About Japan Real Guide

Japan Real Guide is a practical English guide to traveling in Japan, written from inside the country. The aim is simple: tell you what actually works on the ground — trains, money, food, etiquette and where to go — and keep it current when prices and rules change.

Who writes this site

I’m Jack. I’m from Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, and I live in Osaka.

My work takes me around Japan on a regular basis — business trips to meet the members of a community I run — so I spend a lot of time on the shinkansen, in business hotels, in station-side restaurants and in cities that most first-time visitors only pass through. I also go home to Ehime often, which is why Shikoku gets more attention here than on most Japan travel sites.

Because I live here rather than visit, I see Japan from the other side. The things locals do without thinking — ticket machines, IC cards, tax-free shopping, onsen rules, ordering at a counter — are exactly the things that confuse visitors. This site explains them in plain English.

How guides are written and checked

Facts that change are checked against official sources. Prices, opening hours, pass and ticket rules, visa and tax rules are checked against sources such as JR, the Japan Tourism Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and city governments.
Every guide shows when it was last updated. When a rule or price changes, the affected guides are revised and the date at the top of the page changes with them.
Corrections are welcome. Japan changes quickly. If you spot something out of date, please tell us through the Contact page and we will fix it.

What you’ll find here

Trip planning: itineraries, budgets, the JR Pass, eSIMs, IC cards, airport transfers and what to pack.
Destinations: city and regional guides from Hokkaido to Okinawa, including the quieter regions most visitors miss.
Food: what to order, how to order it, and how Japanese restaurants, convenience stores and markets work.
Culture and customs: onsen etiquette, temples and shrines, and the unwritten rules that make daily life here run smoothly.

How this site is funded

Some articles contain affiliate links to booking sites, tours, eSIMs and travel insurance. If you book through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Some pages may also show advertising. Neither decides what we recommend.

We also make Hirameki Japanese, an iPhone app for speaking and learning Japanese. It is our own product, so whenever we mention it, that is the reason.