Hi,
I am going to Japan in May
It will be me, my partner, baby under one and mother.
We will be going to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, Fujikawaguchiko and Yokohama.
Any ideas for deals and discounts and even competitions available over there would be greatly appreciated.
Good luck with Wises in Japan. Cash is still very much king. The only places likely to even take a credit card are bigger restaurants, department stores, and touristy places (maybe)
From experience Wise very useable in Japan including via apple and google pay, can withdraw cash from 7-elevens but watch the Wise card withdrawal limits
I haven't been to Japan myself, but from what my friends have told me, apparently you can load up your IC card (suica or similar) and pay with that at surprisingly a lot of places
I did this, good tip is you can use your coins to load up the IC Cards too.
This is how I got rid of all my change… min of 10 yen tho.
I just came back from Japan on Thursday, I spent 3 weeks there.
I could use wise for most things, yes there was some cash only places but most of my cash went on the Suica card.
In terms of discounts, I recommend booking Hayatoku-Family KODAMA 3 tickets to save some cash (make a reservation at least 3 days before your date of travel.), as shinkansen are not cheap.
https://smart-ex.jp/en/product/hayatoku/exkodama_family/
Also check out the regional JR passes.
The nation wide one is often not worth it but the regional ones can be, I got one when I needed to take a lot of shinkansens in a short period.
Good reference website
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html
There is also the Nozomi version in First class for the same price as Economy which is really nice
I lived in Japan until 2020 and at that time paid cash for everything. Went back for the first time a few weeks ago and things have changed. Cards are far more accepted now and used my card at all sorts of places in Tokyo.
Been to Japan 2x in the last year and going back in May - Wise is completely usable in most places - ATM's let you get cash if you need it and if you have a SUICA card then you will be set.
When i went maybe 5 years ago I would agree, but not now. Cash is still very common, but the places that only take it are diminishing.
it's changed just in the last year or so. We went may 2023 and october 2024 and the difference was really obvious. We used wise heaps the second time. also just to get cash out too of course
For many attractions and sightseeing places, you may want to pre-book online instead of paying at the counter, as some of the attractions may offer you a slight discount for online bookings.
Tokyo Skytree for example is 400 JPY cheaper if you bought the early bird tickets. Avoid the Weekend tickets as they will charge you holiday rates.
Shinkansen tickets are cheaper if bought at least 3 days before, with greater discounts the more advance you book (up to 28 days). see https://smart-ex.jp/en/product/
Vending machines are all over japan and you can frequently buy a bottled drink for around 100 to 160 JPY. The prices are somewhat dynamic and they differ depending on the location — the ones located in tourist hotspots, shopping centres and subway stations are always more expensive.
To get the absolute lowest price for bottled drinks, I'd recommend buying them in-store at a pharmacy / drugstore or grocery store. You can get a bottled tea for as little as 70JPY.
Avoid getting a taxi at the airport, they can be very very expensive. Due to the weak yen, things like meals can be really cheap compared to what they charge in NZ.
Been a few years since I lived in Japan, but agree with others re: money. Don't exchange it here to take with you, just withdraw over there in large swaths at ATMs if you need cash as you can pay via cash everywhere and the exchange rate will be better, and Wise is a good option for paying by card and getting a good exchange rate. As someone else said, you can get "IC" cards which you preload with money to use the trains and can be used to buy stuff at stores or vending machines, and some of these can also be added to your phone card wallet (i.e. apple pay style), but mostly they're just useful for trains.
Depending on how long you will be there and how often you'll be moving around, you can get a tourist train pass which basically gives you unlimited travel on the trains, which is helpful because train costs can add up! More info here: https://www.jrailpass.com/the-japan-rail-pass?utm_source=goo…
Google Maps is pretty good with Japan public transport these days, but there's another app called "Japan Travel - Smart Transit" which used to be called NaviTime (which is who makes it) which also adds other features to help navigate and find useful things.
In Kyoto if you plan to visit arashiyama bamboo forest and find it too crowded for your liking, check out a smaller temple with a nice but short bamboo pathway, look at Sagatoriimoto Adashinocho (personally when I went, this very short section looked better than the other walks you see popular pictures of), and just up the road a little bit from that is another amazing little temple called Otagi Nenbutsu-ji. You can get the bus directly to them but depending on your group fitness the logistics of a baby might just make it a bit more hassle than you're interested in doing.
Otherwise, it's always a good idea to do popular tourist spots which revolve around seeing things earlier than usual, like be there before 10am. (also the monkey park in arashiyama is nice too)
Tax free at counter when you spend over 5000 yen, bring your passport shopping.
Uniqlo does extra deals 2-5pm Tuesdays and Friday.
Also:
https://www.taxfreeshops.jp/en/
I presume you're using Wise/Revolut card for better exchange rates.