[Tips] How to Plan Your Trip to Japan for Muslim Travellers

So I've gotten a number of questions on how I usually plan my trips, especially to Japan, as I've been there for a number of times (6 times... and counting, lol).

Instead of sharing my itineraries, I think it's best for me to explain how I do it instead so you can plan the Japan trip of your dreams that suits your liking. Everyone has their own travel comfort level & other preferences to take into account when they plan to travel, so hopefully these tips can help you a bit!


Tips to Plan Your Trip to Japan for Muslim Travellers:

• Set a date
• Preferred activities / Destinations
• Plan route & transportation
• Prepare a budget
• Decide on accommodation
• Save up
• Other Extras: Halal food & prayer space, Pocket wifi & simcard, Travel insurance
• Tips & Resources (Resources I use to plan my trip)
• Travel Tips to Japan - in eBook form
• Personalized Content / Consultation

1. Set a date

First thing I do before I plan a trip to anywhere - set a date. The dates can be flexible or concrete - for me, I prefer to set a range of date and look for flight deals around that time, so that I can adjust my itinerary if my preferred flight date is not on sale. 

I recommend a minimum of 5 days stay in Japan to really experience what Japan has to offer. Any shorther than that, then you might be missing out.  

I personally like to book my tickets as soon as I have a confirmed date, but I know some people like to have flexibility until they finalize their itinerary - if this is you, skip the ticket purchase and go straight to the next step.

For flights, I recommend purchasing directly from the Airline's websites or you can use a flight aggregate like Skyscanner or Google Flights to keep track on the latest flight deals. With sites like Skyscanner & Google Flights, you can set up an alert for your preferred dates, and the websites will let you know when there's a drop or rise in the ticket price. 

If you plan to buy from any of the online travel agency (OTA) from Skyscanner (e.g. Expedia, GotoGate, Trip.com), please be aware that your tickets might not be that flexible compared to if you were to buy it direct from the airlines. This basically means that if you need to reschedule your flight or cancel it entirely for whatever reason, you may not be able to do so that easily with OTA agents. There may be penalties or cancellation fees you would have to pay, so do so at your own risk.

2. List your preferred activities / destinations

You've finalized your dates, so now you can start listing the list of places to go to. Japan is so huge, so it's usually best to focus on one region or even prefecture at time.

Seriously. It's huge.

I would suggest allocating a week in Kansai / Tokyo for first-timers who don't know where to start.

I like to use japan-guide to look at interesting places found in each region and start from there. You'd have to be pretty realistic about the list of places you want to visit, because a lot of Japan's interesting places takes time to get to. If you don't plan your route right, you might end up commuting a lot & wasting time on transportation instead.

Here's what an example of my itinerary for when I visit anywhere:

Example of my itinerary

Your list of activities also depends on who you travel with. For example, if you're travelling with your friends, you may want to fit in as much as possible because you're able to go out early in the morning and come back in the evening. For families with kids or elders, it's best to keep your activities / places to visit to a minimum - the most I would suggest is to visit 3 places in a day.

The reason for that is that you would need to utilize a lot of Japan's public transportation system, be it the train, city bus, taxis or trams. All of these options would take time & energy, especially when you take luggages into account.

Another important note: check the opening hours / season for these attractions. Some of the attractions are seasonal, while some may close on Sundays / Mondays; so do check all these to make sure they fall on the right days in your itinerary. Otherwise you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

3. Plan your route & transportation

 

 

Your route & transportation would be one of the most tedious things you need to research. Japan thankfully has one of the best transportation system in the world, so most of the attractions you want to go to would have several transportation options to choose from. My favourite mode of transportation when in Japan:

• Train - The fastest & most efficient. Recommended for short distance journeys. Longer distance journey might cost you more money (especially if you're taking the shinkansen)
• Bus - Subject to traffic conditions. Recommended for longer journeys if you want to save $$$
• Taxis - I recommend taxis for short distance journeys when you have too many luggages to go to your hotel / airbnb. 
• Plane - The most expensive option, but it's an alternative choice if you want to save time travelling in between Japan's regions.

Most of the time, you'll be able to buy passes for the public transportation, depending on the area you're visiting. If you're planning to get these passes, make sure you utilize it to its full use. 

I tend to just use Icoca / Suica / Pasmo cards when going around Osaka, Tokyo and the other cities - they work like normal prepaid passes where you have to topup cash for credit. You can buy these at any of the train ticketing booths in Japan. The difference between the cards is that Icoca is purchased & mainly used in Osaka while Suica / Pasmo is for Tokyo region. Thankfully JR Japan has integrated their system and all three cards can be used interchangeably in most parts of Japan. They can be used for trains, subways and buses - most vending machines and konbini even accept them.

JR Pass is useful for when you plan to hit a lot of cities with Japan (as long as you use the shinkansen at least twice, you'd more or less cover the cost of the JR Pass - just be aware that you can only go on JR-operated trains & bus). (Buy your JR Pass here: JR Whole Japan Rail 7-Day Pass)

Japan-guide has a great guide on all the available transportation and passes in Japan.

The resources I usually use to plan my route & transportation:

• Hyperdia - Hyperdia is great for planning your train routes. It has the exact timing and fare for which trains will get you where so I use this all the time.
• Kousoku Bus - For longer distance journeys, I prefer to take the bus. For example, if I want to go to Kanazawa, I can take the train but it would be comparatively expensive compared to the highway bus. (This is especially true when you travel with a large group.) You also have a choice of night bus, which is supposedly more comfortable than most (I have yet to try night bus, so no comment on that). The bus will usually stop at a few rest areas, depending on how long your journey is, and that's always another interesting journey in itself. One time we even stopped at a beach R&R, so that was great. Other options: Japan Bus Online, Willer Bus
• Japan-Guide - I usually use Japan-Guide to scope out the places I want to visit, and they will always list down an option of how to get there. Safe to say the site has almost everything you need to know about how to travel within Japan.

If you need to take domestic flights, Peach Airlines is usually the go-to as you can get some cheap fares if you book early or when they have some deals / promotions. On a personal note: I have yet to fly domestically between Japan as I prefer land travel for now.

4. Prepare a budget

So now you have a rough draft for your itinerary. The next item on the checklist is the most important one to me: budget (lol). I typically breakdown my budget into these categories:

• Activities / attractions 
• Food
• Transportation
• Accommodation
• Shopping / souvenirs / entertainment

Since you now have a list of places to go to, you can now look at the price for each of those activities. If you're planning to visit the museums, temples, aquariums, zoos, amusement parks etc., do budget for those. Check the price on their respective websites to make sure you have the latest price.

Budgeting for food is also important - I typically spend 1000-2000yen for a generous meal (rice with main dish & sides) every time I eat out. But of course there are also cheaper options like sushi or ramen. I like to play it on the safe side and just budget 2000yen/pax for each meal. Here's a typical example of my meals when in Japan:

• Breakfast: onigiri / bread & coffee (~200-500yen)
• Lunch: Eat out at restaurants, e.g. rice bowls, sushi, ramen etc. (~1000-2000yen)
• Dinner: Cook instant meal / buy simple dishes at the convenience stores (~500yen)

Prices may vary depending on what & where you eat and how often you eat out.

Transportation budget is also important - if you use Hyperdia to plan your route, then you would have a rough idea of how much your transportation would cost you. I typically like to have some extra cash put aside for transportation in case I decide to deviate from the plan - you're allowed to be flexible with your own itinerary after all.

Accommodation would put the biggest dent in your wallet! Space is prime in Japan, especially if you're visiting the big cities where all the tourists (including me and you) will flock to. There's basically no way around it (unless you want to Couchsurf, which is not something I'm going to write about in here), so you just have to delve right into it. (See point no. 5 below for more on accommodation.)

I would also personally also set aside some cash for souvenirs, shopping & entertainment. Yes, a lot of shops now accept credit cards, but if you're planning to buy souvenirs like traditional Japanese crafts or sweets or the likes, most would still prefer cash. Cards are accepted at most malls. 

5. Decide on accommodation

 

I put this as the last major step, but you're free to do this before budgeting if money is not an issue for you :) 

Once you've decided on activities & budget, it's easier to pinpoint the location of your stay in Japan. These are the resources I use when looking for a place to stay at:

• Booking.com - suitable for solo travels to group travels, although for a group of families I suggest looking for Airbnb first.
• Airbnb - Japan has recently passed a new law which requires your Airbnb host to register their house as an Airbnb accommodation, which will go into effect June 2018. To be on the safe side, do check with your host on this. 
• Agoda - I mostly use Agoda to compare fares with Booking.com, but I almost always end up booking with Booking.com... lol. It's just my personal preference.

There are of course a number of alternatives for the above; these are just what I preferred & have used constantly without any issue for now. Just be sure to really read those fine prints!

Tips for when you're looking for accommodation: find a hotel / airbnb close to public transport. It's preferable to find a place that's close to the train station or bus stands, as it reduces the walking time with your luggages lol. 

For Osaka, I love staying around the Namba area as it's close to all the major attractions. However, accommodations would be pretty expensive around the area, so you can also look around Shin-Imamiya, Nipponbashi, Dobutsuen-mae, or Tennoji area as they're not too far from Shinsaibashi / Dotonbori / Osaka Castle if you take the train. 

For Tokyo, find a place nearest to the train station on the Yamanote Line. The Yamanote Line is the train's loop line to Tokyo's most famous sights. Once again, japan-guide has a great write-up on this. So far I've stayed in Ikebukuro, Otsuka, Nishi-Nippori & Nippori area, and they have all been great as you can just take the train on the Yamanote Line to go to most of the major sights in Tokyo. There are of course, exceptions, like Asakusa & Tokyo Tower. But for the most part, trains on the Yamanote Line is the most convenient to take if you're planning to go to Ueno, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, Tokyo etc.

For Kyoto, find a place near a bus stop or train (you're lucky if you get both). In Kyoto, it's much easier to get around on their city buses as they cover most of the tourist sights & their day bus pass only costs 500yen for unlimited rides. The train lines doesn't really cover a lot of those areas when you compare it to the buses' network. 

Hopefully the above tips helped to narrow down your possible accommodation for your stay in Japan.

6. Save up!

So once all of the above is done, you can now start to save up while you start your countdown to the Japan visit of your dreams :) 

Other Extras

Extra No. 1: Halal food & prayer space 

 

 

As Muslims, two of the hardest things we typically face when travelling are: where to find halal food & where can we perform our daily 5 prayers. 

Recently, Japan has become more open to Muslim visitors as we see a lot of halal dining restaurants popping up in the major cities & most of them even offer prayer rooms (they are on the small side, but this is a great effort that deserves a thumbs up). Heck, I remember back in 2012, we would just try to find restaurants that doesn't serve pork and order seafood meals like ebi or mackerels and the likes. Nowadays Muslims will get to enjoy halal ramen, sushi, rice meals & even snacks like takoyaki, okonomiyaki & chocolates.

And yet, there are still some non-halal items which we will need to take care of - most of the snacks & processed food and drinks you buy may contain a preservative item called nyuugazai (乳化剤). This preservative may sometimes contain animal emulsifiers, which is not permissible in halal food. Some food or drinks items may, however, note that they use soy-based emulsifiers instead - so if you see something along the lines of "大豆を含む", then that food / snack / drink is inshaAllah halal as it uses plant-based emulsifiers instead. Allah knows best.

There are other ingredients to look out for when looking to check if something is halal or not (yes, I know, this is a very time-consuming process but it's always good to know what you're putting in your body):

材料 (Zairyou) - Ingredients:

• 豚肉(buta niku) - Pork meat

• 鶏肉(tori niku) - Chicken meat 

• 牛肉(gyuu niku) - Beef

• 酒 (sake) - Sake/Alcohol

• アルコール (Arukooru) - Alcohol

• 乳化剤 (Nyuugazai) - Emulsifier (from animal)

• レシチン (Reshichin) - Lecithin (from animal)

• マーガリン (maagarin) - Margarine

• チキンエキス (chikin ekisu) - Chicken stock

• ショートニング（Shootoninggu) - Shortening (from animal)

I may have missed out other ingredients which are not permissible, but I'm not an expert on all the above. Googling helps a lot!

For halal restaurants, I use the app "Halal Gourmet Japan" to locate nearby halal restaurants. The app can also help you locate prayer spaces, which really helps!

Screenshots from Halal Japan Gourmet app

It becomes a bit trickier if you go to areas where there aren't still a lot of halal food yet, so your best bet is either a sushi place or a restaurant that doesn't serve pork or use lard in their cooking. 

Prayer spaces are provided in certain major train stations, e.g. Tokyo, but they also have an opening hours (yes, it's weird, but such is Japan's system), so make sure to find out what the opening hours are.

If you can't really find a prayer space, just do what we do: pray in nature :) Just make sure the space is clean & you're not bothering anyone if possible.

Extra No. 2: Pocket wifi / simcard

Staying connected is also one of those essential things you need to have when you travel anywhere. 

If you're travelling solo, I'd suggest buying a simcard (something like Hello1010). 

If you're travelling with a group, a pocket wifi might be useful since everyone can connect to a single wifi spot. I loved using Global Advanced Communications pocket wifi, it has never failed me yet, and the speed is excellent (as long as you get the unlimited package). 

Extra No. 3: Travel Insurance

So I kinda put this under extra, but this is actually one of the major items you need for your domestic and overseas travels. Travel insurance for single pax or family is very useful to help you in case you encounter issues when you travel.

Most travel insurances cover things such as baggage loss, damaged baggages, theft, flight delays, accidents & accidental deaths. Suffice to say you do not want to encounter any of those, but it's good to be prepared in the event that you do.

Just Google for the options that would suit you best. I personally like to use AXA SmartTraveller as their coverage is more extensive than most of the other local insurance providers (no I'm not sponsored for this, unfortunately. Hey, AXA, hit me up if you're reading :P)

Extra No. 4: Buy Tickets for Activities in Advance
To make your journey smoother, I highly suggest looking at available activities via Klook, where there are lots of tickets available for purchase in advance. This not only saves you time, but also gets the hassle of trying to buy the tickets in Japan - buy them in advance and you have everything you need once you arrive in Japan!

These are what I have personally used and recommend: 

• JR Whole Japan Rail 7-Day Pass - I highly recommend getting this JR Pass through Klook, as you cannot buy the pass itself outside of Japan. I have used Klook to book the pass several times now, and it's always a very fast & efficient service (I typically receive mine 2-3 days after ordering them).
• teamLab Borderless Ticket in Tokyo - You can choose to buy this via Klook or via the official website, as the price is similar after conversion. This was one of my favourite interactive museums, and highly recommended for family as there are activities for kids as well as adults. Do note that the place will be packed, but entrances are timed so that there aren't massive crowds inside the "museum" at one time.
• Universal Studios Japan™ Ticket - If you're thinking of going to USJ in Osaka, skip the queue and just use the tickets you receive in the e-mail for entrance at USJ. Please note that this does not include the Express Pass (see below's link for that).
• Universal Studios Japan Express™ Pass 4 - If you're going to USJ during peak season, consider investing in the Express Pass, which will allow you to skip the queue for 4 of the major rides in USJ, which includes the Harry Potter & the Terminator rides. The price will definitely be worth it when you consider the time you save.
• Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan Ticket - I enjoyed the Osaka Aquarium, as it is huge and are highly enjoyable for families with kids.
• ICOCA IC Card (Osaka Pick Up) - Highly convenient to get the ICOCA card beforehand, although it's definitely not required as you can easily purchase it at the Kansai Airport train station itself. Convenience is the keyword in this case :)

If anyone has any suggestions / questions about the above passes or tickets, e-mail me and I'll do my best to help you choose which is one is suitable for your needs!

TIPS & RESOURCES

Here are the resources which might help you in planning your trip:

Websites

Japan-guide: For all your Japan information needs. 
Hyperdia: To plan your route & transportation 
Japan Muslim Guide: great website with more details on halal food & prayer spaces :)
Booking.com: For your hotels / hostels / apartment needs.
Airbnb.com: For your apartment needs.
Kousoku Bus, Japan Bus Online, Willer Bus: For your bus needs.
Google: Google is your friend :D (except for when it tracks your every step & every browsing activity and save it for whatever reason... *The Police's "Every Breath You Take" starts to play*) 

Apps

Navitime for Japan Travel: To help you see which trains you need to take - an app version of Hyperdia, basically.
Halal Japan Gourmet: To look for halal food & prayer spaces / mosque
Google Maps: Particularly useful to plan your route when walking, taking a train, bus or taxi to your destination.

Travel Tips in PDF / Ebook Format

Did you like my tips & found it useful or helpful? Need more tips on how to plan your travel to Japan?

All of the above will be available in PDF / Ebook format for easy reference (Cost: RM40).

The digital format includes:

• The entire guide written on this page, simplified & formatted for easy reference on your phone / tablet

• A sample itinerary, complete with route planning & budgeting for a typical 7D6N travel in Japan, so you can use it as a template to plan your own trip

• Tips on how to navigate the train system in Tokyo & Osaka as well as the bus system in Kyoto & Nara

• Tips on how to choose which travel passes will work for you

• Suggestions & recommendations for halal eateries around major cities like Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto & Nara

• Some Japanese phrases to help you get through the language barrier for your travel needs

How to Purchase? 
Email me at msnaddie@gmail.com - I'll let you know how to purchase the ebook.

Personalized Content / Consultation

Do you wish to know more in particular about travelling around Japan?
Do you need a personalized itinerary for your group? (Complete with route planning, budget breakdown and suggestions for accommodation area)
These services would be available at a small fee, starting from RM50 to RM150
Email me at msnaddie@gmail.com or comment below!