Japan

Japan =>, known as Nihon or Nippon (??) in Japanese, is an island nation in East Asia.

Regions

Japan consists of four main islands and many smaller islands, notably Okinawa. Honshu, by far the largest and most populated island, is typically divided into five (or more) regions. The other islands are not divided into sub-regions in this section, so they will constitute one region each. Thus, in total, the regions most commonly used are:

# Hokkaido - the snowy northern frontier of Japan # Tohoku - northeastern Honshu, for seafood, skiing and hot springs # Kanto - coastal plain including the cities of Tokyo and Yokohama # Chubu - mountainous middle region dominated by the Japan Alps and Japan's fourth-largest city Nagoya # Kansai - ancient capital of culture and commerce, including the cities of Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Kobe # Chugoku - westernmost Honshu, a rural region best known for the cities of Hiroshima and Shimonoseki # Shikoku - the smallest of the Big 4, a destination for Buddhist pilgrims # Kyushu - birthplace of Japanese civilization; largest cities Fukuoka and Kitakyushu # Okinawa - semi-tropical southern island chain reaching out toward Taiwan

Cities

Japan has thousands of cities; these are nine of the most important to the traveler.

• Tokyo - the capital of Japan, modern and densely populated.

• Hiroshima - a large port city, the first city to be destroyed by an atom bomb
• Kanazawa - a historic city on the west coast
• Kyoto - an ancient capital of Japan, considered the cultural heart of the country, many ancient Buddhist temples and gardens
• Nagasaki - an ancient port city in Kyushu
• Nara - the first capital of a united Japan, many Buddhist shrines, and historical buildings
• Osaka - a large and dynamic city located in the Kansai region
• Sapporo - the largest city in Hokkaido, famous for its snow festival
• Sendai - the largest city in the Tohoku region, known as the city of forests due to its tree lined avenues and wooded hills.

Other destinations

See Japan's Top 3 for some sights and places held in the high esteem by the Japanese themselves, and Off the beaten track in Japan for a selection of fascinating but less well known destinations throughout the country.

• Mount Fuji — 3776 meters high which is the highest mountain in Japan and is it the iconic snow-topped volcano
• 88 Temple Pilgrimage — an arduous 1,647-kilometer trail around the island of Shikoku
• Narrow Road to the Deep North — a route around northern Japan immortalized by Japan's most famous haiku poet

Understand

, Tokyo

Japan is the country where the past meets the future. Japanese culture stretches back millennia, yet has also adopted (and created) the latest modern fashions and trends.

Japan is a study in contrasts and contradictions. Many Japanese corporations dominate their industries, yet if you read the financial news it seems like Japan is practically bankrupt. Cities in Japan are as modern and high tech as anywhere else, but tumbledown wooden shacks can still be spotted next to glass fronted designer condominiums. On an average subway ride, you will see childishly cute character toys and violent pornography- sometimes enjoyed by the same passenger! Japan has beautiful temples and gardens which are often surrounded by garish signs and ugly buildings. In the middle of a modern skyscraper you might discover a sliding wooden door which leads to a traditional chamber with tatami mats, calligraphy, and tea ceremony. These juxtapositions mean you may often be surprised and rarely bored by your travels in Japan.

History

While geography is not destiny, the fact that Japan is located on islands on the outermost edge of Asia has had a profound influence on its history. Just close enough to mainstream Asia, yet far enough to keep itself separate, much of Japanese history has been the alternation of periods of closure and openness. Until recently, Japan has been able to turn on or off its connection to the rest of the world, internalizing foreign cultural influences in fits and starts. It is comparable with the relationship between Britain and the rest of Europe, but with a much wider channel.

Recorded Japanese history begins in the 5th century, although archeaological evidence of settlement stretches back 500,000 years and the mythical Emperor Jimmu is said to have founded the current Imperial line in the 7th century BC. The first strong Japanese state was centered in Nara (8th c.), moving later to Kyoto and Kamakura until Japan descended into the anarchy of the Warring States period in the 15th century. Tokugawa Ieyasu finally reunified the country in 1600 and founded the Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal state ruled from Edo, or modern-day Tokyo. A strict caste system was imposed, with the Shogun and his samurai warriors at the top of the heap and no social mobility permitted.

Tokugawa rule kept the country stable but stagnant, with an enforced policy of total isolation enforced, while the world around them rushed ahead. U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry's Black Ships arrived in Yokohama in 1854, forcing the country to open up to trade with the west. The resulting shock led to the collapse of the shogunate in the Meiji Restoration of 1867. Japan launched itself headlong into a drive to industrialize and modernize, which soon turned into a drive to expand and colonize its neighbors, culminating in the disastrous Second World War that saw 1.86 million Japanese and well over 10 million Chinese and other Asians die in battle, bombings, starvation and massacres. Forced to surrender in 1945 after the nuclear attacks of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan was for the first time in its history occupied by the victorious Allies. The Emperor kept his throne but was turned into a constitutional monarch. Thus converted into pacifism and democracy, with the U.S. taking care of defense, Japan now directed its prodigeous energies into peaceful technology and proceeded to conquer the world's marketplaces with an endless stream of cars and consumer electronics, rising from the ashes to have the second-largest gross national product in the world.

People

As an island nation shut off from the rest of the world for a long time, Japan is very homogeneous, with around 98% of the population ethnically Japanese. The largest minority are Koreans, around 1 million strong and many brought to Japan by force during World War II, who until very recently were not allowed to adopt Japanese citizenship — even in the third generation — unless they also gave up their Korean name. There are also sizable populations of Chinese and Filipinos. The indigenous Ainu, driven north over the centuries and now found only on Hokkaido, number around 50,000 (although the number varies greatly depending on the exact definition used).

The attitude to foreigners — commonly known as gaijin (??, outsider), or gaikokujin (???, foreigner--a more polite phrasing) — is also full of contradictions. Many road signs, station names and so on are written in Western characters as well as in Japanese ones, but at the same time you can turn around and suddenly everything is in Japanese and nobody will understand a word you say. Many Japanese are thrilled to have visitors to their country and they will be incredibly helpful to a foreigner looking lost and bewildered. However, many Japanese are uncomfortable dealing with foreigners and will be reluctant to communicate in any way with them. The mass media is full of stories about the "foreigner crime wave", which seems focused mostly on Chinese and other East Asian ethnicities. The Japanese government constantly trumpets the goal of "internationalization", but employer and landlord discrimination against foreigners is commonplace. This kind of cognitive dissonance can seem confusing, but in Japan it is hardly unique to attitudes towards foreigners.

Culture

Holidays

, Tokyo

The most important holiday in Japan is New Year (??? Osh?gatsu), which pretty much shuts down the country between December 29 and January 3. Japanese head home to their families (which means massive transport congestion), eat festive foods and head out to the neighborhood temple at the stroke of midnight to wish in the New Year. Many Japanese often travel to other countries as well, and prices for airfare are very high.

In March or April, Japanese head out en masse for hanami (??, lit. "flower viewing"), a festival of outdoors picnics and drunken revelry in parks, cleverly disguised as cherry blossom (? sakura) viewing. The exact timing of the famously fleeting blossoms varies from year to year and Japan's TV channels follow the progress of the cherry blossom front from south to north obsessively.

The longest holiday is Golden Week (April 27 to May 6), when there are 4 public holidays within a week and everybody goes on extended vacation. Trains are crowded, flight and hotel prices are jacked up to multiples of normal prices, making this a bad time to travel in Japan, but the weeks immediately before or after GW are excellent choices.

Summer brings a spate of festivals designed to distract people from the intolerable heat and humidity (comparable to the US Midwest). There are local festivals (? matsuri) and impressive fireworks competitions (?? hanabi) through the country. Tanabata (??), on July 7th (or early August in some places), commemorates a story of star-crossed lovers who can only meet on this day. The largest summer festival is Obon (??), held in mid-July in eastern Japan (Kanto) and mid-August in western Japan (Kansai) to honor the departed spirits of one's ancestors. Everybody heads home to visit village graveyards, meaning that transport is packed.

National holidays

The following list shows the dates of Japanese national holidays. Lunar holidays such as equinoxes may vary by a day or two; the list below is accurate for 2006. Holidays that fall on a weekend may be observed with a bank holiday on the following Monday. Keep in mind that most Japanese people take additional time off around New Year's, during Golden Week, and during Obon. In 2007, Greenery Day will be moved to May 4th, and the holiday on April 29th will be renamed "Showa Day", in honor of the former emperor.

• January 1 - New Year's Day (ganjitsu ??)
• Second Monday of January - Coming-of-Age Day (seijin no hi ????)
• February 11 - National Foundation Day (kenkoku kinenbi ??????)
• March 20 - Vernal Equinox Day (shunbun no hi ????)
• April 29 - Greenery Day (midori no hi ???)
• May 3 - Constitution Day (kenp? kinnenbi ?????)
• May 4 - Citizen's Holiday (kokumin no ky?jitsu ?????)
• May 5 - Children's Day (kodomo no hi ????)
• Third Monday of July - Marine Day (umi no hi ???)
• Third Monday of September - Respect-for-the-Aged Day (keir? no hi ????)
• September 22 - Autumnal Equinox Day (shuubun no hi ????)
• Second Monday of October - Sports Day (taiiku no hi ????)
• November 3 - Culture Day (bunka no hi ????)
• November 23 - Labor Thanksgiving Day (kinr? kansha no hi ??????)
• December 23 - The Emperor's Birthday (tenn? tanj?bi ?????)

The Japanese calendar

The Imperial era year, which counts from the year of ascension of the Emperor, is often used for reckoning dates in Japan, including transportation timetables and store receipts. The current era is Heisei (??) and Heisei 17 corresponds to 2005. The year may be written as "H17" or just "17", so "17/6/5" is June 5th 2005. Western years are also well understood and frequently used.

Religion

Japan has two dominant religious traditions: Shinto (??) is the ancient animist religion of traditional Japan. At just over twelve hundred years in Japan, Buddhism is the more recent imported faith. Christianity, introduced by European missionaries, was widely persecuted during the feudal era but is now accepted, and a small percentage of Japanese are Christian.

Generally speaking, the Japanese are not a particularly religious people. While they regularly visit shrines and temples to offer coins and make silent prayers, religious faith and doctrine play a small role (if any) in the life of the average Japanese. Thus it would be impossible to try to represent what percentage of the population is Shinto versus Buddhist, or even Christian. According to famous poll, Japan is 80% Shinto and 80% Buddhist, and another oft-quoted dictum states that Japanese are Shinto when they live, as weddings and festivals are typically Shinto, but Buddhist when they die, since funerals usually use Buddhist rites. Most Japanese accept a little bit of every religion.

At the same time, Shinto and Buddhism have had an enormous influence on the country's history and cultural life. The Shinto religion focuses on the spirit of the land, and is reflected in the country's exquisite gardens and peaceful shrines deep in ancient forests. When you visit a shrine (jinja ??) with its simple torii (??) gate, you are seeing Shinto customs and styles. If you see an empty plot of land with some white paper suspended in a square, that's a Shinto ceremony to dedicate the land for a new building. Buddhism in Japan has branched out in numerous directions over the centuries. Nichiren (??) is currently the largest branch of Buddhist belief, and many westerners are introduced to Japanese Buddhism through Soka Gakkai (s?kagakkai ????), a Nichiren sect that is somewhat controversial for its evangelical zeal and its involvement in Japanese politics. Westerners are probably most familiar with Zen (?) Buddhism, which was introduced to Japan in the 14th and 15th centuries. Zen fit the aesthetic and moral sensibilities of medieval Japan, influencing arts such as flower-arranging (ikebana ???), tea ceremony (sad? ??), ceramics, painting, calligraphy, poetry, and the martial arts. Over the years, Shinto and Buddhism have intertwined considerably. You will find them side by side in cities, towns, and people's lives. It's not at all unusual to find a sparse Shinto torii standing before an elaborate Buddhist o-tera (temple ??).

Amusement

Karaoke and Pachinko (Japanese-style pinball) are famous throughout Japan. You can enjoy them in virtually every Japanese city.

Climate

The Japanese are proud of their four seasons (and a surprising number believe the phenomenon is unique to Japan), but the tourist with a flexible travel schedule should try to aim for two of them.

• Spring is one of the best times of year to be in Japan. The temperatures are warm but not hot, there's not too much rain, and March-April brings the justly famous cherry blossoms (sakura) and is a time of revelry and festivals. In early March, the Japan Meteorological Agency announces predictions about when the blooming will begin =>.

• Summer starts with a dreary rainy season in June and turns into a steambath in July-August, with extreme humidity and the temperature heading as high as 40°C. Avoid, or do as the Japanese do and head to northern Hokkaido or the mountains of Chubu and Tohoku to escape. There are many fireworks displays, for example, yodogawa, biwako and sirahama. There are also many festivals including gion and tenzin.

• Fall, starting in September, is also an excellent time to be in Japan. Temperatures and humidity become more tolerable, fair days are common and fall colors can be just as impressive as cherry blossoms.

• Winter is a good time to go skiing or hot-spring hopping, but as the Japanese have yet to figure out the wonders of central heating, it's often miserably cold indoors. Heading south to Okinawa provides some relief. There is usually heavy snow in Hokkaido and northeast Japan due to the cold wind blasts from Siberia.

Further reading

There are multitudes of books written on Japan. Some great, some absolute crap. A good place to begin is one of the many recommended reading lists such as this one on Amazon or sites like The Crazy Japan Times, Japan Review or Visitor. Some recommended books include:

• Untangling My Chopsticks, by Victoria Abbott Riccardi. Set mainly in Kyoto.
• My Mother is a Tractor, by Nicholas Klar. A former English teacher with a witty and informative take on Japanese society. Written from the depths of the Japanese countryside.
• Dave Barry Does Japan, by Dave Barry. The very funny Dave Barry with his take on Japan. Written during a rollicking three week tour. Not much cultural insight, but an excellent introduction to Japan's wacky side.

Get in

Citizens of 59 countries, including most Western nations, do not need a visa to visit Japan and can obtain a 90-day "landing permission" on arrival (many European nationalities are permitted up to 180 days). All others must obtain a visa prior to arrival. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains an online Guide to Japanese Visas with the current information.

One customs issue that trips up some unwary travellers is that some over-the-counter medications, notably pseudoephedrine (Actifed, Sudafed, Vicks inhalers) and codeine (some cough medications) are prohibited in Japan. Some prescription medicines are also banned, even if you have a prescription. See Narita Airport Customs for an overview, or check with the nearest Japanese embassy or consulate for details.

By plane

Almost certainly you will fly into and out of one of the two main international airports, either Tokyo's Narita Airport or Kansai International. However, there are other international airports including New Chitose Airport (Sapporo), Fukuoka, and the newly opened Chubu International Airport near Nagoya. All airports serve flights from around the world, with Narita being the busiest and most crowded. The three major international airports are connected to the rail network and all also have numerous limousine bus services to nearby destinations. Kansai serves primarily Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto and the south of the country, while Narita serves the greater Tokyo area including Yokohama and the north, and Chubu handles the middle region near Nagoya. Note that Kansai and Narita are a significant distance away from their respective city centres.

Both Narita and Kansai airports are generally easy to get through and not particularly crowded assuming you avoid the main holiday periods - namely New Year's (end of December - beginning of January), Golden Week (end of April - beginning of May) and Obon (Mid-August). If you travel during these busy periods expect things to be both more hectic and more expensive.

Note that Narita and Kansai handle very few domestic flights: most domestic flights from Tokyo leave from Haneda (HND) to the south of the city, while most domestic flights from the Kansai region use Itami (ITM) to the north of Osaka. The airports are quite far apart, so if you are planning on flying within Japan allow at least two and preferably three hours to transfer. Chubu, on the other hand, does have many domestic flights and was built from the ground up for easy interchange.

By boat

There are ferries to Japan from South Korea (Busan), Russia (Vladivostok), Taiwan and some Chinese cities. Except for the ferries from Busan to Fukuoka and Shimonoseki (which normally cost ¥8000-10000 yen one way), these are generally uncompetitive with discounted air tickets, as prices are high, schedules infrequent (and unreliable) and travel times long. There is also daily hydrofoil service (called the "Beetle") between Fukuoka City and Busan, which takes about 3 and a half hours. The respective ferry takes about 8, however if overnight the ferry may stop and wait in front of the Busan port in the morning until Korean Immigrations opens up.

Get around

Monorail in Tokyo — just one of Japan's many futuristic transport systems

In Japanese cities, a place's address is useful for mail, but it's nearly useless in actually getting there. Most places are described in terms of the walking distance from the nearest train station, and relative to local landmarks. Business cards very often have little maps printed on the back to make navigation easier (at least if you can read Japanese). In addition, many train stations have maps of the local area that can help you find a destination if it is reasonably close to the station.

For sorting through transport schedules and fares, Hitachi's Hyperdia program is an invaluable companion, with versions available for most major operating systems. Jorudan and NTT Townpage both provide a useful English-language web version. The paper version of this is the Daijikokuhy? (????), a phonebook-sized tome available for browsing in every train station and most hotels, but it's a little challenging to use as the content is entirely in microscopic Japanese.

By rail

Japan's railways are fast, highly efficient and cover the majority of the country, making this the transport mode of choice for most visitors. The first and most confusing aspect of Japan's railway system (especially within large cities like Tokyo) that you will encounter is the overlap of several private railway networks with the JR network. Being aware of this one fact will substantially reduce the confusion you experience trying to understand railway maps and find your way around.

Note that most trains do not operate 24 hours, for example in Tokyo they do not run between 1:00 AM and 5:00 AM roughly. If you are planning to be out late and are relying on the train to get home, be sure to find out when your train is. Many bars and clubs are open until the first train runs again in the morning, so keep this in mind as another option.

JR Network

The JR network is extensive as one would expect from what used to be the national rail system (now privately owned). If you have a JR Pass, you will almost certainly figure out that even in large cities such as Tokyo or Osaka, there is a JR station fairly near where you want to go. In the countryside JR also runs bus services to connect places that don't have a rail service. However, the JR network is not a monopoly and particularly within major conurbations there are other private rail networks.

Japan Rail Pass

By far the best option for visitors who plan to do a lot of travelling is the Japan Rail Pass =>, which allows unlimited travel on almost all JR trains, including the Shinkansen, for a fixed period of 7, 14 or 21 days. The main exceptions are the Nozomi superexpress (not allowed), sleeper seats (surcharge payable) and the rare case where JR trains travel on non-JR track. Whereas a single round trip from Tokyo to Kyoto costs almost ¥30,000, the 7-day Rail Pass is ¥28,300. The 14-day/21-day pass is ¥45,100/55,100. This can only be purchased outside of Japan from specific vendors — at the time of purchase, you will need to have your passport with you, and know the date upon which you will want the Rail Pass to start. Upon purchase, you are given a Exchange Order, which can be exchanged at most larger JR stations in Japan, including all of the stations nearest to airports, for the Rail Pass itself.

The JR East Rail Pass => also permits essentially unlimited travel on its trains. There are three durations, 5-day pass (¥28,000), 10-day pass (¥48,800) and a 4-day Flex Pass (¥28,000). The 4-day Flex Pass can be used any four days within a one-month window. The JR East pass can be used on Shinkansen north-bound from Tokyo, but cannot be used on the Tokaido Shinkansen to go to Kyoto and Osaka.

JR West has two types of rail passes =>. The JR West San'yo Area Pass allows essentially unlimited travel in eastern Japan and part of Kyushu, including the Shinkansen. The 4-day/8-day pass is ¥20,000/30,000. The JR West Kansai Area Pass can be used for travel on regular trains only; express trains require the express fee, and cannot be used on the Shinkansen. The 1-day/2-day/3-day/4-day pass is ¥2,000/4,000/5,000/6,000 and can be used in an area which includes Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and the Kansai airport.

Unlike the Japan Rail Pass, the passes for JR East and JR West can also be purchased after you have arrived in Japan. All passes, including the Japan Rail Pass, are only available to people entering Japan with "temporary visitor" status.

The Kyushu Rail Pass => offers unlimited travel on JR Kyushu's lines, including the Kyushu Shinkansen but not the San'yo Shinkansen to Hakata. As of 2005, the pass costs ¥16,000 for five days; you'll have to travel quite a lot to make this pay off and most visitors, especially those not flying in directly to Kyushu, will find the ordinary Japan Rail Pass a better deal.

When you make any rail journey, you will need to show the Rail Pass at the manned ticket barrier. This is inconvenient if there is a queue, but it is usually acceptable to flash your pass at the ticket-taker as you slip past the other customers transacting business with JR.

JR Central =>, which operates the Tokaido Shinkansen does not have a rail pass; the Japan Rail Pass is the only pass which permits travel between Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka.

Seishun 18 Ticket

The Seishun 18 Ticket (??18??? Seishun j?hachi kippu) is the best deal for travel in Japan, offering five days of unlimited train travel for just ¥11,500. Better yet, unlike the Rail Pass, the days do not have to be consecutive. You can even split a ticket so that (for example) one person uses it for two days and another for three days. The main catches are that tickets are valid only on local trains (no expresses and certainly no Bullet Trains) and that tickets are valid only during school holidays (March-April, July-September, December-January), so you need good timing and plenty of time on your hands to use it.

See also: Seishun 18 Ticket

Buying a ticket

If you do not have a JR pass then buying a ticket is probably the most complicated thing you can do. If you are travelling long distances and you are at a major station then there will be an obvious travel section where you can buy your ticket from a human being — look for the little green sign of a figure relaxing in a chair or ask for the midori no madoguchi (??????, literally "green window"). Since you probably need to know the train times and may want to reserve a seat as well this is a good thing. Generally speaking you can make your desires known by means of handwaving and pointing at destinations if the staff are unable to speak English. Writing down information helps as most Japanese can read English much more easily.

On the other hand if you are at a local station (or a subway station) you will have more difficulty as you nearly always have to buy it using a machine whose instructions are in Japanese (although newer machines have an English mode). These machines do not take credit cards. Fortunately this is exactly the place where looking utterly bewildered is liable to lead to some nice Japanese offering to help. If they do then you are in luck, if not then here are some hints.

Firstly there is usually a big map above all the machines which shows the current station in red, often marked with "当駅" (t?eki). Around it will be all other stations you can get to with a price below them. The nearer stations have the smaller numbers (e.g. the closest stations will probably be about ¥140, more distant ones rising to perhaps ¥2000. If you recognise the characters of the station you want to get to then make a note of the amount you should pay and place that amount (or more) into the machine using coins or notes (most machines take ¥1000 notes, some also take ¥5000 and ¥10000 notes) the price you want will show up as one of the buttons to press. Note that some machines have large black buttons with nothing written on them. These are for different fare levels. Press the buttons until your fare level shows up, insert the money, and take your ticket. If you can't figure out the price then buy a minimum fare ticket and pay when you arrive at your destination. You can either present your ticket to the staff at the gate, or pay the balance at the "Fare Adjustment" machine. Look for a small ticket vending kiosk near the exit, but still inside the gate. Insert your minimum fare ticket and pay the balance indicated on the screen.

At bigger stations, you will probably have the choice of more then one train line, or more than one company operating the lines. Therefore, always first find the line you want to use, and then get your ticket from the nearest machine, instead of jumping on the first ticket machine next to the station's entrance. Otherwise you might end up with a ticket for a different company and/or line. While you can usually choose your platform after going through the gate, and thereby activating your ticket, at smaller stations this might not be the case. If you notice too late that you need to get to another platform, you might not be able to get out anymore without invalidating your ticket. So always have a good look at the signposts at every station.

Train types

JR pioneered the famous Bullet Train, known in Japanese as Shinkansen (???), and with speeds nudging 300 kilometers per hour these remain the fastest way to travel around the country. On the most-traveled Tokaido route between Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka, there are three types of shinkansen, reflecting the number of stops that the train makes:

• Nozomi - the fastest and most expensive type of Shinkansen. 13 cars (including 2 first class cars) out of 16 reserved seating. Small surcharge on top of the Shinkansen fare required, and the Japan Rail Pass is not valid.
• Hikari - the next fastest, but still pretty fast, and Rail Pass is OK.
• Kodama - makes more stops, and generally only covers small stretches of the Shinkansen lines.

Other JR services, particularly suburban ones, use the following generic labels:

• Regular (?? futs? or ?? kakueki) - local service, stops at every station
• Rapid (?? kaisoku) - skips approximately 2 out of 3 stops, no surcharge
• Express (?? ky?k?) - skips approximately 2 out of 3 stops, requires a surcharge
• Liner (???? rainaa) - skips approximately 2 out of 3 kyuko stops, requires a surcharge
• Limited Express (?? tokky?) - skips approximately 2 out of 3 kyuko stops, requires a surcharge and usually a reserved seat as well

Express services may offer first-class Green Car seats. Given that the surcharge of almost 50% gets you little more than a bit of extra leg room, most passengers opt for regular seats. However, if you really need to ride a particular train for which the regular seats are full, the Green Car is an alternative.

Making a reservation

to [[Hiroshima on March 18th, departure 1:00 PM, arrival 5:35 PM, seat 11B (non-smoking) in train car 6]]

On Shinkansen and tokkyu trains, some of the carriages require passengers to have reserved their seats in advance (??? shiteiseki). For example, on a typical 16-carriage Shinkansen, only five of the carriages permit non-reserved seating, and only two of those are non-smoking (??? kin'ensha). On a busy train, making a reservation in advance can ensure a comfortable journey.

Making a reservation is surprisingly easy, and is strongly advised for popular journeys (such as travelling from Tokyo to Kyoto on a Friday evening, or taking a train from Nagoya to Takayama). Look out for the JR Office at the train station, which bears a little green logo of a figure relaxing in a chair - and ask to make a reservation when you buy your ticket. The reservation can be made anywhere from a month in advance to literally minutes before the train leaves.

If you are a Japan Rail Pass holder, simply go to the JR Office, and present your Rail Pass when requesting a reservation for your journey. The ticket that you are given will not allow you to pass through the automated barriers though - you'll still need to present your Japan Rail Pass at the manned barrier to get to the train.

Private railways

If they exist to provide a full journey, then the private railways are often cheaper than JR for an equivalent journey. However this is not always the case as changing from one network to another generally increases the price. Most private railways are connected to department store chains of the same name (e.g. Tokyu in Tokyo) and do an excellent job of filling in the gaps in the suburbs of the major cities. Also note that private railways may interpret the service classes above differently, with some providing express services at no additional charge.

Kobe, Kyoto, Nagoya, Osaka, Sapporo, Sendai, Fukuoka, Tokyo and Yokohama also have subway (underground) services. For seeing the sights within a particular city, many offer a one day pass, often between 500 and 1000 yen for an adult. Tokyo has several types of day passes, which cover some subway lines but not others. The full Tokyo subway pass (which does not include the JR Yamanote Line) is 1000 yen.

By plane

List prices for domestic flights are very expensive, but significant discounts are available if purchased in advance. Both of Japan's largest carriers, Japan Airlines (JAL, ???? Nihon K?k?, =>) and All Nippon Airways (ANA, ??? Zennikk?, =>) offer "Visit Japan" fares where the purchaser of an international return ticket to Japan can fly a number of domestic segments anywhere in the country for only about ¥10,000 (plus tax) each. These are a particularly good deal for travel to Hokkaido or the remote southern islands of Okinawa. Some blackout periods or other restrictions during peak travel seasons may apply.

The low-cost carrier concept has yet to make significant inroads into Japan, but Air DO (=>) provides a little much-needed competition for routes from Tokyo to Sapporo and Asahikawa on Hokkaido, while Skymark (=>) flies from Tokyo to points in Kyushu and Shikoku.

ANA, JAL, and their subsidiaries offer a special standby card, the Skymate Card, to young passengers (up to the age of 22). With the card, passengers can fly standby at half of the full published fare, which is usually less than the equivalent express train fare. The card can be obtained from any JAL or ANA ticket counter with a passport-sized photo and a one-time fee of ¥1,000

By boat

Given that Japan is an island nation, boats are a surprisingly uncommon means of transport, as all the major islands are linked together by bridges and tunnels. While there are some long-distance ferries linking Okinawa and Hokkaido to the mainland, the fares are usually more expensive than discounted airline tickets and pretty much the sole advantage is that you can take your car with you.

For some smaller islands, however, boats may well be the only practical option. Hovercrafts and jet ferries are fast but expensive, with prices varying between ¥2000-5000 for an hour-long trip. Slow cargo boats are more affordable, a rule of thumb being ¥1000 per hour in second class, but departures are infrequent. These boats are typically divided into classes, where second class (?? nit?) is just a giant expanse of tatami mat, first class (?? itt?) gets you a comfy chair in large shared room and only special class (?? tokut?) gets you a private cabin. There is typically a simple restaurant on board, but on longer trips (particularly in second class) the primary means of entertainment is alcoholic — this can be fun if you're invited in, but less so if you're trying to sleep.

By bus

Highway buses

Long-distance highway buses (??????? haiwei basu) serve many of the inter-city routes covered by trains at significantly lower prices, but take much longer than the Shinkansen. Especially on the route between Tokyo and Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe triangle the high competition broke down the prices: as low as ¥3900 one-way. Many of these are overnight runs (???? yak? basu) which allows you to save on a night's accommodation. It may be worth it to pay a premium to get a better seat; remember that it's less fun to sightsee after a sleepless night. Look out for ????? sanretsu shiito, meaning there are only three seats per row instead of four. Major operators include Star Express =>, Kansai Bus => and, surprisingly, train operator JR =>.

Local buses

You won't need to use local buses (???? rosen basu) much in the major cities, but they're common in smaller towns and the idiosyncratic payment system is worth a mention. On most buses, you're expected to board from the back and grab a little numbered slip as you enter, often just a white piece of paper automatically stamped by the dispenser as you pull it. In the front of the bus, above the driver, is an electronic board displaying numbers and prices below, which march inexorably higher as the bus moves on. When it's time to get off, you press the stop button, match your numbered slip to the electronic board's current price, deposit the slip and corresponding payment in the fare machine next to the driver, then exit through the front door. Note that you must pay the exact fare: to facilitate this, the machine nearly always has bill exchanger built in, which will eat ¥1000 bills and spew out ¥1000 worth of coins in exchange. If you're short on change, it's best to exchange before it's time to get off.

The electronic board almost always includes a display and recorded voice announcements of the next stop — usually only in Japanese, although some cities (like Kyoto) make a welcome exception. However, if asked most drivers will be glad to tell you when you've reached your destination.

By taxi

You will find taxis everywhere in Japan, not only in the city, but also in the country. Taxis are clean and completely safe, though a bit expensive: starting fees are usually in the ¥300-500 range and the meter ticks up frantically after the first 2 kilometers or so. But sometimes, they're the only way to get where you're going. Taxi meters are strictly regulated and clearly visible to the passenger. If you're not sure if you have enough money for the trip, your driver may be able to guess the approximate cost of a trip beforehand. Taxi fares are also higher at night, and there is no custom of giving tips to the driver.

In the city, you can hail a taxi just about anywhere, but outside train stations and other transfer points you should board at taxi stand. (The taxi stand will usually either have a long line of patient passengers, or a long line of idle taxis.) If the destination is a well-known location, such as a hotel, train station, or public facility, the name alone should be enough. Note that extremely few taxi drivers can speak English, so carrying a pamphlet or card of your hotel or destination with the address on it can be very helpful.

An interesting feature of Japanese taxis is that the driver controls the opening and closing of the rear left passenger door. Try to avoid the habit of closing your door when you board the taxi. Taxi drivers also have a reputation for speeding and aggressive driving, but there are very few accidents involving bad drivers.

By car

Unless you have a very peculiar planned itinerary which makes usage of public transport unsuitable, driving in Japan is not something you want to do since public transport is generally excellent and gets you almost everywhere. Rental costs are high, English signage in the more remote locales (where a car would be most useful) is spotty and Japanese driving habits at times leave much to be desired. Especially not recommended unless you are used to driving on the left (i.e. same as UK/Australia/NZ, opposite to Europe/USA/Canada). Also you really, really do not want to drive within the major conurbations unless you enjoy getting lost or have been there before. Finally, tolls for the expressways (???? k?soku-d?ro) are generally double or triple the cost of a train ride, even on the bullet-train (??? shinkansen); so unless you have a van full of people, it's just not cost-effective.

By thumb

Japan is an excellent country for hitchhiking, although there is no Japanese custom for this, and some Japanese ability is almost mandatory. See Hitchhiking in Japan for a more detailed introduction and practical tips for this fine art.

Talk

, Tokyo

The language of Japan is Japanese. Most Japanese have studied English for at least 6 years, but conversational ability tends to be poor. If lost, one practical tip is to write out a question on paper in simple words and give it to someone young. Probably they can point you in the right direction. It can also be helpful to carry a hotel business card or matchbook with you, to show a taxi driver or someone if you lose your way.

Japanese is a language with several distinct dialects, although standard Japanese (hy?jungo ???) is understood everywhere. Areas like Kagoshima prefecture and the Tohoku region have dialects that are nearly incomprehensible to other Japanese. On the southern islands of Okinawa, many dialects of the the closely related Ryukyuan language is spoken, mostly by the elderly, while in northern Hokkaido a rare few still speak Ainu.

Buy

The Japanese currency is the Japanese yen, abbreviated ¥ (or JPY in foreign exchange contexts). The symbol ? (pronounced en) is used in the Japanese language itself. As of US$1 = ¥114.98 (as of 16 Jan 2006).

• Coins: 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 yen. There are two 500 yen coins, distinguishable by their color. (The new ones are gold, the old ones are silver).
• Bills: 1000, 2000, 5000, and 10000 yen. 2000 yen bills are rare. New designs for all the bills except 2000 yen were introduced in November 2004, so there are now two versions in circulation. Most merchants will not object to receiving a 10000 bill even for a small purchase.

Japan's consumer economy is heavily based on cash, rather than credit. Although stores and hotels serving foreign customers take credit cards, many smaller businesses such as cafes, bars, and grocery stores do not. Even businesses that do take cards often have a minimum as well as a small surcharge over cash. Carrying around the equivalent of hundreds of dollars in cash is common, reasonably safe, and almost a necessity, especially in smaller towns and more isolated areas.

Almost any major bank in Japan will provide foreign currency exchange from US dollars (cash and traveler's checks). Rates are basically the same whichever bank you choose. Having to wait 15-30 minutes, depending on how busy the branch gets, is not unusual. Other currencies accepted are Euros, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand dollars, and British Pound Sterling. Other Asian currencies are generally not accepted.

Most Japanese bank ATM machines do not accept foreign cards and credit card acceptance is spotty. You will in fact have better luck at a post office ATM, as Japan's postal system doubles as a bank, providing a huge network of ATMs. Most postal ATMs provide instructions in English as well as Japanese. Accepted cards are a Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Diners Club credit card, or ATM card in the Plus or Cirrus networks, or debit cards in the Visa Electron or Maestro Networks. Japanese post offices also can cash traveler's checks or exchange cash for yen, at a slightly better rate than the banks. Traveler's checks also have a better rate of exchange than cash.

Citibank ATMs will accept ATM cards in the Plus and Cirrus networks. There are not many Citibank locations across Japan (see here for a list), but you can find them in the Narita, Kansai and Chubu airports. You can withdraw Japanese currency, debited directly from your US bank account, just a few minutes after clearing customs.

Vending machines in Japan are known for their pervasiveness and the (notorious) variety of products they sell. Most will take 1,000 yen bills, and some types such as train ticket machines will take up to 10,000; none accept 1 or 5 yen coins, nor 2000 yen notes. And even the most high-tech vending machines do not take credit cards.

Prepaid electronic cards are quite popular in Japan for small purchases. There are cards for train fares, convenience stores purchases, and public telephones, though they aren't interchangeable.

There is a 5% consumption tax on all sales in Japan. As of April 2004, the tax must now be included in all displayed prices.

Tips are not customary, but some expensive restaurants will add a 10% service charge.

Costs

Japan has a reputation for being extremely expensive — and it can be. However, many things have become significantly cheaper the last decade. Japan need not be outrageously expensive if you plan carefully. For long-distance travel, in particular, the Japan Rail Pass and Visit Japan flights (see Get in) can save you a bundle.

As rough guidelines, you will find it very difficult to travel on less than ¥5,000 per day (but if you plan carefully, it's certainly not impossible), and can only expect a degree of comfort if you double the budget to ¥10,000. Staying in hotels, eating fancy meals or just traveling long-distance will easily double this yet again.

Eat

Japanese cuisine, renowned for its emphasis on fresh, seasonal ingredients, has taken the world by storm. The key ingredient of most meals is white rice, usually served steamed, and in fact its Japanese word gohan (??) also means "meal". Soybeans are a key source of protein and take many forms, notably the miso (??) soup served with almost every meal, but also t?fu (??) bean curd and the ubiquitous soy sauce (?? sh?yu). Seafood features heavily in Japanese cuisine, including not only creatures of the sea but many varieties of seaweed as well, and a complete meal is always rounded out by some pickles (?? tsukemono).

One of the joys of getting out of Tokyo and traveling within Japan is to discover the local specialties. Every region within the country has a number of delightful dishes, based on locally available crops and fish. In Hokkaido try the fresh sashimi and crab. In Nagoya don't miss the okonomiyaki stuffed with green onions.

Japanese eat all their traditional food with chopsticks (? hashi), the primary exceptions being curry rice and fried rice (for which a spoon is used). Eating with chopsticks is a surprisingly easy skill to pick up, although mastering them takes a while. Some chopstick taboos to be aware of: never place or leave chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice, and never pass something from your chopsticks to another person's chopsticks. These are associated with funerary rites. If you want to give a piece of food to someone, let them take it from your plate, or place it directly on their plate. When you are done using chopsticks, you can rest them across the edge of your bowl or plate. Most nicer restaurants put a small wooden or ceramic chopstick rest (hashi-oki) at each place setting.

Disposable chopsticks (wari-bashi) are provided with less expensive meals, bent? and other take-out foods. It is a myth that you should "whittle" your chopsticks after breaking them apart.

Many Japanese dishes come with different sauces and garnishes. Japanese never put soy sauce on their rice, though they do dip their sushi in it before eating, and they pour it on grilled fish as well. Tonkatsu (pork cutlet) comes with a thicker sauce, tempura comes with a lighter, thinner sauce made from soy sauce and dashi (fish and seaweed soup base), while gy?za (potstickers) are usually dipped in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar and chili oil.

Restaurants

The number of restaurants in Japan is stupendous, and you will never run out of places to go. For cultural and practical reasons, Japanese almost never invite guests to their homes, so socializing nearly always involves eating out.

Most Japanese-style restaurants have lunchtime teishoku (??), or fixed set meals. These typically consist of a meat or fish dish, with a bowl of miso soup, pickles, and rice (often with free extra helpings). These can be as inexpensive as ¥600 yet ample enough even for large appetites. Menus however will for most establishments be in Japanese only; however many restaurants have models (many in exquisite detail) of their meals in their front window, and if you can't read the menu it may be better to take the waiter or waitress outside and point at what you would like.

Restaurants will present you with the check after the meal, and you are expected to pay at the counter when leaving — do not leave payment on the table and walk out. The phrase for "check" is kanj? or kaikei. If it's getting late, a server will usually come to your table to tell you it's time for the "last order."

Many cheap chain eateries have vending machines where you buy a ticket and give it to the server. At most of these restaurants, you'll have to be able to read Japanese to use them, though. At some of these restaurants, there will be plastic displays or photographs of the food with varying prices in front of them. It is often possible to match the price, along with some of the kana (characters) to the choices at the machine. If you're open-minded and flexible, you might get shoyu (soy sauce) ramen instead of miso (fermented soy bean) ramen or you might get katsu (pork cutlet) curry instead of beef curry. You'll always know how much you're spending so you'll never overpay. If your Japanese language skills are limited or non-existent, these restaurants with vending machines are really quite comfortable places because there is limited or no conversation required at these establishments. Most of the customers will be in a hurry, the hired help will usually not be interested in making conversation and will just read your order when they take your ticket and the water/tea, napkins, and eating utensils are either supplied automatically or self-service. Some other places have all you can eat meals called tabeh?dai (????).

Tipping is not customary in Japan. 24-hour "family restaurants" such as Denny's and Jonathan usually have a 10% late-night surcharge.

All-around eateries

While most restaurants in Japanese specialize in a certain type of dish, each neighborhood is guaranteed to have a few shokud? (??), serving up simple, popular dishes and teishoku sets at affordable prices (¥500-1000). A closely related variant is the bent?-ya (???), which serves takeout boxes known as o-bent? (???).

A staple of the shokud? is the donburi (?), literally "rice bowl", meaning a bowl of rice with a topping. Popular ones include:

• oyakodon (???) — lit. "parent-and-child bowl", usually chicken and egg (but sometimes salmon and roe)
• katsudon (???) — a deep-fried pork cutlet with egg
• gy?don (??) — beef and onion
• ch?kadon (???) — lit. "Chinese bowl", stir-fried vegetables and meat in a thick sauce

You will also frequently encounter Japan's most popular dish, the ubiquitous curry rice (?????? kar? raisu) — a thick, mild, brown paste that would leave most Indians scratching their heads. Often the cheapest dish on the menu, a large portion (??? ?mori) is guaranteed to leave you stuffed. Curry rice carries a connotation of a simplistic meal, similar to hamburger in the States. Therefore, eating it at a fancy restaurant is not advised.

At the other extreme of the spectrum are super-exclusive ry?tei (??), the Michelin three-star restaurants of the Japanese food world, which serve gourmet kaiseki (??) meals prepared from the very best seasonal ingredients. Should they condescend to let you in — and many require introductions — you will be looking at upwards of ¥30,000 per head for an experience which, quite frankly, will go right over the heads of most mere mortals visiting Japan for the first time.

Noodles

Even Japanese want something other than rice every now and then, and the obvious alternative is noodles (? men). Practically every town and hamlet in Japan boasts its own "famous" noodle dish, and they are often well worth trying.

There are two major noodle types native to Japan: thin buckwheat soba (??) and thick wheat udon (???). Typically all dishes below can be ordered with either soba or udon depending on your preference and a bowl will only cost a few hundred yen, especially at the standing-room-only noodle joints in and near train stations.

• kake soba (????) — plain broth and maybe a little spring onion on top
• tsukimi soba (????) — soup with a raw egg dropped in named "moon-viewing" because of the resemblance to a moon behind clouds
• kitsune soba (?????) — soup with with sweetened thin sheets of deep-fried tofu
• zaru soba (????) — chilled noodles served with a dipping sauce, shallot and wasabi, popular in summer

Chinese egg noodles or r?men (????) are also very popular but more expensive (¥500+) due to the greater effort involved and the condiments, which typically include a slice of grilled pork and a variety of vegetables. The three major styles of ramen are:

• shio r?men (?????) — salty pork broth
• shoyu r?men (??????) — soy broth
• miso r?men (??????) — miso (soybean paste) broth
• tonkotsu ramen(????????), thick pork broth

Slurping your noodles is not only acceptable, but expected. The exception to this is young ladies who do not want to draw attention to their eating and will often eat their noodles in silence. According to the Japanese it both cools them down and makes them taste better. And pick up a manga comic book to protect yourself from soup spray!

Sushi and sashimi

, Tokyo

Perhaps Japan's most famous culinary exports are sushi (??), raw fish over rice, and sashimi (??), plain raw fish. These seemingly very simple dishes are in fact quite difficult to prepare properly: the fish must be extremely fresh, and apprentices spend years just learning how to making the vinegared rice for sushi correctly.

Additionally, a career-long learning experience for all apprentices and beginning sushi chefs is the skill of selecting the fish/seafood at the local wholesale fish market. This skill is largely overlooked and little known by those outside of the trade. The very important morning selection largely determines the overall quality and dining experience for the shop's customers that day.

There is enough arcane sushi terminology to fill entire books, but the most common types are:

• nigiri — the canonical sushi form consisting of rice with fish pressed on top
• maki — fish and rice rolled up in nori seaweed and cut into bite-size chunks
• temaki — fish and rice rolled up in a big cone of nori
• gunkan — "battleship" sushi, like nigiri but with nori wrapped around the edge to contain the contents
• chirashi — a large bowl of vinegared rice with seafood scattered on top

Nearly anything that swims or lurks in the sea can and has been turned into sushi, and most sushi restaurants keep a handy multilingual decoding key on hand or on the wall. A few species more or less guaranteed to feature in every restaurant are maguro (tuna), sake (salmon), ika (squid), tako (octopus), and tamago (egg). More exotic options include uni (sea urchin roe), toro (fatty tuna belly, very expensive) and shirako (fish sperm).

If you somehow ended up in a sushi restaurant, but can't or don't want to eat raw fish, there are usually several alternatives. For instance the above mentioned tamago, various vegetables on rice, or the very tasty inari (rice in a sweet wrap of deep fried tofu).

Even in Japanese, sushi is a bit of a delicacy and the most expensive restaurants, where you order piece by piece from a chef, can run you bills into ten of thousands of yen. You can limit the damage by ordering a fixed-price moriawase (?????) set, where the chef will choose whatever he thinks is good that day. Cheaper yet are the ubiquitous kaiten (??, lit. "revolving") sushi shops, where you sit by a conveyor belt and grab whatever strikes your fancy, at prices that can be as low as ¥100 per plate; note that, even in these places, it's quite acceptable to order directly from the chef.

When eating sushi, it's perfectly acceptable to use your fingers, just dip the piece in soy and pop it in your mouth. In Japan, the pieces will typically already have a dab of fiery wasabi radish lurking inside, but you can always add more according to your taste. Slices of pickled ginger (gari) refresh the palate and infinite refills of green tea are always available for free.

Grilled and fried dishes

, [[Okinawa]]

The Japanese didn't eat much meat before the Meiji era, but they have picked up the habit and even exported a few new ways to eat it since then. Keep an eye on the price though, as meat (especially beef) can be fiercely expensive and luxury varieties like the famous marbled Kobe beef can cost thousands or even tens of thousands of yen per serving. Some options, usually served by specialist restaurants, include:

• okonomiyaki (?????) — Japanese pancake-pizza, based on a wheat-cabbage batter with meat or seafood of your choice, slathered with sauce, mayo, bonito flakes, dried seaweed and pickled ginger
• teppanyaki (????) — meat grilled on a hot iron plate
• tempura (???) — battered shrimp, fish and vegetables deep-fried very quickly, served with a dipping broth
• tonkatsu (???) — deep-fried pork cutlets elevated into an art form
• yakiniku (??) — Japanese-style barbeque, cooked by yourself at your table
• yakitori (???) — kebabs from every chicken part imaginable

One Japanese specialty worth seeking out is eel (??? unagi), reputed to give strength and vitality in the drainingly hot summer months. A properly grilled eel simply melts in the mouth when eaten — and takes over a thousand yen from your wallet in the process.

Stewed dishes

Particularly in the cold winter months various stews (? nabe) are popular ways to warm up. Common types include:

• chankonabe (?????) — a hotchpotch hotpot much favored by sumo wrestlers
• oden (???) — fish soup simmered for days on end, often sold on the street (and convenience stores) in the winter
• sukiyaki (????) — a hotpot of beef, tofu, noodles and more, often somewhat sweet
• shabu-shabu (??????) — much the same, but with a savoury broth and dipping sauces

Pseudo-Western dishes

Throughout Japan you can find cafes and restaurants serving Western food (?? y?shoku), ranging from molecular-level carbon copies of famous French pastries to hardly recognizable Japanized dishes like corn-and-potato pizza and spaghetti omelettes. A few popular only-in-Japan dishes include:

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