in this video I'm gonna share with you
guys my top 10 things you guys should
know before coming to Japan some of you
guys already know I've lived in Japan
for more than 15 years and that I live
in the center of it all here in Shibuya
but when I first came to Japan from the
US there's so many things that I didn't
know or understand so in this video I
wanted to share with you guys the top 10
things that I wish someone told me
before I came here and let me know in
the comments section if you find any of
the things that I mentioned in the video
kind of weird and if you want to help
support the channel check out my Tokyo
merch I'll leave a link below let's get
started so first thing let's talk about
cash in Japan probably coming from a lot
of modern countries you think that you
can use credit cards because you know
you think Japan is a modern country
itself but what you'll find is that a
lot of places here in Japan won't accept
credit cards strange right I mean who
really wants to carry around cash in
their pocket all the time but the
reality is in Japan a lot of people
still carry around cash in fact I
probably have ten twenty thousand
dollars in my pocket at any given time
just because I have to use cash so much
but before I get into all of the places
that don't accept credit cards let me
share with you some places that do major
department stores or retailers
mid-to-upper and restaurants convenience
stores and music parks airports now some
shops that probably don't accept credit
cards are small mom-and-pop restaurants
local bars street food vendors a lot of
restaurants who serve set meals during
lunch time small retailers and some
taxis although more and more are
accepting credit cards these days even
some fast food places don't take credit
cards so you should be careful also if
you're planning to travel outside of the
city be prepared to bring enough cash
because it's even more likely for places
not to accept credit cards as a local
tip I find that my visa card is accepted
at most places while sometimes my
American Express is hit miss also if you
want to minimize carrying cash around
you can get a signature card or app as
well card it cost about
and you can load it up to 20,000 yen in
cash so you can use it at a lot of
places but mainly it's used for train
stations so you don't need to buy a
ticket each time when you get to the
Train and it automatically calculates
affair when you get out just tap in and
then tap out but you can also use it at
convenience stores many street vending
machines taxis train Kia's some
restaurants shops and even electronic
stores like big camera accept it now if
you're looking at withdrawal cash in
Japan I suggest seven bank ATM Japan
Post ATMs and press your bank does their
best at handling foreign cards so eating
and drinking while walking on the street
so in many respects is considered if bad
matters to walk and eat at the same time
even if you get food on the go like
sandwiches or only kiddies this rule may
sound weird to you but for Japanese
people eating a sandwich is the same as
eating a big bowl of pasta while walking
yeah weird if you want to eat or drink
in public the best thing to do is stop
and chill on the side of the street but
all in all walking and eating won't get
you in trouble but people will stare you
and look at you as if you were brought
up badly or maybe even the older
generation actually will say something
to you but there's always exceptions to
the rule and one of those exceptions is
table a ado key spots table a ado key
means to eat and walk so these are for
this is like Tsukiji fish market these
places are intended for people to buy
food and eat on the street and as its
named in Japanese okay to walk to but
one thing you should know is that even
in these areas a some shop don't allow
you to walk and eat but it should say on
the storefront just to let you know
festivals are another exception and as
more shops like Starbucks offer to go
items like coffee you'll see more and
more Japanese people walking around with
coffee cups in their hand ultimately
changing the culture of Japan the real
issue why it's thought of as bad manners
in Japan is because it's considered I'm
a well code which means it bothers other
people people here are sensitive with
strong food smells
would be the worst if you spill food or
drinks on them by accident but there's
all types of people in Japan I'm sure
you guys have that one friend or family
member that's more easily bothered by
the slightest thing depending on who you
ask it may be different so what I can
tell you is if you're really not sure
what to do and you're kind of confused
just stop walking if you're eating so
drinking in Japan the drinking age here
is 20 years old I was so surprised when
I first came here I was like wow you can
actually drink here at 20 years old so
you can literally go to any convenience
store and they'll sell you alcohol and
not ask you how old you are if you just
look like you're 20 years old
in fact there are still beer vending
machines on streets in hotels etc they
don't even require any proof of age but
recently in Japan they've made it a
little bit more strict let me show you I
select my beer I go to the counter the
clerk's scan the drink and the register
screens and asked if I'm over 20 years
old I tap yes I pay and I'm all good to
go what do you guys think too strict too
easy how is it in your country so let's
talk about tattoos at the onsen
japanese onsen AKA hot springs are one
of the coolest experiences you can have
in japan unfortunately many japanese
onsen prohibit people with tattoos from
entering the facility because of the
stigma associated with tattoos in japan
Yakuza
we're also known as organized crime are
known to have characteristic irezumi
also known as tattoos since a lot of
these onsen facilities don't want yakuza
going to their establishment or scaring
their customers they made like a blanket
statement saying that anyone with
tattoos that small or large can't enter
the place although it may sound unfair
it's Japan and it is what it is so
before making reservations at an onsen
make sure that they accept tattoos one
note though if you're going to own sins
with a private room or private onsen
hotels or you don't have to share the
space with strangers then it should be
okay to have tattoos as long as you
don't show anyone in public so for those
of you that have tattoos don't worry I'm
not gonna leave you hanging
few spots in Tokyo that are cool with
tattoos I have a full list on my website
so I'll be sure to leave a link in the
description of the video so you can
check it out for yourself later
alright Wi-Fi and Internet in Japan now
this is actually one of the things that
a lot of people ask me questions about
in the comment section and it's actually
one of the most things that always
concerns me when I go overseas so what
you need to know is that all of the
major cities like Tokyo have relatively
fast internet in Japan I even stayed at
a capsule hotel in Tokyo and their Wi-Fi
was super fast I think this should be
enough for most people nicer hotels
outside of the city should have Wi-Fi
but maybe at a slower speed but if
you're anything like me and need to be
connected all the time then there are
some local options number one Starbucks
on the free route luckily Starbucks
provides Wi-Fi to all its customers and
there are so many Starbucks all
throughout Japan but I found that the
speeds are fast or slow depending on the
amount of customers on the network you
can try other cafes but it's hit and
miss number two city Wi-Fi another free
alternative is to use a city Wi-Fi this
is only available at the major stations
or areas like Shibuya Shinjuku Harajuku
or dive at cetera connecting is fairly
easy I'll leave a link to all this
information in the description now if
you need to be connected at all times
then you're gonna need to go the paid
route so the first paid option is to
rent a portable hotspot Wi-Fi and carry
it around with you now I think it's the
easiest thing to just go to the airport
and rent one out there another option is
to get a SIM card for your unlocked
mobile device you can go to any major
electronics store and they should carry
it again check the description for more
details smoking in Japan check this out
it says
smoking area here right next to me
there's a smoking section smoking in
Japan may catch a lot of you off-guard
especially if you're coming from the US
but if you smoke then you're in luck
because Japan has some of the most
friendly laws for smokers but that may
be changing in the near future which
I'll tell you about just a little bit
later first of all many izakayas which
are sit-down restaurants designed for
drinking allow their customers to smoke
throughout the entire restaurant and
don't usually provide non-smoking
sections if you want to go to an izakaya
simply put you're gonna have to deal
with the second-hand smoke
nicer restaurants may prohibit smoking
but some of them still accommodate their
smoking customers so if you want to eat
at that kind of establishment you should
really ask before you make reservations
some family restaurants and other
establishments do attempt to divide
smokers and non-smokers but sometimes
you'll find that there's nothing really
separating a smoking table and a
non-smoking table other than maybe a
tiny bin and one of the biggest
surprises I had when first living in
Tokyo is that smoking inside is actually
allowed while smoking outside is
prohibited it didn't make sense to me at
first but when you consider how busy the
streets are in Tokyo the last thing you
want is someone bumping into you with
their cigarette but the city though
wanting to accommodate smokers had set
up smoking areas throughout the city so
those smokers who knew their nicotine
fix can do it safely on the street isn't
that a great idea but to the non-smokers
out there you might be pleased to hear
that they pass a law that make it more
strict to smoke cigarettes inside if
they want to have a smoking section to
have it separate from the non-smoking
section otherwise they can't have a
smoking section at all writing the train
in Japan now if you guys have seen any
videos on Japan you've probably seen
these crazy attendants pushing people on
the train and let
me tell you that the struggle is real
and it really happens especially during
rush hour try to avoid riding major city
commuter trains during the weekday
between 8 to 9:30 in the mornings 5:30
to 7:30 in the evenings and the last
train which is usually around midnight
and the trains reek of alcohol Peaks may
vary from train line to train line but
this should give you a rough idea of
when to avoid the trains also what a lot
of travelers don't know is that usually
the first or last part of the train on
weekday mornings are reserved for women
only this is because Japan has a huge
problem with men groping women on trains
especially when they're packed on the
train like marshmallows in a game of
chubby bunny look for the pink signs on
the cart which also indicate the women
only time in this case 7:30 a.m. to 9:30
a.m. so at a restaurant right now and
one of the things that I absolutely love
about Japan is a non clipping culture so
what I mean about that is if you go to a
restaurant or if you take a taxi you
never have to pay a tip the price on the
bill is an actual price you pay and
one of the things that I deeply
appreciate you save so much time not
having to calculate the tip and the
service area is almost every times
pretty good at the same time there's one
thing you guys need to know is that
there's women fees in some of the
restaurants call that dye or in
English the table charge prices vary
from place to place but ranges from 300
yen to the upper end of 1000 yen per
person advisor places you'll actually be
able to spot it right away when you sit
down at the table before ordering drinks
or food the waiter will bring you a
small dish once you see the small dish
then you know there's gonna be a table
charge it's very japanese in a way
they'll make you pay for a table charge
but they'll actually give you something
in return
general rule is if it's a fast-food
place ramen shop or restaurant serving
set lunch courses then you don't have to
worry about the table charge otherwise
expect the table charge but you really
need to be careful of the sneaky easy
kaya's that make you order a certain
number of dishes as well as charge you a
table charge they're usually the ones
advertising in front of the store for a
ridiculously cheap amount of money like
a thousand yen all you can eat all you
can drink or something like that even
places like this advertise 500 and Pizza
will have a table charge and they'll
make you also order one drink so no
matter what you are paying at least
1,000 yen 3 to the place I know it's a
lot to some of you but I still think
it's a bit sneaky let's talk about hotel
fees in Japan and if you guys have
looked and searched for hotel rates you
might have found that it's quite
expensive but what you may not know
initially is that more often than not
hotels and charge per person instead of
a room so I could see having a minor
add-on charge for an additional person
staying at their room but doubling the
rate for an additional person seems a
bit excessive to me I don't know about
you guys it made it really depend on the
country you're coming from
but I'm from the US and we really don't
have rooms doubling and rate when you
have two people versus one the only time
this makes sense to me is when you go to
a Japanese ryokan or onsen hotel and
they include dinner and breakfast as
part of the room rate in this case an
additional dinner and breakfast would
need to be prepared for that extra
person hence doubling the overall cost
anyway so I don't see Japan changing
their business practice anytime soon so
it may be affordable to look at other
services like Airbnb or couples and
families or for singles you might want
to check out capsules or youth hostels
and number-10 cooperate with the police
wow this has been like such a hot and
long day trying to film this I'm so glad
he made it through so let's just start
this may actually be a no-brainer
especially if you're coming from a
foreign country but what you might not
understand is the laws are very
different here in Japan and how the
police interpret those laws so whatever
rights you think you have you might want
to put that on hold when you come to
Japan one of those rights is your right
to privacy police here in Japan have the
rights to stop you to check your ID and
ask you questions just if they think you
look suspicious
it might sound ridiculous but that's
just how it is in Japan and if you don't
cooperate there's a high chance that
they can detain you and hold you in the
police box like the one behind me right
here in fact I've been stopped a few
times throughout my 15 years in Japan
and talking with my other friends who
live in Tokyo they've been stopped as
well if you guys have any experience
with the police in Japan let me know in
the comments section so the moral of the
story is if you get stopped by the
police just cooperate with them if you
don't want to get held up for any longer
even if you didn't do anything wrong and
always carry your ID or at least a copy
of it oh and if they do ask to search
your pockets yes it's actually not legal
for them to check it but if you don't
allow them to search your pockets again
they might give you a suspicious and
hold you in the police box so if you
guys don't want any trouble just
cooperate with the police I know it
sounds a bit strange but it'll save you
a lot of time in the long run alright so
that concludes my top 10 things I wish I
knew before coming to Japan please
remember that
these are generalizations and not all
Japanese are like this there's always
exceptions to the rule and despite all
these cultural differences I still love
living in Japan in fact I feel safer
living in Japan than any country I've
ever visited which is like a pretty cool
thing
so in visiting Japan or visiting any
other country we should always be
respectful of the culture if you found
this video helpful help me out and hit
that like button and if you want to see
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button and I'll catch you guys in the
next one