Japan: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Japan feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 403 written places.
Consideration for others is the operating system; quiet, clean and precise.
✓ Considered polite
- Carry your rubbish - public bins are rare and streets are spotless anyway
- Slurp noodles - it is correct and complimentary
- Take off shoes where floors change level or slippers wait
- Stand left in Tokyo, right in Osaka on escalators - watch and copy
✗ Better avoided
- Tip - it can cause genuine confusion and money may be politely returned
- Talk on the phone on trains - texting is fine, calls are not
- Stick chopsticks upright in rice or pass food chopstick to chopstick - both are funeral gestures
- Eat while walking on ordinary streets - stand or sit to eat
Worth knowing
- Cash still matters - many small restaurants and shrines take no cards; 7-Eleven ATMs accept foreign cards
- Convenience store food is genuinely good - a national institution
- The IC card (Suica/Pasmo, also in phone wallets) taps you through trains, buses and shops
- Onsen etiquette: wash thoroughly first, no swimwear, tattoos may need covering at older baths
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.