Pre-Trip Logistics That Actually Matter
The biggest mistake people make when preparing for Tokyo isn't about what to pack. It's about connectivity, transit payment systems, and reservation infrastructure. Most of these things are solved before you board the plane, but the window to fix them is narrow and the workarounds for late adopters are expensive and annoying. You need to understand how dining reservations, attraction bookings, and event tickets work in Japan before you arrive. The system is fundamentally different from what you're used to in Western countries. Most popular restaurants in Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Ginza do not accept walk-ins during peak hours, and the online booking platforms they use are fragmented across multiple systems. O-Restaurant, Pocket Chang, TableCheck, and Reservas run separate booking engines with completely different interfaces and languages. I learned this the hard way when I tried to book a table at a highly rated ramen spot in Shibuya four days before my trip. The website was entirely in Japanese with no English toggle, the credit card form rejected my American card due to a billing address field that wouldn't accept non-Japanese characters, and by the time I figured out the workaround, the reservation window had closed. The fix was using a hotel concierge to make the booking on my behalf, which worked but added an unnecessary day of stress. Here is the practical sequence:
Start restaurant reservations 60 to 90 days out for anything Michelin-listed or Instagram-famous. Standard high-demand places open 30 days out. Use Pocket Chang for casual dining, O-Restaurant for mid-range spots, and Hotel Concierge services for anything that requires a Japanese phone number or billing address. Always confirm your reservation 48 hours before the booking. No-shows are taken seriously, and some establishments blacklist repeat offenders from future bookings.
Transit Payment Systems: Beyond the Tourist Card
Everyone tells you to buy a Suica or Pasmo card. That advice is incomplete and misses two important details. The first is that you can now add Suica directly to your iPhone or Apple Watch without buying a physical card. The second is that Suica works on JR lines, Tokyo Metro, Toei Subway, and most buses, but Pasmo has slightly broader acceptance on certain private railways and bus operators in the Greater Tokyo Area. If you only carry one card, Suica is fine for most visitors. If you are planning extensive travel beyond central Tokyo, a Pasmo card gives you marginally better coverage. I got stuck at a rural station near Nikko last winter because my Suica had insufficient balance and the ticket machine only accepted cash with exact change. The attendant couldn't help me reload the card remotely, and I missed my connection by about 40 minutes while I searched for an ATM. The workaround was buying a regular paper ticket for the return leg, which cost significantly more than a loaded Suica fare would have. I keep at least 2,000 yen in cash in my wallet at all times now. It is a small price for not being stranded at a platform in freezing rain. For airport transfers, the Narita Express and Keisei Skyliner both offer discounted round-trip fares if you purchase them before leaving the airport. The discount is roughly 400 to 600 yen per trip, and the tickets are only available at Narita and Haneda stations. Buying a separate one-way ticket after you have already entered the station costs full price and wastes money you do not need to spend.
Get the Full Details
Connectivity: eSIM, Pocket WiFi, or SIM Swap
There are three viable options and each has a failure mode that catches people off guard. eSIM: Check that your phone is unlocked before you leave home. Many carrier-locked phones will reject a Japanese eSIM entirely, and troubleshooting this at the airport is not a good use of your time. Airalo and Nomad offer reliable plans starting at about $5 for one gigabyte. Coverage is solid in central Tokyo but drops noticeably in mountain areas and some underground passages. Battery drain is higher than a physical SIM because eSIM radios tend to consume more power on older devices. Pocket WiFi: Pickup at the airport is convenient but the devices fail at a rate of roughly 8 to 10 percent based on my experience. I have rented from two different providers over four trips, and one device stopped working on day two. The replacement process took three hours and required returning to the rental desk during peak departure time. If you choose this route, order insurance that covers same-day replacement and read the fine print about what counts as a valid claim.
Physical SIM swap: This is the most reliable option if your phone supports it. You buy a prepaid Japanese SIM card at the airport, swap it in, and you are done. Data speeds are consistent, battery impact is minimal, and you do not need to troubleshoot eSIM activation issues. The downside is that you lose your home number for the duration of the trip unless you keep your original SIM in a secondary device.
Cash and Payment Expectations
Tokyo is not a fully cashless city despite what travel articles claim. About 30 to 40 percent of transactions still happen with cash, and this includes many places that prominently display credit card logos at the entrance but do not accept foreign-issued cards at the register. ATM availability is better than it used to be. Seven Bank ATMs at 7-Eleven accept most international debit and credit cards and are available 24 hours. However, they charge a 110 yen transaction fee on withdrawals, and your home bank may add its own surcharge. I carry about 50,000 yen in cash at the start of any trip. That breaks down to roughly 30,000 yen for meals, 15,000 yen for transportation top-ups, and 5,000 yen as a reserve for smaller vendors and temples. I reload the cash from ATMs every three to four days. The exact amount depends on how many sit-down meals versus convenience store meals you eat, but 50,000 yen covers a standard five-day itinerary without requiring an emergency withdrawal. Credit card acceptance varies by issuer. American Express is declined at a higher rate than Visa or Mastercard at smaller establishments. I stopped carrying Amex for Japan trips after a three-restaurant dinner where both the hostess station terminal and the portable card reader rejected the card. The final resolution was switching to a Visa with no foreign transaction fees and keeping the Amex only for hotel bookings and airline purchases.
Accommodation Check-In Strategy
Japanese hotels and ryokans check in at 3:00 PM, and rooms are rarely ready before 4:00 PM. This creates a problem if you arrive from a red-eye flight at 7:00 AM. Your luggage can usually be stored at the front desk for free, but you will be wandering the area with nothing to do. Plan your morning around this constraint. Book a café or arcade near your hotel for the waiting period instead of assuming you can rest or shower. Ryokan check-ins are stricter than hotel check-ins. Some require you to arrive between 5:00 and 7:00 PM and will not accommodate early arrival under any circumstances. Late arrivals may be treated as no-shows. Always confirm the exact check-in window with the property before booking, and build that time into your travel schedule rather than hoping for flexibility.
Daily Rhythm and Crowds
Shibuya Crossing is most congested between 6:00 and 8:00 PM on weekdays and 1:00 to 5:00 PM on weekends. Asakusa temple grounds draw massive crowds from 10:00 AM onward. Meiji Shrine is emptier at 7:00 AM but the approach roads are dark and some facilities are not yet open. The optimal strategy is to visit major attractions in the first 90 minutes after they open, when tour groups have not yet arrived and the lighting is better for photography. Department store restaurants close by 8:00 or 9:00 PM. If you plan to eat on the top floor of a Mitsukoshi or Takashimaya, make sure your reservation accounts for the early closing time. I once scheduled a dinner at a department store food court for 9:30 PM and found the entire floor locked and dark. The kitchen had stopped taking orders at 8:45 PM, and there was nothing within walking distance that was still open. The nearest option was a convenience store, which was adequate but clearly not what I had planned.
What This Approach Misses
This guide assumes you are visiting for five to ten days and staying primarily in central Tokyo. It does not cover multi-city itineraries involving Kyoto, Osaka, or Hokkaido, where different reservation systems and transit passes apply. It also does not address group travel logistics, which require a completely different booking strategy since many restaurants limit party sizes to six and require different reservation procedures for larger groups. If you are traveling with more than six people, contact restaurants directly by phone rather than using online booking platforms. The automated systems are not designed for large parties and will either reject your reservation or assign you a suboptimal time slot. Finally, this guide does not cover visa requirements, which depend entirely on your country of citizenship. Check the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website for your specific eligibility before booking anything. Visa rules change frequently and a last-minute visa denial is the single most disruptive event you can experience before a trip of this scale.
