Japan: Tips for a Japan trip

• Get a prepaid sim or WIFI hotspot. You'll use Google maps or Google translate a lot! You can book these online and have them ready for pickup at the airport or just find them at the airport when you land. (If you're landing late, maybe look into sending it to your hotel. Lots of things are closed at a certain time so just pre-research how to get from the airport to your hotel before you leave.)
• If you're using a lot of bullet trains, get the JR pass. You can only get it when you're in the states because it's for visitors only so plan ahead of time. You'll have to research if it's worth it. One way from Tokyo to Kyoto is about $130ish. Coming back is another $130. The 7-day JR Pass is $272/person with unlimited rides on JR lines and bullet trains (minus the express). If you take over one roundtrip bullet train, it's worth it.
  You can go to the JR station to book seats for free. Just show them your JR passes and tell them where you want to go and what time. If you don't book seats, you can just go to the unassigned seating cars but you risk not having a seat if you didn't arrive early enough. They seem to know who has booked seats so they will ask you to move if you try to sneak into the assigned train cars. They are generally nice about it if the person is getting on a later station. (Husband sat at the row across from us because I was holding the baby and all the bags. The guy basically just asked him to move soon because the seat holder was getting on soon.)
  Note: Kids under 5 don't need a JR Pass but must give their seat up to a paying customer if it's busy. You can buy a JR Pass if you want a seat for your child. Children 6-11 can purchase a child JR Pass.
• No tipping. Japan doesn't really tip so don't try at restaurants or taxis.
• Pay at the front. Most restaurants hand you the receipt when you're done ordering. Take that to the front where there's a cashier and pay as you leave.
• If you see a machine in the front of a restaurant, you need to order your food there. It'll print out tickets of what you ordered and you hand them to the waiter when you sit down. These are cash only.
• Suica vs Pasmo - in Tokyo there are two cards. Apparently both work for any of the lines (JR or private trains) and can be used in many places like convenient stores or taxis (just look for the logo to make sure they accept it). Here's a comparison. Osaka has their own card (IC card) but it also works in Tokyo where Suica/Pasmo work. I'm not sure it works for convenience stores though, we didn't check. I think Kyoto was different lines so make sure you get that card or bring lots of cash for travel.
• Japan rarely has trash cans. They carry their trash around and just throw it out at home. Bring some plastic bags to use as trash bags when you're out.
• Carry cash! Lots of places still don't take credit card (especially small shops and restaurants). Some did but it wasn't working so we ended up paying cash. Trains don't take card either.
• Try luggage delivery. You can delivery luggage everywhere. It may take some time depending on the location (up to a day, maybe more if you're shipping across Japan?) but it's a great option. I sent my luggage from Tokyo to another Tokyo hotel for $25. I did it because I didn't want to drag it to Kyoto since bullet trains are not known to have a ton of space for luggage.
• Make sure you alert your credit card of travel so you don't get your card locked. Also make sure to bring one that doesn't have any foreign transaction fees!
• Convenient stores are on every block. You can easily buy snacks or drinks. They usually sell other things like tissues, face masks, umbrellas, paper goods.
• Don Quijote has the most random assortment of items. If you need something, definitely check this place out.
• Puri Puri are sticker machines that are really popular with teens. They whiten your skin and make your eyes huge so check it out if you like a laugh.

WHAT TO BRING:

• If you're in Tokyo, most hotels provided toothbrushes, hair brush, razor, Qtips. Anything else can be purchased at shops like Don Quijote. My recommendation is to definitely bring anything you're particular about (lotion, cleaner, shampoo) and a travel toothpaste since they give a tiny little one with the toothbrush. Japan cleaners don't sud up much so if you like a lathery shampoo/cleaner, I would just bring a travel one. And definitely bring medicine (note, I think certain meds are banned so do your research). You can't even find Advil here. I recommend Advil and maybe a common cold medicine just in case. If you have allergies, some antihistamines. If kids, Children Ibuprofen and Benadryl. They sell medicine in Japan but it's all different from US and hard to translate everything.  Definitely not something you want to do when you feel crappy!
• Travel light. Bring as little as you can because it's hard lugging stuff around. Japan is compact and there's so many people. It's not easy lugging around a lot of stuff. Try to stay off trains during rush hour (8:00-9:30am and 5-6pm) because it is massively packed and the doors close fast so trying to squeeze your luggage past a bunch of people won't be easy. If you can, find hotels with laundry machines or find a place near laundromats. Hotel service is expensive (think $10 PER clothing) so finding a machine will be very cost efficient.
• Bring a battery pack (or buy one here). You're out so often that your phone or hotspot will probably die.
• If traveling with kids, it's not always stroller friendly. Definitely not at temples, parks, or the bus. Not every train station has an elevator either. We rarely used our stroller (although she was so fussy she refused it anyway). Definitely bring a good baby carrier for younger kids. And if you must bring a stroller, find a nice compact one. It's not realistic to avoid traffic times so we did end up on the train during some busy times. It was very convenient to be able to fold up our stroller.
• If traveling with young kids, pack snacks that they are comfortable with. I didn't find any snacks that she would really eat (like Cheerios, goldfish crackers, saltine crackers). I did find Ritz crackers though. I tried to give her an assortment of Japanese snacks from the convenient stores but she barely tried anything else. I think her appetite was affected by the jet lag but she definitely ate the snacks she was comfortable with (that I brought from home). 
• Bring cash! Most people I know like to just use ATMs but I always like to arrive with some cash to convert. You need some money to get from the airport to your hotel so it's just good to have some ready. A lot of restaurants are still cash only so you will need it! I feel like trains and buses were also cash only.
• Bring comfortable walking shoes! Japan is a walking country! It's much cheaper to take trains so you tend to walk from point A to point B a lot. Wear comfortable shoes and bring some blister pads just in case.

APPs:

• Google Maps is a must. 
• Google Translate is a must.
• My Maps by Google was great for me. I like to research places of interest but it was unreasonable to think we could hit them all. I just added them to my "My Maps" and when we arrived in a certain area, I would pull up the app and say, "Oh yea, there's this crepe place down the street that looked good." It also lets you put a note on the place so I was able to look at it and say, "Oh this place is supposed to have 8 floors of anime figurines."
• TripAdvisor is a great source to find tourist friendly places.
• Yelp was a great way to see if something was open.
• Japan Taxi was an app for taxis. It needs to text to a phone number so install it while you're still home if you don't plan on getting a SIM card.

FOOD:
I feel like most food can be found in the states. Here's some stuff that I thought were worth checking out.

• Wagyu. Wagyu has no regulations in the states so they can claim something is wagyu but it wouldn't be up to the standards of Japan. Wagyu can be enjoyed in many ways but I like BBQ or shabu shabu.
• Sushi. Most sushi is not that different in Japan but some omakase places offer fishes that you don't ever see in the states.
• Takoyaki. I'm seeing it more often now but it's still something that is better in Japan.
• Okonomiyaki. Definitely something I don't find normally in the states.
• Ippudo vs Ichiran. Two fast ramen chains. Ichiran is mostly concentration booths and Ippudo does have tables. We like Ippudo more but Ichiran has great customization options and they were actually more kid friendly (we did eat ramen at 8am though so there weren't other customers).
• Fluffy Japanese pancakes.
• Ben loves Yoshinoya. It's mainly beef bowl but has pork bowl.
• Grilled Skewers! They're usually found in Izakaya places that serve alcohol and snacks but it's something that's hard to find in the states. Especially if you want to try the more unique options like any part of the chicken (innards, skin, butt, liver...etc). They usually have some beef or vegetable skewers too. Note: some places in Japan still allow smoking so do your research if that bothers you. Small places are also super smokey from the cooking.
• Expensive fruit. There are fruit stores here that sell ridiculously expensive fruit. Think $120 for a box of cherries. If you want to splurge on the experience, check these places out to see if there's a difference! (Department store basements also offer food and a lot sell these expensive fruit too).