Japan (Lonely Planet, 11th Edition) - Chris Rowthorn [630]
You can expect travel and accommodation options to be fully booked during the New Year festivities (29 December to 6 January), Golden Week (29 April to 5 May) and the mid-August O-Bon festival. Click here for more details of these festivals and events.
Japan’s national holidays:
Ganjitsu (New Year’s Day) 1 January
Seijin-no-hi (Coming-of-Age Day) Second Monday in January
Kenkoku Kinem-bi (National Foundation Day) 11 February
Shumbun-no-hi (Spring Equinox) 20 or 21 March
Shōwa-no-hi (Shōwa Emperor’s Day) 29 April
Kempō Kinem-bi (Constitution Day) 3 May
Midori-no-hi (Green Day) 4 May
Kodomo-no-hi (Children’s Day) 5 May
Umi-no-hi (Marine Day) Third Monday in July
Keirō-no-hi (Respect-for-the-Aged Day) Third Monday in September
Shūbun-no-hi (Autumn Equinox) 23 or 24 September
Taiiku-no-hi (Health-Sports Day) Second Monday in October
Bunka-no-hi (Culture Day) 3 November
Kinrō Kansha-no-hi (Labour Thanksgiving Day) 23 November
Tennō Tanjōbi (Emperor’s Birthday) 23 December
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INSURANCE
A travel insurance policy to cover theft, loss and medical problems is a good idea. Some policies will specifically exclude ‘dangerous activities’, which can include scuba diving, motorcycling and even trekking; if you plan to engage in such activities, you’ll want a policy that covers them.
You may prefer a policy that pays doctors or hospitals directly rather than have you pay on the spot and claim later. If you have to claim later, make sure you keep all documentation. Some policies ask you to call (reverse charge) a centre in your home country where an immediate assessment of your problem is made. Check that the policy covers ambulances or an emergency flight home.
Some insurance policies offer lower and higher medical-expense options; choose the high-cost option for Japan. Be sure to bring your insurance card or other certificate of insurance to Japan; Japanese hospitals have been known to refuse treatment to foreign patients with no proof of medical insurance.
For information on car insurance, Click here. For information on health insurance, Click here.
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INTERNET ACCESS
If you plan on bringing your laptop to Japan, first make sure that it is compatible with the Japanese current (100V AC; 50Hz in eastern Japan and 60Hz in western Japan). Most laptops function just fine on Japanese current. Second, check to see if your plug will fit Japanese wall sockets (Japanese plugs are flat two pin, identical to most ungrounded North American plugs). Both transformers and plug adaptors are readily available in electronics districts, such as Tokyo’s Akihabara, Osaka’s Den Den Town or Kyoto’s Teramachi-dōri (Map).
Modems and phone jacks are similar to those used in the USA (RJ11 phone jacks). Conveniently, many of the grey IDD pay phones in Japan have a standard phone jack and an infrared port so that you can log on to the internet just about anywhere in the country if your computer has an infrared port.
In this book, an internet symbol () indicates that the accommodation option has at least one computer with internet for guests’ use. We also note where wi-fi () is available. Note that wi-fi is far less common in Japanese hotels than in their Western counterparts. It is much more common to find LAN cable internet access points in hotel rooms (the hotels can usually provide LAN cables, but you may want to bring your own to avoid having to ask for one everywhere you stay). These LAN connections usually work fine, but you may occasionally find it hard to log on due to software or hardware compatibility issues or configuration problems.
You’ll find internet cafes and other access points in most major Japanese cities. Rates vary, usually ranging from ¥200 to ¥700 per hour. As a rule, internet connections are