★THE TRIP HYPE✦Japan’s now, delivered pop★MODERN VOYAGE & TECH✦Food · Shopping · Things to Do · Know-How · Culture★THE TRIP HYPE✦Japan’s now, delivered pop★MODERN VOYAGE & TECH✦Food · Shopping · Things to Do · Know-How · Culture

★THE TRIP HYPE✦Japan’s now, delivered pop★MODERN VOYAGE & TECH✦Food · Shopping · Things to Do · Know-How · Culture★THE TRIP HYPE✦Japan’s now, delivered pop★MODERN VOYAGE & TECH✦Food · Shopping · Things to Do · Know-How · Culture

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#First Time in Japan

Essential basics for first-time visitors—transportation, etiquette, currency exchange, SIM cards, and more.

116 articles

Former sumo wrestlers performing a live bout in the ring at HIRAKUZA Ginza

Sumo Dinner Show Tokyo: HIRAKUZA Ginza Prices, Times & Booking

The grounds of JUNGLIA Okinawa in the jungle of northern Okinawa

JUNGLIA Okinawa Tickets: Which Pass to Buy, and Why Tourists Pay ¥8,800

A convenience store lit up and open at night in Tokyo during the New Year holiday, when konbini keep running

Is Japan Open at New Year? Shops, Banks, Trains & Shrines (Dec 31–Jan 3, 2026–27)

The Ja Odori dragon dance moving along the Nagasaka steps at Suwa Shrine during Nagasaki Kunchi (to be shot)

Nagasaki Kunchi 2026: Box Seats Are Sold Out — How to Still See It on Oct 7–9

A Jusanya display of moon-viewing dumplings, chestnuts, edamame, and pampas grass beneath the slightly imperfect thirteenth-night moon

Jusanya 2026: Japan's Second Moon-Viewing Night Is Oct 23

Inside a Japanese karaoke box with a tablet remote, microphones, and sofa seating

Karaoke in Japan: What "Free Time" Means, Pricing, Bringing Food, and Going Solo

Shoppers picking up colorful sealed fukubukuro lucky bags at a Japanese department store's New Year first sale

Fukubukuro 2027: When Japan's Lucky Bags Drop, How to Enter the Lotteries, and the New Tax-Free Rule

The giant shimenawa rope at the Kagura-den hall of Izumo Taisha, with worshippers during the Kamiarisai

Kamiarizuki 2026 at Izumo Taisha: Dates & How to Attend

Exterior and entrance sign of the Mellojoy Pop-Up Shop in Harajuku, Tokyo

Mellojoy Harajuku Pop-Up 2026: How to Book and the New ID Rules

Rows of colorful gachapon (capsule-toy) machines lining a specialty store in Tokyo

Gachapon in Japan: Where to Play and Do You Need Coins?

Illuminated autumn maples reflected in the pond at Rikugien Gardens during the nighttime viewing in Tokyo

Rikugien Autumn Illumination 2026: November 25-December 6, Tickets from ¥1,000

The MUJI Ginza world flagship storefront, with traveler-favorite items like the toner, ready-to-eat curry and gel-ink ballpoint pens

What to Buy at MUJI in Japan — Tax-Free Guide & the 2026 Refund Change

A hand-brushed goshuin with red seals written into a goshuincho book

Goshuin in Japan: How to Get a Shrine Seal (Cost, Etiquette & the Goshuincho Book)

A traveler in a sweater, light jacket and scarf walking through a Kyoto temple garden of autumn foliage in November

What to Wear in Japan in Autumn 2026: A Region-by-Region Packing Guide

A visitor checking Universal Studios Japan tickets and Express Pass options on a phone before entering the park

USJ Express Pass & Tickets 2026: Which to Buy + Super Nintendo World Entry

Budget cosmetics on a Japanese drugstore shelf beside a Tax-Free sign

Japanese Drugstore Cosmetics: Budget Skincare, Makeup & Tax-Free Basics

Shelves of over-the-counter medicine at a Japanese drugstore, where cold medicine and painkillers are sold without a prescription

Buying Medicine in Japan: What's Over the Counter, and What You Can't Bring

Exterior and entrance sign of the Nintendo Museum in Uji, Kyoto

Nintendo Museum Tickets 2026: How the Monthly Lottery Works and What to Do If You Miss Out

View over Tokyo at night from the Tembo Deck at Tokyo Skytree

Tokyo Skytree Tickets 2026: Prices, How to Buy & Skip the Counter Fee

Sunset view over Tokyo from SKY STAGE, the open-air rooftop deck of Shibuya Sky

Shibuya Sky Tickets 2026: How to Land a Sunset Slot Before It Sells Out

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First Time in Japan · Glos Travel