The best tips for travelling to Tokyo

Joining forces, our Japan travel experts and Rough Guides editors have put together a list of tips for travelling to Tokyo to make your experience truly memorable and carefree.

Entry requirements for travellers to Tokyo

All visitors to Japan must have a passport valid for the duration of their stay. At the time of writing, citizens of most Western countries can stay in Japan for up to ninety days without a visa, provided they are visiting for tourism or business purposes and possess a valid ticket out of Japan. Citizens of certain other countries must apply for a visa in advance in their own country. Visas are usually free, though in certain circumstances you may be charged a fee. 

The rules on visas do change from time to time, so check first with the nearest Japanese embassy or consulate, or on the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. 

Visa extension

For travellers from the UK and Ireland, among others, your stay can be extended for another three months. 

• To get a visa extension you’ll need to fill in two copies of an “Application for Extension of Stay”, available from the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau at 5-5-30 Kōnan, Minato-ku (Mon–Fri 9am– noon & 1–4pm; T03 5796 7111). Go early in the day, since the process takes forever; note that your application may not be confirmed for two weeks. Bring along passport photos (and your passport, of course), a letter explaining your reasons for wanting to extend your stay, and the requisite fee. In addition, you may be asked to show proof of sufficient funds to support your stay and a valid onward ticket out of the country. 
• An easier option – and the only alternative available to nationals of those countries who are not eligible for an extension – may be a short trip out of Japan to a neighbouring country and back, though you may still have to run the gauntlet of immigration officials on your return.

Working holiday visa, volunteer visa and their specifics

Citizens of the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, among other countries, can apply for a working holiday visa if they are aged between 18 and 30 (officially up to 25 for Canadians and Australians, though there are often ways around this if you’re under 30); this grants a stay of up to one year and entitles the holder to take paid employment so long as your stay is “primarily deemed to be a holiday”.

British nationals are also eligible for the volunteer visa scheme, which allows holders to undertake voluntary work for charitable organizations in Japan for up to one year. Your application must include a letter from the host organization confirming details of the voluntary work to be undertaken and the treatment the volunteer will receive (pocket money and board and lodging are allowed, but formal remuneration is not). You must also be able to show evidence of sufficient funds for your stay in Japan. Contact your local embassy or consulate to check the current details of the scheme.

Resident status

Foreigners legally allowed to stay in Japan for more than ninety days – basically, those with legal employment or married to a Japanese citizen – must obtain residency status before their first ninety days are up. Resident cards can be issued, with prior arrangement, at the main international airports, though most people end up applying at their local government office. 

The resident cards (Zairyū kādo; 在留カード) include your photograph and must (legally speaking) be carried at all times, though in reality they’re rarely checked. In addition, if you’re on any sort of working visa and you leave Japan temporarily, you must get a re-entry visa before you leave if you wish to continue working on your return. Re-entry visas are available from local immigration bureaus.

Health and insurance

To find an English-speaking doctor and the hospital or clinic best suited to your needs, contact the Tokyo Medical Information Service (Mon–Fri 9am–8pm; T03 5285 8181); they can also provide emergency medical translation services over the phone. Major hotels usually stock a limited array of common medicines. 

Note that certain medications that are commonplace outside Japan are actually illegal here – some of the more prominent prescription drugs on the no-no list are codeine (beyond a certain amount) and some ADHD medications. The health ministry website has more specific details on these, and the forms you’ll need to fill in if you’re to bring these meds into Japan legally

Due to the high cost of hospital treatment in Japan, it’s essential to take out a good travel insurance policy, particularly one with comprehensive medical coverage.

Money

The Japanese currency is the yen (en in Japanese). Notes are available in denominations of ¥1000, ¥2000 (rarely seen), ¥5000 and ¥10,000, while coins come in values of ¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥50, ¥100 and ¥500. Apart from the ¥5 piece, a copper-coloured coin with a hole in the centre, all other notes and coins indicate their value in Western numerals. 

Though credit and debit cards are far more widely accepted than they were a few years ago, Japan is mostly a cash society. The major overseas cards are now accepted in all convenience stores, and the majority of places in which you’re likely to eat, drink or shop. However, some retailers only accept locally issued cards, and many will only take cash. Conversely, others will accept Google or Apple Pay on your phone (local apps are more widespread, but require a domestic number to function). and at many shops, it’s possible to pay for goods with your Pasmo card.

• Although they don’t save you any money, the most convenient way to travel is to use a Pasmo or JR Suica stored-value card. Both can be used on all subways, many buses and both JR and private trains in the wider Tokyo area. The card can be recharged at ticket machines and ticket offices. Cards are available from ticket machines in metro and JR stations, for a minimum pre-loaded fee plus a deposit, which will both be returned to you when you cash in the card before leaving Tokyo – note that this can be done at Haneda airport, but not Narita.

Costs

Despite its reputation as an outrageously expensive city, with a little planning, Tokyo is a manageable destination even for those on a fairly modest budget. The key is to do what the majority of Japanese do: eat in simple restaurants, avoid the ritzier bars (or bars entirely; convenience-store alcohol is very cheap) and take advantage of any available discounts. 

Bear in mind that many of the best things to do in Tokyo are absolutely free. Some of the top places in town – in a very literal sense – won’t set you back a single yen. The most popular are: 

• the observatories at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
• Ebisu Garden Place (home to Longrain) 

The majority of temples and shrines are free, as are many museums and galleries – and a whole bunch more become so if you invest in a Grutto Pass. Lastly, there are free walking tours around Asakusa, Ueno and the Imperial City area. 

Holders of the International Student Identity Card (ISIC; isic.org) are eligible for discounts on some transport and admission fees, as are children.

Crime and personal safety

Tokyo boasts one of the lowest crime rates in the world. On the whole, the Japanese are honest and law-abiding; there’s little theft, and drug-related crimes are relatively rare. Nonetheless, it always pays to be careful in crowds, and to keep money and important documents stowed in an inside pocket or money belt, or in your hotel safe. 

The presence of police boxes (kōban) in every neighbourhood helps to discourage petty crime, and the local police seem to spend the majority of their time dealing with stolen bikes and helping bemused visitors – Japanese and foreigners – find addresses. In theory, you should carry your passport or ID at all times; the police have the right to arrest anyone who fails to do so. In practice they rarely stop foreigners, but if you’re found without ID, you may well be escorted back to your hotel or apartment to collect it.

Anyone found with drugs will be treated less leniently; if you’re lucky, you’ll simply be fined and deported, rather than sent to prison. 

• Tokyo Metropolitan Police run an English-language hotline (T03 3503 8484; Mon–Fri 8.30am– 5.15pm). 
• Another useful option is Tokyo English Language Lifeline (T03 5774 0992, telljp.com; daily 9am–11pm).
• Emergency numbers: Police T110/Fire or ambulance T119

Internet access and mobile phones

Many visitors soon realize that Japan doesn’t quite live up to its tech-savvy reputation. A fair few local websites (including those of some expensive hotels and restaurants) are laughably bad; with italicized Times New Roman fonts and copious Clipart characters, many seem to have been imported directly from the mid-1990s. However, a whole bunch of businesses finally hauled their sites into the modern day during the Covid crisis in an effort to compete.

Wi-fi access has also become widespread, at last. Most big-city cafés offer it for free (some restaurants too), it’s par for the course at hostels and hotels, and available on many trains and Shinkansen. Many parts of the city also have some form of free access, typically courtesy of the local district government. Access is also enabled by portable hubs available to rent and travel around with.

Most foreign models of mobile phones will work in Japan – contact your mobile phone service provider before leaving your home country to make sure, and also to check the rates and charges for using data and making calls when travelling. It’s also possible to buy Japanese pay-as-you-go SIM cards from the major service providers (or nationwide electronics chains such as Yodobashi Camera and BIC Camera), and of course these days it’s also easy to obtain an eSIM. 

It is also possible to rent a wi-fi hub for internet access while you are in Japan. These can be pre-ordered and collected from airports, as well as being rented at places around the city too.

Maps

Decent free maps of the city are available from any of the tourist information centres. Bilingual maps on public notice boards outside the main exits to most subway and train stations are handy for getting your immediate bearings – these are usually oriented the way you are facing, so if you’re facing southeast, for example, the top of the map will be southeast and the bottom northwest. 

There are also decent maps online. Google’s is typically excellent, while with a little hunting you’ll be able to find apps offering offline-friendly maps of the city. Perhaps equally useful are maps portraying the Tokyo subway network, since such maps are not always visible once you’re on the trains themselves.