in your system while driving is against the law. The rule covers rental cars too.
  • Bringing alcohol in: the duty-free allowance is 3 bottles of about 760 ml each per adult.

psst, carry your passport, or a clear photo of it, if you look young. A bar that can't confirm your age will simply refuse to serve you.

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Everyday rules

Toilets

Clean, free and easy to find. The control panel is the only tricky part.

What to know

  • Public toilets are common and generally free, in shopping streets, at sights and at temples.
  • Most convenience stores let shoppers use their toilets. Buying something isn't required, but it's appreciated.
  • Most modern toilets have a warm-water wash button. You can adjust the pressure and the spray. A button with three wavy lines dries.
  • The small red square is stop. Press it if the water keeps running.
  • In many public toilets, especially women's, a button plays a flushing sound for privacy. Sometimes it starts on its own.
  • Squat toilets still exist. They have a strong flush and toilet paper.
  • In homes, ryokan and some other places, there are special slippers at the toilet door. Wear them only inside the toilet, and change back when you leave.
  • A few cafes lock their toilets and print the code on your receipt.

psst, carry a small hand towel. Locals do, and you won't be stuck shaking your hands dry.

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Everyday rules

Convenience stores

Open all night, every night. Food, cash, printing and a clean toilet in one stop.

What to know

  • The three big chains are 7-Eleven, FamilyMart and Lawson. You'll also see Ministop, Daily Yamazaki, Seicomart and Poplar.
  • They're open 24 hours. See "Holidays and closures" in part 1 for why that matters over New Year.
  • Larger city stores, especially 7-Eleven, have multilingual ATMs that accept foreign cards.
  • IC cards such as Suica and PASMO work at the till.
  • Most stores have a printer and photocopier. You can also pay bills, post letters and buy concert tickets.
  • There's hot water for instant noodles, and many bigger stores have tables and chairs.
  • The three big chains offer free Wi-Fi.
  • Bins are one of the few places you'll find them. See "Trash" in part 1.
  • Toilets are usually clean and open to shoppers.

psst, the counter display by the till usually has the hot food: fried chicken, steamed buns and oden in winter. Point and they'll bag it.

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Everyday rules

Lost and found

Things that go missing in Japan often turn up. Report it fast, and in person.

What to know

  • Start with the place you lost it: the train company, bus operator, taxi firm, shop or hotel. They may hold items for a few days before passing them to the police.
  • Then file a lost property report in person at any police station or koban (police box). Reports can't be made by email. You can fill in the form in advance, but you still have to hand it in yourself.
  • In Tokyo, the police Lost and Found Center is on 0570-550-142. Its online search of found items is in Japanese only.
  • Tokyo collection hours are 8:30–16:30, Monday to Friday, closed on national holidays and from December 29 to January 3.
  • To collect, bring your passport or other ID, the item's reference number, and the notification letter if you received one.
  • Already left Japan? Someone else can collect for you with their own ID, a copy of yours, a letter of authorization and the reference number. Items can only be shipped to an address in Japan, at your cost.
  • Items lost outside Japan can't be reported here.
  • The Japan Visitor Hotline (050-3816-2787) can help 24 hours a day.

psst, before you leave a train, note the line, the car number and the time. With those three, staff can usually find what you left.

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Access

Accessibility

Big-city Japan is mostly step-free. The best help comes from staff, so tell them where you're going.

What to know

  • Major stations, airports, hotels and newer shopping centers are generally easy to get around in a wheelchair. Elevators and ramps are still being added to public facilities.
  • Ask station staff to help you on and off the train. Tell them where you're getting off, and they'll make sure someone helps you there.
  • Bus drivers help wheelchair users on and off and make sure the ride is safe.
  • Most standard taxis can't take an electric wheelchair. Plan ahead or ask for advice.
  • On the Tokaido Shinkansen, wheelchair seats are booked by calling the station where you'll board. The automated phone menu is in Japanese only.
  • Some hotels offer accessible bathing facilities and assisted bathing. Some tourist sites rent wheelchairs.
  • Raised yellow tiles on sidewalks and platforms mark safe walking routes for visually impaired travelers.
  • A written-communication service is available for people who can't hear or speak.
  • For route planning, ecomo-rakuraku.jp maps barrier-free routes. Accessible Japan, a specialist resource, answers questions.

psst, show the station staff your destination written down. That's all they need to call ahead, and someone will meet you at the other end.

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Food

Food allergies

Packaged food is labeled. Restaurant food isn't, so ask every time and carry it in writing.

What to know

  • Packaged, processed food in Japan must list major allergens, including shrimp, crab, wheat, buckwheat, eggs, milk and peanuts. Around twenty more, such as sesame, soybeans and some nuts, are recommended for labeling but not required.
  • The labeling rules cover packaged food. In restaurants, nothing is printed for you, so ask.
  • Tokyo's food-safety guidance tells restaurant staff to warn customers about possible cross-contact, and to say "I don't know" rather than guess.
  • The Tokyo Metropolitan Government publishes an allergy communication sheet in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean, with pictograms. Fill it in and show it when you order.
  • If you carry an auto-injector, self-injection kits can be brought in up to a 1-month supply. See "Bringing medicine into Japan".
  • In an emergency, call 119.

psst, if a server hesitates or says "I don't know," take that as a no. It's the honest answer, not bad service.

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plan your trip

The boring stuff.

Everything between landing and leaving. Short, plain, and only what you’ll use.

start hereFirst time in JapanTen things worth knowing before you land.

Entry & exit

Safety & health

Money

Getting around

Connected

Stays

Everyday rules

Food

Seasons & holidays

Access

this month in japan

January 睦月

January at a glance

-10°0°10°20°30°Sapporo-6.4°-0.4°Naha15°20°Tokyo1°10°
Normal daily low → high, °C (JMA 1991–2020). Kyoto’s monthly average: 4.8°C.
  • The quietest, clearest month of the year, once the New Year rush ends.

Weather

  • Tokyo: 10°C / 1°C. Dry, bright, cold at night.
  • Kyoto: averages 4.8°C. Temple floors are cold, so bring thick socks.
  • Sapporo: −0.4°C / −6.4°C. Snow underfoot all month.
  • Okinawa (Naha): 20°C / 15°C.
  • Pack: a proper winter coat, thermals, shoes you can slip off fast. For Sapporo, boots with grip. Naha needs a light jacket.

What's happening

  • 1 January, New Year's Day. Hatsumode, the first shrine visit of the year, fills Meiji Jingu in Tokyo, Fushimi Inari in Kyoto and Sumiyoshi Taisha in Osaka.
  • Second Monday: Coming of Age Day.
  • Grand Sumo, January tournament — Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, mid-month.
  • Fourth Saturday: Wakakusa Yamayaki, Nara. The whole grass hillside above the city is set alight.
  • Late January to February, usually: cherry blossoms open first in Okinawa, weeks ahead of the mainland.

What's in season

  • Snow crab — January is crab season in Hokkaido and on the Sea of Japan coast.
  • Buri (yellowtail), fat with winter.
  • Hakusai and daikon, simmered in nabe.
  • Mikan, the small citrus that sits on every kotatsu.

The 72 seasons

候 Romaji Meaning From c.
芹乃栄 seri sunawachi sakau Water parsley flourishes 5 Jan
水泉動 shimizu atataka o fukumu Springs thaw underground 10 Jan
雉始雊 kiji hajimete naku Pheasants start to call 15 Jan
款冬華 fuki no hana saku Butterbur buds 20 Jan
水沢腹堅 sawamizu kōri tsumeru Ice thickens on streams 25 Jan
鶏始乳 niwatori hajimete toya ni tsuku Hens start to lay 30 Jan

Crowds

1 January is the big day for hatsumode, and most restaurants and attractions close over the New Year holidays. Once those holidays end, the pressure comes off.

psst,

Land after the New Year holidays. The shops reopen, the sumo is on, and Tokyo's skies are about as dry as they get.

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this month in japan

February 如月

February at a glance

-10°0°10°20°30°Sapporo-6.2°0.4°Naha15°20°Tokyo2°11°
Normal daily low → high, °C (JMA 1991–2020). Kyoto’s monthly average: 5.4°C.
  • Snow in the north, plum blossom in the south, and beans thrown at demons.

Weather

  • Tokyo: 11°C / 2°C. Among the driest months of the year.
  • Kyoto: averages 5.4°C.
  • Sapporo: 0.4°C / −6.2°C. Peak snow season.
  • Okinawa (Naha): 20°C / 15°C.
  • Pack: the same winter kit as January. Go for layers you can peel off indoors.

What's happening

  • Setsubun (3 February in 2027). Temples and shrines across Tokyo, Nara and Kamakura hold bean-throwing rites to drive out bad luck.
  • 11 February, National Foundation Day. 23 February, the Emperor's Birthday.
  • First week: Sapporo Snow Festival. Ice and snow sculptures fill Odori Park, Susukino and Tsudome.
  • Plum festivals open. Mito, Atami and Odawara all hold ume matsuri that run into March.

What's in season

  • Kan-saba, winter mackerel from Misaki on the Miura Peninsula.
  • Daikon, at its sweetest in oden.
  • Buri and hakusai, still in their winter prime.
  • Zenzai, hot red-bean soup with mochi.

The 72 seasons

候 Romaji Meaning From c.
東風解凍 harukaze kōri o toku East wind melts the ice 4 Feb
黄鶯睍睆 uguisu naku Bush warblers sing 9 Feb
魚上氷 uo kōri o izuru Fish rise from the ice 14 Feb
土脉潤起 tsuchi no shō uruoi okoru Rain moistens the soil 19 Feb
霞始靆 kasumi hajimete tanabiku Mist begins to linger 24 Feb
草木萌動 sōmoku mebae izuru Grass and trees bud 1 Mar

Crowds

Sapporo is the exception. Snow Festival week pulls in upwards of two million people, so book rooms early. Elsewhere, February is low season.

psst,

Skip the famous temples at Setsubun and find a neighbourhood shrine. It's the same ritual with room to breathe.

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this month in japan

March 弥生

March at a glance

-10°0°10°20°30°Sapporo-2.4°4.5°Naha17°22°Tokyo5°14°
Normal daily low → high, °C (JMA 1991–2020). Kyoto’s monthly average: 8.8°C.
  • The month the whole country starts watching a single tree.

Weather

  • Tokyo: 14°C / 5°C. Rain doubles compared with February.
  • Kyoto: averages 8.8°C.
  • Sapporo: 4.5°C / −2.4°C. The thaw starts, and slush with it.
  • Okinawa (Naha): 22°C / 17°C.
  • Pack: a mid-weight coat, a scarf, and an umbrella. Days can feel like spring while evenings still feel like winter.

What's happening

  • Vernal Equinox Day, 21 March in 2027. The government fixes the date each February.
  • 1–14 March: Shuni-e (Omizutori) at Todai-ji's Nigatsu-do, Nara. Giant torches shower sparks from the hall's balcony.
  • Grand Sumo, March tournament — Edion Arena, Osaka.
  • Late March: cherry blossoms open in Kyushu and Tokyo. Tokyo's average first bloom is around 24 March.
  • 3 March: Hina Matsuri (Girls' Day). Families set out tiered displays of dolls in the weeks before.

What's in season

  • Nanohana, the bitter-sweet rapeseed greens.
  • Strawberries.
  • Asari clams, in miso soup or steamed with sake.
  • Sakura mochi, pink rice cake wrapped in a salted cherry leaf.

The 72 seasons

候 Romaji Meaning From c.
蟄虫啓戸 sugomori mushi to o hiraku Hibernating insects emerge 6 Mar
桃始笑 momo hajimete saku First peach blossoms 11 Mar
菜虫化蝶 namushi chō to naru Caterpillars become butterflies 16 Mar
雀始巣 suzume hajimete sukuu Sparrows start to nest 21 Mar
桜始開 sakura hajimete hiraku First cherry blossoms 26 Mar
雷乃発声 kaminari sunawachi koe o hassu Distant thunder 31 Mar

Crowds

The last week of March is when blossom season starts, and the famous parks fill. Book Tokyo and Kyoto rooms well ahead. Pollen season arrives with the flowers, so allergy sufferers should come prepared.

psst,

Nara in early March, for Omizutori, is the old capital at its most theatrical, two or three weeks before the blossom crowds.

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this month in japan

April 卯月

April at a glance

-10°0°10°20°30°Sapporo3°12°Naha19°24°Tokyo10°19°
Normal daily low → high, °C (JMA 1991–2020). Kyoto’s monthly average: 14.4°C.
  • Blossom moving north, then the country's first long holiday.

Weather

  • Tokyo: 19°C / 10°C.
  • Kyoto: averages 14.4°C.
  • Sapporo: 12°C / 3°C. Still cold. Its cherry blossoms arrive around 1 May on average.
  • Okinawa (Naha): 24°C / 19°C.
  • Pack: a light jacket and a sweater. Temperatures can drop suddenly, so carry one more layer than you think you need.

What's happening

  • 29 April, Showa Day, which starts Golden Week.
  • 14–15 April: the spring Takayama Festival (Sanno Matsuri), Gifu. Ornate festival floats come out in the old town.
  • Mid-April: the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route opens across Toyama and Nagano.
  • Cherry blossoms move north through Honshu into Hokkaido.

What's in season

  • Takenoko, young bamboo shoots, best as takenoko gohan.
  • Hanami dango, the tricolour rice dumplings eaten under the trees.
  • Asari clams, at their spring best.
  • Strawberries, the last good weeks.

The 72 seasons

候 Romaji Meaning From c.
玄鳥至 tsubame kitaru Swallows return 5 Apr
鴻雁北 kōgan kaeru Wild geese fly north 10 Apr
虹始見 niji hajimete arawaru First rainbows 15 Apr
葭始生 ashi hajimete shōzu First reeds sprout 20 Apr
霜止出苗 shimo yande nae izuru Last frost; rice seedlings grow 25 Apr
牡丹華 botan hana saku Peonies bloom 30 Apr

Crowds

Early April is still blossom season in Tokyo and Kyoto, with picnic tarps under every tree. Golden Week starts at the end of the month, when much of the country travels at once.

psst,

Missed the blossom in Tokyo? It's still on its way to Hokkaido.

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this month in japan

May 皐月

May at a glance

-10°0°10°20°30°Sapporo9°18°Naha22°27°Tokyo15°24°
Normal daily low → high, °C (JMA 1991–2020). Kyoto’s monthly average: 19.5°C.
  • Green everywhere, a three-day national holiday, and Okinawa's rains begin.

Weather

  • Tokyo: 24°C / 15°C. Warm days, mild nights, and the rains haven't come yet.
  • Kyoto: averages 19.5°C.
  • Sapporo: 18°C / 9°C. Spring has finally arrived.
  • Okinawa (Naha): 27°C / 22°C. The rainy season usually starts around 10 May.
  • Pack: shirtsleeves and a light layer for evenings. Bring rain gear for Okinawa.

What's happening

  • 3, 4 and 5 May: Constitution Memorial Day, Greenery Day and Children's Day, the end of Golden Week.
  • 15 May: Aoi Matsuri, Kyoto. A court procession in Heian-period dress.
  • Sanja Matsuri, Asakusa, Tokyo. Three days around the third Sunday of May, and one of the city's rowdiest portable-shrine festivals.
  • Grand Sumo, May tournament — Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo.

What's in season

  • Asari clams, the end of their spring run.
  • Takenoko, the late bamboo shoots.
  • Strawberries, the tail of the season.

The 72 seasons

候 Romaji Meaning From c.
蛙始鳴 kawazu hajimete naku Frogs start singing 6 May
蚯蚓出 mimizu izuru Worms surface 11 May
竹笋生 takenoko shōzu Bamboo shoots sprout 16 May
蚕起食桑 kaiko okite kuwa o hamu Silkworms feast on mulberry 21 May
紅花栄 benibana sakau Safflowers bloom 26 May
麦秋至 mugi no toki itaru Wheat ripens 31 May

Crowds

The first days of May are Golden Week, with full trains and booked inns. Once it ends, there's no national holiday until July.

psst,

Fly in the week after Golden Week. The weather is the same, and the holiday crowds are gone.

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this month in japan

June 水無月

June at a glance

-10°0°10°20°30°Sapporo13°22°Naha25°30°Tokyo19°26°
Normal daily low → high, °C (JMA 1991–2020). Kyoto’s monthly average: 23.3°C.
  • Rainy season on the main islands; for Okinawa, the end of it.

Weather

  • Tokyo: 26°C / 19°C. The rainy season usually starts around 7 June.
  • Kyoto: averages 23.3°C. Kinki's rains usually start around 6 June.
  • Sapporo: 22°C / 13°C. Fresh and comfortable.
  • Okinawa (Naha): 30°C / 25°C. Wettest month of the year, but the rains usually end around 21 June.
  • Pack: a compact umbrella, quick-dry clothes and shoes that can handle puddles. Hokkaido still wants a jacket at night.

What's happening

  • No national holidays in June, so no domestic holiday rush.
  • Early June: tsuyu, the plum rains, set in across Honshu.
  • Late June: Okinawa's rainy season usually ends, and its summer begins.

What's in season

  • Aji, horse mackerel, as sashimi or fried.
  • Cucumbers and tomatoes, the first summer vegetables.
  • Somen, the thin wheat noodles served ice-cold.

The 72 seasons

候 Romaji Meaning From c.
蟷螂生 kamakiri shōzu Praying mantises hatch 6 Jun
腐草為蛍 kusaretaru kusa hotaru to naru Rotten grass becomes fireflies 11 Jun
梅子黄 ume no mi kibamu Plums turn yellow 16 Jun
乃東枯 natsukarekusa karuru Self-heal withers 21 Jun
菖蒲華 ayame hana saku Irises bloom 26 Jun
半夏生 hange shōzu Crow-dipper sprouts 2 Jul

Crowds

With no public holidays and steady rain, June has no domestic travel peak. It's a good month for walk-in bookings.

psst,

Head north. Sapporo gets about 60mm of rain in June, against Tokyo's 168. Or go to Okinawa after the rains clear, around the 21st.

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this month in japan

July 文月

July at a glance

-10°0°10°20°30°Sapporo18°25°Naha27°32°Tokyo22°30°
Normal daily low → high, °C (JMA 1991–2020). Kyoto’s monthly average: 27.3°C.
  • Kyoto's month-long festival, fireworks on the river, and the heat arrives.

Weather

  • Tokyo: 30°C / 22°C. The rains usually clear around 19 July, and then it gets hot and sticky.
  • Kyoto: averages 27.3°C, hotter than Tokyo.
  • Sapporo: 25°C / 18°C.
  • Okinawa (Naha): 32°C / 27°C.
  • Pack: light, breathable clothes, a hat, a refillable bottle, and a small towel. Locals carry one for the sweat.

What's happening

  • Third Monday: Marine Day.
  • 1–31 July: Gion Matsuri, Kyoto. Float processions on 17 and 24 July, with the yoiyama street nights on 14–16 and 21–23.
  • Tenjin Matsuri, Osaka. The main day is 25 July, with a river procession and fireworks.
  • Last Saturday: Sumida River Fireworks, Tokyo.
  • Grand Sumo, July tournament — IG Arena, Nagoya. Mt Fuji's climbing season opens in early July.
  • 7 July: Tanabata, the star festival. Wishes on paper strips go up on bamboo. Some cities, like Sendai, celebrate in August instead.
  • 1–15 July, every year: Hakata Gion Yamakasa in Fukuoka, ending in a pre-dawn race through the streets.

What's in season

  • Unagi, grilled eel over rice, eaten for stamina on muggy days.
  • Hiyashi chuka, chilled ramen.
  • Kakigori, shaved ice.
  • Tomatoes and cucumbers at their peak.

The 72 seasons

候 Romaji Meaning From c.
温風至 atsukaze itaru Warm winds blow 7 Jul
蓮始開 hasu hajimete hiraku First lotus blossoms 12 Jul
鷹乃学習 taka sunawachi waza o narau Hawks learn to fly 17 Jul
桐始結花 kiri hajimete hana o musubu Paulownia sets its buds 23 Jul
土潤溽暑 tsuchi uruōte mushiatsushi Damp earth, humid heat 28 Jul
大雨時行 taiu tokidoki ni furu Heavy rains fall now and then 2 Aug

Crowds

Kyoto is at its busiest around the 14–17 July yoiyama nights and the first procession. Tokyo's riverside is packed on fireworks night. If you plan to climb Fuji, book mountain accommodation well in advance.

psst,

Do a Gion yoiyama evening, not just the parade. The floats stand in the streets before they roll.

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this month in japan

August 葉月

August at a glance

-10°0°10°20°30°Sapporo19°26°Naha27°32°Tokyo24°31°
Normal daily low → high, °C (JMA 1991–2020). Kyoto’s monthly average: 28.5°C.
  • Lantern floats in the north, dancers in the south, and everyone heads home.

Weather

  • Tokyo: 31°C / 24°C. The hottest month of the year.
  • Kyoto: averages 28.5°C, hotter than Tokyo.
  • Sapporo: 26°C / 19°C. The coolest escape on this list.
  • Okinawa (Naha): 32°C / 27°C.
  • Pack: the July kit, plus sunscreen. Bring a light layer for over-air-conditioned trains.

What's happening

  • 11 August: Mountain Day.
  • 2–7 August: Aomori Nebuta Festival. Giant illuminated paper floats, with fireworks on the last night.
  • 6–8 August: Sendai Tanabata. The city's arcades are hung with streamers.
  • Mid-August: Awa Odori, Tokushima. Several nights of street dancing.
  • 16 August: Gozan Okuribi, Kyoto. Bonfires on five mountains send the ancestors' spirits off.
  • August to September is usually the peak of typhoon season. Keep an eye on forecasts and keep plans flexible.

What's in season

  • Watermelon.
  • Kakigori, shaved ice, now at full strength.
  • Cold soba and somen.
  • Cucumbers and tomatoes, still everywhere.

The 72 seasons

候 Romaji Meaning From c.
涼風至 suzukaze itaru Cool winds blow 8 Aug
寒蝉鳴 higurashi naku Evening cicadas sing 13 Aug
蒙霧升降 fukaki kiri matō Thick fog descends 18 Aug
綿柎開 wata no hanashibe hiraku Cotton bolls open 23 Aug
天地始粛 tenchi hajimete samushi The heat starts to ease 28 Aug
禾乃登 kokumono sunawachi minoru Rice ripens 2 Sep

Crowds

Obon, in mid-August, is when much of Japan travels home for family reunions. Expect full trains and scarce rooms around the middle of the month, and book festival towns early.

psst,

If you're doing the Tohoku festivals, Nebuta and Sendai Tanabata overlap on 6–7 August. One trip covers both.

← all months

this month in japan

September 長月

September at a glance

-10°0°10°20°30°Sapporo15°23°Naha26°31°Tokyo20°28°
Normal daily low → high, °C (JMA 1991–2020). Kyoto’s monthly average: 24.4°C.
  • Still summer by day, autumn by night, and Tokyo's wettest stretch begins.

Weather

  • Tokyo: 28°C / 20°C. About 225mm of rain, nearly four times January's.
  • Kyoto: averages 24.4°C.
  • Sapporo: 23°C / 15°C. The first crisp mornings.
  • Okinawa (Naha): 31°C / 26°C.
  • Pack: summer clothes, a decent umbrella, and a light layer for Hokkaido evenings.

What's happening

  • Third Monday: Respect for the Aged Day.
  • Autumnal Equinox Day, 23 September in 2027. When the two holidays fall close together, they make a long weekend.
  • 1–3 September: Owara Kaze no Bon, Yatsuo, Toyama. Hushed, slow dancing through the streets to fiddle and song.
  • Grand Sumo, September tournament — Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo.
  • Usually mid-September: Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri, Osaka. Huge wooden floats taken around corners at a run.

What's in season

  • Sanma, Pacific saury, salt-grilled. The taste of autumn.
  • Saba, mackerel. Matsuwa on the Miura Peninsula is known for it.
  • Chestnuts, set out at the moon-viewing season.
  • Sweet potatoes.

The 72 seasons

候 Romaji Meaning From c.
草露白 kusa no tsuyu shiroshi Dew glistens white on grass 8 Sep
鶺鴒鳴 sekirei naku Wagtails sing 13 Sep
玄鳥去 tsubame saru Swallows leave 18 Sep
雷乃収声 kaminari sunawachi koe o osamu Thunder ceases 23 Sep
蟄虫坏戸 mushi kakurete to o fusagu Insects seal their burrows 28 Sep
水始涸 mizu hajimete karuru Fields are drained 3 Oct

Crowds

Many people take holidays in late September, so plan around the two public holidays. Early September is the easier window.

psst,

Order sanma whole and salt-grilled at a counter place. No fish says autumn in Japan more plainly.

← all months

this month in japan

October 神無月

October at a glance

-10°0°10°20°30°Sapporo8°16°Naha24°28°Tokyo15°22°
Normal daily low → high, °C (JMA 1991–2020). Kyoto’s monthly average: 18.4°C.
  • The heat is finally gone. Festival floats and the first red leaves up north.

Weather

  • Tokyo: 22°C / 15°C. Statistically the wettest month, at about 235mm.
  • Kyoto: averages 18.4°C.
  • Sapporo: 16°C / 8°C. Leaves peak around the end of the month.
  • Okinawa (Naha): 28°C / 24°C. Still beach weather.
  • Pack: long sleeves and a light jacket for evenings. Bring a warm coat for Hokkaido.

What's happening

  • Second Monday: Sports Day.
  • Early October: Nagasaki Kunchi. Dragon dances and Dutch-influenced rites at Nagasaki's harvest festival.
  • 9–10 October: the autumn Takayama Festival (Hachiman Matsuri), Gifu.
  • 22 October: Jidai Matsuri, Kyoto. A costume parade through a thousand years of history, ending at Heian Jingu.

What's in season

  • Matsutake mushrooms, the luxury of the season.
  • Chestnuts, in rice and sweets.
  • Kaki, persimmons.
  • Sanma, still running.

The 72 seasons

候 Romaji Meaning From c.
鴻雁来 kōgan kitaru Wild geese return 8 Oct
菊花開 kiku no hana hiraku Chrysanthemums bloom 13 Oct
蟋蟀在戸 kirigirisu to ni ari Crickets chirp at the door 18 Oct
霜始降 shimo hajimete furu First frost 24 Oct
霎時施 kosame tokidoki furu Light rains, now and then 29 Oct
楓蔦黄 momiji tsuta kibamu Maples and ivy turn 3 Nov

Crowds

October sits between the late-September holidays and November's leaf season, with no big travel peak of its own. Festival days are the exception: book Takayama and Nagasaki early.

psst,

Go north for leaves now. Hokkaido peaks about a month before Tokyo does.

← all months

this month in japan

November 霜月

November at a glance

-10°0°10°20°30°Sapporo2°9°Naha20°25°Tokyo9°17°
Normal daily low → high, °C (JMA 1991–2020). Kyoto’s monthly average: 12.5°C.
  • Maple season. Clear skies, cold mornings, and every garden on fire.

Weather

  • Tokyo: 17°C / 9°C. Rain drops off sharply after October.
  • Kyoto: averages 12.5°C.
  • Sapporo: 9°C / 2°C. The first snow is not far off.
  • Okinawa (Naha): 25°C / 20°C.
  • Pack: a warm jacket, a scarf for evenings and comfortable walking shoes. Temple days mean hours on your feet.

What's happening

  • 3 November, Culture Day. 23 November, Labour Thanksgiving Day.
  • Early November: Saga International Balloon Fiesta, Kyushu. More than 100 hot-air balloons.
  • Mid-November to early December: evening light-ups of the autumn leaves at Rikugien Garden, Tokyo.
  • Grand Sumo, November tournament — Fukuoka International Center, Fukuoka.
  • Around 15 November: Shichi-go-san. Families take children aged three, five and seven to shrines, often in kimono. You'll see them on weekends through the month.

What's in season

  • Kaki, persimmons, fresh or dried.
  • Yakiimo, stone-baked sweet potatoes from street trucks.
  • Autumn mushrooms in nabe and rice.
  • Chestnuts, the last of them.

The 72 seasons

候 Romaji Meaning From c.
山茶始開 tsubaki hajimete hiraku Camellias begin to bloom 8 Nov
地始凍 chi hajimete kōru The land starts to freeze 13 Nov
金盞香 kinsenka saku Daffodils bloom 18 Nov
虹蔵不見 niji kakurete miezu Rainbows hide 22 Nov
朔風払葉 kitakaze konoha o harau North wind strips the leaves 27 Nov
橘始黄 tachibana hajimete kibamu Tachibana citrus turns yellow 2 Dec

Crowds

Mid-November to early December is peak leaf season, and it draws big crowds, local and international, to Kyoto's temples. Tokyo's leaves peak late in the month.

psst,

In Kyoto, be at the temple gate when it opens. The light is better and the paths are empty.

← all months

this month in japan

December 師走

December at a glance

-10°0°10°20°30°Sapporo-4°2°Naha17°22°Tokyo4°12°
Normal daily low → high, °C (JMA 1991–2020). Kyoto’s monthly average: 7.2°C.
  • The last leaves, the first hot pots, and the countdown to New Year.

Weather

  • Tokyo: 12°C / 4°C. Dry and sunny, one of the driest months.
  • Kyoto: averages 7.2°C.
  • Sapporo: 2°C / −4°C. Winter is here.
  • Okinawa (Naha): 22°C / 17°C.
  • Pack: a winter coat, gloves and layers. Pack snow boots for Hokkaido.

What's happening

  • No national holidays in December.
  • 2–3 December: Chichibu Night Festival (Yomatsuri), Saitama.
  • Early December: the last of the autumn leaves in Tokyo, and the end of Rikugien's light-ups.
  • 31 December: toshikoshi soba. Long noodles for a long life, eaten on New Year's Eve.
  • 31 December, late night: joya no kane. Temples ring their bells 108 times as the year turns. Some let visitors take a turn.

What's in season

  • Buri, yellowtail, now fattening up for winter.
  • Daikon and hakusai, the backbone of nabe.
  • Mikan, by the boxful.
  • Nabe hot pot, paired with warm sake.

The 72 seasons

候 Romaji Meaning From c.
閉塞成冬 sora samuku fuyu to naru Cold sets in; winter begins 7 Dec
熊蟄穴 kuma ana ni komoru Bears retreat to their dens 12 Dec
鱖魚群 sake no uo muragaru Salmon gather and swim upstream 17 Dec
乃東生 natsukarekusa shōzu Self-heal sprouts 22 Dec
麋角解 sawashika no tsuno otsuru Deer shed their antlers 27 Dec
雪下出麦 yuki kudarite mugi nobiru Wheat sprouts under snow 1 Jan

Crowds

There are no public holidays in December, so the first half is quiet. At the very end of the year, most restaurants and attractions close for the New Year holidays. Plan meals and bookings ahead.

psst,

Early December is underrated. You get the last leaves in Tokyo, dry skies, no holiday crush, and nabe season in full swing.

← all months

seasons

This month in Japan.

Weather, festivals, what’s in season, and the 72 micro-seasons — one page a month.

The year in temperature

SapporoNahaTokyo
-10°0°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSapporoNahaTokyo
Daily average (midpoint of normal high and low), °C. JMA 1991–2020 normals.
Show as table
MonthSapporoNahaTokyo
January-3.4°17.5°5.5°
February-2.9°17.5°6.5°
March1.1°19.5°9.5°
April7.5°21.5°14.5°
May13.5°24.5°19.5°
June17.5°27.5°22.5°
July21.5°29.5°26.0°
August22.5°29.5°27.5°
September19.0°28.5°24.0°
October12.0°26.0°18.5°
November5.5°22.5°13.0°
December-1.0°19.5°8.0°

When it gets crowded

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNew YearCherry blossom (Tokyo/Kyoto)Golden WeekObonAutumn leaves (Kyoto)
Usual timing. Exact dates move year to year; blossoms and leaves follow the weather.
  • New Year — usually Dec 29 – Dec 31
  • Cherry blossom (Tokyo/Kyoto) — usually Mar 20 – Apr 10
  • Golden Week — usually Apr 29 – May 5
  • Obon — usually Aug 13 – Aug 16
  • Autumn leaves (Kyoto) — usually Nov 15 – Dec 8
睦月January如月February弥生March卯月April皐月May水無月June文月July葉月August長月September神無月October霜月November師走December
plan with us

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Japan is easy to love, and hard to plan.

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Timing matters

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We do that part. You get the trip.

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Good for: first trips, classic routes, booking soon.

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Good for: special trips, kids or parents, smaller towns, things off the usual route.

What a day looks like

  1. 08:30Breakfast at a market counter
  2. 10:00Temple garden, before the tour groups
  3. 12:30Lunch two streets back from the main road
  4. 14:00A craft shop with a workshop
  5. 16:30Bathhouse, then a slow walk
  6. 19:00A standing bar, and how to order

Example only.

Three ways to spend.

松Matsu

Green Car on the Shinkansen, ryokan with a private bath, private guides.

竹Take

Reserved seats, well-placed mid-range hotels, small-group tours.

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Highway buses and non-reserved cars, business hotels and guesthouses, free walks.

Same route, same days. Only the ride and the bed change. You book everything yourself.

Side by side.

Ready-madeTailor-made
How it’s madePicked from our libraryBuilt from scratch
ArrivesWithin 48 hoursWithin 7 days
Your dates and seasonGeneral timingYour exact dates
Your people (kids, parents, pace)Closest matchPlanned around them
Smaller towns and special requestsSome routesAnything in Japan
松 Matsu · 竹 Take · 梅 Ume✓✓ — you can mix
Manners and “psst” notes✓✓
Changes after delivery—Until you fly
Before-you-go listGeneralFor your trip
Price$15–$55$39–$289

How it works.

ApplyPick your days, answer a short form, pay. No call needed.
We planPlaces, routes, timing and the small rules for each stop.
AdjustTailor-made: tell us what doesn’t fit, and we change it until you fly.
Get readyA before-you-go list: what to book and when, what to bring, what to set up.
ready-made

Get a ready-made plan

We keep a library of tested plans. Tell us about your trip and we pick the one that fits you best, then email it to you within 48 hours.

Every ready-made plan includes all three tiers (松 Matsu, 竹 Take, 梅 Ume) and a before-you-go list.

Tailor-made, by days.

1 day$39
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5 days$149
7 days$189
10 days$239
14 days$289

Every length from 1 to 14 days has its own price.

tailor-made

Start a tailor-made plan

One day or two weeks. Answer a few questions, pay, and your plan arrives within 7 days.

Plans open for booking in November 2026. Want to be first? Get the Weekly Whisper and we’ll tell you the day it opens.

Questions.

Who makes the plan?

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Ready-made or tailor-made?

Ready-made if you’re on a classic route and want it fast. Tailor-made if your trip has kids, parents, smaller towns or a special reason — or you want to change things later.

Do you book hotels or tickets?

No. We tell you what to book and when; you book it yourself.

Can I change the plan?

Yes. Swap a place, move a day, change the pace — tell us by email and we update it, until your trip starts. Adding a new city or extra days is a new plan.

What do I get before I go?

A checklist for your trip: tickets and tables to book (and when they open), passport and entry steps, cards, cash, eSIM, apps, luggage, what to pack for the season, and the numbers to call if something goes wrong.

Is there a video call?

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How far ahead should I ask?

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Is there a limit?

We take a set number of plans each month so each one gets real time. If we’re full, we’ll say so.

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About the information We check what we publish, but rules, prices, opening hours, and dates in Japan change. Each page shows when it was last checked. Confirm the important things (transport, tickets, entry rules) with the official source before you go.

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psst, JAPAN · japan travel, explained by locals

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A lantern-lit alley in Japan
this monthNovember 霜月Autumn leaves, sumo in Fukuoka, Shichi-go-san.the boring stuffTax-free changed on Nov 1Pay full price, get it back at the airport.start hereFirst time in JapanTen things before you land.

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図鑑 zukan侘び寂び wabi-sabiBeauty found in things that are simple, humble, imperfect and aged.
図鑑 zukan枯山水 karesansuiA dry garden of rock and raked gravel standing in for mountains and water.
図鑑 zukan金継ぎ kintsugiMending broken ceramics with lacquer and gold, so the cracks shine.
図鑑 zukanもったいない mottainai"What a waste" — regret at letting something valuable go unused.
plan with usYour trip, planned by a friend who lives here.Day-by-day plans, built around your dates and what you love.

A year in Japan

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Average temperature by month

SapporoNahaTokyo
-10°0°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSapporoNahaTokyo
Daily average, °C. JMA normals. Hover for values.
Show as table
MonthSapporoNahaTokyo
January-3.4°17.5°5.5°
February-2.9°17.5°6.5°
March1.1°19.5°9.5°
April7.5°21.5°14.5°
May13.5°24.5°19.5°
June17.5°27.5°22.5°
July21.5°29.5°26.0°
August22.5°29.5°27.5°
September19.0°28.5°24.0°
October12.0°26.0°18.5°
November5.5°22.5°13.0°
December-1.0°19.5°8.0°
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