Apps to download before traveling to Japan

Navigating the Japanese transport system, tourist attractions and food scene has never been easier thanks to apps that all of us can download in an instant. But how do you know what apps are REALLY going to be useful and which are just dead data weight on your phone? Here's our guide to the apps that we at Japansophy have on our own phones and have tried and tested on our last few Japan trips.

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Click on the pic for our quick&dirty app guide on Instagram, if you're collecting ideas together there for your upcoming Japan trip

Useful Japan travel apps... in no particular order

Google Maps

We know there are alternatives out there but Google Maps has never let us down. It's especially good for navigating transport in the big cities and will even tell you what platform to head for - saves a lot of time trying to follow signs in train stations. Switch on the "wheelchair accessible" function and it will help you locate train station exits with lifts or avoid streets with steps.

Google Translate

Again, this one won't be news to most of you but unless you can read Japanese, a translation app is going to save you a lot of headaches. If you're willing to stray from the well-beaten tourist routes (and we hope you are!), you'll be tempted into little local restaurants or bars - don't worry, that's a good thing - that are unlikely to have menus in a language other than Japanese. This is where Google Translate comes in. Just open your camera and Google Translate instantly translates even hand-written text. Now, it's not perfect, and some written text might forever remain a mystery, but it could well prevent some not-so-welcome surprises.

There is an alternative called kuli kuli that is doing the rounds on social media and it is touted (largely by kuli kuli itself, as far as we can see) as being even better than Google Translate when it comes to reading hand-written Japanese, but (1) it's not free and (2) we've been putting Google Translate to the test for years and have never had a problem, even with hand-written menus.

Suica/Pasmo

Suica, Pasmo and their regional cousins (such as Icoca) are so-called IC cards that you can top up with cash and use as tickets for transport all over Japan or to pay for goodies in convenience stores, in some shops and restaurants, vending machines, etc. See our full guide to Suica here. In addition to physical cards, Suica and Pasmo are also available as apps, but currently only for iPhones or Androids bought in Japan. You link the app to your Apple Wallet and can top it up with yen from there.

Klook app

Unless you're 100% winging it (and to that Chappell Roan would say "Good luck, babe"), you are going to want to reserve tickets in advance: for trains, Shinkansen, tours, activities and attractions. You can do all of this through Klook and have all of your bookings and tickets in one place, often simply as a handy QR code.

Bounce luggage storage app /Ecbo Cloak

Find somewhere nearby to leave your shopping bags, backpack, suitcase for an hour or two or even overnight. Both of these apps show you on a map of your current vicinity where to find lockers, left-luggage services and even restaurants or small shops that offer to take care of your bags for you for a small fee. You can reserve a spot for a certain time/date directly inside the app.

Flush WC finder

Share your location with this app and it will tell you where the nearest public toilets are - a life saver when you've gone a bit overboard with the matcha lattes or Fibe-Minis (IYKYK!).

NERV alert app

The NERV Disaster Prevention App sends real-time alerts to your smartphone in the event of an earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption and severe weather risks such as flooding or landslides, giving you some precious seconds or minutes to react in an emergency. We hope you'll never really need this app but having it activated on your phone gives you a little peace of mind... plus it has a good weather forecast function.

Food Fit Japan app

We at Japansophy are pretty much omnivores (although we've found that it's sometimes better on family trips to Japan to tell the kiddos what was for dinner AFTER they've eaten and enjoyed it!). But this app is super for those avoiding gluten or lactose, for vegans/vegetarians and for Muslims wanting to check those ingredients labels on Japanese food and drink products. Just open the app, choose your setting (e.g. vegetarian), and point your camera at the ingredients label. The app will warn you if the product contains any ingredients you want to avoid.

Gomi Map app

It's no secret that wastebins are very few and far between in Japan and you should prepare yourself for schlepping a load of wrappers and empty containers around with you for hours after that convenience store haul. The Gomi Map app is relatively new and, like the WC-finder app above, helps you locate your nearest trash can. Currently, Tokyo is well mapped but other cities and regions in Japan are still a work in progress. But this is where you can help by reporting rubbish bins you come across in the wild and having them added to the map!

Stamp Quest app

Are you looking forward to collecting all of those cute, free stamps in the train stations, temples and other attractions on your trip to Japan? They definitely make a brilliant souvenir but can sometimes be hard to track down - and who wants to spend an hour wandering around Shinjuku station for looking for a stamp? This app has a map of all the stamps in your current location. The maps are not always 100% accurate (and the stamping stations can get moved around a bit) but you'll know at least if there's a stamp near you that it's worth hunting down.

Payke app

The Payke app is apparently the no. 1 app used by foreign tourists in Japan. Allow it to use your camera to scan the barcodes of products and it will give you information on the ingredients and instructions for use. Even better, it offers a load of discount vouchers (mainly for drugstores but also for Donki, department stores, restaurants and activities).

Line

Line is the Japanese equivalent of Whatsapp and so is mainly used for messaging. But you can add a lot of your favourite stores, like Starbucks, Lawson or Donki, and get informed about what new campaigns they are running. You can also grab coupons here too. Be aware that the information on Line from those stores is generally in Japanese. What is really handy, though, is that more and more restaurants and cafes are using line for reservations and seat management. They put a QR code at the door and if you scan it, you can "check in" for the next available seat - sort of like a virtual queue. You can go off and do your thing and get a ping on your phone telling you that you should come back to the restaurant now for your seat. Other restaurants use Line as a normal messaging service to take and confirm reservations.

MyMizu app

Especially in summer and putting in those legendary 20,000 steps a day, you're going to be hitting those kombini and vending machines HARD. Of course you need to stay hydrated but you can find yourself going through a lot of yen every day on drinks alone. MyMizu is a locating map that will help you find water-bottle filling stations wherever you are in Japan. And refilling your bottle not only saves the environment, of course, but also saves you having to carry several empties around all day.

MamaPapaMap nursing room app

Travelling in Japan with a baby? This app will help you locate the nearest baby changing facilities or nursing rooms. We admit, this is one we don't use ourselves but we wish we'd have had it 18 years ago!

HappyCow app

This app might already be familiar to vegetarians/vegans. HappyCow helps you track down good vegetarian/vegan restaurants across Japan.

GO taxi app

This is the Japanese equivalent of Uber and might get you out of a sticky spot if you've missed your last train. Uber is also available in Japan, just not as widespread.

LUUP

The LUUP app allows you to find and use scooters to get around the city - also an alternative for those after-midnight, post-last-train walks home or just to save your feet a bit.

Tabelog

Tabelog is Japan's most trusted restaurant rating guide and let's you find restaurants according to type of food or according to location (for example, near a particular station). The locals tend to be very miserly with their ratings and any restaurant with a rating above something like 3.5 is likely to be very good indeed. A word of warning: you should avoid making reservations through the Tabelog English-language app, since a "system usage fee" is charged to users of the non-Japanese app and website.

Can't find these apps in your App Store?

Hmm, yes, that doesn't surprise us. We - based in Europe - are able to download all of the apps listed above but there are other apps (like the SmartEx shinkansen app) that we would find useful and aren't available to us in the App Store either. So, it's possible that there are a few that you can't find. Some others, like LUUP and GO, can be downloaded in Europe but registration isn't possible until you are in Japan (you could probably work round this with VPN). Remember that some apps might require a mobile phone number to register (so that you can receive and SMS with a code), so take care of that before you switch to a data-only SIM, for example.

Apps to download before traveling to Japan: FAQ

Is kuli kuli better than Google Translate?

Honestly? It's probably a matter of personal taste. As Japanese readers, we've never used a translation app extensively, so Google Translate has always been our go-to when faced with a barrage of obscure kanji or - our nemesis - the names of fish or plants. Kuli kuli is free to download but, as far as we know, only free to use for a day or two. Give both a go and see which you find easier to use.

Do I need a Japanese telephone number for these apps?

For the apps we've listed above, you won't need a Japanese telephone number. Some do require a telephone number for receiving an SMS when you register - this can be a foreign telephone number, though. Some of the apps above will only let you register once you are in Japan - and remember that receiving an SMS to your foreign telephone number in Japan might cost you a fee.

I can't find the Visit Japan Web immigration app in the App Store. Help!

Don't panic! Contrary to popular belief, Visit Japan - which you use to register for Japanese immigration in advance instead of filling in the paper immigration forms on landing - isn't an app. It's only available as a website. You can register there and store the QR codes on your phone as screenshots or PDFs.