Insecurity Princess 🌈💖🔥I'm visiting Japan (Tokyo) for the first time soon!
I know very little about visiting Japan. I'm trying to absorb some quick advice from websites, but is there anything I should prepare in advance? What do you wish you'd known?
So far as a US traveler to Japan, some things I almost missed:
1. US plugs should work, but voltage is lower so check device voltage or being converter
2. Stimulant ADHD medications are strictly illegal other than Concerta (as in "US traveler arrested for carrying personal Adderall Rx")
3. Food substitutions are generally impolite, so take care in explaining food allergies as a reason. Japanese restaurants want to be careful with food allergies, but communication/translation barriers can often be difficult in explaining that gluten is generally in many things like tamari/shoyu/miso.
4. Gluten is very hard to avoid in Japan, especially since soy sauce (and many sauces) now generally uses wheat. Candies also use gluten sweeteners, and labeling of that is not required.
Paul Hoffman@saraislet Japanese outlets only have holes for the two mains pins, never a third for a ground pin, so bring an adapter if you have any plugs with a ground pin. Another issue apparently (I haven't seen it) is that in older buildings, the two mains holes are only tall enough for Japanese blades, meaning that typical US plugs that have one blade taller for polarity will not fit. Just in case: bring an adapter with identical blades.