Travel Party of 5 | Points & Miles for Family Travel

Japan Q&A - Japanese Toilets, Cell Coverage, Bullet Train How To's, Metro Cards for Kids, & More!

• Raya & Duane

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Thanks for finding our podcast! We are a family of 5 who does most of our travel using credit card points and miles and we share how we leverage credit card offers to earn a ton of points/miles so we can afford travel as a larger family.

Follow us on Instagram @TravelPartyof5

These are all the experiences we booked in Japan using Viator:

Our Fave Japan Experiences

This episode wraps up our Japan series with a practical Q&A:  From eSIM setup and Suica hacks to Shinkansen tradeoffs and Japanese toilets, we share what worked, what didn’t, and what we’d do differently next time.

• choosing eSIMs over pocket Wi‑Fi for simple, low‑cost data
• adding Suica to Apple Wallet and getting physical child IC cards
• booking Shinkansen on short notice and budgeting for higher fares
• reserving luggage space vs overhead racks for carry‑ons
• live navigation with Google or Apple Maps and using Google Translate
• Borderless vs Planets and why early time slots matter
• views of Shibuya Crossing without paying tower fees
• packing light with airline weight limits and carry‑on tips
• paying with cards, IC cards at vending, and minimal cash needs
• eating etiquette, where to sit, and the lack of public bins
• clean, ubiquitous bidet toilets and what to expect
• no‑tipping norms and rare cases we tipped
• long flights with kids: downloads, snacks, and clear expectations
• future wishlist: Fuji, Hokkaido, Okinawa, Kyoto’s new TeamLab

Send me a DM on Instagram @travelpartyof5 if you have further questions! 


SPEAKER_01:

In today's episode, we are wrapping up our Japan series with a QA, sharing what worked, what didn't, and really anything from trains to toilets. Someone else have Google. I'm right now. I can't host of the Travel Party of Five Podcasts. And are we here how we travel as a family of five around the podcast? So if you're wanting to travel more with the family, but you're not sure how we want for you to listen.

SPEAKER_00:

So welcome to our podcast on the open learning opportunity to get you closer to your welcome back.

SPEAKER_01:

Hello, friends. Welcome back. Thanks for tuning in to Travel Party 5 Podcast. We are TP5. I asked Chat GPT to write me a podcast intro because I never know what to say in the intro, and so I always use it as like a starting point. And without me even mentioning our podcast, this go-around, it said, let me know if you need me to tweak that with some TP5 energy. And I thought that is hilarious. So, anyways, hello, and happy Monday if you're listening to this the day it comes out. If not, hope you're having a great week at whatever point you're listening. We are finally wrapping up all the Japan things today with this episode.

SPEAKER_00:

And yeah, our longest episodes.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. I feel like we we've really been milking it. Not intentionally, just there's so much to talk about, I feel like. And if I am going on a trip to someplace, especially someplace like as far as Japan is from the US, and as different as it can be from our everyday lives here, I want to know all the things and I want to hear all the things. So when there's like multiple podcast episodes, I really enjoy that as a podcast listener.

SPEAKER_00:

So yes. So hopefully you enjoyed that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, hopefully. Um, okay, so we're gonna jump in to some QA, and some of these are just questions that friends have asked. Um, like I have a couple friends that are going to Japan in the next three to six months. So some of these are just questions that they have asked. Um, and then I also put on Instagram a question box, and so some of these questions are from Instagram, so kind of a little mishmosh. Um, if you did message me on Instagram, it was several weeks ago that I asked for questions, and I literally answered everyone today as I was preparing for this episode. So apologies on the delay. You probably saw my answer and forgot that you even asked a question, but that's okay. Um I think we can probably jump in. So in the beginning, it's just gonna be kind of the basics, right? Transportation, how to get your metro cards, all that fun stuff, and then we'll dive into some more specific like itinerary questions and what we would do and what we probably wouldn't do again. So okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Phone service.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. So you have a few options for phone service. You can either get an e-sim, which is basically like I mean, it stands for an electronic SIM card. So instead of putting a physical SIM card in your phone, this just is done like um electronically. I don't know how else to say it.

SPEAKER_00:

Um through the through the air, through air, through the airwaves.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, and there's a few different companies that are pretty popular that offer that. Um, we have used Airlo, so A-I-R-A-L-O. We use them in uh Europe. Yes, thank you. Paris and Spain. Yep, worked great. And so we use them again. I still have the app downloaded on my phone. Sometimes you can find like a discount code for like 10% off or something, but it's not very expensive. Like, what was it? Maybe$15 for each of us. We each bought one, and then they give you pretty pretty clear instructions on how to install it. I will say that I think you need to have an unlocked phone in order for this to work, and it also doesn't um give you data to call, so it's for data and text messages, but not phone calls. You can FaceTime, because that's done via Wi-Fi, but um no like regular phone calls.

SPEAKER_00:

So nope.

SPEAKER_01:

And they give you pretty clear instructions on how to set it up. Basically, you would pay for it and get it set up before you leave the country, and then when you land, it should automatically activate. Um, and the way that we have checked that is just by going in a day or two later and seeing if we are using up our data. Yeah, I mean, you might have to go to your phone settings and click uh I forget what it is, but usually it just automatically activates once you are in the new country and it it starts bouncing off the cell towers there. So um another popular e-sim option is Olafly. We haven't used that one, but I've also heard good things. Basically, when you buy the eSIM, you're gonna go in and you're gonna just choose the region that you are going to. So we chose Japan and it worked great. Um, the other, oh sorry, one more thing I want to say about um Erlo, and I think this is not Eralo, but this is what happens if your phone is not unlocked. My sister, when we went to Italy last year, I think it was, um, she had a hard time when she landed back in the US getting her phone like back to normal. And I think that's because her phone is not unlocked, she pays like a monthly fee to the carrier. So technically the carrier still owns the phone until that payment plan is done. And I think that was why she had problems. Um, but we have not had any problems, and we do have unlocked phones, so um, and also it's worth noting, I have ATT and Dwayne has Verizon. So we have different service providers and they both have worked fine for us. Yep, no problems, no problems. Um, the other option is there's something called pocket Wi-Fi, and I'm only saying this so that you know it exists as an option, but I cannot vouch for any company or anything because we have never used it. Um, I think when I would consider looking at the pocket Wi-Fi would maybe be if I had older kids who also had their own devices. So instead of buying, you know, three, four, five e-sims, um, maybe the pocket Wi-Fi would be the better way to go. I don't know how it works. I do think you like can buy it when you get to the airport in Japan. Um, so I would just kind of do some research on that if you think that might be a better option for your family than the eSIM. Are you buying like a device or is this yeah, it's like a device download to your phone you carry around. Um, Ninja Wi-Fi is one of them, I remember. But it it's like literally like this little thing that you carry and it's like has a signal.

SPEAKER_00:

Wi-Fi in your pocket.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Pocket Wi-Fi.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, makes sense.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, so yeah, so if we if all our kids were older and they all had their own devices um that they also wanted to use, then maybe that would be the cheaper option. So just look at look at your options. Um, our kids do have iPads that they use on trips, but they don't they don't link to Wi-Fi unless we're like in the hotel. So otherwise they just we have all their stuff downloaded.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, that's the way to go.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Um, okay, um, let's do the transportation cards too.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so yeah, we bought what you bought Suika cards. That's S-I-C. No, or S-U-I-C-A. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

You can do this directly. If you have an iPhone, you can do this directly from your Apple wallet.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep. It's super easy.

SPEAKER_01:

Incredibly easy, but here's the thing: you want to do it when you get into the country. So don't do it before, because I tried to do it the night before we left, and I I followed all the instructions. Basically, you go into your Apple wallet, you click on here. I'll just do it right now so I can actually tell you. You click on the little plus sign at the top, then it's gonna ask you like it's gonna give you a few options like Apple card, add Apple account, a debit card, or transit card. You want to click on transit card, then you'll choose what type of transit card. So you'll search like Japan, and then it'll give you the the option for the Suica card. And so then you choose that, and then you click continue, and then it'll prompt you to set it up from there. You'll add money to it, but here's the thing that didn't work for us. I would I added the money, but it never loaded and showed in my Apple wallet when we were in the US. So I tried again when we got to Japan and it worked perfectly fine. So that is what I would recommend is wait until you get there, get your eSIM set up, and then once you land, do the transportation on your phone. If you have an Android, I'd I have no idea how to help you. I'm sorry. But there's probably an option, I don't know. Yeah, Google, Google would be your friend. Um, and so Dwayne and I each did that on our phones, and we use that for the metro. It's so easy to load. We would we would load like a thousand yen at a time, which is seven bucks, but there were days where we definitely spent more than that in a day. So I think if you're at the beginning of your trip, you could probably load it up with I don't know, five thousand yen and see how far that gets you.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and it's super easy to use. You don't even I mean, I I realized uh a week into the trip that all you had to do was tap your phone to the machine, you didn't have to open up your wallet or anything, it just automatically read it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, and it will work if your phone dies.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, yeah, yeah, your phone died and it still worked.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep, you just hold it there and it still works. You also the other thing to note is when you are using the metro, you have to tap in and tap out. The tap out is important, and if you don't do that, then you're gonna get an error the next time you try to use it, and you're gonna have to go talk to like the person at the station.

SPEAKER_00:

Happened to our son, we don't know what happened. He tapped in, didn't tap out, and we tried to get on another train, and his card wouldn't work. So we went to talk to the train station um staff and they let us know we didn't tap out. So and then they fixed it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, they basically have to like clear the error. So the tap out is important. That's how they know what to charge.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's how you get charged.

SPEAKER_01:

So definitely remember to do both for the kids. So six and under is free, so don't need any cards. So our daughter didn't need a card, and then I think above six to twelve, maybe, is the you the kids can get their like a kid's card. And I know we talked about this in our first Japan episode, but I'm just gonna reiterate so it's all here in one place. Um, it's 50% off the adult rate, so you definitely want to get your kids the kids' version, especially if you're gonna be there for a week or two and taking public transportation a lot, but you have to go in person when you arrive to Japan and get a physical card because you have to show proof of their ages with their passports. So the way that we did this is we paid for a regular adult fare for them to take a train one way, and we went to the nearest station um that was near where we were staying in Ginza, which was the JR East train station.

SPEAKER_00:

Did we pay an adult?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, because you couldn't buy the kid one, remember? You couldn't even buy a kid one.

SPEAKER_00:

You couldn't. There's usually a button that says it did, but it wasn't working.

SPEAKER_01:

So, anyways, um, and we went in person, we got their cards, they are physical, actual cards, so you might want to bring like a couple of lanyards or whatever to attach them to. We didn't do that. Dwayne just kept them in his wallet every time and would hand them out every time we needed them.

SPEAKER_00:

And everyone at the station uh spoke English, so that was helpful and super easy to do.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. There are a couple of different options for cards, I think. Um, they can guide you as to which one is the best, but I don't know. I I feel like it was called a welcome card or whatever. It's good for 30 days or something like that. So I guess if you're there for longer than 30 days, first of all, lucky you. But second of all, you might need a different option. Um, but that worked great for us. And the kids' cards, when you tap in and out, they they make a different sound than the adult ones, which is also interesting.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, they don't the adults don't make a sound, and then the kids, it's like a little whistle.

SPEAKER_01:

I feel like mine beeped. It didn't yours didn't beep.

SPEAKER_00:

No, I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01:

How do you know when it went then?

SPEAKER_00:

What do you mean? You just the gate opened.

SPEAKER_01:

I feel like mine made a noise. Yeah, maybe, but anyways, so that's what I would recommend. You can get the kids' cards at the airport, I think. I just knew that we were not gonna want to deal with that after such a long flight and being jet lagged. So um, we took a private transfer from the airport to our hotel. I booked that through Kluke, and the driver was there waiting for us, and it was super easy. You could absolutely take public transportation from the airport. We just didn't want to do that with all of our bags, being tired and all that. Plus, I didn't want to figure out the kids' cards that day. So sometimes you just have to know yourself and just put yourself in that situation and think, am I gonna want to do that after, you know, no sleep and jet lag and all that? And the answer is no, I'm not. So don't. Um, okay. Cell service, metro. Oh, talk first of all, before we move on, for the metro, when we left, we took the Narita Express to the airport, which is a train, um, like like a bullet train, kind of. It wasn't a bullet train, but the seats were the same.

SPEAKER_00:

And definitely not as fast as a bullet train.

SPEAKER_01:

No, no, no, no. Um, but when we got there, we you were talking to the guy because we didn't have enough and we didn't know how much to load onto it to scan out. So walk walk them through that.

SPEAKER_00:

So, yes, we didn't know, but we took the train and then we got off and um the little well, I don't even know his title, but the little train station employee um took us to his little cash register. Was it a cash register? I don't even know. Yes. Um, and he was able to figure out by tapping our cards how much money we owed.

SPEAKER_01:

And it wasn't a lot, it wasn't a lot, and we like because we're leaving, right? So we don't need any of this yen that we have, so we're we're handing him like all of our coins and like we're just trying to figure out like how can we get out of here with like a zero sum, you know, nothing left on the card, but like nothing um, you know, obviously nothing owed either. And so I don't know, Dwayne did all that uh chatting, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, I might have mentioned this in one of the previous episodes, but 22 years ago, hardly anyone spoke English. Now it seemed like everyone did, which is super helpful.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, we um one of the questions that people have been asking me is about the language, so I guess we can just segue right into that. Um, we had zero issues like with language at all, but I want to clarify that sometimes we had to use Google Translate, um, but it was completely fine and it worked, right? We even bought a micro of um Bluetooth microphone using Google Translate.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, and he used his iP what iPad.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, he got an iPad to translate back to us. So basically, and so they know how to use Google Translate, and like they will often initiate it if they don't know how to say it to you in English. And so it's like it was just, I don't know, and then you can also use Google Translate um to take a photo of like a menu or the back of a shampoo bottle or whatever, and it will translate it for you, like right in front of your eyes, basically. So if you get a Japanese menu and you don't know what it says, just take out your Google Translate app, open up the photo little thing, and hover over it, like as if you're gonna take a picture, and it'll tell you.

SPEAKER_00:

Super simple to use.

SPEAKER_01:

So, yes. Um, I that's like the question I get when people like not even just about Japan, but anywhere. They're like, Oh, well, how did you deal with the language barrier? And I'm like, I I mean, there's a lot of like it I feel like if people make that out to be a bigger hurdle than it actually is, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I mean, I can agree with some people because in Japan I felt a lot more comfortable because I knew some of it, but like when we were in Europe, it was uncomfortable for me, but you know, because I didn't I don't know any French or you know, in France I didn't know anything. Spain I could, you know, comprehend a little bit, but in France it was totally different. I you know, the lost.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, that's interesting. Okay, did you find it helpful that I know a few French words?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean it was helpful. I mean, you don't know a lot.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know a lot, but well, and the other thing is they also speak very fast. Like if they were to speak slowly, I feel like I could do better, but yeah, I mean I did speak to several people in French and they spoke back to me in French, which and then I was like, oh can we slow down? L'entement, that's slowly in French. L'entement, s'il vous plaît, anyways. Um, so yes, the language barrier, like definitely do not let that hold you back. Um, it was a non-issue for us. And oh, signs. The signs are in both Japanese and English, yes, everywhere. So you'll be fine. Um, and bullet trains, we've already talked about this a good amount, but essentially I'll briefly walk you through. So for a bullet train, you cannot use your Suika card for these, to my knowledge. If someone knows differently, send me a DM and I'll post a correction correction on Instagram. But I do not believe you can. You need to make a ticket or a reservation. There's a couple of ways you can do that. You can do it day of at the station. There are a ton of bullet trains, and for the you know, as long as you're going to like a common destination, there's gonna be a lot of choices throughout the day. Probably one every 20 minutes, if I had to guess.

SPEAKER_00:

It seemed like there was one every like eight minutes.

SPEAKER_01:

I know, there was a lot. Um, you can make a reservation using the Smart X S M-A-R-T-E-X website, um, or you can use Kluke. We used Kluke every time because I just found it very easy to do from my cell phone. Um, I generally found myself, other than our first bullet train, which I booked a couple weeks in advance, I booked the rest of the bullet trains generally like the day before we left, because I liked having that flexibility of deciding, okay, tomorrow we're gonna leave at this time. And we had zero issues doing that. I don't think the price fluctuates that much. Um, what was surprising to me, and I'm curious if you also thought this, is the bullet trains are not cheap. So for a family of five, you're looking at$500 one way, and there's no price break if you buy like a round trip ticket. I don't even know if they have round trip tickets, but it it's expensive.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, was it that much? I thought it was like 8,000 yen a person, which would be like 605. Oh, it was.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh no, yeah. It was well again, I bought through Kluke, so there definitely is like a you know an added fee or surcharge because they're a third party. So I mean, I still think even if we're talking 80 bucks a person, that's a lot. But I mean, maybe it'll be a little cheaper if you book through the Smart X um website or I don't even know if they have an app, but I know there's a website. So uh but Kluke gets 5x at Racketton, so if you're gonna do it, go through that. Meaning if you're gonna use Kluke, make sure you go through Rackton, at least earn some points on it. Um yeah, so I I found it expensive. I thought it was more expensive than I was anticipating. So we've spent around$2,000 on bullet trains. We took four. That's a lot, yeah. So just I guess be prepared to spend that if you are if you if you're one or two people, it's really not that big of a deal, you know. A couple hundred bucks, fine. But you have to pay for all five people. And I found it expensive, so anyways. Um, if you are going from Tokyo to Kyoto and you want to see Mount Fuji, you want to sit on the right side of the train going there, and from Kyoto back to Tokyo, you want to sit on the left side of the train.

SPEAKER_00:

Also obviously it's the opposite way. From Tokyo to Kyoto, you want to be on the right side.

SPEAKER_01:

I said that before that, but you were looking at the football game.

SPEAKER_00:

Sorry. Well, anyway, I feel like this whole thing we're just regurgitating. I know we've already covered in the I just these are the things that people have asked me the most.

SPEAKER_01:

And so I wanted to I want a place where all the questions live so that I can say listen to this episode, you know. So apologies if you're like, we already heard you say this. I'm I'm sorry. Um, okay, I have another question around the uh trains. So, what train did you take from Tokyo to Kyoto? How far in advance did you put it? I answered those. Um, did you get the green car or reserve seats? We did not get the green car. Um, something to note when you are booking is they have like quiet cars. So I think the green car is kind of like first class, and then there are also quiet cars, okay? Don't book those if you have kids. Like they're all the trains are already quiet, and so like just don't do it. You don't want to have that if you have kids. If you're looking for quiet and you don't have kids, then by all means, that's the truth that's the car for you. Um, how easy was it to bring your luggage on it? Very easy, very easy, but we have carry-on luggage.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yes, we are we have five carry-ons, yes, so and they fit.

SPEAKER_01:

There's a small luggage rack above the all the seats. All of our bags fit perfectly fine up there, but if you have a bigger bag, it would not fit. The luggage rack is literally like two metal bars, like it's not a lot. So if you have big bags, what you're gonna want to do is also reserve like a seat with a bag, basically. Um, and basically what that does is reserve you a spot for your your bag either at the front or the back of the car. There are designated like luggage racks in the front and back of the cars. Sometimes they are open, and the conductor will tell you over the announcement in both Japanese and English that there is reserved space open, but it's not always open. So make sure you reserve it if you do have bigger bags, and then you'll just put them there and you won't bring them to your seat, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. We used one once. Oh, wait, was that the Narita Express? I can't remember.

SPEAKER_01:

It was the Narita Express because that's when we had we had the sixth suitcase. We bought a suitcase from Don Quixote to bring back all of our snacks and souvenirs and I don't know what the heck we're gonna do with it, but for now we just have it. Um oh, and did you use a luggage transportation service? We did not, and I don't think we've covered this in any previous episode. Japan has luggage forwarding, which I think actually would be a really good option for families if you can make it work. So essentially they will just take your luggage from one hotel to another. The only problem and the reason that we didn't do this is you have to give them your luggage, like generally the day before you leave. So at the Hyatt Ginza, for example, the Hyatt Centric Ginza, we needed to have our luggage to them before 2 p.m. the day before we wanted it at the hotel. So like if we were gonna leave on Wednesday and we, or I'm sorry, if we were gonna arrive to our next hotel on Wednesday, we would have to deliver our luggage to the hotel before 2 p.m. Tuesday, and they would send it. So obviously you can't send it all because you need, you know, your clothes and whatever pajamas, you know, for the overnight, your toiletries, all that, but you could send some of it. So I think if we had maybe been a little more organized, we could have done that. But we generally everyone has their own suitcase. We try not to unpack and repack and all that.

SPEAKER_00:

I think if we all had oversized luggage instead of carry-ons, we would have definitely used it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. The other tricky part was going from Tokyo to Kyoto, the day before we did that, we were at Disney all day. So there was no way for us to give them our luggage by that time, anyways. So that that just didn't work. Um, but it is an option, so keep that in mind. Um, and you know, your hotel can help you facilitate that. There is a cost, I don't know what it is, but I don't think it's very much.

SPEAKER_00:

No, I don't. And I've heard nothing but good things about it, the servers, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I think they like wrap the bags, and it's like very uh they're very careful. You know, like the US could never. Yeah. Um, okay. Now we're gonna jump into. Oh, I'm sorry, I want to go back to the eSIMs really quickly because someone asked what or how much data did you need. And so I had plenty of data.

SPEAKER_00:

So I had to buy a little bit more because I was the one that was uh mapping to wherever we went.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. So Dwayne ran out of data and I still had some left.

SPEAKER_00:

And I bought more for like five more dollars. Yes, and then left Japan with a little bit left.

SPEAKER_01:

So I think in total we paid maybe$40. No, I feel like that even seems a lot. Hold on, I'm gonna log in and I'm gonna tell you.

SPEAKER_00:

No, we I think we paid like$30 total. Total for the both of us, including your top-up, including my top-up. Okay, yeah, not expensive at all.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, I looked in my app to confirm. So I paid$21.25 for 20 gigabytes of data, and that lasted me the entire, you know, two-week plus trip, and I still had like three or four gigabytes left when we got back. Dwayne used a little more than 20 gigabytes, and so he topped his up for I think five bucks. So yeah, I think total we spent$45, and that was for about 15 or 16 days, and like heavy usage, I would say, like GPS mapping all the time.

SPEAKER_00:

All day, every day. Because we we don't know where we're going, yeah, and you know, on the train, checking on Facebook, Instagram, like yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um okay, so that will bring me to our next question, which was um Google Maps versus Apple Maps.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, we use Google, but I felt like sometimes it was iffy. So then I jumped to Apple Maps. It's just whatever you whatever your preference is.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, my preference at home is Apple Maps. That's what I use to to get around on a on the daily basis, and I think you do too, right? Yeah, but in Costa Rica, what was that, a couple years ago? Uh oh no, even Google Maps led us astray. We had to use Waze. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Google Maps led us at the bridge that wasn't there.

SPEAKER_01:

That's right. And right, I was I was thinking that was Apple Maps, but it was not. Um, so, anyways, I think you could probably use either. I have seen people saying that Apple Maps works better. I've also seen people saying Google Maps works better. Who knows? Um there, I do have one kind of tip though. So, one thing that people will do sometimes is they will download like the Entire map of, I don't know, Tokyo or whatever, so that they can use the map without having to use data. And if you're gonna use the maps to do GPS, meaning like you're gonna use it to figure out how to take the public transportation, I would recommend not doing that and instead getting the eSIM or the the pocket Wi-Fi and and making making sure that you're using a live map because these maps are updated when routes, uh routes, when um like trains close or they're stuck for whatever reason, like they update constantly. And so if something happens and the route that you're on is delayed or whatever, it will route you a different way sometimes. So I think it's important to have the live up-to-date map and not download a map that's you know a week old, two weeks old, whatever. So that's my two cents on that. Um in general, if you are you'll be wherever you are and you'll put in I want to go here, and you will click map, you will choose the public transportation little button, and it will tell you exactly what train to get on. It will say take the G train to, you know, toward Akibara or whatever. And I mean, as long as you just follow what it says at the time that it says to do it, you're gonna be fine, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's super easy.

SPEAKER_01:

I just yes, like sometimes where I think people get stuck is they are like second guessing like the technology. I trust the technology, and generally that serves me well. Now, obviously, if something seems way off, like okay, then you know, yes, start your critical thinking, put your critical thinking hat on. But for the most part, it is going to work correctly, and you don't need like my mom will be like, Oh, but I think that that's going south, and we need to go east. And I'm like, I'm gonna do what the computer tells me to do, and we always end up in the right spot.

SPEAKER_00:

So most of the time, okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, next question. You want to read this one?

SPEAKER_00:

Which one? Which team labs did you prefer for adults? If you could only go to one, which one would you go to? And what time of day do you think is the best? Uh, for me it was probably planets. That was the second one. Oh, borderless. Sorry, it was borderless.

SPEAKER_01:

Me too.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, but yeah, like you mentioned in a previous episode, people always pick the one they went to first.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I read that somewhere. That the one you like the best is the one you go to first. So you probably can't go wrong with either, but we we all, even the kids, liked the borderless one better. So do with that what you will. Um, that being said, again, we're there with kids. So, I mean, I don't know. Would we have thought the water one was cooler if we didn't have the kids there? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

The water one was okay.

SPEAKER_01:

I just if I were gonna go back to one, I would go back to the borderless one. That being said, they opened a new one in Kyoto right after we left.

SPEAKER_00:

Which looks really cool, actually. It's like more digital.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and we didn't go to that one, so we don't know. So if you do go to that one, report back. Let us know. Um, okay. Oh, and what time of day do you think is best? As early as possible. Like whatever the earliest opening time you can get is, choose that one. Even if you're a little bit late, they're still gonna let you in. Um, but the as the day goes on, it gets more and more and more crowded. So go as early as possible. Use the jet lag to your advantage.

unknown:

Yep.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, okay, next one.

SPEAKER_00:

Shibuya crossing. Did you view it from above? Where did you view it? We did not. Um, we it was kind of up above, but it was just from the train station, which was maybe 40, 50 feet up. Um, we didn't do the Tokyo Tower or Sky Tree. That's the next question. Yeah, we didn't do those either. Yeah, we don't like heights.

SPEAKER_01:

No, it's just to share more about that because people don't know what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, I asked Rea to book it.

SPEAKER_01:

That's not true. You didn't ask me to book it.

SPEAKER_00:

You said I said, Do you want to go? I asked you if you wanted to go.

SPEAKER_01:

You asked me yes, and did I already book it? And I said no.

SPEAKER_00:

Because she says, because I don't like to see things from from way up high or something. Some weird answer. And I thought, what? When when we just were in um Hiroshima on top of this building, and she was like, Oh my god, it is so beautiful from up here. So so we didn't go. So we had we know nothing about the Tokyo Sky Tree or the Tokyo Towers. First of all, or what's is the Tokyo tree the Shibuya one? No, it's not. What's the Shibuya one?

SPEAKER_01:

Shibuya sky, maybe or something like that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so we know nothing about that. So report back to us. Tell us how incredible it was, please.

SPEAKER_01:

First of all, okay. I feel like there's all these, like, right? You can go up in the Empire State Building and there's all these like attractions that are just like, you know, people, I don't know, hundreds and hundreds of feet, you know, above the ground looking down. And when you're in a city, I just feel like I mean, it's just buildings, like there's not a ton to see. So what I said to Duane, and please note this was before we went to Hiroshima. Okay, like this was like our first day in Tokyo, is I was like, I just don't really see the point of spending a lot of money to go and look at something from up above. It was like, what?

SPEAKER_00:

It wasn't right when we got there, it was after Hiroshima because we were in Shibut.

SPEAKER_01:

I was thinking to myself, oh, this is actually a nice view from up above. Um, and I was like, well, well, but it's different. Hiroshima has like all this greenery and like Tokyo just buildings. So, anyways, um, we did not. Um, I do think that you have to like be online whenever they release the tickets, like right away, because I do see people in my Japan Facebook groups posting about how they were, you know, they didn't get tickets, they didn't get tickets. I also think they have a timed release where maybe like every 20 minutes they release tickets. So I do know a little bit about it, but I didn't want to spend the money for us to just go up there and be like, okay, that was great. We already spent a good amount of money on the ticket.

SPEAKER_00:

And I've heard there's like a rooftop bar somewhere close by where you just have to buy a drink. Obviously, we can go because we have kids, but I I I read on Japan groups as well that there are many other places you can go and see almost the exact same view.

SPEAKER_01:

And if you want to see Shibuya Crossing from up above and you don't need to be super high, there's a Starbucks you can go to that's right there too. So go get yourself a coffee, and you know, there's a decent view from there as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so I mean the training station had a great view.

SPEAKER_01:

It did.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, yeah, you can see the chaos of the crossing from there.

SPEAKER_01:

And we were just walking out of the train and stood there and looked at it. So um, and yeah, so Tokyo, yeah, Tokyo Sky Tree and Tokyo Tower. We did see Tokyo Tower when we went to the first team labs. We walked by it. Um looked cool. I don't know. I guys, I've also never been up to the Eiffel Tower on the top of the Eiffel Tower. Like, I just don't care about it that much. I really don't. But if you do, hey, you do you, you know, whatever floats your boat. Um, okay, let's see. Next question. Carry-on or oh, carry-on or checked bags. I saw that you had the away larger carry-on. Was it ever an issue on international flights or buses or trains? No, never an issue, fits every time. Um, there was one time on Air France where we had to check it, not because it wouldn't fit, um, but because of our boarding group, they told us.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, we walked up with our bags. No, remember she it wasn't because of that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, she was like, Oh, you're in like group five, like we have to take your bags. And I just was like, just staring at this woman.

SPEAKER_00:

When was that?

SPEAKER_01:

When we went to Paris in Chicago.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, well, it happened on the way back from Japan, too.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, we'll talk about that in a second. Um, but yeah, so and Dwayne, okay, so this is when we went to Paris, and Dwayne is staring at me because I have essentially forced him to pack in a carry-on. Dwayne is not a carry-on packer. Well, you are now.

SPEAKER_00:

I am now, but I'm typically an over-packer.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Um, and and so I'm dying inside because I have made everyone pack in a carry-on, and now this woman is telling me that we need to check our bags anyways. And I am like, oh, are you kidding me? So on our way to Paris, they did make us um check our bags, but it had nothing to do with the size of the bag, it was just um that we were like in one of the later boarding groups and they didn't think they would have room. So, however, coming back from Japan, we flew on Singapore Airlines. They have a fifth freedom route from Norita Airport to LAX, and we booked that with points. And when we got there to check in, she said, Do any of your bags weigh over seven kilos? And I was like, We don't know what that is. I said, How how many pounds is that? And so she did the math, and it's like 14.4 pounds or something like that. And I was like, What? Four fourteen, yes, all of our bags are more than 14 pounds.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, one of our bags was like 30 pounds, it was like double the weight.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so essentially they weighed them all. We laughed the entire time because I know that not a single bag is under 14 pounds, certainly not. And not only that, but the the backpack that Dwayne has on his back is surely more than 14 pounds.

SPEAKER_00:

It's definitely more than 14 pounds, and but they didn't they didn't take it, they didn't take it, they didn't make me weigh it, they just thought it was a book bag or a backpack, but I had shoes in there, iPads.

SPEAKER_01:

The bag is bigger than our five-year-old. Yeah, it's huge. It is so anyway. So we had to check all of our bags coming back, and we did, and uh it was free, like we didn't pay for it. Um, but again, I guess keep that in mind if you're gonna fly Singapore Airlines. We were flabbergasted at the very low weight limit, and I don't think we talked about that in the last episode, so I'm glad that that came up. Um, yeah, 14 pounds. That's wild. Oh, and this person also asked if it was an issue on buses and trains. Never. They're a I really like the away carry-on, the away larger carry-on. Like we have five of them, and they're not cheap, so I think that that should tell you how much we really like them. Um, okay, next question. How much cash did we need? So not a ton. Most places took cards and or Apple Pay, including like the vending machines. And fun fact, you can use your Suika card, so your transportation card. It's also called an IC card. You could use that at the vending machines as well. Um, but as far as taking out cash, we put cash in a checking account that doesn't charge any fees for like ATM cash cash withdrawals. And um, the one that we have is the Charles Schwab. Um, I don't know, some sort of I forget the name of it, but if you Google Charles Schwab like, you know, checking account that for travel, you'll find the right one. Um and I'm sorry, they actually they do you you pay the fee, but they refund you any fees that you paid at the end of the month. That's how it works. So we had around a thousand dollars in there, and that's where we took cash from, and we still have about$500 left. So I guess we used around$500 in cash for the entire two weeks that we were there. Um, the main things that we were using it for was like the um arcade rooms and stuff like that, and then we did seem to have to load the kids' Suika cards with cash for whatever reason. So we would do that like in the train station. We would load them up with cash. So we did use cash um for that and just various miscellaneous things, but overall we did not need a ton of cash.

SPEAKER_00:

So the next question is where and when can you eat as a not walking around the streets eating? I'll let you handle that. I mean, it's it's it's not polite to eat while walking in Japan. It's also not polite to eat on the train. So, I mean, it's wherever you can find a s a seat or somewhere to sit down and eat, I think you're good. There are multiple times where we went to 7-Eleven or Family Mar or whatever, bought some food and just sat right outside on like I don't even know, like planters and had lunch. Yeah, which is it okay. But one thing you gotta mention is there are hardly any trash cans in Japan. So a lot of people bring like a small plastic bag with them to throw whatever it is, you know, trash-wise they have in it, and then when they get home or to a training station where there is a trash can, they just toss it in there. There are some but yeah, Japan is super clean.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, there are sometimes trash cans at the vending machines, or at the very least no, no, no, not even trash can, they're just recyclable. That's what I was gonna say. At the very least, like a recyclable trash for your empty bottles that you get from the vending machine. So you can look for that.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, and then yeah, other than that, like the train stations are like even when we went to the markets who sold food, you know, every every step of the way there's food you can buy, but they would always say, Hey, you know, buy this food, but step inside to eat it. Don't walk, you know, through the market eating it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, there's everyone that said that. So um, yeah, so just bring like some little plastic grocery bags or whatever, keep it in your little backpack, and just kind of you keep that as your trash for the day, and you will see a trash can at some point. It's just rarely going to be the moment that you need it, you know. So, and then you can just throw it away in there. Um someone asked about toilet paper. So I thought we could talk about the toilets.

SPEAKER_00:

So the toilet paper in Japan, it's like one ply. Yeah, like this the cheap Scott. Yes, it's like wiping your ass with a receipt. Um but the reason is because damn near every toilet is a bidet.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And you know, they have heated seats, they have the best, the best toilets.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, even like just like a regular toilet, like out and about, has all the buttons and the it has like, um, I mean, again, a lot of it is in Japanese, so I don't know, but like sometimes there would also be English on it, and it would be like you could play like rain sounds or like yes, so it's called modesty music.

SPEAKER_00:

So when you got the shits and you're blowing up the toilet, you can play like birds uh frolicking in the in a tree, you know? So that no one in the hopes that no one's gonna hear your your your toots, yes. You know, it's you know it's great thinking.

SPEAKER_01:

I think they even they all had hand sanitizer in the in the stall. They also had um directions for how you can like use that to clean the seat, and there was um like air freshener sometimes too.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, so I mean the toilets were great, and then all bidets, you know, you can uh control the what's the the angle, the angle, the pressure, the pressure, you can oscillate it. I mean, there were just so many, so many options on all these toilets, and the seats are all heated. Some of the seats when you walk in just open up. They know you walked in, they're like, hey, how you doing? And they just whoop, you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

We so also as a side note, we didn't I we didn't tell the kids anything about the toilets because quite honestly, I didn't want them pushing all the buttons and and you know making a mess with like toilet water. I was like, oh, but at least two, if not three of them, all figured it out at some point, anyways. And at one point, one of our kids walked out of the bathroom stall and just was like, I just sprayed my butt. And I was like, okay, great. So, anyways, we had a laugh about the toilets, but they are great. Um, we did not bring our own toilet paper. The toilet paper there was, I don't know, it was fine for me.

SPEAKER_00:

Um it's fine because of the bidet.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I mean, it's definitely not like a charmin.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, at some of the shrines and stuff, there were also what are they called when it's just the hole in the ground? What are those called? Squat toilets?

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, yes. Okay, there were traditional, like old school Japanese toilets.

SPEAKER_01:

There were some of those too. And like at one of the shrines we went to, the public bathroom, there was one regular toilet and then one squat toilet. And we kind of opened it up and went like, oh, nope, that's not the one for us. Um, but they so they do exist, I think, but like we never had a problem finding a regular toilet. I also generally found the bathrooms to be very accessible there. So, like in Europe, you have to pay a lot of times when you're in a train station or out and about to use a public bathroom. In Japan, you do not have to pay, and they are just readily available. We never had a problem. And they're clean, and they're very clean, yes. So we never had a problem finding a bathroom, which you know can be tricky sometimes with kids. When they gotta go, they gotta go. Um, it was never a problem. So, yeah, that's a great question. Um, tipping. Someone asked about tipping. Uh, you don't tip in Japan. No, not only that, but no one ever asked us to tip. No one ever, there's no line on a receipt to tip, like it was never brought up as even an option. So it's it's not like you're made to feel bad because you didn't tip, you just simply do not tip. Um, there was one exception, our photographer. Um, so she was married, she was Japanese, but she was married to an American. And when she sent the photos and they were so good, I did message her and say, like, hey, we, you know, I know tipping is generally not accepted in Japan and in fact sometimes is like considered rude, but we would we love these photos and would really like to send you a tip. Is there a way that I can do that? And she had a a page on her website where we could do that, and she sent me the link. So we tipped her. Um, but that was really the only time that we tipped, I think. So uh any guides and stuff, we didn't tip them. And when we were on like the food tour, for example, I didn't see anyone else tip them either.

SPEAKER_00:

So no, I felt bad, but I mean no one else did, so but we there was one other time where we tipped, it's and they asked. Was the sumo place?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. They did. They did ask at the sumo place, that's right.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, there were so many workers there.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I yeah, we threw some money in. Um, okay, there's a few more questions. Um, oh, we actually already answered this one. Luggage on the train. Okay, um how did your kids survive such a long flight?

SPEAKER_00:

iPads simple.

SPEAKER_01:

Next question literally, but the background there, and we've shared this before, our kids are really not allowed to use their iPads at home pretty much ever. Sometimes our oldest now he likes to play games with his friends, and so we, you know, we we allow that with like restrictions, like a reward, yeah, as a reward, but they never get unfettered access to the iPads at home, and so when we're traveling, they know that there are no screen time limits, and they can watch it for as long as they want. So, but the night before a trip, Dwayne goes through with each of them and says, What shows do you want me to download? And he downloads the shows they ask for on their respective iPads, they each have their own. Um, they also have games on there that they, you know, choose, and some of them work without Wi-Fi and some don't, and they will figure it out because they just do. Um, and yeah, we let them go crazy. That between that and the um in-flight entertainment systems, even in economy, like they're good. They do phenomenal.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, and snacks, I guess, is the other thing. Lots of snacks.

SPEAKER_00:

Snack, snack, snacks.

SPEAKER_01:

Um oh, sorry, one more question. Uh, would you go back? And then they also wrote maybe to the Hokkaido area.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh would we go back 110%? Yes. Hokkaido, 110%. Everywhere else we didn't go, 110%.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, there's still a lot of Japan that we would like to see. We 100% will go back.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I mean, we did a lot while we were there, but we also didn't do a lot while we were there.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. And so I have a friend who's going maybe in April, and I had lunch with her the other day because she wanted to talk about like all the things. Um, hi Michelle, if you're listening, hello. I told her about our podcast. Um, and I was realizing as she was asking me about all these things, like, I was realizing how much we didn't do. And some of it's because we're there with kids, and you know, some of this stuff is just, you know, not geared towards kids. Um, but I was like, oh, you could do this. And she's like, well, what was that like? And I'm like, I don't know, we didn't do that. But she's not going with little kids. And so I was trying to think of the things that I came across in my research that I thought would be cool, but that probably weren't the right fit for us. Um, and so like she was like, Why didn't you go to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo? And I was like, I don't, I really don't know, other than I think I just it wasn't on my radar, but I would go back there, you know. And then we want to go see Mount Fuji, we want to spend some time there for sure. Hokkaido and kind of like maybe the northern part of Japan. I'd also love to go to Okinawa, which is farther south, like the Hawaii of Japan. So we absolutely will return. Maybe we'll add on Guam as like part of that next trip because if you don't know, that's where Dwayne and his entire family are from. So our kids are half tomorrow. And I've never been to Guam. The kids have never been, so that would be really cool for them to see, also. So yeah, we will go back 110%. And then you'll get five more episodes about it.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Um, I feel like we have covered everything. Um, if you have additional questions, send me a DM on Instagram. I do answer all DMs at travel party five. Um, and we appreciate you listening if you made it this far again. And next week I will be back, probably just me, I think, with a fun episode around how we've earned as like over a million points this year and um the cards we've opened. And I'm gonna I'm gonna be very specific. So that'll be next week's episode. Um, so make sure you listen in for that. And we appreciate you.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, we appreciate you. Have a good one.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you. Bye.