Japan: A Summary of Things

• Having a SIM card is so useful. We used this service where we also got our JR Passes and it worked beautifully.
• The heat is no joke. I got heat exhaustion partway through the trip. Definitely have an umbrella to block out the sun, a hat, or wear long-sleeved clothing to prevent direct sun.
• Mosquitoes are savage. That, with the heat, it's no wonder the fashion trend in Japan is long, loose, and flowy clothing. They definitely cover up there. 
• Osaka is full of music. 
• Don't eat in Dotonbori. See it, but for food, head over to Shinsekai. 
• Shinjuku Golden Gai is so fun A++ recommend. 
• The JR Pass does not cover Nozomi trains. 
• Rush hour is intense, try to avoid as much as possible especially if you're like us and don't like squeezing in to trains. 
• There are a lot of tourists in Kyoto, and they come in large tour bus groups. Pick areas you REALLY want to see, and go early. Nara Park, Fushimi Inari Shrine, and Arashiyama without tourists are gorgeous locations. Around 9am, people start pouring in in packs. We did Fushimi Inari for 5am, and it was empty. 
• Konbinis are the best things ever for food but if you need pharmacy related things like bug cream, insect repellant, or medication, look for a pharmacy. There are these shops with people hanging out fliers because for some reason they're always discounted.
• Look down at the manhole covers because they're different per city and beautifully designed. 
• Get a goshuin. The temple seals range from about 300 - 500.
• Look up Airbnb experiences because those were some of my favourite moments of the trip, and experiences in general fill out the parts between shrine and sight seeing. 
• The Japanese people are almost always happy to help out if you ask (or even if you look lost). Even with the language barrier, we had 0 problem and simple words and gestures were enough. 
• Look for a hotel or Airbnb near a convenient subway stop. It may seem like common sense, but prioritizing the distance to a stop is pretty important. 
• Walk places! Set a max walk time before taking transit. If Google told us that walking there would be 25-30 minutes, we'd just walk, and walking got us off the main streets to find some good, reasonably priced food (and lovely side street photos). 
• The Kyoto buses are 230 yen a ride.
• SUICA is great. Transit, and vending machines! We loaded 1000 yen at a time because it's easier to just reload at the stations than to figure out how to get your return for it at the airport. 
• Amazake is an acquired taste. 
• Watch out for the red vs blue labels on vending machines. Red obviously is for hot, blue is for cold but when you've been poking at buttons for days, sometimes you can just miss it.
• Dont eat or drink while walking. Well, you can, but you get "Ugh, silly foreigner" looks. And the shopkeepers may tell you to stop.
• Crossing Shibuya Crossing sucks because people are constantly stopping in the middle to take a photo. The Starbucks above to view it is also packed. 
• We one-bagged, and the coin lockers allow for overnight storage. They seem to reset every midnight though, so even if it hasn't been 24 hours, if midnight happened, it'll count as two days. 
• Libera chocolate is great. 
• Not common, but sometimes public toilets will only have the squatting toilets.
• Ekiben are expensive. For one time to experience it is great, but might be better to stick with konbini bentos.
• Accessibility may be a problem if you're not able-bodied, or you have children. We came across areas (like Fushimi Inari or Arashiyama Monkey Park) with a lot of stairs without ramps or lifts, and families with young children who were very tired and grumpy. In general, the terrain coupled with the amount of tourists (especially in Kyoto) may not be wheelchair or stroller friendly.