Hi everyone
I'm Amy from Cakes with Faces
And today I've got some tips for you
If you're going to Japan
For the Rugby World Cup
Even if you're not going for the rugby
There's going to be lots of things that might be useful for your trip
Now I must admit
I don't really know anything about rugby
But I do know about Japan
So I'm going to go through
How to get around Japan
What the food's like
Money, and all things like that
If you want to know more about any of these things
There's a playlist on my channel
Called Japlanning
With lots of tips and advice
For planning your trip
And there's new Japan videos
Every Thursday
If you want to subscribe
First thing: What if I don't speak Japanese?
Lots of people ask me about this
And it might kind of put you off going to Japan
But the truth is
The language barrier really isn't as difficult as you might think
Lots of signs are in English
That includes all the signs at the stations
And on the train
When you're on the metro
They sometimes even have a display showing which station you're at
And which is the next one coming up
So you can't get lost
The ticket machines at the station
Have a button on the screen
So you can switch the language to English
Lots of restaurants have English menus
Especially in touristy areas
And when you go in
It's going to be obvious you're a foreigner
So they'll quite often give you the English menu automatically
Some people speak English
But not everybody
And other people understand a little bit of English
Because they learnt it at school
But don't feel confident enough to speak it back to you
But it really is amazing
How much you can communicate
With gestures and pointing at things
If you want to learn a couple of words of Japanese
It does help
And people really do appreciate it
So yes and no
Are hai
And iie
That's hai for yes
Hai
And iie for no
Iie
Thank you is arigatou
Arigatou
And sorry is another useful one
Especially as Japan's such a polite country
That's sumimasen
Sumimasen
Sumimasen for sorry
You can also use that for excuse me
If you want to catch someone's attention
LIek the waiter or somebody
You can say sumimasen
Next thing: How to get around
The best way to get around
Is on the trains
They're clean, they're on time
And they take you everywhere you need to go
So you really don't need to rent a car
I'd say forget about that
The train is the way to go
When you're travelling between cities
You can go on the bullet train
The shinkansen
Which is a really great experience
It's really comfortable
And fast
You can check the roues on a site called hyperdia.com
It's all in English
You put in where you're travelling from and to
And it tells you the route
And everything you need to know
The times & prices
It's really useful
If you are going to be taking the bullet train
It might be worth getting a Japan Rail Pass
A JR Pass
It's only for foreigners
You can go on as many bullet trains as you want
Apart from the very fastest ones
But that's not a problem
You can also go on as many JR trains as you want
That's trains run by Japan Railways
On Hyperdia, they're the ones that start with JR
What you can't go on
Is the Tokyo Metro
Or lines run by other rail companies
It's not cheap
At the moment it's about £225
For a 7 day pass
But bullet train tickets are expensive
So it's actually a really good deal
So: Should you get a JR pass?
The general rule is:
If you're doing a return trip between Tokyo & Osaka
Or a trip of equivalent distance
It's going to be worth getting the pass
Because it costs about the same
If you want to get one
It's only for foreigners
So you have to order it before you go to Japan
They post you a voucher
That you can then swap for the actual pass
Once you get to Japan
I get mine from japan-rail-pass.co.uk
You can look up prices on hyperdia.com
And see if it's worth it for you
I'd recommend making seat reservations for the bullet train
Because it might be busy
You can do that when you get to Japan
At the ticket office at the station
They usually have an english speaker
And there's more about that
In my How to Take the Bullet Train video
If you're going north of Tokyo
To Kamaishi or Sapporo
You can make your reservations online before you go
The other option for travelling long distance between cities
Is internal flights
Both JAL and ANA
Have special packages
That are pretty good value
And there's also some budget Japanese airlines
With really cute names
Like Peach Airways & Vanilla Air
Flights might be easier for really long distances
But compare prices & times
And remember that for flights
You need to actually get to the airport
And build in time for checking in & all of that
I'd say that for trips like from Tokyo to Osaka
It's only 2.5 hours on the bullet train
So that's the easier option
But for really long trips
Like if you've got a match in Oita
And you need to get up to Sapporo
A flight might be the easier option
So that was long distance travel between cities
For local trains
I think the best ticket to get
Is a Suica or Pasmo card
They're both pretty much the same thing
IT's just like an Oyster card in London
You load it up with credit at the ticket machine
Then when you get to the ticket barriers
You just swipe in & swipe out
It's really easy
Trains in Japan are run by lots of different companies
But Suica is valid for everything
So you don't need to worry about whether you've got the right ticket
There are day passes
That might save you money if you're going on the train a lot
But not all of them are valid for all the lines
So I'd say a Suica card is just the easiest option
Now you can't really use your Suica card for bullet trains
So use your JR Pass or a separate ticket for them
And then use your Suica card for everything else
You can get it from a ticket machine when you get to Japan
Now the opening ceremony and some of the finals
Are going to be at the main Tokyo stadium
Which actually isn't in central Tokyo
So it's outside of the metro and all of this
It's to the west, 20 mins from Shinjuku Station
You need to take the Keio Line
To Tobitakyu Station
And just as a warning
Shinjuku is the busiest station in the world!
It's huge
You're pretty much guaranteed to take a wrong turning at some point
But you'll be ok
Just leave yourself plenty of time
And follow signs to the Keio Line
Once you get to Tobitakyu Station
It's a 5 min walk to the stadium
That trip isn't covered by your JR Pass
But you can use your Suica card
Before I carry on
As well as making videos about Japan
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Now, back to the video
Pocket wifi
I'd recommend renting a pocket wifi so you can use the internet
Everyone in your group can connect their phone
Or their ipad
Then you can use the internet when you're out and about, just like at home
It's really useful, so you can use Google Maps
You can look up times
Use Tripadvisor
And all those things
I got mine from Japan-rail-pass.co.uk
But there's lots of other places you can get them from too
Next: money
And do you need cash or cards?
Paying by card isn't as widespread in Japan
As it is in other countries
So you'll definitely need cash
That's Japanese Yen
For things like ticket machines
Vending machines
Smaller shops & restaurants
And things like snacks at kiosks
But take your card as well
You'll be able to use it in lots of shops & restaurants
One thing to check
Is make sure your card's commission free abroad
So you don't get extra charges from your bank
If you want to get cash out at ATMs
Only some of them accept foreign cards
The easiest one to look for is 7Eleven
That's a convenience store
And they're everywhere
There's more about all of this
In my video about Money in Japan
And while we're on the subject
There's no tipping
So you don't need to worry about that
And there's not really any haggling
That would come across as quite rude
Things you need to know
About ettiquette & Japanese culture
Japanese culture is all about being polite
Now it's a generalisation
But people tend to be quite reserved
And not very outgoing
But they are really friendly
Sometimes when I've been lost
And obviously looking confused
People have come up to me & helped me find the place I'm looking for
And they're always really nice
For me, that's one of the best things about being in Japan
Next, when you're in a restaurant
Don't hang about after you've finished
Lots of restaurants are quite small
Sometimes there's a line of people outside waiting to get in
So the culture is: eat & then leave
When you're done
Don't eat when you're walking along in the street
People just dont really do it
They also don't really eat on the train
Unless it's a long distance train
Or a bullet train
Then that's fine
Also when you're on the train
Put your phone in silent mode
If everyone else is being quiet
You should be quiet as well
People often tend to talk quite quietly on the train
And not be too rowdy
So judge the atmosphere
If everyone else is talking loudly
That's fine
But if everyone else is being quiet
You should follow suit
It's all about not bothering other people
Lots of people worry about doing the wrong thing in Japan
But really
As a foreigner
You get a kind of free pass
No one's going to expect you to know all the little faux pas
Or things you should or shouldn't do
They're not going to care if you hold your chopsticks the wrong way
Or whatever
The important thing
Is that you're polite
And respectful of other people
Just think about others
Don't get in the way
Don't be noisy if everyone else is being quiet
And you'll be fine
Finally, you need to carry your passport with you all the time
No one's ever asked to see mine
But you're supposed to have it on you
Food
There's all types of food
It's not just Japanese food
And it's not all rice and noodles
It's also not all fish
There is a lot of fish
But there's lots of other things too
You can get burgers
Italian, curry Mexican
All sorts
And there is McDonalds
But Japanese excellent
So you should definitely try it
The standard is really good
Even at cheap places
So you can't go too far wrong
It's also pretty reasonably priced
Especially compared to the UK
It's a lot cheaper
And often a lot better quality
Lots of places have English menus
It's also really common to have picture menus
Which is great
Because you know what you're going to get
It also makes it really easy to order
If you don't speak Japanese
Because you can just point at what you want
Convenience stores are everywhere
The main chains are 7Eleven, Family Mart & Lawsons
They're open late
So you can always get a drink or a snack
The food is good quality
And it's cheap
They also have fried chicken at the counter
They're got onigiri rice balls
Which are the equivalent of sandwiches
They're only about 100 yen
And they have boxes of sushi
They also sell alcohol
Which is pretty cheap
If you want drinks for your hotel room
Vending machines are everywhere
I've seen them in the park
In just quiet residential streets where people live
Even up mountains
So you can always get a drink
Wherever you are
Here's some main Japanese foods you have to try
First: ramen
Everyone's favourite
That's noodles in soup
There's loads of different types
Sushi is so much cheaper in Japan
And excellent quality
You can go to a conveyor belt sushi place
Which is cheap & fun
Or splash out on some higher end, fancy sushi
In my experience
All of them are much better than sushi you get in the UK
Japanese curry
Like katsu curry
My favourite is Coco Curry
You'll see the yellow sign
They give you a lot of food
And it's pretty cheap
It's actually really good for breakfast
After a night out
Another fun place to go
Is Torikizoku
They do yakitori
Or basically: meat on sticks
Everything is 298 yen
That's all the plates of food
And all the drinks
That's a place you can hang out all evening
It's really good
There's a video on my channel
Having said that
Don't just go to chains
Pop in to any random, little, small place you find
That's where you're going to have a really great experience
You can't go too far wrong
Weather
The Rugby World Cup runs from late September to the start of November
To me, coming from the UK
Autumn seems to start quite late in Japan
When I went in the first half of October
It felt just like the summer to me
At the start of October
It was really quite warm and humid
And you can see what that did to my hair
It cools down throughout October
But it's still quite warm
So you're going to want summer clothes
And a hoodie or jacket
For the evening
Now Japan's a long country
So it spans several different climates
If you're going to any matches in Sapporo
That's on Hokkaido
The north island
So it's going to be a bit cooler
When I was there in February
IT was -12 degrees C
The coldest place I've ever been
Now it's not going to be that cold when you're there
But towards the end of October
It's going to go down to about 10 degrees C
Whereas in Oita, Kumamoto and Fukuoka
IT'll be more like 20 degrees C
And Tokyo will be about 18
Next: bars in Japan
If you want to go out to bars in the evening
Japanese pubs are called izakaya
They often serve small plates of food as well as drinks
In Tokyo the major nightlife areas are
Shibuya, Shinjuku and Roppongi
But you'll find places to go out in all the main areas
And around major stations
They usually have beers
Including Japanese beers
Like Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo
They'll have sake
And shochu
Which is a spirit
A chuhai is a shochu highball
That's shochu and fruit soda
And you'll also often find
a whiskey highball
That's whiskey and soda
Or a lemon sour
Is another popular one
And just like restaurants
There's no tipping
Some bars have a cover charge
Which is a bit like an entrance free
Of about 500 or 1000 yen per person
They'll add it to your bill
It's just something to be aware of
Because it can add up
If you go on a bar crawl to lots of different places
Are there any bad areas you should avoid?
Crime levels are low in Japan
It's a really safe place
Sometimes you hear about tourists being overcharged in bars
But generally
People aren't out to scam you
And things like pickpocketing
Aren't a big problem
But use your common sense like you would anywhere
There aren't really any dangerous areas you need to avoid
You might hear that Kabukicho is the bad area of Tokyo
It's the red light district
Where you can also see Godzilla
There's a video on my channel
Really it's perfectly safe is you're just walking around the streets
Just ignore the touts
And don't go into any dodgy bars
The only bad stories I've heard
Have been when people have gone into the bars
Or let the touts drag them in somewhere
Sometimes people have their drinks spiked
Or they get scammed out of loads of money
So just ignore the touts
Keep walking
Stay on the streets
And you'll be fine
It's not somewhere you need to avoid
Things to do between rugby matches
visitjapan2019.com
Is a really good site
For the Rugby World Cup
It's got all the venue cities
With ideas of things to do
And how to get there
I'd love to give you loads more recommendations of things to do
But I think this video's become way too long already
There's videos on my chanel
With lots of ideas
For Tokyo, Sapporo
Fukuoka and the rest of Kyushu
If you're going to matches in Oita
Or Kumamoto
Including the Beppu Hells
Which is a really good day trip
Thre's things to do in Osaka
If you're going to matches in Higashi-Osaka or Kobe
They're both really near Kyoto
Which is the capital of historic Japan
In October you'll see lots of cute Halloween stuff
Even though it's western
It's really caught on in Japan
If you're there for Halloween itself
You should definitely try & get to a parade or a party
They look really fun
If you're near Tokyo or a match in Kumagaya
At the right time
There's a festival in a place called Kawagoe
On the 19th and 20th October
When I went, it was just an amazing atmosphere
There were so many people
So many food stalls
You could just go round eating everything
It was fantastic
To find what else is on when you're there
Search for "festivals Japan October"
And see what comes up
If you've got any questions
Put them in the comments
And I'll try & help you out
Have a look at my Japlanning series
For lots more tips & advice
There's new Japan travel vlogs every Thursday
And have a great time!
Japan is an amazing place
And I always want to go back
You're going to love it!
See you soon
Bye bye!