Tokyo Travel Tips 2025
- Erin Cokeh Halla
- Jan 3
- 14 min read
Updated: Jan 4
Many friends have asked me what my Japan tips are, and I also got a lot of advice from people who had gone in the last couple years- so here's my compilation of things I found helpful. It's not all encompassing and I'll probably add more as I think of them. I'll also add more personal notes about our actual itinerary in a different post, tips for Disney, etc, and maybe things I wish I did differently. Since this was more of a friends/group trip (20 people!) we were somewhat limited in what we could manage, but all in all, I think we all managed to do a ton!
First things first- before you go, fill out your immigration stuff and get a QR code for each member of your party. It will make customs go so much more smoothly!!!
Phone/Data Plans
We used our ATT international plan, as we wanted to be able to keep our phone numbers while were were gone. It's definitely not the most cost effective, but it's what worked for us and it was very convenient.
Our kids don't have phones at home, but we wanted a way to be able to contact each other in case we got separated, since Tokyo is so crowded. We dug up our old iPhones, so old that they did not support eSim. I purchased a physical SIM card at Bic Camera which we happened to pass, for about $20 per card, and it worked for us to be able to message each other on iMessage and gave us some peace of mind.
Most of our friends and family used eSIM. I set my family up with free eSIM access I got from Gigsky, which is a perk that comes with many of our credit cards. You can check to see if any of your credit cards have it too! It seemed to work like any other eSIM, and no one had issues with it.
Airalo is also a service I've used before, and you can get $3 off if you use my referral code ERIN4993
WhatsApp- Our large group used this to communicate with each other, and many vendors also used this to communicate with me regarding our activities and experiences. It was definitely a must have app to have for that reason.
Transportation
First things first- You must bring your passport with you everywhere. It is the law, and you also need it to buy duty free. Many stores provide duty free on the spot if you have your passport and spend over 5500 yen.
Suica- If you have an iPhone, you can add a Suica transit card to your apple wallet before you even step foot in Japan. This is by far the easiest way to get around, you can just tap your phone or watch- it doesn't even need to be on, and even works when the battery dies. We loaded my son's apple watch with the Suica card and even though he did not have any cellular access on his watch during the trip, the Suica card was functional. Transit fares are full price for ages 13 and up. We just loaded the card 1000 yen at a time, and ended up with very little leftover at the end.
Pasmo- We got my daughter a kids Pasmo card. You need to stop by the information desk for them to verify the child's age via passport, and that card will give them half price for fares. I believe the child price is ages 4-12, and kids under 4 can travel their transit system for free with an adult. You can also get a kids Suica card but had difficulty finding a JR (Japan Rail) office, which is the company that issues them. There is a 500 yen deposit to get a physical card, and you can get some of that deposit back at the end of your trip, but my daughter opted to keep her card (that has her name on it) as a souvenir.
Suica and Pasmo cards work similarly, but are owned by different companies. However, they will both work to deduct fares easily without use of a credit card. You can also use them at the various vending machines you see around the city, as well as convenience stores like 7-11, Family Mart and Lawsons, if you need to drain your cards at the end of the trip.
We opted to pay by ride rather than getting an all access pass, because Tokyo railways are operated by 3 different companies, so an all access pass for 1 would not cover the other 2 lines, and we wanted to be as flexible as possible. By the end of it all, each adult probably paid about $35-$40 USD for 6 days worth of rides.
Google Maps was the best for getting around so make sure you have that app downloaded- it is pretty accurate and will tell you exactly which line you need to take and even what exits you need in order to get out of the station to your destination most efficiently! Make sure you have a good data plan so you can use it!
Go Taxi app- this is like Tokyo's Uber. We were usually able to get a ride within 1-5 minutes, and used it a few times, once to transit between hotels, and another time when we were just all tired at the end of a long day. Just be aware that there are additional charges tacked on at the end that weren't in the original price that were shown. Nothing that broke the bank, but kind of surprised me when I looked at the final bill. There are options for a regular taxi and a premium ride, which is larger and has reclining seats.
Klook- we used Klook to find transport for 5 between Narita International Airport and Tokyo Bay, where our first hotel was. It was about $100 USD, and was a very tight squeeze with all our luggage, but we made it. There are a lot of different options, I just looked for one that looked reputable and had good reviews, and our driver used What's App to communicate with me when he arrived and sent me a picture of what he looked like, so it was very easy to find him.
Blacklane- This is a more luxury service that I only used because of their affiliation with the Citi Strata Elite card, and you get $100 credit yearly. With the credit it made it comparable to other services, and because of the size of our group plus our luggage, I used their service back to Narita International Airport to ensure that we could fit everyone even though it was more expensive. Unfortunately the driver did not even try to fit our luggage in and said it would not fit, even though we were within the parameters, and we had to book a separate ride through GoTaxi and split up. We contacted Blacklane's customer service and they provided enough compensation to cover that second ride to the airport and made it right in the end.
Communication/Translation
Get the Google Translate/Google Lens app. I found that while some locals that you encounter may speak English, many times it is limited and I don't speak Japanese either. Regardless, everyone is very nice and patient, and willing to communicate via Google Translate. I would type in what I wanted to say, and hold it up so they could read it. They would often pull out their own phone and do the same for me. This was a common occurrence, especially at Disney, and often initiated by the cast members. That being said, it is nice to know some common greetings and salutations!
Activities and Excursions
We booked several excursions and activities, and I basically went with the company that had the best deal, with coupon codes, sales, or percentage back with Rakuten. If you're not using Rakuten, you're missing out! Rakuten will give you a percentage of cash or points back and often goes up to 10-20% back! Give it a try if you haven't, right now they have $50 cash back when you spend your first $50 through their portal!
Viator
We booked a Mt. Fuji private tour for 8. It was nice to have our own van and driver. If we had asked to adjust the itinerary ahead of time I think he would have been flexible, but I didn't ask to deviate from it. We ended up going to some pretty touristy places, all with great views of Mt. Fuji, but for that reason, also very crowded. All in all, I think we got what we paid for, and it was nice not to be on a crazy tour bus and be able to go at our pace.
Viator also sent me a coupon code for $75 off an excursion and combined with one of my credit card offers, I thought it was worth it to book a Ramen/Gyoza making class on New Years day, as many restaurants and stores close for New Years. Our flight was also later that day, so I thought it was nice to be able to leave our trip on that note. This was booked just a few weeks before our trip, so I'm glad it worked out. While the experience was not as in depth as I had hoped, and making dumplings is not new to me, the kids had fun and we had food to eat on New Years :)
Get your Guide
We booked a Sumo Experience here- I would have probably gone with Viator but for some reason the same experience on Viator did not open up for the dates that we needed, but Get your Guide did. We had a group of 20(!) people and I thought this was a good way for everyone to be together to eat dinner (the show came with a meal). The reviews said the show was entertaining and educational, but obviously not a real sumo match. I would agree. I learned a lot about sumo, the kids thought it was hilarious, and almost seemed a little WWE at times. I think as long as you know what to expect, and you're not expecting an actual match, it was fun and entertaining and you got a taste of the sumo culture, especially if you are going in a month were there isn't a sumo tournament.
Klook
Klook offers a lot of these same experiences and more. I ended up just booking our transportation through here, but it's nice to compare prices.
Booking Directly
You can also book Disney tickets through Klook, although I opted to book everything directly. Disney tickets open up on the website 2 months in advance.
We were also lucky enough to get Ghibli Museum tickets, which open up the month before you want to go on the 10th, at 10:00 am Japanese Standard time. So for any December tickets, you need to log on November 10, at 10:00 am Japan Time, which is November 9 in the US. Log on 30 minutes beforehand to get in the waiting room, and at 10:00 you are randomly assigned a number and can buy tickets when it is your turn. You can log onto multiple devices for a better chance to have a more favorable number, and can purchase up to 6 tickets.
Since we had a large group, I also opted to book a Capybara cafe ahead of time. They let me book out the entire place before it officially opened up for booking on the website, so it might be worth it to you if this situation applies to your party to contact them earlier.
TeamLab opens up their reservations a couple months ahead of time. You can go to their website to look at their calendar because it doesn't seem like they have a specific time they open, just a general time period. We went to Planets and the kids loved how interactive it was!
Walk in- Some experiences we just walked in, like the otter cafe in Harajuku and the Mori Art Museum. Those were more spur of the moment things that we did as just a family, and did not require as much pre planning as a large group.
Money
An easy way to do a quick ballpark exchange rate conversion (as of end of 2025) is to pretend the Yen is cents (in US dollars) and take 35% off. so 1000 Yen is approximately $6.50 (actually 6.38 according to today's conversion, but gets you pretty close). The calculator app on your phone also will do a conversion for you.
Most places in Tokyo take credit card, and it is really to use tap/apple pay. For purchases over a certain amount, some require you to insert the actual card. All the retail stores we went to took credit card, just some food vendors and smaller restaurants required cash, so it is smart to have some, and just take it out at an ATM convenience store as you go. We did not exchange any dollars to yen prior to going. If you do use a credit card, you may be asked on the screen if you want to be charged in USD or yen. Always choose the local currency (yen) as your bank will give you a better exchange rate than the card machine processer.
Currency Exchange Machines- If you have random foreign bills from other travels, many convenience stores also have a currency exchange machine! You can feed it into the machine, and they will spit out their equivalent in yen! I feel that the exchange rate for these machines are similar to airport exchange rates but it's an easy way to get rid of any foreign money you don't need.
Food
There is a lot of food in Tokyo, and the convenience store food is actually good! The egg sandos are the most viral and popular, but there is also sushi, rice balls, and fried chicken. It's easier to find restaurant seating for a smaller group, but since we were a larger group we did not always find a restaurant readily available when we were hungry. Some of the restaurants that were memorable were Ippudo Ramen (a chain, that you will see all around, but the whole family loved it, even though the broth was on the salty side), Zaou fishing, where you can fish for your own meal and they will cook it to your liking (you can also get made to order food from their menu, which was surprisingly very good too! I wasn't expecting much cause their main attraction is the fishing, but their sushi was good and cheap), and Gyukatsu, which was recommended by a friend. You cook your own beef katsu on a little stone and it was very tasty. Most of the local food sets range from $5-$12! I also had the opportunity to have an omakase at Sushi Muku- I chose it cause it was across the street from my hotel but their 20 course omakase menu with sake pairing was $100 USD- tax included and no tip needed! It was excellent, but I'm sure there are multitudes of sushi restaurants that have similar or even better quality for the price. We also had a variety of foods, including wagyu beef, tuna plate and eel at the Tsujiki Fish market, although I have no idea what the names of these stalls were.
Things to bring
Tokyo is the land of convenience, so really, if you forgot it, you can probably get it pretty easily here. However, these were things that I was happy I had brought.
International Converter- I've been using the Epika converters for a few years now and am really happy with how easy it is to use and that it can charge multiple devices at once through their USB ports
Ziplock bags- Public trash cans are a rarity, you are expected to carry your trash with you and dispose of it at home. Since there are vending machines and convenience stores at every corner, you will likely have some sort of trash from that, and a ziplock bag is handy to have so you can keep your trash in there.
Tissue paper- Japan is superior in many things, but their tissue and toilet paper is not one of them. I understand the toilet paper because of their superior toilets and use of bidets, but it's good to have tissue paper around.
Small cloth/soap/hand sanitizer- Many bathrooms have a hand dryer, but often there was not anything to try your hands with, and the water was freezing! It was nice to have a small cloth to try your hands. Many bathrooms also did not have soap so having something to sanitize your hands is also good to have.
Foldable bag/extra luggage- I'm not generally a shopper on vacation (see below for what I did buy), but because of the strong dollar now, I bought a lot of things I didn't expect to and was glad that my friends had warned me to have extra luggage space coming home. I packed the kids and myself in 3 carryons only, and then packed 2 of those carry ons into check in luggages, giving us 2 free check ins on the way home! I also packed foldable moving bags, which I thought could free up more space if needed and we could put all our clothes in there (not breakable) should we need more space in our other luggages, but we didn't need to. For that 3rd carry on, I brought it on the plane with us, in case our luggage got lost, we still had clothes for a couple days. And of course, I had air tags for everything.
I unfortunately sprained my foot before our trip, so my husband bought a collapsable stool for me, which came in handy when waiting in line for a restaurant or when shopping for long periods of time. I had a boot on, so maybe it looked more excusable for me to be sitting on a random stool on the side, but for those who are older or have decreased mobility, it could help.
Things to buy
I don't generally shop a lot on vacation, but these are some things I'm really glad I bought in Japan:
Glasses! Because of my face shape I have a really hard time finding glasses that fit me in the US (even the low nose bridge ones here don't work for me), and thus, always wear contacts. Stores like Jins and Zoff will do eye exams on the spot and can have glasses done in 45 minutes. Our family got 3 pairs of glasses for $255 USD total, even with our upgraded lenses. We just had our eyes checked and brought our prescription, so we did not need to do the eye exam, but our friend did and said it was very easy. We went to go shopping and picked up later that day. Mine needed slight adjusting after, but they did it for me at pick up and the glasses have been great! I also tried to find a pair of sunglasses but didn't see a pair that I really loved in the time I had to shop.
Nail Clippers and other Drugstore Items- I heard Japanese nail clippers are the best! I found the GreenBell brand at Sugi Drugstore. The drugstores also sell quality face and skincare products, like masks, the viral Biore sunscreen, and candy. I also brought home a bunch of Hisumitsu pain reliever patches, which are similar to Salonpas here in the states (and the same brand ownership) but a different and more effective formulation in Japan. It really helped my sprained foot, so I got a bunch to take home)
Uniqlo undergarments- very affordable and great quality here! Be prepared to size up though, those asian sizes are no joke! We also got a lot of clothes for my daughter as they were very well priced.
Stationery- Itoya was too high end for us, but we had lots of luck at more mid level but still high quality stores such as Seikado Shinjuku and Loft. I bought tons of frixion and uniball pens as they are much cheaper here, my daughter was in heaven with all the selection available!
Knives- we went to Kappabashi alley (kitchen street). It helps to have an idea of what you want (I didn't) but my mom wanted to get a knife and did her research, and treated us to the same knife she got :)
Furikake and other Japanese Spices/dressing- We were able to find that viral furikake at one of the Tsujiki Fish market stalls, although the airport had it as well. I didn't really see it elsewhere in Tokyo but I think it's more readily available in Kyoto.
Onitsuka Tiger shoes- these retro shoes have gotten really popular, and again, much more affordable locally!
Japanese Candies- I love Japanese gummies, hi chews, pocky and kit kats- there are a lot of flavors we can't get in the states and I'm sad I didn't bring home more.
Pokemon cards if you're into that- My son got a bunch of cards for a little over a dollar a pack. They are obviously all in Japanese but pretty cool!! The stuffies are are also much cheaper, with a larger stuffed animal being about $30 USD vs the $50-$60 it would be here.
I think that's all I can think of at the moment- but I'm sure more thoughts will come to me randomly. I haven't been great about posting, but I'll try to see if I can get in a couple more posts about Disney tips, and what booking all the flights and hotels on points looked like! Feel free to comment if you'd like to know anything else :)
Comments