So you’ve finally booked your flight and filed your vacation leave at work. Now you’re only a few days away from your dream destination, Japan! For a smooth and memorable trip, it’s important to make some essential arrangements even before you leave. To help you plan your Japan trip, here’s Pinay Traveller’s essential Japan guide for budget travelers!
1. Travel Documents
Make sure your passport is valid for six months beyond your travel date and have at least one free page for stamps or stickers. I remember someone being offloaded just because the validity period of his passport was less than 6 months. What a waste of money and energy! Needless to say, if you’re Pinay, you have to have a visa to enter Japan so be sure to make the necessary arrangements before you even book your flight.
Visit Japan Web – Before entering Japan, you must register at the Visit Japan Web portal. This portal essentially helps you with immigration procedures (clearance and customs declaration upon entering) and tax-free purchases while in Japan. Remember that you need to show the 2D code when you’re going through the immigration procedure.
PinayTraveller’s Personal Note: Don’t wait until you land in Japan to do this. You don’t want to clog up the lines and look like a loser, right?
2. Transportation
Getting around Japan might be intimidating at first for non-Japanese speakers. But the good news is, most of the signages are written in English, and there are MANY ways to get around easily!
When in Japan, we often take the train. It’s convenient, cheap, and always on time so it’s the best option for us. We also take the city buses to go around the city. But most of the time, we just walk in between stations! After all, the best way to learn about a place is to do it on foot.
For riding trains, subways, and buses, we use our ever reliable ICOCA IC card when in Osaka and the rest of the Kansai region. For Tokyo, SUICA and PASSMO are the cards of choice. All three are valid across Japan. The nice thing about these cards is that they also function as debit cards so you can use them to pay in convenience stores and various establishments. You can buy an ICOCA IC card online, usually pre-loaded with ¥500 or ¥1,500. You can also buy or tap them up at the stations. The ICOCA card is valid for 10 years upon first use so make sure to keep yours after your trip! Know more about the ICOCA IC card here.
As for the SUICA IC, two types of card are currently being sold: the SUICA Welcome card for tourists and the regular SUICA card for Japan residents. While the SUICA Welcome card (only available in Haneda Airport) is only valid for 28 days, the regular card (available in Narita Airport, and at JR Travel Service Centers at major JR train stations) is valid for 10 years and has a 500-deposit and can be refunded at the end of your trip.
You can read more about the cards here.
PinayTraveller’s Personal Note: Mag-ICOCA IC na lang kayo, mas convenient pa.
3. Cash or Debit Card?
An essential Japan guide for budget travelers won’t be complete without money talk. Before 2020, I never travelled without cash, always making sure that I had local currency or US dollars. All that changed after the pandemic. Last year, we went to Japan without a single yen or USD, relying mainly on our debit cards to withdraw cash from ATMs at the airport and the convenience stores.
Comparing the transaction fees, it was cheaper (and more convenient) to withdraw cash rather than exchange money. But this was just my experience and things may have changed since.
But what debit cards to use? Well apparently, CIMB and G-CASH have the best conversion rates. Also, both do not charge transaction fees for ATM withdrawals overseas. Compare this to the USD3.5 or 1.75% (whichever is higher) charge of BPI debit card.
When it came to banks or ATM machines, we learned that Seven Bank (yes, the bank of 7 Eleven) does not charge withdrawals using VISA or Mastercard-affiliated cards. Some banks, however, charge ¥110 (tax included) for every ¥20,000 withdrawal.
Lastly, the best debit card to use for paying at convenience stores (or wherever it is accepted) is G-Cash because, as mentioned, it has the best conversion rate. Alternatively of course, credit cards are accepted in most establishments.
PinayTraveller’s Personal Note: My brain always says bring cash! My heart always says let’s be adventurous! But seriously, always bring cash for emergencies.
4. Pocket Wi-Fi
I cannot imagine travelling to Japan without an internet connection. While most of the public places in the major cities like Tokyo, Osaka, or Nagoya offer free internet connection, it always helps if you have your own, especially if you’re using apps like Google Maps or Google Translate during your stay. I’ve used Japan Wireless during my trip in 2023. It was relatively painless: I booked the service a few days before my trip, picked up the package at the airport (which contained the unit and charger and a return envelope) then, at the end of my trip, put everything inside the envelope and dropped it off at one of the red post boxes at the airport before flying back to Manila.
There’s a cheaper option, though, via Klook. This was the service I used in 2019 and even then, the whole process was quite smooth. Just rent a pocket wi-fi via their website, then pick it up at the airport upon your arrival.
Needless to say, having internet connection in Japan will really make travel much, much easier so make sure to book a service that suits your need and budget.
PinayTraveller’s Personal Note: So you’re saying you don’t need wi-fi? Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
5. Passes
Do you really need passes? This depends on your itinerary or the places you want to visit. For our Osaka trip, we bought the Amazing Osaka 1-day pass (P761 on Klook). The pass includes free entrance to 30 sightseeing spots and unlimited travel on the Osaka Municipal Subway and city bus. It c also be used in some private railways like Hankyu, Hanshin and Nankai Railways.
Now for the all-important question: is it worth it? To which I answer a resounding “yes!”. But a caveat, though–it’s not for everyone. For first-timers in Japan, the passes are a great way to see the city from a largely touristic point of view. But I have to tell you, nakakapagod siya! It’s very tiring to cram more than 5 tourist spots in one day, especially since they are not close to each other. So you have to be very careful in choosing the places you want to visit. We chose the Umeda Sky Building, the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living (very interesting), and the Glion (Car) Museum, then ended the day with a ride on the Tombori River Cruise. Whew!
PinayTraveller’s Personal Note: Nope, not doing the four-spots-a-day joyride again! But do check out other passes as you may just find something you like.
I hope this guide will somehow help you in your next Japan adventure! Or, if you have any personal tips or would you like to share your experiences with us, leave a comment below! Oh, if you want to see more essential Japan guide for budget travelers, check this out.
