✈️ What you need to know for Going to Japan in 2024 ✈️

hi I'm Amy from cakes with faces and this is what you need to know if you're going to Japan in 2024 including updates to visit Japan web the Japan Rail Pass what's going on with sua cards and some new things that are opening this year I should say this isn't a video with everything you need to know for your Japan trip today we're just focusing on updates what's new and what's changed that you need to know about if you want general advice for Japan have a look at my japaning playlist on my channel that goes much deeper into how to get around money food shopping and all those things and I recently updated my Japan guide book so that has up-to-date information about the Jr pass how to book your trip checklists how to get by in Japan and lots of ideas for things to do it has 300 pages of all my best tips you can get it from cakes with faces. co.uk with Worldwide shipping so let's get on to what's new and as always if you have any questions put them in the comments the exchange rate is excellent at the moment I can't say for all currencies but for British pounds it's the best rate since 2015 and the dollar rate is excellent as well so that makes everything in Japan that little bit cheaper now I am no expert in economics and this is not Financial advice but now does seem like a good time to get some Yen if you got a trip planned this year who knows maybe the rate will get even better but seeing as it's the best rate in 9 years it seems like a pretty good time to lock it in and get some Yen which brings us on to cash and a reminder that you do still need cash in Japan credit card usage has become more widespread and contactless cards but there are still places that only take cash including games arcades vending machines snacks kiosks train ticket machines some smaller restaurants and smaller tourist attractions some of those do take IC cards which are the cards you use to pay for your trains but you also need cash to top them up unless you've got the mobile sua and it's not unusual to come across a cash only sign if you're staying in a rokan a traditional Japanese Hotel check if they accept cards because they can be a bit old-fashioned last time I had to take a big envelope of cash to pay for mine and always check if your credit or debit card is commission free to use abroad so you don't get extra charges from your bank there's a video in my japanning playlist all about money with everything need to know visit Japan web is a website that was introduced in 2022 as a way of handling Customs immigration and quarantine paperwork you fill it in online before you travel and it gives you QR codes to scan when you arrive at the airport in Japan and that replaces the paper forms you used to have to fill in on the plane it's not compulsory but if you don't do it you do have to fill in the paper forms instead so it makes things a lot smoother when you arrive at the airport because the last thing you want after a long ha FL light is to have to queue up and fill in a load of forms you can find it at vjw lp. digital. go. jpen very Snappy there have been some scam apps so be aware that the official one is a website it's not an app there have been some changes since it was first introduced you don't have to upload your proof of vaccination anymore that part is gone and there's a new section for taxfree shopping some shops in Japan offer taxfree shopping for foreigners you used to have to show your passport at the till so now if you fill in this new section of visit Japan web it gives you a QR code to scan instead although you should be aware that as a foreigner you have to carry your passport with you at all times anyway I've just filled it in for my next trip you have to take a photo of your passport and it grabs your photo and all your details automatically I did it on a laptop in the evening and it took quite a few goes to take a photo that it would accept because it was in artificial light and the photo page of your past sport is shiny so it might be easier to do it in the daylight and on your phone you can have as many goes as you want and it's checked automatically do check the details because I found it read a couple of letters incorrectly but it's really easy to correct them just by typing to get the QR code for taxfree shopping you have to take a picture of the landing permission sticker in your passport which you get once you go through passport control so you just need to finish that off when you arrive in Japan then you get your QR code and you can go shopping a section to watch out for in visit Japan web is about visas I thought the information it gives you is quite confusing so I'd recommend knowing beforehand whether you need a Visa or not Japan has a Visa exemption scheme for 70 countries including the UK Canada and the USA so if you're from one of those countries you don't need to do anything if you're just going for a short stay as a tourist but I am not qualified to give information about Visas so check your country's Government website or Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs there's also a new section on visit Japan web that asks about travel insurance it's really simple and you don't even have to enter any details a few people have asked me when's the best time to do visit Japan web there's no official rule on that but you can fill it in as soon as you have the dates of your trip confirmed and an address where you'll be staying in Japan I recommend not leaving it until the very last minute just in case you know the website's down or there's any problems next updates to the Jr pass as you may know the price of the Japan mail pass went up in 2023 it was the first price increase in decades and it's changed the whole situation instead of buying it automatically if you're traveling long distance around Japan now you really need to do the maths and work out if it's worth it for you there are calculators that make this easier this one's on Japan guide to find it search for Japan guide Jr pass calculator you enter into the details of the longdistance trip she'll be doing and it tells you if the pass is likely to be worth it or not if you want to check Shin Canen prices I use an app called Japan travel by Nava time you can just check them on Google I find the app is better because Google shows you all kinds of local routs and routs you wouldn't want to take in real life and I just think the app is less confusing if you're not getting a Jr pass that doesn't necessarily mean your Japan trip is going to be more expensive for example example if you're doing the popular golden route between Tokyo and Osaka and Kyoto the cost of the shinkansen tickets is actually pretty similar to the previous cost of the Jr pass so you're not necessarily going to be worse off and there are also Regional Rail passes that cover individual areas that cost less than the Jr pass for the whole of Japan so if you're not traveling around the whole country it could save you money most of them don't include the trip from Tokyo to that region so you'll probably need to pair them with an individual Shin Canen ticket or an internal flight there's a useful page about them on Japan guide when you click the map it tells you which parties cover that area I do hope this won't put you off exploring Japan there are so many interesting places to discover and the rest of Japan is so different to Tokyo now I should quickly mention that since 2020 there are new rules about taking luggage on the shinkansen it's not too much to worry about because chances are your luggage probably isn't oversized but if you want to use the luggage space at the end of The Carriage you do have to reserve it now all the details about that are in my recent video about traveling with luggage next sirca cards have been temporarily unavailable in 2023 because of the chip shortage I have heard they've been available again recently but who knows how the situation is going to continue as we go through 2024 sua cards are a type of IC card that you you use to pay for your trains there's also pmo which is pretty much the same thing they're really easy to use you top them up with credit then you just scan in and out as you go through the ticket barriers it's so easy I'd recommend them as the easiest way to pay for your trains they're valid for all the train lines all the different train companies it's just the most hasslefree option I have seen so much drama about the shortage lots of clickbait videos and headlines but it's really not that much of a problem sua hasn't been discontinued it's just been temporarily unavailable because of the chip shortage and there are several Alternatives the first one is welcome sua or pmo passport and these are versions that are designed for tourists they only last one month and you can't get a refund of any credit that's left over at the end of your trip so make sure you use it all up but you can use them at vending machines and some shops but otherwise they're exactly the same as the regular sua or posmo cards posmo passport is possibly even better because it has cute sanio characters on it and at the moment welcome sua is only available from Hana airport not Narita but I'm guessing that's a temporary thing due to availability the next option if you have an iPhone you can use Mobile sua on your phone through Apple wallet the big advantage of this is you can use your card to top it up whereas if you have a physical card you mostly need cash to top up at the ticket machine unfortunately for foreigners this isn't available through Android the next option is regional IC cards from other areas of Japan are still available like this one the neoka from Fukuoka so if you're flying into Osaka or if you're visiting another region of Japan you can just get the local IC card there and you can use it throughout most of Japan just the same as Sira or pasmo and you can get TOA cards in Tokyo TOA is the IC card from Jr Central which operates this central region of Japan and their card has cute chicks on it you can get it from Tokyo Station at the Jr toai ticket office at the yosu North Exit or shinagawa station at the Jr toai ticket office at the shinkansen north exit and if you have an old IC card from a previous trip you can still use that they last for 10 years so there are lots of alternatives availability may change over time as chips become available or not available but there are lots of options next is a change I noticed on my trip last year compared to before 2020 some restaurants seem to be really busy especially if they've become well known online or if it's somewhere that everyone's heard of and for me as a vegetarian if it's somewhere that's popular on websites like Happy Cow there will be a long Queue at dinner time this is especially true at the weekends for example when I went to OKO in Osaka for economy Yaki the queue was so long I waited for an hour and a half which I know sounds insane but once you've queued for a certain amount of time you're committed and you have to stay in that queue and at chow chow GZA in Kyoto which is known for having veggie options I went for dinner and the queue was so long so I went back the next day just after they opened for lunch and there was no queue I just walked straight in and then on our last night in Tokyo which was a weekend and it was quite late we just kept getting turned away from places because they were full even places like conveyor belt Sushi chains so if you're in a popular city like Tokyo Kyoto or Asaka and especially if it's the weekend I'd really recommend eating your evening meal early or going at lunchtime if it's a popular place if you want to go somewhere that's kind of famous like that Ki KI omarise or the fire Ramen I definitely recommend making a reservation as early as you can but you really don't have to stick to these recommended places and in my opinion it's better not to I often see people asking for recommendations for specific restaurants to eat in Japan but really the standard of food in restaurants is so good across the board that you really don't need to stick to recommended places you can go anywhere and have a good time there are so many small places to eat that are fantastic even though they're not famous on Tik Tok and that little place that you just happen to come across could just be the best experience of your trip and it'll be even more special because you discovered it next reservations you need to know which things you need to book in advance and which things you can afford to be flexible about so in 2024 some places you absolutely need to book in advance are the studio gibl Park and the studio GI museum for both of them you need to book tickets the second they come on sale because they're in such high demand this year team lab border list is also going to be popular because that's reopening and it's new location and you also need to reserve if you want to go to theme cafes especially popular ones like the Pokémon Cafe for other things like team lab planets shabuya sky and the Sky Tree the best way is to go on their official website and start going through the booking process it will show you how many tickets are left so you know if you can leave it or if you need to to grab them before they sell out it also depends when you're going if you want to go up shabuya sky at Sunset that's the most popular time so you will need to book that in advance or if you're going to Japan in cherry blossom season or the popular autumn leaves time in November or golden week when it's the holidays at the end of April Start of May you'll need to book more things in advance next with the earthquake at the start of the year you might be worried about natural disasters in Japan they say there are around 1500 earthquakes a year around Japan because it's where the tectonic plates meet so that's also why there are lots of volcanoes like Mount Fuji and hot springs while some of them are major earthquakes most of them are minor sometimes you don't even feel them and they are Regional I felt a couple of earthquakes when I've been in Japan once I was on the Metro in Tokyo and the train stopped and it just started shaking but no one else made any reaction because they knew it was nothing to worry about and then the train just started moving again the Japan tourist office actually has a website that tells you what to do if there's various natural disasters you can find it if you search for jnto safety tips for foreigners and if you're out and about or if you're at your hotel the staff and other people will help you if there's an emergency these are all things that people who live in Japan live with every day and they know what's best to do next is face masks which is a bit of a controversial subject but I wanted to mention it anyway just so you know the deal you don't have to wear face masks at the moment in Japan from what I've heard right now some people are choosing to wear them in public and some people are choosing not to wear them and even before 20120 some people in Japan wore face masks for a whole range of reasons for me I'll probably take one with me but not really expect to wear it just so I've got it in case I'm in a situation where everyone's wearing masks and it feels like a faux hard to not have one it seems like the airlines don't require you to wear masks anymore I haven't checked every single one but certainly the Japanese Airlines Japan Airlines and Ana say it's now up to your personal choice whether you want to wear one or not now on to the new things these are the major new attractions that are opening in 2024 I will have a Japan news video coming up with smaller things and events and what's going on over the next few months so subscribe if you want to catch that first team lab borderless is reopening on the 9th of February 2024 in a new location in this new complex called aabu Hills which is near Tokyo Tower I love how this looks team lab borderless is the permanent digital art museum it's much larger than team lab planets which is the temporary one but only planets has the water rooms I have a video from before it moved and I'm hoping to go again once it reopens it's such a unique different experience I totally recommend it for anyone next the final area of the gibli park near ngoya is opening on the 16th of March 2024 it's the valley of witches with the bakery from Kiki's Delivery Service and how's Moving Castle the ticket options will also be changing once all the areas are open instead of individual tickets for the different areas there'll be various day passes at the moment for foreigners there are two options there's the the oampo day pass and the oampo day pass premium the premium option gives you access to everything the non-premium One lets you go to all the outside areas but it doesn't include a couple of the buildings on the Japanese site there's also another option which is outside only and doesn't include any of the buildings at the moment tickets are released 2 months in advance on the 10th of the month and it is so popular so if you want to get one you need to be on online the second they go on sale but do check that in case the process changes in future next at Universal Studios oaka the next part of Super Nintendo World is opening in Spring 2024 it's called Donkey Kong Country and it's going to be jungle themed with a new ride Super Nintendo World is already really popular to get into it you need an extra par as well as your main theme park ticket there are free and paid ways to do that so if you want to go to the new Donkey Kong Country check up on how to get a pass to make sure you can get in and finally a new section of Tokyo Disney SE is opening on the 6th of June 2024 called Fantasy Springs it looks so beautiful I'm really looking forward to it there are areas themed around Frozen Tangled and Peter Pan and a whole new themed hotel inside the park the theming at Disney sea is so detailed and just beautiful that I'm I'm sure it will look just as good in real life as it does in these previews I'm really looking forward to Rapunzel's lantern Festival boat ride reservations for the new Hotel open on the 8th of February I am expecting it will be difficult to get a reservation to start with because it'll be so popular and if you want to go to the new section Fantasy Springs they will be restricting access because it's going to be so popular so read up on how to get a pass if you want to go just like with universal it looks like they'll be free and paid options so I hope those updates help if you have a Japan trip coming up in 2024 if you have any questions put them in the comments I'll be filming New Japan travel videos this spring I can't wait and there's lots more coming up on my channel every Thursday I'll see you soon [Music] [Applause] [Music] bye-bye

Channel: Cakes with Faces

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Id: WbIqZFIlIjA

Length: 19min 28sec (1168 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 11 2024