Are you visiting Japan for just a short time? Here’s a quick list of things that I think are important to bring to make your stay less worrisome and more enjoyable. If you have any suggestions that I didn’t mention, feel free to leave them in the comments section.

1. Debit Card and $100 - Many people say bring cash because many places don’t accept credit cards. This is only kind of true. I say bring $100 and your debit card instead. At the airport you can minimize  exchange rate fees by changing only $100 into Yen. This way you’ll have cash on hand and can buy some things from the vending machines and pay for transportation when you arrive. Major stores will take a debit card if it has the Visa or Mastercard logo on it. To get money, you can withdrawal using your Visa or Mastercard from almost any Japan Post Office (no ATM fee) or 7-11 (~250 Yen ATM fee). Very fair exchange rates are set each day by Visa or MasterCard, and depending where you bank you’ll be charged 1% from Visa or Mastercard, and 1% or more from your bank. And you’ll have a withdrawal limit of $500 USD per day most likely. And many major stores will accept credit cards as payment.
2. Deodorant - It gets hot and humid during the summer, and sometimes public transportation cranks up the heat in the winter. To stay dry, you should bring some antiperspirant/deodorant. I haven’t seen it for sale that frequently in Japan. When I did buy it in Japan I had to go to a few pharmacies until I found a Ban Rollon for about 500 Yen. It’s small and lasts maybe 3-4 weeks. Costco sells Speed Stick deodorant (non antiperspirant) but I don’t think it works very well.
3. Hand Sanitizer - I haven’t seen this for sale in Japan. You’ll be touching a lot of things including doorways, bus or subway handles, money, and then it’ll be time to eat! Sometimes it’s hard to find places to wash your hands. Many bathrooms are missing two things… soap and paper towels. When you go to a restaurant they’ll usually give you a wet towel, but I think bringing a small bottle of hand sanitizer will help you stay healthy and give you a piece of mind.
4. Handkerchief - There’s usually no towel or air dryer in the public bathrooms, and you might need it to wipe sweat from your face in the summer. Something cheap is fine. When you’re in Japan you can hit the shops and find a nice one for 500 yen or a Burberry or Calvin Klein for 1000 yen or less.
5. Digital Camera - Sure, Japan is known for electronics and gadgets, but they’re not cheap. I find that many things in Japan cost the same or more than in the US. And all Sony products have only Japanese language menus. When you’re capturing memories, it’s better safe than sorry.
6. 3 Prong Outlet Adapter – Almost all outlets are 2 prong only. So if you have any 3 prong electronics like your laptop, bring an adapter. You could buy one here, but you’re exploring Japan so why waste time looking for one?
7. Over the counter allergy meds - Seasonal allergies? Allergic to dust, or anything else? You should bring some Clariton or Zyrtec. It’s not sold OTC here, and the OTC meds are expensive and cause drowsiness.
8. Aspirin - You should bring a small bottle of aspirin or Tylenol. It costs maybe $1-2 in the US for a travel size. If you need to buy it in Japan it’ll cost you around 700 Yen for 20 aspirin pills. If you need to buy some here, look for “Bufferin” or ask for it by the brand name.
9. Earplugs and Facemask - I recommend this because walls are thin in most buildings, so it might be hard to sleep at times.

I went hiking with a friend of mine recently. We rode our bikes about an hour to the east side of Fukuoka and hiked to the top of a mountain. I took just a few pictures, but recorded a lot more (which I don’t have online). It’s called Tachibanaiyama or Touchybunny or something, I don’t remember, but the top has an amazing view of city of Fukuoka Japan.

The Map of the Mountain

The Trail

Looking Up

A View of Fukuoka City

Getting from point A to point Z using the subway is not that difficult. If you’re new to using a subway, or public transportation at all (like I was), my advice is to plan your route and stay calm no matter how busy the station gets. Carrying a small note pad and a pen is a good idea.

Along with some tips I’m going to share some pictures I took of the subway on a rainy, cold, Friday afternoon around 2pm. It wasn’t a busy time and the station I was at doesn’t seem to be as busy as bigger stations.

Tip #1 – If somebody falls onto the track, hit this button! (Press the red button below in case a person fall sinto the track area. Trains will stop automatically. FOR EMERGENCY USE ONLY!)

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I haven’t been snowboarding in Japan yet. I’ve almost made it a few times and had to cancel our latest reservation for our trip to Geihoku near Hiroshima. It’s all good because life happens and the mountains will always be there for us to throw ourselves down it at blazing speeds at any time.

I miss snowboarding so I thought I’d share a video from last season. I had my ipod blaring, I was thinking about the next stretch of the mountain, and I was wondering why there was a crowd of Ski Patrol. I didn’t see her until it was too late. By the way I hope to book a secret trip soon for me and my fiancee, so if anybody is in Fukuoka and wants to hit a mountain let me know!

Akihabara = Otaku paradise… and now you can take a 4 minute walk from Akihabara for a good night sleep before hitting up the Maid Cafe in the morning. Nice!

For just 4,000 Yen per night you can sleep in a capsule which looks like the size of a coffin. A coffin with a shit load of stuff packed inside so you can feel trapped in a hole. Even though each capsule is small as hell it comes with TV, radio, alarm clock, adjustable lighting. I wonder if I’d fit in there being 190 cm tall. They have a lounge area with internet and have 100 Yen coffee. I’ve been searching for a cheap ass cafe here in Fukuoka with 100 Yen coffee so I’m a little bit jealous of that. So far I’ve found 300+ yen coffee which is ridiculous because I could get 350ml of coffee for 320 Yen or for just 80 Yen more I could enjoy some bomb ass ramen. Seriously, what’s up with that?

The site says “Everybody that travels to Japan should experience this unique accommodation, at least once” but I don’t get it… they have a men’s section and a women’s section. How are you supposed to get it on with your woman with this setup?

Check out their site and make your reservation today! Then email me and tell me what it’s like because I’ll probably never hit one up. CapsuleInn.com

Here are a few videos so you can tour a capsule hotel (but it’s not the one from capsuleinn)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kamFnYCtylo[/youtube]
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This site is pretty sweet. Check it out if you’re on a broadband connection. You can explore parts of Tokyo
http://tokyo-vr.com/

I took a quick screenshot of what I was looking at:

Taken from their site:

About <Tokyo VR Project> … We have tried data-ization for the main area in Tokyo by QuickTimeVR. But it is the reckless project. A new information interface is proposed by connecting much QuickTimeVR movies, data-izing the space, rows of houses, and a building, and constituting false space. By our original know-how, execution of this project was attained only after becoming possible to carry out extensive creation of the QuickTimeVR quickly. By making scenery an interface as it is, the state with a house, a store, a park, a building, and the living information of a there could be sent. It will be useful to barrier-free, safety and the measure against crime prevention and information dispatch of an area and a walk, or an adventure. We are waiting for cooperation of those who can consent to our trial from the heart.

Some time ago I found the site SeatGuru.com. It helps you plan your trip by giving you the layout of each aircraft from numerous airlines. They help you know the difference between superior and substandard seats which is great when booking online. I’ve used this a few times while booking my flights, you should check it out!

(If you want to read about reviews with different airlines check out the topic Airline Review.)

Using SeatGuru and checking online exactly 24 hours in advance could score you the ultimate seat at the regular price! I always set my alarm 24 hours in advance (even if it’s 4am…) to make sure I can change my seat if needed and this has definitely made my flights more pleasurable. Read the rest of this entry »

I took United Airlines for my flight to Japan. I highly recommend them because of customer service and comfort. This was my first time taking this airline and it was my first choice because at the time it was the least expensive option. I’ve flown a few other airlines so I thought I’d give you a breakdown of what I thought of each one. I’ll rate each one on a 5 point scale overall based on my experiences. 1 being poor, 5 being excellent.

United Airlines – My rating: 5/5
I’ve flown with this airline one time.
Exit row gave me tons of leg room. Personal TV screen to watch movies was nice. Adjustable head rest was awesome! I was comfortable. I was not bored. Flight attendants were curtius and helpful. The ticket counter was friendly as well. Food was okay.

US Airways – My rating: 4/5
I’ve flown with this airline a few times.
Overall decent. First class seats are great. Leather, lots of room. Friendly staff.

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The flight to Japan was an experience all in itself! This was my first time flying to Japan (from America) where I didn’t just stop and go in Tokyo. U.S. flights are easy and flying to Thailand was a piece of cake because a lot of people speak English. We took a flight from San Francisco and arrived in Japan in about 12 hours or so, I can’t recall right now but I did get 5,303 Award miles though! NICE! We went from San Francisco (SFO) to Nagoya (NGO) to Fukuoka (FUK). We flew on United Airlines and I highly recommend it. The customer service was great, the food was okay, and the seats were comfortable. They had a head rest that’s adjustable so you can easily sleep and you get your own personal vide screen to watch movies, TV shows, BBC News, or you can see where the plane is on a GPS type screen. All movies and shows were offered in English with and without Japanese subtitles, or Japanese voice over so everybody can enjoy the in flight entertainment instead of sitting there going “OMG! 10 hours remaining!”

** I highly recommend checking in online exactly 24 hours in advance. I was able to change my seat to an exit row which gave me plenty of leg room.

When we arrived at the Nagoya Airport we had to rush to catch out plane to Fukuoka. Here’s what you can expect…

1. Go through immigration, hand them the completed form (Customs Declaration Form) that the airline had you fill out, and they’ll give you landing permission.
2. Pick up your luggage, go through customs, answer questions, possibly get searched.
3. Go to your connecting airline, go through a luggage security check point, check the luggage.
4. Go through a personal security check point, and then go to your gate and you’re all set.

What happened to us? Well it wasn’t an easy 1,2,3,4.
Here’s the long story made short. We went through immigration first. Then we headed to our gate and when we asked for directions from the airline counter we found out our luggage does not follow us, we had to grab it and go through customs and Read the rest of this entry »