Japan Travel Fails: 17 Common Mistakes You Need to Avoid

don't make these mistakes when you visit Japan the first mistake that Travelers often make when they visit Japan is expecting to pay with digital payments everywhere Visa Mastercard Apple pay are yes certainly taken a lot of places in Japan but not everywhere many stores and restaurants are still cash only and I know Japan does have robots and bullet trains but you're going to need to make sure to get some yen to pay at the places that don't take digital payments now when you do pay with cash look for a little tray around the cash register to place your money in and then when they give you change they'll typically give you your change back in a similar tray now something I've been seeing more more of in Japan at supermarkets and convenience stores is they actually have Bill and coin acceptors right on the cash register that you can place your money in directly mistake number two is if you got a reservation at a restaurant being late yes if you're any more than 5 minutes late for your restaurant reservation and you think you'll have a table you likely won't in Japan they are very punctual and if you're there more than 5 minutes late after your reservation expect that you don't have a table and they gave that to somebody else mistake number three is thinking that you're supposed to respond when the staff welcomes you into a restaurant or to a shop in Japan it's generally a pretty quiet country but when you enter a restaurant or a shop you are typically greeted loudly in Japanese they basically yell at you and so you might think you're supposed to respond with something like hi or thank you but you're not you can simply nod your head and continue on your way they actually aren't expecting response and they definitely don't think you're rude by not responding mistake number four is tipping I don't mean cow tipping I mean tipping your servers or tipping your taxi driver this is something that probably plagues Americans that want to tip everyone but tipping is really not customary in Japan so you don't need a tip save your money mistake number five is back at restaurants it's when you want to pay your bill waiting for the waiter a waitress to pick up your bill so that you can pay you're going to be waiting forever in Japan the customs is typically that your server will drop off your bill at your table but then they'll expect you to come up to the counter to pay and get your change so don't wait at your table for them mistake number six Alla restaurants is waiting for everybody's food at your table to arrive before you start eating in Japan they don't try and get everybody's food to the table at the same time they bring it out as soon as it's done cooking so that it's always Fresh So if yours arrives first eat yours otherwise it's going to be really cold by the time your dinner Partners arrives number seven is looking for public trash cans on the street public trash cans in Japan are few and far between if you have trash like you've generated trash while you're out and about in the city expect to Carri it around for a while even many public bathrooms don't have trash cans carry a plastic bag so you can put the trash in your day bag until you find a rubbish bin convenience stores all have them but you might have to go inside to find it other good places to often find trash cans are in train stations and of course back in your hotel room mistake number eight is trying to open or close the door to a taxi what that's weird Chris how was that a mistake well in Japan when you get into a taxi you don't open the door yourself in Japan the taxi driver has a button on the inside of the car that they press to open the door for you don't try to do it yourself and when you leave the taxi your instinct is probably just to go ahead and pull the handle and open the door it won't work they need to push the button to open the door for you of course after you pay them uh and if you have luggage the taxi driver will also put your luggage in the trunk themselves don't try to help them that's part of their job oh and by the way once you've gotten to where you're going and then you want to close the door on the taxi again cuz you're out no no no they're going to close it for you with their button from the inside mistake number nine is staying out so late partying or a night on the town that you miss the last train now you might think that big Japanese cities like Tokyo are 24-hour towns and while yes there are certainly businesses and parts of the city that run 24 hours the trains typically don't run past midnight or 1:00 a.m. in smaller rural areas the last train might be even earlier so make sure you pay attention to the last train time otherwise you'll be facing a really expensive taxi ride now my Pro tip here is if you're taking the train out to a rural area and then you're going to be coming back into the city later find the train time t there's one in every station take a picture of it so you've always got that with you on your phone so you know when the last train home is mistake number 10 is riding the train or the subway in Tokyo or Osaka at rush hour and yes what you've heard about train pushers is true at busy subway stations in the big cities the trains get so crowded that people are actually employed on the train platforms to push people in the train if you've ever wanted to feel like a human sardine this is your chance if you don't want to be a sardine which I don't then you'll generally want to avoid the times of 7 to 9:00 a.m. going into the City and 5 to 7:00 p.m. going out of the city and if you're on the platform and you see one really busy train don't think that waiting for the next train will be any better they're all just as crowded during those busy times mistake number 11 is getting on the wrong train Japan has so many trains with so many different routes that arrive on the same platform soose closely timed together that it's really easy to get on the wrong train if there's a train on the train platform at 12:27 and yours departs at 12:30 yours might in fact not be that train and might be a different train that comes after the one you're looking at oh and guys make sure you pay attention to the ladies cars at rush hour some cars may be reserved for women only you can tell because the cars generally have pink signs on them and will say women only and will typically have the times posted that the cars are women only mistake number 12 is rushing to get on the train on the subway frankly you'll always be rushing you're coming down the escalator you see a train on the platform and you're like I want to get it I want to get it but if you're in big cities you know what go ahead and let that one pass because the next one will probably be there in just about 3 minutes now uh if you've got tickets for the bullet train and you're running late by all means go ahead and rush for that one cuz it means you got a reserved seat you need to get on the right train but this is one like in Tokyo the yamanote line it's the major Loop line around Tokyo we really uh they're like long platforms and you'll see the train don't do it don't just just slow down a little bit walk like I say by the time you get to the platform the next train will be there already mistake number 13 is getting a Jr pass and only staying around Tokyo I mean frankly going to Japan and only staying in Tokyo is a mistake in and of itself there's so much more to see um but the reason why it's a mistake is because the Jr pass really is only worthwhile if you're going to be doing a lot of travel around Japan and if you're just staying in Tokyo you're not really going to derive enough value out of your Jr pass um but if you do have a Jr pass Tokyo makes a great base to get out to see the temples in Nico Kamakura the mountains in hakone and nogo for the snow monkey mistake number 14 is trying to rent a car but forgetting your International driving permit yes even some of Tokyo's famous Mario Kart inspired Street go-karting experiences require an international driver's permit and you know most countries will just accept your driver's license from wherever you're from but not in Japan you need to get a translation from your license into Japanese um if you're in the US you can get it at AAA uh if you're in a different country a similar Automobile Association will likely be able to give that to you you need to bring your valid driver's license from your country of origin and the translation into Japanese mistake number 15 is not bringing comfortable shoes you're going to be walking a lot in Japan and if you didn't bring comfortable shoes with you you may have a hard time buying shoes in your size in Japan Japanese people are generally just smaller than Western people and so while my wife OC girl has a great time buying shoes in US size 6 not so much for me in US size 14 mistake number 16 is using squat toilets the wrong way while Japan does have some of the world's most modern toilets that'll wash and dry your bottom all while playing music you'll also find squatty potties in rural Japan many Japanese people actually prefer squat toilets in public settings citing that they are more hygienic because you don't actually have to touch it to use it so the way you use a squat toilet if you're presented with one of these you got to face the right way and so that's looking towards the hood of the squat toilet if it does have a hood so you'll want to try to position yourself closer to the hood if possible and definitely avoid squatting directly Over the Hole as this can splash water back up when using the toilet and definitely that's no good and the biggest mistake of all would be not watching more yellow Productions videos on Japan we've got over a 100 more videos on Japan things to know before you go to Tokyo Osaka cheap beads how to ride the subway and more you'll find links on the screen and in the description below and as usual we won't say goodbye because we will see you in the next video

Channel: Yellow Productions

Views: 48,594

Keywords: Yellow Productions, japan, japan travel, japan travel guide, travel japan

Id: cO4gva-OkRI

Length: 9min 34sec (574 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 19 2023