Highlights

• Tokyo, the sprawling capital city on the mid-Eastern coast
• Yokohama, just outside of Tokyo
• Hiroshima, sadly known for the atomic bomb destruction
• Nagoya, a centre of culture and home to Studio Ghibli Park
• Suzuka for the F1 circuit
• Kyoto, a beautiful, scenic city and former capital
• Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, near Kyoto. Great place for bass fishing!
• Osaka with its castle and beautiful river views
• Nara with its temples and adorable bowing deer
• Kobe famous for the beef and seaside
• Miyajima
• Okinawa
• Sapporo
• Hokkaido
• Fukuoka
• Yakushima sub-tropical Island
• Delicious Japanese cuisine and teas
• Riding on the smooth bullet trains (Shinkansen)
• Very polite and respectful culture
• Visiting the beautiful old temples
• Watch a baseball game
• Attend a sumo match

Before you go

• Fill out a customs and immigration form online to get a QR code and speed up the immigration process
• Add Suica card to Apple wallet and load yen onto it for local travel
• You sometimes need a Suica card to get into the train area, for example for the Shinkansen
• Some places only take cash and others take only physical credit cards
• The plugs are mostly US plugs but some European plugs will also fit
• Walk on the left, but on an escalator stand on left
• Eating while walking is considered rude
• If you eat at small food stands, you take your rubbish back to them to dispose of. Trash bins are limited in public, but you can usually find some in rail stations
• Leave lots of time to find your transport platforms. Trains leave on time and gates sometimes close slightly before departure time. Pay attention to the queuing system
• Transport stations can be very busy so consider sending large luggage with a service like Yamato
• FamilyMart and 7 Eleven are convenience stores with good selections of takeaway foods

Transport

• Japan has a number of international airports. Narita and Haneda in Tokyo and Kansai in Osaka are the largest.
• The train system in Japan is very efficient and quick. For longer distances, you can book Shinkansen trains. Most require a ticket and seat reservation so read carefully
• In cities, there are usually metro, bus and/or tram systems. However, these are not always quick
• Taxis are also available but can get expensive. Uber works but GO is the most popular app.

Accommodation

• Before choosing a hotel, you should read reviews carefully and also check the size of rooms. In the larger cities, the rooms can be very small even at the well-known hotel chains!
• APA is a popular hotel chain in Japan, and we stayed in a few in different cities. They are mid-range and the services and room sizes can vary.
• As usual I recommend checking reviews on Google Reviews
• I’ll give more specific recommendations and reviews for specific city posts

Currency

The official currency in Japan is the Yen. As of May 2025, one British pound is equal to 193.53 Japanese Yen (JPY)

I recommend to check the currency conversion just before you leave as this fluctuates

Food

Where to start with writing about Japanese food? Japanese food is one of my favourites in the world. One reason is because of the great variety, both for savoury and sweet dishes. I’ll write a summary of the different types of foods available and share more specific recommendations in the city posts. Each region has some unique specialties. And a unique Japanese concept is called bento, which is a boxed lunch with different compartments to have small amounts of multiple dishes. Great for those who can’t decide on one thing!

This is by no means a comprehensive guide to Japanese food! Also see my favourite Japanese Recipes.

Snacks and Starters

One of the most popular snacks is rice crackers, either senbei (non-glutinous rice flour) or arare (glutinous rice flour). They can be flavoured with soy, ginger, wasabi, etc.

Bread and pastries in Japan are amazing, and often have a French influence. The standard thick-sliced bread is somehow light and rich at the same time. The Japanese also make some of their own creations such as choucroute (sauerkraut and sausage) bread, something I have never seen in France!

For hot starters, one of my favourites is gyoza, dumplings similar to the Chinese version but with a thinner wrapper. The filling can be meat, seafood and/or vegetables.

Many will be familiar with edamame, and there are many other vegetable starters including tempura (battered and fried vegetables), candied sweet potato, pickled cucumbers or cabbage, and nasu dengaku (miso aubergine.

Izakaya describes a type of bar that serves small plates of food. Often this can include a lot of “guts”, as they usually translate intestines and other innards. They also serve chicken wings, sushi (not the best quality)

Main Courses

First, most people around the world will be familiar with ramen, a thin noodle soup. Udon is a soup made with thicker noodles. Surprisingly, loud slurping of noodles is considered polite in Japan!

Also very well-known around the world is sushi. Sashimi is sliced fish without the rice. Nigiri are small rectangles of rice topped with sliced fish or seafood. And maki are rolled sushi with nori (seaweed) either on the outside or within.

Teppanyaki or grilling is a very common way of cooking meats and some vegetables. Some restaurants in Japan specialise in beef (yakiniku) and others in chicken (yakitori).

And finally for this section, I would like to highlight two egg-based dishes. First, okonomiyaki is a tasty Japanese pancake or omelette. It is made with shredded cabbage, eggs, and often pork or prawns, then topped with a sweet and salty sauce and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes). Second, omurice is a fusion food which is a thin Japanese style omelette filled with rice and sometimes meat or seafood, served with sauce or curry.

Of course, there are many other main dishes in Japan and this is just a selection!

Desserts

As mentioned in the snacks section, make sure to try some Japanese pastries. They are delicious and delicate. Matcha (green tea) is a popular flavour, but not everything has matcha in it!

Japanese souffle cheesecake and pancakes are specialties that are not so easy to make at home.

Mochi is a dessert made out of pounded rice and this has become popular around the world, even in ice cream format.

There are also many varieties of cookies, and the fancier ones are packaged beautifully to serve as gifts.

Beverages

First, the variety of non-alcoholic beverages is huge! In addition to soda and juices, there are some unique drinks such as Calpico. It is hard to describe but may be similar to some sports drinks. You can find vending machines with many options in many transport stations and even on the side of the road.

Both coffee and tea are popular, and can be served hot or cold. Green tea in many formats including matcha is common. And I like the roasted tea called Genmaicha, which has a very full flavour.

Second, the Japanese alcoholic drinks also come in many varieties including sake, shochu, whisky, gin, beer, and plum wine. Sake has become very popular and can be served warm or cold. Sake quality levels are determined by the amount of rice polishing, which impacts the sake’s flavour. So far, I have not found a grape-based wine that I like, but the sweet plum wine is lovely.