It's been 3 years since I last went on a trip to Japan, and my next one is coming up in less than a month. A lot has changed and I'm curious how thoroughly I should plan for this trip.

1. Lodging and travel spots. I've received my Japan rail pass and reserved my hotels, so I for sure will be in Osaka and Tokyo and have places to stay. That being said I'm not planning on stressing activities for each day. Is this a safe tactic? Likewise I don't necessarily have people to rely on to hang out with (in contact with some, but nothing set in stone). I'm going by myself and hoping I can meet people closer to my departure, and once I'm there, to keep me going. Have any of you done anything similar on your trips, and perhaps some feedback you could provide?

2. Phone. Okay so this is a huge change from last time when I just had a mediocre phone. Now I have a smart phone so I can take better advantage of wifi without bringing a laptop. But I was just now looking into it and am so glad SoftBank and Sprint are now a thing... $5 add-on per month for unlimited use in Japan!? Yes please. Signing up for this immediately but wanted to write it so anybody who has Sprint and will go to Japan also signs up for this add-on.

I went recently, and even though I had stuff to do all day, I was feeling a bit templed- out after the first week. The main issue with not having something planned is that you might just sit around the house all day, which to me seems a bit wasteful for a vacation in a foreign country. However, I would definitely count wandering around an interesting looking shopping street as an activity, one that could easily take hours if you want it to. You might consider looking into activities that take a while, so you have less of a need to plan (for example, hiking is something that might take half a day, or spending a few hours at an onsen).

Unlimited data roaming would have been a dream for me. I have AT&T, so I'm always being very conservative on what i use.

A lot of people prefer to use the portable wifi hotspot, which does make it convenient to get reliable service even when you are in transit.

But the access to free wifi has improved dramatically, with access avaialbe in Tokyo metro.

Thanks for the info. Still curious if anybody has tips on meeting people and making friends in Japan. I know Meetup and CouchSurfing both have events but looking for more of a... exploration friend, I guess.

[Zgarbas]

1. take out cash
2. head to small bars with counters that have 1-2 people already sitting there.
3. walk in.
4. have your money slowly fade away as you befriend everyone in the bar thanks to your mere presence.
I found most meetup events to be quite superficial (especially if they have many people), and I guess couchsurfing meets vary (If they include practicing english in the name then they're a waste of time), but tiny bars are basically *made* to introduce customers to one another*. If I could afford it, I'd become an alcoholic and hang out in small Japanese bars every day.

*I'm fairly sure that's also the point of nightclubs, but I'm afraid of noisy places filled with people.

I also find people via the expat grapevine when travelling. Everyone has a friend/relative who lives somewhere in the country, and they're usually more than happy to meet up with me.

Oh, another good way to find people to hang out with are hiking clubs. Usually they all have dedicated Facebook groups (just look for *area name* hiking/adventure club), and welcome both foreigners and Japanese people.

Post an ad to Japan-Guide.com saying you're looking to make some friends who can help show you around Japan. It's effective, and cheaper than bars.

Leaving for my first ever trip tomorrow, and I can hardly contain my excitement.

I took my first trip to Japan in 2011 and my second one in 2014 so it sounds like a similar situation haha. 2nd trip was even more epic than the first.

If you're in Tokyo you'll no doubt be hitting up Shinjuku. If you're out that way head out to Golden Gai (ゴールデン街) and you'll find all the little bars with 1 ~ 2 people. I went and checked it out on my trip last year and found a tiny little bar called 'Lonely' and I had one of the best nights ever. The guy who runs it opened it when the beatles first came to Japan and he's a real character. Highly recommended.

As a heads-up for those who have not been to Japan, overall Tokyo is a very safe city. However, as I am sure many have warned you before, always be cautious as a foreigner in Tokyo night-spots. You have a large bulls-eye on your back.

There are a bunch of sophisticated schemes, but remember the bad guys are pros and they are out every night. They are extremely well organized and work in large groups (even though you may only notice a few random "sketchy" people).

I know two people who were drugged and robbed in Shinjuku bars in a span of a few months; likely other friends had similar issues but were too embarrassed to discuss.

One of my friends was approached by friendly guy (and a very attractive female); they chatted for a few minutes then invited my friend to a bar which had a drink special. Fast-forward 90 minutes...buddy is extremely disoriented and had a c.US$2,0000 bill. I saw this guy the next morning and he was a complete mess - clearly drugged.

Second friend had similar issue but got the police involved; police held a "neutral" position on the issue.

Just use caution

Hitchhike! No, seriously, it's awesome and DEAD EASY in Japan.
Step 1: Get to a parking area on one of the main highways.
Step 2: Put up a sign with "大阪/名古屋/whatever方面 - 日本語できます！" and smile
Step 3: Get a hike within 5 minutes

I hitchhiked from Osaka to Tokyo and back, then to Nagoya, then back to Yokohama. Met a bunch of different, cool people and saw the whole countryside of Japan! And I usually got tea, onigiris, beer etc. from the people that gave me a ride.

If you're interested, check out this awesome wiki on hitchhiking in Japan: http://wikitravel.org/en/Hitchhiking_in_Japan

Well I don't know if I'll hitchhike, but I should definitely try to meet people on the spot. Did that in Osaka last trip at a sushi kaiten and he introduced me to more people. Not sure if I'll hang out with them again but I should just make every effort to get outside of my comfort zone and befriend people. Trying to meet people on Japan-guide in preparation but they're all the "I'm simply going to answer your questions and not contribute anything of my own" type. "Language learning" sites tend to be full of them and it's really frustrating after searching for good people to talk with for so long. Oh well, will just have to do my best.

And thanks scooter1 for the words of caution. I'm not really a party/nightlife guy so I hope I can avoid anything like that. Last time I was there for a month all went pretty well, just have to make sure I don't sit in a hotel if there's noone to hang out with due to my personality.

Hitchhiking seems like a wonderful idea! I don't know if I'd be able to do it. I am terribly impractical and get in enough trouble just trying to take the bus or train (nothing to do with the language, I am the same anywhere).

I really would like to meet people next time I am in Japan. Last time I was there I didn't use a word of English or even admit to knowing it, even in emergencies. It led to some adventures but I wouldn't say I learned a lot of Japanese that way as I am just so shy.

I've never really been in a bar anywhere, but I would love to meet people and I might try. I suppose 喫茶店 aren't any good?

I did have a one or two brief-ish conversations in 喫茶店. I wondered if it would be good to frequent the same one for a while. I also found a maid cafe where a maid kind of "adopts" one and chats much of the time (at least they did with me, possibly because I was a bit unusual even for a 外国人 and in a place where there aren't many 外国人 anyway). That isn't very affordable though over an extended stay and of course one is only making "professional" friends, I suppose.

I also recommend hitchhiking. If you check the maps at hitchwiki.org it shows some good places to start (a fair few that I put there).
If you do - make sure you have a paper map of the expressways (available at any big service area) and are specific about which (large) service area you'd like to end up at, so as to avoid the risk of being left in the middle of nowhere as the sun slowly sinks and you wonder why on earth you're doing this. But yeah, it's a cool way to meet people and you get to go places avoiding the incredibly expensive transport system of Japan.

Hey guys, would like some new info. It's been nearly a week since I arrived and have 3 more nights in Tokyo before going back to Osaka. I'd like to know some good spots in Osaka for nightlife to meet people. This is my focus of the remainder of my trip. Haven't really done nightlife in Tokyo but that's okay because I prefer Osaka so we'll see how it goes. I'm not really a nightlife person but I'd like to give it a shot here. So any recommended spots?

Just as a disclaimer I'm not here to meet other foreigners, so I'd like to avoid anything like that. I know it's easier to meet Japanese at certain places oriented towards foreigners because they like foreigners, and this is okay, I just don't want to go to a place with a majority of foreigners.