I spent 7 days in Japan — here’s what nobody tells you

From the powdery slopes of Niseko to the ethereal cherry blossoms surrounding Mount Fuji, it feels like the world and its mother is heading to Japan.

After a record-breaking year for tourist arrivals in 2024, the country is bracing for another peak — but not everyone is happy about it.

Residents of Japan’s ‘golden route’ cities – Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka – are increasingly frustrated by outsiders who ignore the customs integral to Japanese society.

Littering, overwhelming public transport networks and being generally disrespectful to the local way of life are just some of the missteps tourists have been accused of.

Like many others, Metro‘s Alice Murphy travelled to Japan for the first time this year and found a magnificent nation with a deep respect for order, tradition, and the environment.

After seven days of exploring, here’s what she wishes she’d known beforehand — and what she learned along the way.

Expect to queue, a lot

It might be known as a quintessentially British pastime, but queuing is even more of a ‘thing’ in Japan than it is in the UK.

Brace yourself for the most orderly system you’ve ever seen: lines of people queueing silently for public transport. The patience, the quiet — it’s almost an art form.

Respect is deeply ingrained in Japanese culture, and you won’t find commuters shoving their way onto trains like you do on the Tube.

Once on board, the calm continues. Discreet chats are ok, but yapping on the phone and watching videos without earphones are most certainly not.

It’s also the norm to queue for restaurants, especially on weekends and public holidays. Expect long lines for places that have gone viral on TikTok (I saw the longest outside Flippers pancake shop in Tokyo).

Rent a Wi-Fi box

Ok, this is one I read about beforehand (thank you, Reddit), but it deserves to be shouted from the rooftops.

Japan has a world-leading public transport system, with high-speed trains that can take you almost anywhere, faster than a flight.

That being said, the sheer size of many of the stations is overwhelming, and knowing where to change lines can be confusing. I lost count of the tourists darting between platforms, frantically looking for their train.

To avoid such panic, I relied heavily on Google Maps. I dread to think of the bill I would have racked up on data roaming, which is where Wi-Fi boxes come in.

Portable, pocket-sized routers can be rented at most Japanese airports — I got mine in the arrivals hall at Tokyo Haneda. At just over £50 for seven days, it was the best money I’ve ever spent on a travel gadget.

The boxes provide unlimited internet, and the connection speed was as fast as the 5G I use in London. I charged the box every night, and it never came close to running out of battery.

At the end of the trip, you can drop it off where you collected it. On Reddit and Quora, the most popular providers seem to be Ninja and Japan Wireless Pocket Wi-Fi.

There are no bins

Japan is known for immaculately clean streets. Visitors might be surprised, then, by the almost total absence of public bins in major cities.

TikTokers have poked fun at the issue, with one viral clip showing a man carrying the same empty coffee cup from 9am right through to dinner.

But there are many reasons why the likes of Tokyo and Osaka have so few bins on the streets. One is security.

Tokyo removed most of its public bins after the 1995 sarin gas attack, in which a cult called Aum Shinrikyo released the deadly gas on subway trains.

Members of the doomsday cult dropped plastic bags containing the nerve agent on five different trains, then pierced them with umbrellas. Thirteen people were killed and thousands more injured. A fourteenth victim, who suffered severe brain damage, died in 2020.

Another reason for the lack of bins on Japanese streets is that it is a cultural norm to carry and dispose of your own rubbish.

This, locals tell me, is a way of showing respect for communal spaces and the world around you.

But you can find bins if you know where to look: convenience stores like 7/11 and Family Mart have some tucked inside the door.

Make time to visit a lesser-known area

Like many people, I’m always looking to get off the main tourist track.

Last year I travelled across Uzbekistan, and I recently visited the Arctic and a European capital ‘nobody knows of’.

Eager to see a quieter side of Japan, I asked around in Tokyo and heard lots about Kamakura, a small seaside city less than a 90-minute drive south.

While Kamakura is a popular local destination, it’s relatively undiscovered compared to cities on the golden route.

Sometimes called the Kyoto of eastern Japan, Kamakura boasts dozens of shrines including the Great Buddha, a towering 13-metre bronze statue that miraculously survived a tsunami in the 15th century.

The city is home to a thriving culinary scene, with artisan coffee shops and izakayas (tiny Japanese bars) where you can unwind with a highball.

Bring (or buy) an empty suitcase

Forget Paris, Milan and even New York — Tokyo has the best fashion of any city on Earth.

I was ready to make a dent in my bank balance, but nothing prepared me for the treasure trove of secondhand shops.

Thanks to an extraordinarily weak Yen, you can find vintage designer goods for a fraction of the usual price. In the popular Tokyo chain Desert Snow, there are Louis Vuitton wallets for £70, and 1950s Burberry suits for just £25.

Skincare is also considerably cheaper in Japan right now, as is homeware (head to Tokyo’s Kappabashi street for affordable, high-quality kitchen stuff).

A consequence of Japan’s sliding currency is that visitors are doing some serious retail therapy.

When I visited in March, hordes of tourists were swarming discount stores such as the viral one-stop shop Don Quijote, in search of suitcases.

Perhaps surprisingly, it’s worth noting that in many areas, Japan is still a cash society.

Credit and debit cards are accepted in shopping malls and international hotels, but in izakayas and smaller stores, cash is king.

And, unlike many Western countries, Japan doesn’t go in for tipping. In fact, it’s actively discouraged — in many cases, it’s considered rude.

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