Everybody has experience of getting lost when you go to new places, it is not so fun, isn’t it?
If you get lost in your country, you can resolve the problem easily because you can read signs, speak your own language, but if you get lost in a foreign country, and you don’t know what to do, where you go…this is really scary.
Speaking about the language, you might get really scary when you get lost in Japan, Japanese which is not combined any alphabets and Latin basics.
Seriously, it is one of the solutions using the internet in this era, even you pay for extra.
Especially in the countryside in Japan, signs are still not English-friendly and it is very hard to find English speakers.
There is no uber in Japan outside of Tokyo, how you can call the cab to take you to the hotel?
To avoid getting lost
The first of all, to avoid getting lost,
- Note the accommodation’s information
- Take pictures of landmarks around the accommodation
- Purchase sim card to get an internet connection
- Download offline map
- Get the map from the information center
- Note where the place where you are going to
- Carry cash
Find a map or sign on the sidewalk
In popular cities, there are many area maps or signs on sidewalks, especially around stations and bus stops.
Also, there are big area maps inside the station.
Go to the busy street, find a subway station, train station, or a bus stop. Just keep along the busy street, do not go into a narrow street.
Ask people…
It might be a quick way to find what to do, ask someone around you.
Japanese people are very kind and polite but unfortunately, most of them hardly speak English. You might have trouble communicating with them.
On the other hand, they could be cold sometimes, especially in busy cities or popular sightseeing places.
They might not be nice to you, maybe because they can’t speak English, or they don’t have time, or just getting tired of tourists.
But never give up.
If I say there are some tips,
- Find young people rather than older people
- Find a group of young people rather than alone.
- Find someone doesn’t look like busy
This is the story of an American friend of mine. She was on a subway in Tokyo and got confused about which station she had to get off to transfer. So she asked a lady who could not speak English at all, but the lady got off the station with my friend and took her to the right way to transfer to another subway. My friend told the lady that she didn’t have to do, but the lady wanted to answer and help my friend.
Get a cab
Catch a cab.
Keep the address of your hotel everywhere you go.
If you can, get the information card at the hotel or take a picture of the name in Japanese. Just in case, a cab driver can’t read alphabets.
In Japan, Uber is not available outside of Tokyo so far, however, taxies run everywhere in BUSY CITIES.
Make sure you have enough cash before catching a cab.
If you don’t see any taxi around, you need to ask someone to call a cab or download the application in advance.
Police Station, Travel information center
If you find a police station(警察署) or a police box ( Koban, 交番), go there and ask the police what to do. They might not speak English, but they will help you. That is their job to help people.
You can find a travel information center if you are in a popular sightseeing city. Mostly it is located around the main train station or inside the station.
Find a free wifi spot
It was really hard to find public wifi 5-6 years ago in Japan, but recently you can find public wifi spots easily in most popular places such as train stations, department stores, and convenience stores, Starbucks and Mcdonald’s.
You need to register to use those, but not all wifi spots support other languages to do so.
To avoid getting this trouble, you can use the “Japan connected-free Wi-Fi” app. Just download this app and register with your language in your country or in your hotel.
The good thing about this app is that the registration is only once, you will be able to use free wifi at 170, 000 places all over Japan without re-registration.
Run into Convenience stores
Convenience stores ( Kon Bi ni ) are everywhere in Japan. In big cities, you can find convenience stores in every 500 yards.
When you get lost, go into a convenience store (Seven-eleven, Lawson and Family mart ) nearby, and connect your device to their free wifi or ask the staff where you are.
You have to register before using their free wifi.
Lawson and Family mart support English and other languages to register. But, if you download Japan connected-free Wi-Fi, you can skip register.
- 7 spot / the Seven-eleven free wifi https://www.sej.co.jp/in/en.html
- Lawson free wifi http://www.lawson.co.jp/service/others/wifi/lang/en.html
- famima wifi / the Familymart free wifi https://www.family.co.jp/for_tourist/wi-fi/en
Also, You have to remember there are limits to using their free wifi in a day.
- 7 spot 3 times a day, for 60min. each time
- Lawson 5 times a day, for 60 min. each time
- Famima wifi 3 times a day, for 20min. each time
Purchase a prepaid sim card in your country
This is the best way to have connections everywhere you go without worries.
You can buy Sim cards at the airport, convenient stores, big appliance stores ( ex. big camera ) and travel information centers in Japan, but you can save much more time and money if you buy a prepaid sim card before leaving your country.
If you consider purchasing Japan Rail pass, you can also purchase a sim card.
You can get access to high-speed internet with your phone in Japan.
It will be delivered to the airport or your hotel, you just pick up and activate. When you return it, just drop off the mailbox before leaving.
More details are on this site or click the banner below.