1) Arrange a travel insurance
Let’s start our list with the most important thing you should do as soon as you purchase your flight tickets: arrange travel insurance for your trip.
There are a few ways of how you can get this done:
- Buy travel insurance
- Use your credit card travel insurance (if you have this benefit with your credit card)
You may ask. Do I really need travel insurance? Of course, it depends on everyone's circumstances. You know what travel insurance is for, so it depends on you and mainly on your financial situation. If you don’t care to spend lots of money in case something happens, then you might not worry
But for most people, travel insurance is a must. Or at least I highly recommend it, as you never know what can happen when you travel abroad. And if you are arranging travel insurance, I recommend getting it right after you purchase your flight tickets. The reason is simple: You might need your travel insurance even before departing for your trip.
This happened to us once. We had to cancel and reschedule our flights to Japan literally three hours before departure for medical reasons, and the insurance even covered all the extra fees and costs associated with the higher price of the rescheduled flight tickets.
I won’t be comparing all travel insurance options. I am not an insurance professional, so I can’t even provide you with professional advice. From personal experience, we have been using World2Cover, their top cover, for many years. After doing a lot of research, I found their pricing and coverage to be one of the best for what we needed.
I think some general rules would be to have these as part of your insurance:
- Unlimited medical and hospital expenses (check the conditions, usually written in a very small font: -) to see if there are any limitations)
- Unlimited** emergency medical & evacuation expenses
- 24/7 global medical emergency assistance
Please do your research, maybe ask your friends or your network about their experience and don’t forget to check if you need any extras. For example, if you plan to go skiing, you will probably need to purchase additional coverage as most general covers, including the top-level ones, don’t cover this kind of “extreme” sports activity
If you have one of the credit cards that have complimentary travel insurance, I always recommend checking what is covered and what is not. Also, in most cases, you must pay for some of your prepaid travel costs using a particular credit card before you leave for your trip. For example, you can use the credit card to pay for your flights, accommodation, etc
2) Register to enter Japan
First, this is not a tip related to entry visas! I recommend that you check your entry visa requirements before buying flight tickets.
Registering to enter Japan is a special process that can be done online before you depart. It can help you navigate all the immigration and customs smoothly after you arrive in Japan.
It takes a bit of time if there are more travellers in your group. You feel like you have already completed everything a few times, but the app won’t let you go until you finish all the steps. Following the guidelines is pretty straightforward; however, sometimes you feel like they miss a few details.
From my experience, it’s worth preparing this before departure. We had a very smooth arrival process.
Before you start the process, I recommend getting these ready:
- Passport of all travellers
- Your trip schedule
- Addresses of the first hotel you will be staying at
- Info about items that need to be declared, if any
The process
Go to this website: https://services.digital.go.jp/en/visit-japan-web/. Before you start the process, scroll down to the section “How to use.” This will be your guide during the process. Then click on “Start using the service now."
You can complete the entire process using your PC internet browser, but you will need to show the QR codes (yes, there will be 2 QR codes for each foreign traveller) generated after you complete it using your mobile phone. To do this, you will simply log in to the account you created at the beginning of the registration process. If you want to show the QR codes at the airport even without connecting to the internet, you need to log in to your account whilst still online and stay logged in
At the airport on arrival
You will present the first QR code (codes if more travellers are in the group) at the immigration check. It’s a very straightforward process. Just have those QR codes ready and show the particular code for each passenger when the immigration officer asks you
The second QR code/s is needed for customs declaration. You can complete this process while waiting for your luggage at one of the kiosks around the luggage belts. Just follow the steps on the screen. You always need to complete everything for all passengers you registered.
3) Buy an adapter
Yes, maybe that one does not need to be done before you travel to Japan, but there will be other things you might need to sort out and buy as soon as you land—getting Suica / Pasmo cards, JR Rail Pass, and getting to your hotel as quickly as possible after a long trip (for most people), or maybe starting to explore straight away. That’s why I think it’s one simple thing to do before you go.
In Japan, there are two types of power plugs: A and B. Plug type A has two flat parallel pins, and plug type B has two flat parallel pins and a grounding pin. Japan operates on a 100V supply voltage and 50/60Hz. I know, many technicalities. If unsure, go to your local electronics store and ask. Most of the time, you can also purchase these at the airport
+1) Arrange eSIM Card
Our plus one this time is plus one because not everyone would probably consider this option. However, based on the many questions about SIM cards, I think many people will be interested in this topic.
Why eSIM and not SIM?
Of course, you can get the usual local physical SIM card if you prefer this option. However, as many modern phones allow dual SIM, the popularity of keeping your usual home SIM card in your phone and adding eSIM as your secondary SIM when you travel is increasing rapidly.
The main difference between regular SIM and eSIM is obvious. With eSIM you don’t get a physical SIM card that you need to insert into your phone. You use a digital SIM card that needs to be set up in your phone. Remember that most eSIMs don’t come with a new number and only provide data allowance. I think this is not an issue, as you can even make calls using data with apps like WhatsApp. So, for most travellers, this is a sufficient solution.
How to get eSIM for travelling to Japan
First, you need to buy an eSIM. If you search “eSIM Japan,” you will get many results, and choosing the right option can seem to be a bit overwhelming. What you end up buying will depend on a few factors:
- your length of stay
- data requirements
- Budget
- Location of your stay and coverage. These eSIMs are not provided directly by the network operators, and each of these companies uses a different local mobile operator. So it’s a good idea to check this as well.
After doing my research, I picked a company called Ubigi. Like the other companies, they offer one-off prepaid packages (one day, 30 days) and monthly or annual packages with various amounts of data you can use. They use NTT DoCoMo with 3G, 4G and even 5G coverage. It’s Japan's largest telecommunications company, and we have never had any issues with the network connection
But please do your research, compare the options and pick the one that suits your needs best.
After you pick and buy your plan or package, you must set up your new eSIM. I recommend doing this even before you depart so that you can start using your Japanese eSIM as soon as you land. The setup is straightforward. Just follow the guidelines provided by the company from which you purchased the eSIM.
Now, you are ready to go. You have insurance, are prepared for a smooth arrival, can charge your devices, and can start using your phone as soon as you arrive in Japan. The only thing you can do now is get excited about the trip and enjoy Japan as many other travellers have already done.