17 biggest mistakes TOKYO tourists ALWAYS make
Are you planning a trip to Tokyo? Avoid these common mistakes that tourists often make! In this video, we'll cover the 17 biggest blunders that travelers to Tokyo frequently commit, from cultural faux pas to logistical errors. By watching this video, you'll be better prepared for your next visit to the bustling metropolis of Tokyo.
■About me
Hi, I’m Nao. I was born in Yokohama and grew up in a Buddhist temple in the countryside of Hyogo prefecture. Life in urban and rural areas and unique experiences in a temple can bring other perspectives on Japanese things.
I love sharing Japanese things with you, so please always tell and ask me what kind of videos you want to see in the comments.
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"Thank you for watching! Please share any mistakes you did or are afraid to make in Japan here to help each other 😎💯
Your videos have been so helpful! Thank you so much!
Thank you for watching😊
Awesome. Thank you for your video! Very helpful
Thank you for watching and your comment😘
Thanks a lot for all the tips. I loved this video
Thank you for watching😉
I discovered your KZhead Channel this week and I really like your videos. I am an happy subscriber. 😀 Arigato ! 🌸⭐
Thank you for watching videos! Arigato too😘
This is very helpful as we are coming on May for the first time.
Thank you for watching and your comment😉
You are so adorable the way you say " Shoesize's " . With that aside your video's are very informative and are definitely thing's Foreigners need to know. Thank You Nao !
About the airport: you don’t always have a choice. I couldn’t get a direct flight to an other airport
This 100%! I would have loved to get off at Haneda!
@colindateeuwisse6848 Thank you for watching! You are right! But if you have a choice, please choose Haneda💯
@wifo778 Thank you for watching! Next time Haneda then😂
@@JapanwithNao You are arrogant and ignorant... Choosing what airport to arrive at is not as simple as your arrogance and ignorance... When people travel and the time they travel is not always a 'CHOICE'. Even taking a train to get to the next part of your journey can be restricted by your appointed travel times and you have to travel when it is required ... This video is about 'you' and how it upsets 'you', there are many things on this video that are ' not mistakes', they are just things that 'annoy you'... ..pure arrogance and typical ignorance...
I would always go for the cheaper and more convenient flight, reguardless of airport. Getting a 20$ ticket and an hour trainride is definitely worth it most of the cases.
Good video. I will follow.
Thank you for watching😊
Thanks for the tabelog tip!! super helpful
Thank you for watching! You are welcome😃
@@JapanwithNao Ah! Good to see it spelled it out -- having never heard of it, that was just a string of vague sounds to me.
Is this app only available for iPhone? I couldn´t find it in the playstore for android
You speak good english. Thank you for sharing this video. This is very helpful as I plan to visit Japan but next year during Sakura Blossom. I still have more time to learn more about my travel to Japan. Can you please share more details on how to purchase train ticket going around near Lake Kawaguchi and nearby tourist attraction.
Thank you for watching! I'm not sure if you already have watched the video talking about how to get a train in Japan on our channel, but thank you for your suggestion😉
Great tips. Flying to Japan next week. Cant wait
Thank you for watching😘 Have fun!
Thanks, i am visiting Japan in 10 days. very helpful video!
Thank you for watching! Welcome to Japan soon😉 Have fun👌
Great channel very helpful advice you forgot a important one don't buy to many things until your ready leave. I am planning to visit Japan in the last week of September do you think 2 months is enough to see most of Japan. Thank you and subscribed
Thank you for watching! 2 months wow! It depends on what you want, but it sounds enough😃 Have fun!
2:03 I would add Kamakura as another place to visit. It is thirty minutes from Tokyo is very beautiful. 5:03 It is also worth noting that Japan has garbage segregation rules. You can't just toss your garbage in any bin, there are specific bins for the kind of garbage you're tossing. 5:48 My rule of thumb when it comes to non-chain restaurants is the more Japanese salarymen eating in it, the better it is. 6:16 Thanks for letting us know about tablog. I will download it for my next trip to Japan. 9:46 Jingumae! Is that the street where the yakitori shops are? Thank you for your video!
Thank you for watching another video! You know very well about Japan😉 Kamakura is a nice place, isn't it? The street you asked about was next to Shibuya Yokocho. You can find many Japanese pubs there💯 (Just 2-3mins from Shibuya station)
Excellent Videos. Thank you :) Do you know of a good Kyoto tour guide that is also a photographer?
Sorry I don't know any😅 Thank you for watching anyway👌
Hi Nao. Thanks for your helpful video. What is the name of the App available in English to use when trying to find reviews on restaurants?
Thank you for watching! The app I used in the video is called Tabelog (They have an English version)👌(But I'm not sure they have many English reviews).
a bit of time in Tokyo and Gunma area. then Fukuoka and Saga area. in 2 week i will travel.
Thanks for the tips! I used to live in Japan (Shizuoka and Yokohama) and hope to see it again on vacation later this year. If I am flying to Haneda and plan to take a lot of public transportation, where would you recommend staying? I was thinking of somewhere around Shinagawa or Kamata stations for the Keikyu airport train access.
Thank you for watching! Shinagawa is one of the biggest stations so it's so convenient in terms of transportation (even heading to other prefectures)😉 Kamata is less busy but less convenient but not a bad choice😁
@@JapanwithNao Thanks for the advice! That will be very helpful.
I saw in shibuya-shinjiku that, there's a 'Shakey's Pizza 🍕 Parlor'! And others old restaurant already in Tokyo!
Nai can you please have a link for the restaurant app. Thank you
♥♥🌹Thank you from Romania
Thank you from Japan 😊
Excellent advice 👍 I always went out for the day after 09:00, had dinner at 17:00 and caught the train back to the Hostel after 20:00 👍 Tokyo is all about WALKING & stairs. You'll lose weight in Japan !
Thank you for watching and your advice😉
Please let me know is it going be crowded from 27-29 April or not? I'm going Himeji-Kobe-Uji-Namba
Thanks Nao! heard there is no physical IC card anymore since I don't use iphone. Please advise if you do still sell the IC card, where can I get it?
There is still a physical IC card available. You can get them at the airport (the sell points can't be overseen) or buy them directly at the ticket machines.
Hello, thank you for the video so helpful. Could you please tell me if it is a bad idea to visit Tokyo in September? I have heard that it rains a lot and I already have my plane tickets for the first two weeks of September and I am worried, could you tell me what you think? Thank you. :)
Thank you for watching! September isn't a bad idea. The end of September is comfortable for sightseeing😉. The first two weeks of September could still be hot in Japan, but better than August. The only thing you need to care about is typhoons. So please check the weather forecast after you arrive in Japan to make a plan👌 Have fun!
Thank you so much for the information and your reply. Please continue making videos 😊👍
For Tokyo, I got the 72 hour tokyo subway pass and had an IC card I got in Osaka (the one with cute penguins). Plus, I could use the IC card on JR, vending machine, Family Mart/Lawsons/7-11. I did use my google translate a lot. I learned if the Japanese did an X with their fingers, they didn't have the product. I highly recommend a trip to Japan (I did 4 days in Osaka, 9 in Tokyo and did side trips to Hiroshima and Kyoto from Osaka and Hakone/Nagoya/Yokohama from tokyo). and remember to get an egg salad sandwich from Lawsons!
Thank you for watching! You visited many places😊 Hiroshima is one of my favorite places to go sightseeing! Egg salad sandwich...you found that😂 I love it too😍
Japan looks wonderful, so civlised and clean.
Absolutely biggest mistake in my option would be those few who do not do there homework, find out that public transportation does not run 24/7, also cuts off super early. So far not 1 person can say why. Excellent all around
Thank you for watching! All of us don't like a homework...😂
Last year when I visited Japan I brought slip-on shoes and they ended up not being as comfortable as my normal laced walking shoes. I ended up not having to take off my shoes nearly as much as I was expecting. This year I'll skip the slip-on shoes!
Excellent video, thank you. I would add that I used google maps or asked my hotel questions since not only do most people not feel very comfortable speaking English, they are often trying to get to work or school or home or an appointment and I didn't want to delay them. And just because someone works in an area does not mean they know it any better than you do. Also, do your homework on the culture before going and be a good guest in Japan. I can't stress that enough. Cringy or creepy tourist behavior is extremely out of place in Japan and is unfair to the people there. Carry a small plastic bag in your coat or backpack for your trash until you return to your hotel. Tokyo is not Vegas, so there is far more to see then trying to just party in what is a very orderly society. Maybe that is part of why the trains stop running at midnight. Middle eastern and Indian food are also restaurant options.
Thank you for watching and your comment! Also appreciated your share😉 Japanese people somehow always in a hurry...(too punctual may be?haha) I see you are kind anyway😘
I live in Thailand and the underground and skytrain both close at midnight. Same in Sweden, and a lot of other countries. The difference is that in Bangkok you can find a cab at any hour of the day or night. I almost couldn’t get a ride home the other night in Nishishinjuku because there were thousands of people on the street still out partying.
In Tokyo where is best shopping area or mall? Say is Ginza and Takashimaya near to each other? I am planning to go to Japan mid Oct. So you mean bring cash correct? Thanks for sharing 🤗
Thank you for watching😊 Ginza and Shinjuku are good for shopping! But it depends on what you wanna buy. Akihabara is also an a good place to shop! Yes you should bring some cash in Japan💯
@@JapanwithNao Thanks Noted 🤗
@@shananick1128 For Tokyo, each area is known for different things. Shinjuku is probably the most generic shopping district. It's the biggest so a bigger variety of things try to have a branch there. For example, a luxury brand may have outlets in Shinjuku, Omotesando and Ginza, while an electronics company might have stores in Shinjuku, Akihabara, Shibuya and Ikebukuro. Though it's not very good for traditional/crafted goods.
I wouldn't trust the "five days in Tokyo is enough" -advice. I spent 13 days in Tokyo, and there are still lots of places I wanted to go to but didn't have the time. Of course, I had company, so I couldn't just go to where I wanted when I wanted, compromises had to be made, but even if I did, I would've probably missed something. I believe that, depending on one's interests of course, one could spend a month or even longer in Tokyo and still find new things they want to see.
Thank you for watching! So Tokyo is a really good place to do sightseeing for you😊 I'm happy to meet someone who completely enjoys their time in Tokyo😃 Thank you!
Remember that Tokyo is a very dangerous city. In 2022, in my home prefecture of Miyazaki,there were only 7 murders, while the same year in Tokyo there were 91! I live in Kawasaki City just next to Tokyo now, but I never go to Kabukicho or Shibuya at night.
Thank you for watching😊 91 is may be lower than other cities in the world😲 But yes there is no 100% safe place!
Tokyo prefecture has 13x as many people as Miyazaki prefecture. So... isn't it the same? 7 * 13 = 91 Of course, some things aren't fair. Tokyo prefecture receives millions of people from outside prefectures every day. So even if crime rate seems high by Japanese standards it can simply be because there are many people commuting into districts with relatively few residents. Do you think Chiyoda-ku is extremely dangerous? By crime% it is the most dangerous. But it's just because very few people live there. No place is 100% safe. And tourists go to a lot of the places in Japan that are less safe. But by and large it is safe.
what is the name of the app you're using to find a restaurant?
Thank you for watching! It's called Tabelog😉
@@JapanwithNao Thanks for the answer - Unfortunately, it seems that the app is not available in Europe.
What was the name of the restaurant review app? Is it available on Android?
It's the Tabelog. You can use through the web. Thank you for watching👌
Mistake 1: Staying in Shibuya. What a shame… spent a fortune there to see trash, drunk tourists incl. drunk Japanese, was terrible. The temple was beautiful and some great shopping areas and Hachikō was adorable 🥰 but I wish I’d taken a 1 day trip there and not stay 2 nights.
I can’t find d tabelog app. Can u pls show me which one it is?
Thank you for watching! You can check it out on the website if you don't mind. This is the web (tabelog.com/en/)👌
@@JapanwithNao thk u so very much
Hi Nao, very interesting thanks a lot, can you share the website for the restaurants? I could not catch the name 😅… thanks again
He said tabelog 😊
I still don't know where to buy suica/pasmo (I don't have apple phone). I only saw a charging machines for suica/pasmo, nothing to buy it.
Thank you for watching! It is supposed to be able to get any stations from this spring, but not sure exactly when😰 We could get it through the charging machine you mentioned before😲 Please be patient🙌
@@JapanwithNao thank you for your answer, we bought 72 hours metro ticket during our stay in Tokyo and it was also very good ;)
We got ours at haneda airport. I was there about 2 weeks ago.
ゴミに関しては、ほとんどの観光客が毎日コンビニに立ち寄るので、必ずレジ袋を購入することを勧めた方がいいかもしれない。１日に５円程度の出費で、買ったものを持ち歩き、自販機で買った飲み物も入れることができ、出たゴミを保管し、そのままホテルで捨てることができる。トイレに行ってる家族の分の飲み物容器を３つも抱えてる人に、たまたま持ってたレジ袋あげたらすごく喜ばれた。
i dont think going to fast food restaurant should be a last resort. there's still local supermarkets. eat like salaryman, buying a discounted bento box and side in the evening.
Thank you for watching! Yes, there are many excellent fast-food restaurants in Japan😉 You know well💯
I agree with everything except avoiding popular chain restaurants. I went to many expensive independent restaurants looking for steak and they were very bad, the beef was too soft and it was priced high. Then I went to the chain Ikinari and it was better than any of the expensive places. For Izakaya, many good Japanese places do not allow foreigners so I ended up going to Torikizoku which was just OK. But the last night I tried Yamauchi Nojo and it was the best one that would let us in. Ramen so many independent shops with a long queue were disappointing. Then you go to a chain Kogenaya and it's much better. I believe they are chains for a reason because they made something good. My advice is to avoid long queues for something like ramen because it will almost never be worth the long wait.
Thank you for watching! You've been a lot💯 Well, I like going to chain restaurants too😉 I totally understand your opinion😊
There's one problem in my credit card 💳. It's about the credit card machine and it has a 'Japanese writing'. I need help on how to operate the credit card machine for my payment and my works. Otherwise, I bring cash to pay. It's crazy 🤪.
Where can we find public washrooms?
Thank you for watching! You can find them in the stations, parks, convenience stores (not public), and shopping malls (most stores)😃
And they are clean, which is a wonderful change from where most of us live.
2:07 This is Takayama not Kanazawa :)
Thank you for watching and your comment😊
Paris is actually 12+ million. It's just that the French don't like big cities, and administratively chop them up in smaller units. If one compares like for like, the 2+ million Paris (the 20 arrondissements inside the peripherique) compares to the actual city of Tokyo, which is big, but still just under 10 million. But comparing the entire Tokyo metropolitan prefecture gives 14 million, and the entire greater Tokyo area is 37 million. That is compared to a the greater Paris metropolitan population of 12,4 million. So Tokyo is five or three times the size of Paris, depending on how one counts,
Thank you for watching and your advice💯
@JapanwithNao New York City has More 19 million not 8.5 Million....
lol, you can't convince budget travelers to use haneda instead
Thank you for watching😉 Well, it's hard to get both convenience and cheap at the same time 😂
Sometimes it's the cheapest. It depends on which company has sales. And about half the times I've gone I could get Haneda on one end for about the same price as Narita both ways. (cheaper after considering the cost difference of the trains into the city) But, as a huge% of the cost of a trip, you have to take what you can get.
Nao San the plural form of shoe is shoes not shoeses.
Thank you for teaching! I can pronounce correctly next time😉
Don't stress yourself about trying to follow every single damn rule. If you're a polite, friendly, respectful person you will do fine. Tokyo is full of massive crybabies stuck with their dead end jobs and stagnant salaries, they take their frustrations out on easy targets.
Thank you for watching! You are right👌 Tokyo is full of massive crybabies...😂 I can't deny it...that's a sad part of Japan😱
Can't understand this guy's accent.
Give over, his english is understandable
Try to pronounce better next time! Thank you for watching💯
...recommend finding a restaurant through [unintelligible], which has an English version... ?
tabelog
Thank you for watching😊 Yes It's a Tabelog. You can use a web version if you can't find!
All these videos are putting me off going back there. Japanese can come to Australia and we won't be annoyed if you don't fit in to OUR culture.