One Week Before Japan: What to Do Before You Travel

A week to go.

By now, the planning should largely be finished. Your flights and accommodation are booked, your itinerary is in place and the decisions about where to go and how long to spend there have already been made.

This isn't the time to start planning the journey again.

Instead, there are a few practical things worth checking before you travel. Most are straightforward, but sorting them now means the last couple of days can be spent looking forward to Japan rather than wondering whether you've forgotten something.

‍

Check your Passport and entry requirements

Start with the important things.

For British citizens travelling on a full British passport, your passport currently needs to be valid for the duration of your stay in Japan and have a blank page available. There is no additional six-month validity requirement. For tourism visits of up to 90 days, British citizens do not normally need to obtain a visa before travelling.

Entry requirements can change, so check the latest official advice shortly before departure. If you're travelling through another country on the way to Japan, check its transit requirements too.

It's also sensible to keep an electronic copy of your passport somewhere you can access separately from the original.

Check the latest UK Government advice for Japan

‍

Complete "Visit Japan Web"

If you haven't already done so, complete your details on Visit Japan Web, the Japanese Government's online service for arrival procedures.

You can register the information required for immigration and customs before arriving in Japan and display the relevant QR code during the arrival process.

Do this before you leave home and make sure you know how to access it on your phone when you arrive.

Official Visit Japan Web information

‍

Have your travel information to hand

You don't need to go through your itinerary and start planning everything again. That's rather the point of having organised the journey properly in the first place.

Just make sure you can easily access the final version while you're away.

Download your itinerary and important travel documents to your phone or tablet rather than relying entirely on an internet connection. Take a printed copy as well if that's how you prefer to travel.

Make sure you can readily find your accommodation details, transport arrangements, meeting points and, importantly, the contact details for assistance while you're in Japan.

Do the same with your travel insurance. You don't want to be searching through several months of emails for an emergency assistance number if you actually need it.

‍

Sort out your phone and mobile data

A smartphone is extremely useful in Japan.

Maps, train information, translation, restaurant searches and messages from hotels or guides are all considerably easier if you have mobile data.

Your options include an eSIM, physical SIM, international roaming through your UK provider or a portable Wi-Fi device. Which is best depends on your phone, your provider and how much data you expect to use.

If mobile connectivity has been arranged as part of your journey, check what has been provided. Otherwise, decide how you're going to connect before you leave rather than trying to sort it out after landing.

‍

What about Wi-Fi?

Most hotels provide Wi-Fi, and you'll also find it in many cafes, stations and other public spaces.

It's useful, but we wouldn't rely on public Wi-Fi as your principal way of staying connected. Having your own mobile connection means maps, translation and messages remain available when you actually need them.

As with public Wi-Fi anywhere, be cautious about using unsecured networks for sensitive transactions such as online banking.

‍

Check your plugs and chargers

Japan uses two flat-pin electrical sockets, so UK travellers will need a suitable plug adaptor.

Think about everything you're taking that needs charging: phone, watch, camera, tablet, laptop and power bank can quickly turn into quite a collection.

Most modern phone and laptop chargers are designed to work across different international voltages, but check the information on the charger itself. A travel adaptor changes the plug connection; it doesn't convert the voltage.

And take a power bank if you're likely to use your phone heavily during the day. Maps, photographs and translation can consume more battery than you expect.

‍

Have more than one way of paying

Cards are widely used in Japan, but cash remains useful and there are still places where you'll need it.

Take more than one payment card if possible and don't keep everything together. Check what your bank or card provider charges for overseas transactions and make sure you know your PIN.

You don't need to arrive carrying enough yen for your entire holiday. Cash can be withdrawn after arrival. The UK Government specifically notes that ATMs at Japanese post offices, 7-Eleven stores and JP Post Bank accept some foreign cards.

Convenience stores are widespread, so accessing cash is generally straightforward, but having an alternative card is sensible in case your first one isn't accepted.

‍

Check any medication

This one is worth taking seriously.

The legal status of some medicines available or prescribed in the UK is different in Japan. UK Government advice specifically warns that some common prescription and over-the-counter medicines are restricted, including certain products containing pseudoephedrine or codeine.

If you take regular medication, check that you are permitted to take it into Japan. Don't assume that something being routinely prescribed in Britain means the same rules apply elsewhere.

Keep essential medication in your hand luggage, preferably in its original packaging, and take the appropriate prescription or supporting documentation where required. UK aviation guidance also recommends considering carrying all necessary medication in hand luggage in case checked baggage is delayed or lost.

‍

Now look at the weather

A week before departure, the forecast starts becoming genuinely useful.

Don't just look at “Japan”. Check the individual places you're visiting.

Conditions in Tokyo, Kyoto, Takayama, Hokkaido or the mountains can be quite different during the same journey. This is the point at which you can make sensible final decisions about what actually goes into the suitcase.

Layers are useful, particularly if your journey covers several regions or includes time in the mountains.

And don't forget the possibility of rain.

‍

Think seriously about your shoes

This matters more than people sometimes expect.

Even on a well-planned journey using trains, private transfers and guides, you're likely to walk more than you normally do at home.

Stations can be large. Temples and shrines can cover substantial areas. Gardens take time to explore. Historic neighbourhoods are best seen on foot. A perfectly ordinary day of sightseeing can quietly accumulate a surprising number of steps.

Take comfortable shoes that you already know you can walk in.

Your footwear should also reflect your particular itinerary and your own fitness. A journey involving the Kumano Kodo or mountain walking obviously requires different preparation from a predominantly city-based holiday.

The week before departure is not the ideal time to discover that your brand-new walking shoes give you blisters.

‍

Pack for your journey, not every possibility

Japan is an easy country in which to buy most everyday things you've forgotten.

So don't try to prepare for every conceivable eventuality.

Think about where you're actually going, the weather you're expecting and how often you're changing hotels.

If you're travelling around Japan by rail, remember that there will probably be occasions when you have to move your own luggage. Even when luggage forwarding is being used, you may need to get a suitcase between a hotel and a station.

A useful test is simply:

Can I comfortably manage this luggage myself if I need to?

If the answer is no, you've probably packed too much.

Also check the size and weight allowances for the flights you're taking, particularly if your journey includes domestic or connecting flights with different baggage allowances.

‍

Take a useful day bag

A small backpack or comfortable day bag is one of the most useful things you can take.

It gives you somewhere for water, an extra layer, umbrella, medication, charger and anything else you need during the day without having to carry several separate bags.

If your journey uses luggage forwarding, think about whether the bag is also large enough for an overnight stay.

There may be occasions when your main suitcase is sent ahead while you travel with only what you need for a night. A sensible backpack or small overnight bag makes that considerably easier.

Just remember to take out everything you'll need before your suitcase begins its own journey across Japan.

‍

Download the things you'll actually use

You don't need dozens of Japan-specific apps.

For most travellers, Google Maps and Google Translate will do a remarkable amount of the work.

Google Maps is particularly useful for getting around Japanese cities and using public transport. Google Translate can help with signs, menus and conversations, and its camera function is useful when faced with Japanese text.

Download anything you may want available offline before you leave.

You should also have access to your airline app, banking apps, travel insurance details and electronic travel documents.

Then stop downloading things.

Japan is a country to experience, not an app collection to manage.

‍

Leave useful information with someone at home

Give a family member or someone you trust a copy of your itinerary, or at least enough information to know where you're travelling.

More importantly, give them the appropriate contact details to use if there is an emergency.

For Secret Japan Travel clients, the contact information provided with your final travel documents is the most useful information to leave with somebody at home.

‍

The night before

There shouldn't be very much left to do.

Make sure your passport, wallet, medication and essential travel documents are together. Charge your phone and power bank. Check that you can access your itinerary and that you have the contact details you'll need once you arrive.

Put anything you absolutely cannot travel without in your hand luggage.

Then leave it alone.

There will always be another restaurant you could research, another neighbourhood you could read about and another video telling you about the ten things you absolutely must do in Tokyo.

You've done the planning.

Now you can start looking forward to actually being there.

‍