Travel Resources
Japan Rail Pass
The JR Pass is a great way to explore Japan. Individual tickets on Japanese rail are expensive so if you are planning to visit a number of locations, a JR Pass can be a big money saver and give you the liberty to get more adventurous.
JR Passes are only available to travelers living outside of Japan. They are offered in 7, 14, and 21 day use options. When we discuss your travel goals we will evaluate if a JR Pass is right for your trip and the option that best suits you.
Travel Insurance
While it is often very far down your checklist, travel insurance is incredibly important and pretty affordable.
If something changes with your travel or if an indicent occurs while traveling, you want to be protected. Things happen. Cover yourself and take peace of mind into your trip.
Many tours require you carry travel insurance. We strongly encourage all of our travelers to take out a reasonable policy.
Useful Apps for your travel
Japan Taxi
While Uber is in Japan, it is more expensive and only available in limited cities. The better alternative is Japan Taxi. It functions the same way with you inputting your location and destination and payment is made through the app. This is a major resource since most taxi drivers do not speak English.
Google Translate
Our modern day Babelfish, Google Translate will help get you by with language challenges. The app allows you to speak back and forth between languages. Additionally, the written options are very helpful in restaurants for anyone with dietary restrictions. You can type in your language and translate to show in Japanese.
While very cool, there is another feature that will attempt to translate written Japanese but is often far off the mark. See our blog about getting around languge barriers for more info.
Tokyo Art Beat
While the full app requires a membership (first month free), this is a very cool way to get ideas and learn of some of the great art happenings around Tokyo.
Japan Official Travel App
The Japanese National Travel Organization has made a significant investment in building useful tools for travelers to Japan.
There is great content on the app as well as travel tools.
Happy Cow
We have a lot of vegetarian, vegan, kosher, and halal travelers heading to Japan. While food is always a top reason for traveling, dietary restrictions can cause anxiety.
Happy Cow is a great food guide for vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurants. Don’t miss Japanese food. Find the restaurants that meet your diet.