Field notes
Japan
Get acquainted with the character and the corners of Japan.
The character
Japan runs on systems, and the systems run on time. The Shinkansen's average delay, weather and earthquakes included, is about a minute. Train staff point at signals and call them out loud, a practice called shisa kanko, because the pointing measurably cuts errors. This is a country that looked at human fallibility and decided to engineer around it, politely.
The politeness isn't decoration. It's infrastructure, as load-bearing as the rails. Nobody will tell you that you're doing it wrong, which means you'll need to watch and copy, then forgive yourself often. The kindness here arrives quietly and usually when you're lost.
For a first visit, the practical advice is simple. Slow down, queue where the queue is, and put the phone away at dinner counters. Japan rewards attention more reliably than any country we know.
When to go
Spring and autumn. Cherry blossoms hit Tokyo around late March to early April, and the autumn leaves run through November. Both are crowded, and both are worth it.
Avoid Golden Week, a cluster of national holidays from late April into early May when the entire country travels at once. Mid-August brings Obon, the other great domestic migration. Summer otherwise is hot and humid enough to reorganize your plans around air conditioning.
Money
The currency is the yen. Japan is cheaper than its reputation. A filling bowl of ramen costs less than a sandwich in most Western capitals, and the convenience store breakfast is a genuinely good meal, engineered like everything else.
Cash still matters more than in Europe, especially at small restaurants and shrines, though cards and transit IC cards now cover most city life. There's no tipping. Attempting it produces confusion and a polite chase down the street to return your money.
Getting around
The Shinkansen is the backbone, fast and absurdly punctual. The nationwide Japan Rail Pass got a steep price increase in 2023 and no longer pays for itself on a standard Tokyo and Kyoto trip, so do the math before buying. Regional passes are often the better deal.
In cities, get an IC card, Suica or one of its cousins, then tap your way around. Stations are large enough to have weather systems. Budget ten extra minutes for any transfer in Tokyo or Shinjuku will teach you why.
Do this
Spend one night in a ryokan with an onsen
A traditional inn with hot spring baths. Dinner appears in courses, the futon appears while you bathe, and you'll consider restructuring your life around this.
Eat at a counter with eight seats
One cook, one specialty, decades of practice. Point at what the regulars have. The smaller the menu, the better the meal, almost as a law of physics.
See Kyoto at seven in the morning
The famous temples before the buses arrive are a different city. Fushimi Inari's gates at dawn are quiet enough to hear the crows.
Take the konbini seriously
The convenience store onigiri wrapper is engineered to keep seaweed crisp until the second you open it. This is the national attitude in one object. Breakfast for a few hundred yen.
Skip this
Shibuya crossing as an activity
It's a busy intersection. You'll see it anyway on the way to somewhere better. Watching it from the Starbucks window is the tourist equivalent of photographing an airport.
Climbing Mount Fuji in peak season
The official climbing season is short and the summit trail at sunrise resembles a queue at customs. The mountain is better from a distance, which is also the traditional view of it.
Worth knowing
- Japan has nearly four million vending machines, selling everything from hot coffee to umbrellas, and the count is slowly falling. They work and they're clean. Nobody vandalizes them.
- Lost property in Japan tends to come back. Tokyo's lost-and-found system returns a large share of wallets and phones intact, a fact that reorganizes how you think about cities.
- Slurping noodles is correct manners. It cools the noodles and signals appreciation. The most reserved country we cover is loud at exactly one moment, on purpose.
The notes end here, for now.
We're writing the books one country at a time. The Norway guide shows what the full treatment looks like, and the quiz doubles as our mailing list.