Your FIRST HOUR in Japan - 2025 Travel Guide

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 16:03:10 +0000

Ah Japan - the "gateway" & first destination for so many people when it comes to traveling and exploring Asia, and in this video, I continue my "first hour in" series and show you step-by-step, every thing you need to do in your first hour in Japan - and with some changes from previous years, this is the 2024 Tokyo Travel Guide whether this is your first time, or hundredth time visiting this amazing country.

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TIMELINE + LINKS
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Some of the links below are affiliate links. For example, as an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you!

0:00 Intro

0:11 Japan Visa Requirements
🔗👉 Check if you’re Visa-exempt:
https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/....visit/visa/short/nov

0:26 Wall Outlets
🔗👉 The Travel Adapter I Recommend on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3VnTXZC
The TESSAN adapter supplies up to a whopping 100W, which means it can simultaneously charge a MacBook Air as well as an iPhone full steam.

0:48 Emergency Cash
My recommendation is to have 10,000 Japanese Yen of backup emergency cash per WEEK of your trip. When I say “backup emergency” cash, I mean, stored completely separately from your wallet - like say, in your toiletries Dopp kit. Contrary to rumours of Japan being ridiculously expensive, I, as a 6 foot tall, 180 lb guy, can EASILY eat very full for just $10-$15 US dollars per day.

1:04 Unlocked Cellphone
As I showed in the video, more and more, myself and many folks who travel anywhere use eSIM cards. This video is NOT sponsored, but as shown on screen, I’ve used both Airalo AND Holafly at various destinations with great success. The KEY POINT is that these eSIM’s support DATA-ONLY, so if you need to make calls to landlines, you’ll want to get a local sim from a local carrier after you land.

1:16 JR Pass… Worth it?
In October 2023, Japan Rail East jacked up the prices by more than 70% to their already-previously-expensive JR Pass. The JR Pass is really ONLY a point of consideration if you will literally take a bullet train every single day of your trip (or, if you’ll be there for a month and take it at least 12-15 times).

What’s more, there are several bullet train (Shinkansen) rail companies, and this pass only supports those operated by JR East, so many folks have experienced extreme disappointment and messed up travel schedules because they discovered when they went to board, that the pass didn’t cover their particular route and they had to pay hundreds of dollars out of pocket (or miss their itinerary). Obviously, do your own research, but with the new price jump, I can confidently say, absolutely not worth it.

1:41 Narita vs Haneda

2:15 Forms To Fill Out

3:03 Haneda Airport Procedure

3:24 Immigration Process

3:49 Checked Bags & Customs

4:13 Task 1 of 3

5:15 Task 2 of 3

5:49 In Case You’re Still Nervous

6:13 Task 3 of 3

7:00 Suica & Pasmo
🔗👉 PASMO PASSPORT Info Website:
https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/about/

7:49 Tokyo Travel Tip 1

8:24 Tokyo Travel Tip 2

8:42 Tokyo Travel Tip 3

9:27 Tokyo Travel Tip 4

#Travel #JapanTravel #TravelTips

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DISCLAIMERS:

Some of the links above have an affiliate code, if you purchase gear with these links I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Unless explicitly stated, this video was not paid for by outside persons or companies. This means that the content of this video and my opinions are 100% my own, and were not vetted or paid for by any third party.