Appendix · Checklists

Checklists, to tick off before you go

Print these two pages and tick them off day by day: what goes in your bag, your suitcase, your bookings, and your first hours in Japan.

• Passportvalid for your whole stay
• Plane ticketsoutbound and return
• Visit Japan Webfilled in, the QR code on your phone
• Travel insurancethe policy and the assistance number
• Two bank cardsand the number to call to block them
• Your first nightbooked, the address saved in Google Maps
• Your embassyits emergency number, written down
• Passport copyas a photo, and on paper

Depending on your trip

• Prescriptions, with the generic names of your medicines
• An import certificate (Yunyu Kakunin-sho) for a controlled medicine, requested at least 2 weeks ahead
• If you drive: your US, UK, Canadian or Australian license plus an International Driving Permit (1949 Geneva Convention), in its paper booklet; card and phone versions aren't valid

The suitcase

• Type A plug (two flat pins): an adapter from the UK or Australia; US and Canadian two-pin plugs fit
• Chargers: “100-240 V” on the label
• Power banks: two at most, in your carry-on
• Medicines in their original packaging
• Shoes that slip off easily, socks without holes
• A small bag for your trash
• A light umbrella from June to September
• A coin purse
• No knives, not even a pocketknife
• No meat products, even vacuum-packed

Hinomaru's tip

A suitcase over 160 cm (length + width + height)? Book the right seat on the Tokyo–Osaka–Hakata Shinkansen (nothing to book on JR East lines), or have it delivered from hotel to hotel.