Japan Travel Guide For First Timers

We share how Japan completely changed our view of travel, from the moment we landed to the moment we hopped on trains without stress. We break down the exact tools, apps, packing choices, and itinerary stops that make Japan feel clean, safe, friendly, and ridiculously easy to get around. 
• preparing before leaving Australia with the right travel apps 
• using Google Maps for platforms, transfers and walking routes 
• translating menus and signs with Google Translate camera mode 
• converting yen to Australian dollars with simple phone tools 
• setting up Suica on your phone and using it beyond transport 
• making sense of Japan’s train system with clear English signage 
• understanding Japanese train culture, quiet carriages and queues 
• booking and riding the Shinkansen with the SmartX app 
• eating well in Japan on a budget including convenience store food 
• choosing the best season to visit Japan for weather and scenery 
• learning basic Japanese phrases to connect with locals 
• packing light with a backpack, using hotel laundry facilities 
• storing bags in train station lockers to explore hands free 
• doing free walking tours for culture, history and hidden spots 
• our itinerary highlights across Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kyoto, Shin‑Yokohama and Tokyo 
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Transcript

Why Japan Feels So Easy

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Hello everyone, welcome back to Lucky's Life. I'm your host Brand Tilgo, electrician by trade and electrical contractor by trade. In today's episode, it is something a little different from the tradey stories and life in the trade. Today I want to talk about Japan. A country that honestly blew me away. This episode is for anyone who has ever thought I would love to go to Japan, or I don't know how to get around. Train system looks confusing, and how do you deal with the language? I'm going to walk you through my itinerary. What to pack with only a travel backpack, how the Japanese rail system works, how to use ZuiCart travel cards, how to ride the bullet train with the SmartX app, the apps you should download before you travel, and the incredible places we visited. And I'll tell you something straight away. Japan is one of the easiest countries in the world to travel in. It is clean, safe, organized, friendly people, and the food is absolutely incredible. So grab a coffee, sit back, and let's talk about traveling Japan. The easy way. Now let's get the show rolling. Preparing for Japan before you leave. One of the biggest travel tips I can give anyone is this. Preparation makes travel stress-free. Before leaving Australia, there are a few apps and tools you should download before you go. These will save you hours of confusion once you arrive. Essential apps to download. Number one is Google Maps. This is your friend in Japan. Google Maps will show you train lines, platforms, departure times, transfers, and walking routes. You simply type in where you want to go and it tells you exactly which train to catch. For example, take the JR line from Kyoto Station to Osaka, platform three, train departing in five minutes. It's incredible and accurate. Number two, Google Translate. Japan is very English friendly, but sometimes you'll still need translation. Google Translate lets you speak into your phone, translate menus, translate signs, use the camera to translate Japanese text instantly. It's amazing technology. Number three is currency conversion app. I always recommend downloading a currency converter, but here's a simple trick many travelers don't know. You can just use your iPhone calculator app. For example, if something costs 1200 yen, type it into your calculator and multiply it by the exchange rate. It gives you a quick estimate of Australian dollars. Or, still using your iPhone calculator app, type in 1200 for 1200 yen, then press the calculator picture icon left beside the zero button, slide the convert button, choose yen or jpy, and it will convert the currency for you, which is about ten dollars and sixty-four cents Australian at the time of recording this podcast episode. Number four is the Suka card or Apple Wallet Suka. All you need to do is go into your wallet app on your phone, press the plus button, and choose transit cards, then select Suka, which is S U I C A Suka or Suika. This is one of the greatest travel tools in Japan. A Suka card is basically a prepaid travel card. You load money onto it from your own banking account or banking app and you tap in and out of train stations or on and off buses. But here's the brilliant part. You can also use Suka to pay for coffee, food, vending machines, convenience stores, and supermarkets. Japan has vending machines everywhere, and I'm not kidding, almost 20 to 30 meters apart. And then there are banks of them. You just tap your suka card or phone, select what you want, and your drink or food item pops out. Some vending machines even sell alcohol. Number five is the Smart X app for the Bullet Train. If you plan on riding the Shinkerson Bullet Train, download the Smart X app before you leave. Simply create a logon and you're set to go. This lets you book bullet train tickets, reserve seats, change booking easily, and it links directly to your phone so you can travel without paper tickets. How easy Japan's train system is. Now when people first see the Tokyo rail map, they panic. It looks like a big bowl of spaghetti. Lines everywhere. But here's the truth. Once you use it once or twice, it becomes incredibly easy. Clear English signage. Every train station has signs and electronic displays in Japanese and English. Electronic displays show train arrival times, platform times and numbers, destination stations. Inside the trains, you'll also have signs, electronic displays, and you'll hear announcements in Japanese and English. So you'll always know where you are and where you are going. Using the Suka card, here's how simple it is. Walk into the train station, tap your Suka card or phone, get on the train, and then tap when you exit. The fare is automatically deducted. No tickets, no stress, no figuring out prices, just tap and go. The Japanese train culture. One thing you'll notice quickly in Japan, people are very respectful. Trains are quiet, people queue neatly, they wait for people to get off before people get on. And everything runs on time. When a train is scheduled for 9.02 a.m. it leaves at 9 02 AM. Not 9 05 or 9 10, it leaves and arrives exactly on time. The Shinkasen Bullet Train Experience. One of the highlights of Japan travel is riding the Shinkasan Bullet Train. These trains travel up to three hundred kilometers per hour. They are smooth, quiet and incredibly comfortable. You can recline your seat and go to sleep. The seats are very spacious to sit in. Using the Smart X app before you travel, download SmartX, create your login, then you can select departure cities, select a destination, choose train times, reserve your seats. For example, Hiroshima to Kyoto, the trip takes about one hour and forty minutes. Once you arrive at the station, you simply scan your QR code or linked card, which is on your phone, walk through the gate and board your train. It is incredibly simple. Here's some bullet train tips. Arrive about 15 minutes early, line up at the numbered carriage markers on the platform. When the train arrives, people exit first, then passengers board. Everything is organized and very calm. We found the same applied when boarding and internal flight within Japan as well. When it came time to boarding time, the plane was split into four boarding groups. Like the plane was divided into four sections. Group one was the back window seats. Group two was the back aisle seats. Group three was the front window seats, and group four was the front aisle seats. The plane was boarded in that sequence. When group one had finished boarding, then they called for group two and so on and so on. I was just amazed how organized the airline was. There was no waiting in the aisles for people to fuss around and get the luggage stowed away. Everything was in order. I think Australia needs to adopt a Japanese way to travel. The friendliness of Japanese people. Another thing that really stands out in Japan is the people. Japanese people are incredibly polite and helpful. If you look lost, someone will often offer help. Station attendants are also extremely helpful. Even if their English is limited, this was the case for Helen and myself. They will walk with you, point directions, or show you exactly which platform to go to. Japan feels safe and very welcoming. The food in Japan. Let's talk about the food. Japan is a food paradise, and you do not need to spend a fortune. You can eat amazing meals for ten, fifteen or twenty dollars. Some highlights include ramen, sushi, tampora, udon noodles, and bento boxes. Restaurants also provide English menus. Many restaurants also display plastic models of meals outside, so you can literally point to what you want to eat. Convenience stores like 7 Eleven, Lawson, Family Mart, Tullies, and Starbucks also sell surprisingly good food. Fresh sandwiches, rice bowls, coffee and snacks. Perfect for the traveler. Hi there, I'm Greg Tilko. If this is your first time here at Sparky's Life, welcome. It's great to have you here. And if you're back here for more, welcome back and thank you for your loyalty and support. If you like what you hear on today's show, make sure you share this podcast with your mates who are electricians or who are involved in the trading world. I want to reach out and help as many tradies as I can with this podcast. I want to help tradespeople break through to the next level in their career and in their lives. Now before we wrap up this Japan episode, I want to talk about a few extra travel tips that will make your trip even easier. Things like the best time of the year to visit Japan, learning a little Japanese before you go, packing smart with just a backpack, using hotel laundry facilities, train station lockers, and the fantastic free walking tours you can do in every city. These little things make your trip smoother and more enjoyable. Best time of the year to visit Japan. Japan is a country that has four very distinct seasons. Each one offers something unique. But for most travelers, the best times to visit Japan are spring and autumn. Spring, which is between March and May. Spring is famous for cherry blossom season, also called Sakua. Parks, temples, and streets become covered in soft pink blossoms. It's absolutely beautiful. People gather for picnics under the cherry trees and celebrate the season. Temperatures are comfortable and perfect for walking around cities like Kyoto, Tokyo and Hiroshima. Spring is the most popular time to visit. Autumn between October and November. Autumn is another incredible time to visit Japan. The trees turn shades of red, orange and gold. Temples and gardens look stunning. The weather is very comfortable, not too hot and not too cold. For many travellers autumn is actually the perfect balance of weather and scenery. Summer between June and August. This was the time of the year that Helen and myself went to Japan. Summer in Japan can be hot and humid, but if you are prepared, it's still a great time to travel. The advantages of summer travel is longer daylight hours, lots of festivals, lively street atmosphere, and if you pack light clothing it is very manageable. If you do go traveling during summer, all the convenience stores sell UV rated umbrellas. Yes, UV rated and they actually work. They completely block out the heat of the sun. We bought two of them and brought them back with us. Learning a little Japan Japanese before you go. Here's a tip that makes traveling even more enjoyable. Download the Julingo app before you leave. Spend just ten minutes a day learning basic Japanese phrases. You don't need to become fluent. Just learn a few basics like hello which is Kanichua, thank you which is aragato, gazamuzu, excuse me, which is Simizen, and yes which is hate. Japanese people really appreciate when visitors make an effort. Even saying a simple thank you in Japan in Japanese often gets a smile. Traveling light the backpack rule. One of the best travel decisions you can make in Japan is packing light. Japan is incredibly easy to travel with just a good quality backpack. The backpack of choice for us is the Maya 25 made by Gregory, which is a 25 liter capacity bag with heaps of room for clothing, with many compartments for all of your important travel documents. It's just the right size for overhead storage or under the seat in both domestic and international air travel. For summer travel, you'll really only need about three sets of clothing. That's it. Three lightweight outfits. For example, three shirts, three pairs of shorts or lightweight pants, underwear and socks, comfortable walking shoes, and some toiletries. And that's pretty much it. Japan is a clean and organized country. And there's a great reason you don't need to pack a lot of clothes. Hotel laundry facilities. Almost every good hotel in Japan has coin operated washing machines and dryers. Many of them also accept super card payments. So if you need to wash clothes, you simply put them in the machine, which are combos. They wash and also dry your clothes. And you're ready for another few days. It makes traveling with minimal clothing incredibly easy. You don't need heavy suitcases, you don't need huge luggage, you just need a simple backpack and simple clothing. What else should you pack? Besides clothing, here are a few smart travel items to pack: a lightweight rain jacket, portable phone charger, travel adapter, small toiletry kit, comfortable walking shoes, a reusable water bottle, sunglasses, and a hat in summer. And of course your smartphone with all your travel apps installed. Hotel breakfast in Japan. Another great thing about Japan, Japanese hotels, many of the good hotels include breakfast in the stay. And the breakfasts are fantastic. You usually get a combination of Japanese dishes and Western dishes. For example, rice, mizo soup, grilled fish, eggs, fruit, pastries, and coffee and tea. You definitely will not go hungry. It's a great way to start the day before heading out to Explore. Train station lockers. An amazing travel feature. Here's another brilliant feature of traveling in Japan. Almost every train station has coin operated lockers. These lockers are perfect if you arrive in a city before hotel check-in time. Most hotels check in around 1 pm or 2 pm in the afternoon. But if you arrive earlier, you don't need to carry your backpack around all day. So what you simply do is find a locker in the train station, put your backpack inside, pay with coins or your Suka card or Suka phone app, then go explore the city freely. It's incredibly inconvenient. You can walk around, grab lunch, visit shops, explore the area, and then come back later to collect your bag. It makes traveling around Japan very relaxed. The free walking tours, one of the best travel experiences. Another fantastic thing you can do in many Japanese cities is free walking tours. These tours are often run by university students. They do this so they can practice speaking English and meet travelers from around the world. All you need to do at the end of the tour is offer a small donation or tip. These walking tours are brilliant because you learn things that guide books will never tell you. You learn about the Japanese culture, local history, where the best food is, where locals like to shop, hidden streets and neighborhoods. And you get to meet some friendly people along the way. It's a fantastic way to start exploring a new city. Why Japan is such an easy country to travel when you combine everything we've talked about, easy train system, English signage, friendly people, great food, clean cities, helpful travel apps, smart travel tools like Suka, Japan becomes one of the easiest countries the world to explore. It might feel intimidating at first, but once you arrive, you realize very quickly how organized and welcoming the country is. So when you combine good preparation, the right travel apps, smart packing, and Japan's incredible transport system, you end up with a travel experience that is smooth, exciting, and unforgettable. And for us, the places we visited, which were Hiroshima, Kyoto, Mirajima, Shinyokohama, and Tokyo, each offered something unique. So let's go back and now and talk about the incredible things to see and do in each of these places. Hiroshima. Hiroshima is a powerful and emotional place. It's a city of history and resilience. The Must See is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. It's a beautiful park dedicated to peace. The Atom Bomb Dome. The preserved remains of this building destroyed by the bomb. A powerful reminder of history. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, one of the most moving museums you'll ever visit. It tells the story of the bombing and its aftermath. Food to try in Hiroshima. Hiroshima is famous for the Hiroshima style okonami yaki. It's a layered savory pancake with noodles, cabbage, egg and pork. It's fantastic. But when we had it we had it with chicken because we don't eat pork. But still the same. With chicken, it's absolutely beautiful. Mirajima. Just a short ferry ride from Hiroshima. This island is one of the most beautiful places in Japan. Massey is the Itsu Kushima floating turi gates. The famous red gates that appear to float on the water. It's one of Japan's most iconic sites. The Itsukushima Shrine, a stunning shrine built over the water. A world heritage site. Mount Mizan. You can hike or take a rope way to the top. The views over the inland sea are spectacular. Friendly deer. The island also has wild deer wandering around, a very peaceful atmosphere. Kyoto. Kyoto is the cultural heart of Japan. Ancient temples, traditional streets, and beautiful gardens. Masi is a Fushima Inari Shrine, famous for the thousands of red Tori Gates, one of Japan's most photographed locations. The Golden Pavilion, a stunning gold-covered temple surrounded by water and gardens. The Bamboo Forest. Walking through towering bamboo trees is magical. We actually paid for a ritual ride through the bamboo forest. The Gion district. The traditional Gisha district. Beautiful wooden streets and tea houses. The next stop was Shinyokohama. Shinyokohama is a convenient transport hub, but also has great attractions nearby. Things to see at Shinyokohama is the Ramen Museum. A fantastic place to try different regional ramen. A quick train to Yokohama, Chinatown, one of the largest Chinatowns in the world, and it has a fantastic food. The next stop was Tokyo. Tokyo is a city like no other. Massive, energetic, futuristic, but also incredibly organized. The must see at Tokyo is the Shibua Crossing, the world's busiest pedestrian crossing. Also the Senso-ji Temple, Asakusa, Tokyo's oldest temple, beautiful traditional streets. Also is the Tokyo Sky Tree, one of the tallest towers in the world. It has amazing views. Also the Tisuke Outer Market, a paradise for seafood lovers. Another place is the Shinjuku. It has neon lights, restaurants, and entertainment. My final thoughts on Japan. Japan exceeded every expectation. It has clean cities, has friendly people, amazing food, and one of the best transport systems in the world. With tools like Suka, SmartX, Google Maps, traveling Japan becomes incredibly easy. You don't need to speak Japanese, you just need some curiosity and a sense of adventure. So if Japan has ever been on your bucket list, go. You won't regret it. And if this episode helped you plan your trip, share it with someone else thinking about traveling to Japan. This has been Sparky's Life. And remember, life is not just about working hard. Sometimes it is about getting out into the world and experiencing something incredible. So that's all for now folks. But before I go, if there is anything you'd like me to talk about on future episodes, maybe want to ask a question or be on the show, you can do this by contacting us on any of our media sites. I'll put the links to these in the show notes. And don't forget to follow the show and leave a review. Thanks for listening to Sparky's Live. I'm your host, Grantulko. Keep safe and catch you on the next one. Hello, and I have one more thing to mention. It's the legal language. This podcast is presented solely for entertainment educational purposes. I'm just your host. I am not a licensed therapist. And this podcast is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, a professional coach, a psychotherapist, or other qualified professionals. I talk to you soon on the next episode.