What You Need Before Travelling to Japan: A Beginner's Checklist

Preparing for a first trip to Japan feels like a long list of small jobs, and most of them are easy if you do them in the right order. This is the hub for the whole plan: a short section on each essential, a table of Japanese words you will see at the airport, and a checklist to tick off before you leave. Each section links to a deeper guide, so you can read only the parts you need. Rules for entry, medicines and transport change, so anything that can change is marked with the date we checked it, 21 October 2026, and you should confirm it again before you fly.

Passport

Check the expiry date first, because it decides everything else. The Japan National Tourism Organization says a visitor must hold a passport that is valid for the whole stay, and airlines and border officers can apply stricter rules than that minimum. Our advice is to travel with a passport that has comfortable validity left beyond your return date, and to renew early if it is close, since a new one can take time. Keep a photo of the photo page in your email and a paper copy in a different bag from the passport itself.

Do you need a visa?

It depends on your nationality, how long you stay and why you are going. Many countries have short-stay visa exemptions for tourism, usually capped at a number of days and without paid work, while other nationalities or other purposes, such as study or work, need a visa from an embassy or consulate before departure. These arrangements are revised from time to time, so never rely on a blog post, including this one, for the answer. Ask the Japanese embassy or consulate that covers your country, or read the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pages, which are the authority. (On 21 October 2026 the Ministry's visa page returned an error when we tried to open it, so we cannot quote it here.)

If you live in Portugal, we cover documents, entry and a checklist in detail in our Portuguese-language guide to documents and entry from Portugal.

Visit Japan Web

Visit Japan Web is the Japanese government's online service for arrival procedures. According to the Digital Agency, it covers immigration and customs and also tax-free shopping, and Japan Customs recommends it for the customs declaration. Registering before you fly means you fill in the forms at home, with your passport and flight details to hand, rather than at a crowded desk. Each traveller needs their own registration. The service is free, so be wary of any app or site that asks for card details. Do it a few days before departure and keep the result easy to open on your phone, with a screenshot as a backup. The paper forms handed out on the plane still exist, so this is a time-saver rather than a barrier, but check the current wording on the official page (checked on 21 October 2026).

Mobile internet

You will want data from the moment you land, for maps, translation and tickets, so choose before you leave. The main options are an eSIM, a physical SIM and a pocket Wi-Fi router. An eSIM is the simplest if your phone supports it and is not locked to your operator, because you can install it at home and switch it on when you arrive. Before departure, check that your phone is unlocked, install the eSIM while you still have home Wi-Fi, and keep your usual SIM for calls and bank codes. Our guide to connectivity compares all three, and the eSIM guide walks through choosing and setting one up from Portugal.

Read internet and mobile data in Japan: SIM, eSIM and pocket Wi-Fi for the comparison, then eSIM for Japan from Portugal: how to choose and set up for the steps.

Payments: cards, cash and mobile wallets

Japan is a mix of the very modern and the cash-only. Most hotels, big shops, chains and stations take cards, and contactless and phone wallets are common in cities. Small restaurants, some temples and shrines, local buses and rural places can still be cash-only. Bring at least two different cards, in case one is blocked or refused, tell your bank you are travelling if it asks, and always choose to pay in yen at the terminal when asked. Our card guide covers which cards work and where cash still matters.

See can I use my credit or debit card in Japan? for contactless, wallets and Portuguese bank cards.

A travel-friendly card

A card from a digital bank or money app, such as Revolut, can cut conversion costs because of how it works. It holds balances in several currencies and converts between them at an exchange rate shown in the app, instead of leaving a high-street bank to add its own margin and charges on each foreign payment. You can top it up in euros, convert to yen ahead of time or at the moment of payment, and pay in yen at the till so the shop does not convert for you. How much you save depends on your plan, your limits and the rules of the day, so read the current terms, and do not treat any card as your only way to pay. Keep a normal bank card as a backup.

Getting yen, and when cash still helps

Most visitors do best with a little yen in hand before landing and the rest from cash machines in Japan. Convenience-store and post-office cash machines usually accept foreign cards. Carry enough for the first day, such as a train ticket, a snack and a small purchase, and then top up as needed. Cash is still the safest choice for small restaurants, shrine offerings, lockers, vending machines and some rural buses. Declare very large sums of cash when you arrive, since the customs page says amounts over 1 million yen must be declared (checked on 21 October 2026). Our cash guide helps you decide how much to bring.

Read how much cash should I bring to Japan? and, for the bigger picture, how much a trip from Portugal to Japan costs.

IC cards: Suica, PASMO and ICOCA

An IC card is a rechargeable tap-in, tap-out card for trains, subways and buses, and it also pays in many shops and vending machines. You do not have to buy one before you leave. Physical cards can usually be bought after you arrive, but availability has changed in the past, so treat the details below as subject to current availability and confirm on arrival.

• Kansai area: JR West's ICOCA page lists an original-design ICOCA for foreign visitors at the JR Ticket Office (Midori-no-madoguchi) at Kansai-airport Station. It is priced at 2,000 yen including a 500 yen deposit, limited to one per person, and requires a passport issued outside Japan and Temporary Visitor status. The page says one special design is sold out and gives no dates, so ask at the counter. Another JR West page gives the counter hours as 5:30 to 23:00 (checked on 21 October 2026).
• Tokyo area: Suica, and the visitor-oriented Welcome Suica, are sold by JR East, and PASMO is the other main Tokyo card. JR East's pages refused to load when we tried on 21 October 2026, so we cannot confirm today's sales points or terms. Welcome Suica has in the past been sold at JR East Travel Service Centers and machines at Narita and Haneda, but check JR East's website or ask airport staff when you land.
• Where and how: follow the signs to the JR ticket office or a ticket machine in the arrivals area, choose the English screen, add an amount and keep the card. Ask at an information desk if you cannot see a machine.
• Phone-based cards: if you would rather use your phone, support depends on your phone model and region, so check this before relying on it.
• Before you leave the station: tap in and out at the gates to check the card works, and keep some cash in case a top-up machine only takes notes.

The full comparison is in IC transport cards in Japan: Suica, PASMO and ICOCA.

Other essentials before you fly

• Travel insurance: it covers medical care, cancellations and lost luggage, and foreign visitors usually pay for healthcare themselves. Read our guide to decide whether and what to buy.
• Prescription medicines: some common medicines are restricted in Japan, and the customs page says some medicines are restricted or prohibited, with quantity limits of roughly a two-month supply for prescription medicines (checked on 21 October 2026). Carry them in the original packaging with a doctor's letter, and read our guide before you pack.
• Plug adapter: Japan uses type A sockets, two flat pins, at 100 V. Portuguese plugs are different, so bring an adapter, and check each charger's label for a range such as 100-240 V, which works in both countries. Hairdryers and kettles without that range may not work well.
• Luggage size: trains are crowded and luggage racks are small. On Shinkansen lines with oversized-baggage rules, a large suitcase needs a reserved seat with space for it, and the size limits are set by the operator, so check them before you buy tickets.
• Offline maps: download the area maps you will need in your map app while you have Wi-Fi, and save your hotel's name and address in Japanese.
• Weather and packing: the season changes what you wear and carry, so check the month of your trip.

Guides: do I need travel insurance for Japan?, bringing prescription medicines to Japan, and Japan weather by month and what to wear.

Learn kana and a few phrases

You can travel in Japan without speaking Japanese, but reading hiragana and katakana makes signs, menus and ticket machines far less intimidating, and a handful of polite phrases opens doors. Kana can be learnt in a few weeks of short daily practice, which is easy to start now. Our tips post makes memorising faster, and the phrase guide gives you the lines you will actually use.

Start with tips to memorize kana faster and then essential Japanese phrases for travelling in Japan.

Japanese words for your trip

Before you leave: checklist

• Passport valid for your whole stay and comfortably beyond, with a photo copy stored separately.
• Visa question answered with your embassy or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, not a blog.
• Visit Japan Web registered for every traveller, with the result saved on your phone.
• Phone unlocked, eSIM or other data plan installed and tested.
• At least two cards, your bank informed if needed, and a travel-friendly card set up.
• A little yen in hand for the first day, and a plan for cash machines.
• Plan for an IC card on arrival, with cash for it.
• Travel insurance bought and the policy number saved offline.
• Medicines in original packaging with a doctor's letter, after checking the rules.
• Plug adapter packed and chargers checked for 100-240 V.
• Luggage small enough for crowded trains, with space to bring things back.
• Offline maps and your hotel's address in Japanese saved.
• Kana practiced and the key phrases saved on your phone.

Official information

We opened these pages on 21 October 2026. The JNTO visa information page says a visitor must hold a passport valid for the whole stay, lists countries with short-stay visa exemptions and tells readers to check with the embassy or consulate, but it also says its information is correct as of January 2018, so use it only for the general idea. The Japan Customs page for travellers recommends Visit Japan Web, requires a declaration of cash over 1 million yen and says medicines are restricted with roughly a two-month limit. The Digital Agency's Visit Japan Web page describes online immigration, customs and tax-free procedures. For ICOCA, see JR West's ICOCA page and its Kansai-airport Station page. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs visa page and JR East's Suica pages returned errors, so we do not cite them, and none of this replaces checking before you travel.