We visited Tokyo in Autumn 2018, staying at a hotel in Shinjuku. Given that this was 7 years ago, note that our experience is that of the time.

We stayed mainly in & around the city, but we did make a trip out to Hakone. Having a local friend who speaks the language made all the difference - especially out in Hakone - but it is easy to pick up the most basic greetings & manners.

Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Confirmed Expectations

• Public transit runs well and is frequently overpacked.
• High speed trains are exciting.
• People are generally polite & will try to help.
• Food is to die for.
• Gaijin tax does exist in some places - e.g. foreign language menus with different prices. Only ran into this twice over a 10-day stay.
• General orderliness and tidiness. Almost everywhere.
• Salarymen can drink like fish.
• Most things can be obtained from a convenience (Lawson, 7-Eleven etc).

Surprises

• Cash is king.
• Depending on the line, the trains may change track at fairly high speed. You are warned when this will happen. How the locals can free-stand and not fall over during this remains a mystery.
• Smoking is inside, not out, with some exceptions.
• Not many public bins - expect to hold trash for a time until you find one or get back to where you are staying.
• The best and worst in toilet technology.
• The variety in the KitKat department.
• Hot bottled drinks in vending machines.
• McDonald’s is actually good, and caters to the local tastes.
• 100 Yen shops have some neat stuff.
• Elevators to places that open onto the street, and tell you if you need an umbrella.
• On umbrellas - stands exist in shops specifically for quickly wrapping wet umbrellas, preventing puddles.

Tips

• Don’t tip.
• Bow.
• Accept and give anything meaningful with both hands. Gifts, cards etc.
• Look up customs at shrines & temples before visiting.
• Buy your transport tickets (JRPass esp.) in advance.

I was in awe of the infrastructure, old and new mixed with nature. The lack of litter in most areas was astounding, coming from a red state in the US, the politeness of most people was also quite suprising. Cars were a reasonale size, not grotesquely oversized for the hedonist rich, this included work vehicles.
I was intrigued also that even those few who could not abide walking on the same side of the street as this white person, that the jeering faces and the snubs were just present enough to get the point across, that they did not appreciate my presence, yet still very polite.

It was a pretty fun and educational experience

Having visited as a weeb high schooler ca. 2012, who mostly knew about Japan through anime/manga and Japanese language classes, very little of my previous ideas were confirmed, lol. Except that the public transit kicks ass and the food is absolutely bomb.

Surprises included:

• how emotionally reserved everyone is (especially coming in with a very anime mindset lol)
• how RIDICULOUSLY GOOD ALL THE COFFEE IS
• my host family’s microwave had a heating element in the top, making basically it a combo toaster oven. this was mind-blowing future technology to my idiot American brain
• the touch screen in the car in 2012 was similarly mind-blowing
• the prevalence of cash and relative unavailability of card payments
• my ability to just go places and do stuff as a teenager without parental accompaniment without it being seen as weird or like i was up to no good
• fruit and dairy was crazy expensive (this was Okinawa so it being a relatively isolated island didn’t help)
• the US military Ospreys and other aircraft were EXTREMELY loud and disruptive. I was so ashamed to be American given how disrespectful my county’s military was being to everyone on Okinawa.

I loved Japan. I’ve visited Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Okinawa so far. I plan for more thorough trips once I’m retired and have the time.

One thing there that fucked up my normal vacation flow (this was also true in Korea), it’s hard to get a drink before the evening. Our thing is walking around to see things while constantly stopping for drinks and sometimes food. Stopping at a cafe to have a bottle of wine al fresco while soaking up the local scenery and people watching while discussing the places we just visited is something we usually do 2-4 times a day before dinner. Little sidewalk cafes with alcohol aren’t really a thing there. You have to go into a hotel or full restaurant and even then they look at you weird when you order alcohol that early and being inside isn’t what we want. You might be able to find some convenience stores with a table or two outside, but drinking at a plastic table outside a 7-11 isn’t really the vibe we’re going for.

Despite what you may have heard about the drinking culture there, it’s definitely considered more of a nighttime activity.

It was great. We did a lot of walking, despite the ease of using public transport. If you have a chance to visit the TeamLabs Borderless digital art experience, I highly recommend it. The shinkansen is also a neat experience if traveling between cities.

We didn’t really experience being sneered at or snubbed by locals at all. Some places you will need reservations, and if you don’t have one you’ll be turned away. I think some tourists just don’t understand that and instead assume it’s because they’re white. You have to remember that you’re in a city with millions of people. No one is special, lol.

One thing that surprised me was I had assumed it would be fairly easy to find food without dairy in it. Sushi and ramen were fine, but the fancier restaurants were mostly doing French or Italian fusion, both of which use a lot of dairy. Oh, and you won’t really find sushi rolls unless you go to more Americanized restaurants. Convenience stores are awesome and have a huge selection of cheap, fresh snacks.

I visited in the summer and I was surprised how humid it was. Other than that the food was amazing and getting around was beyond my expectations. Their transit system makes it easy to get all over the country and for very little. Also, the general price of most items was very affordable.