Surviving Japan

1. The plane ticket is not that expensive.
Actually a 1-stop return ticket from Europe to Hong Kong cost around €700, together with a promotional return ticket from HKExpress varies from €80 to €150 - i.e. a cost of less than €900 could brings you to the other side of the world :)


Just be mindful that HKExpress has a very tricky system with weekly/bi-weekly promotion where  cheap tickets are only on sale in a certain period of time - the cost could be reduced more than half of the original price!!



2. Knowing no Japanese? No worries!!
Japanese are the most friendly people in the world. They are very patient and ready to help - despite the language barriers! Although most of the Japanese you meet on the way (probably more than 80% of them....) can't really communicate with you in English, but they always try their best to say something with body language. It would be best if you buy a sim card and go on Google Translate all the way through, as this would make your life ( and Japanese's life) much easier.  Getting a sim card is easy in Japan, they are available in vending machine of the airport, simply go to the information desk about it.


One interresting fact is that, most of the reception at hotels could not speaks in English as well, even if they do, they are more than happy to know that I can speak a little bit of Japanese (LOL). With a deep sigh of relief, they started to speak with me in Japanese, thinking that I could understand them fully ( in which I could only understand half...).



3. Booking Accomodation
The cheapest and the most complete 'catalogue' of  hotels around Japan is Rakuten. Most of the accomodation accept payment at the desk or advance online payment. The cancellation policy varies from hotels to hotels, but usually they charge a certain % of the cost, if the room is cancelled 7 to 3 days prior to the booked date. A full payment of the room is requested if you didn't show up for your booking.


Despite Rakuten provided different translated language of their website, the price is higher and the choice is narrower than the original Japanese domain. If you need help on this I am more than welcome to help individually :P



AirBnB is illegal in Japan but some people are still running it. However, I have quite a few friends having troubles with contacting the host so in general I don't really recommend AirBnB in Japan, unless you are really in a big group where you don't have much choices on accomodation.



Couchsurfing in Japan works best in big cities or towns especially around Tokyo and Osaka. There are a lot of friendly hosts but to my experience, they would like to have more than a week advance notice and they are relatively busy people :P



4. Getting around Japan

I know most of you guys here doesn't like to make travel plans and neither do I. Unlike some European countries who requires advance train ticket booking for cheaper deals, in Japan, they have tourist travel pass on the JR train. There are different travel pass across the country, varies from region, number of days and consecutive/non-consecutive pass. Therefore, it is better for you to make some sort of plans in advance of how are you spending the pass.



5. Hit on some traditional festival

Attending Japanese festival is one of my best experience travelling in Japan. The ceremony and the parade always fascinate me, with a great feast and entertainment along the stalls on the streets. It would be great if you could check on the Japanese festival calendar and see if you could hit onto something - trust me, this is the best way to experience local Japan.