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Common Travel Items to Pack for Japan

In addition to the individual packing lists I previously shared, we also found the following items essential to bring to Japan. Most of these items can be obtained there, but are probably essential enough that you already pack them every time you travel. See our most used travel essentials here.

• Yen. Japan is still a very cash-based place and you will want to bring Yen with you. Expect to use cash for most circumstances, especially with small vendors and businesses. You can get Yen from your bank (give extra time in case they need to order it in). You can also exchange currency at machines there or pull money from an ATM with a debit card, but there will likely be a small fee.
• Belt bag. You’re going to use your pass a lot if you’re using public transit so make sure you put it somewhere you can easily access. The kids and I had a dedicated zipper pocket on our fanny packs while Andrew had a slot on his belt bag.
• Power adaptor. Japan doesn’t have 3-prong outlets so be especially aware to pack an adaptor if any of your chargers are 3-prong. We purchased a two pack of adaptors that worked well for all of our devices.
• Portable charger. I prefer to take the larger charger on trips, but I also have a smaller charger when I only need backup power for one device. If you’re renting a pocket Wi-Fi unit in Japan and planning on being out all day, I highly recommend carrying a portable charger with you. We would turn our unit on at 9 AM and find it running low on battery around 4-5 PM.
• Laundry detergent. We’ve been working through the same bag of pods from Target, but recently discovered they make paper laundry detergent too. We haven’t tried it ourselves so I don’t have any recommendations, but I will definitely try them out when we need them.
• Packable duffle bag. I like to pack a duffel bag in my carry-on luggage whenever I know I’m going to be buying things. I bought a few of these duffle bags for this trip and they came in handy with all the shopping there is to do in Japan.
• Reusable bag. You will be asked if you need a plastic bag almost everywhere you make a purchase. There is a small charge for a bag. It isn’t much, but having your own reusable bag cuts down on waste.

Unique Items to Pack for Japan

The following items are worthy of their own category. They’re items we found extremely useful in Japan, but are unique in that we don’t normally travel with them.

• Coin purse. You’ll handle coins more often than you think and a coin purse will help you easily sort through your coins. I brought two and kept smaller coins in one and larger coins and bills in another. You’ll use the 100 and 500 coins the most so keep those handy.
• Paper hand soap. We were warned not to expect hand soap in public restrooms and were pleasantly surprised that wasn’t a problem in the areas we visited. The only time we didn’t have hand soap was at the JR train stations, at the smaller temples/shrines, and, surprisingly, in the water closets of our Airbnbs. We really liked having these unscented paper soaps when we needed them.
• Hand towel. One thing I read often in my research was the lack of hand towels in public restrooms. Air dryers were available in some places, otherwise, you’d have to air dry or bring your own towel. Many locals carry a towel around and use it for everything from drying hands to wiping away sweat. I planned on purchasing some there and found plenty of options. I didn’t feel like I needed one, but some in our group thought it was essential.
• Personal fans. Of all of the packing lists I read, I don’t remember seeing a fan on any of them. The summer heat and humidity worried me so I packed our fans on a whim and am so glad I did. Some of us aren’t great with heat and humidity and having the fans helped cut down on meltdowns. If I hadn’t brought them, I would’ve quickly purchased fans there. It’s not uncommon to see personal handheld fans throughout the city. I noticed them more in Tokyo, but you’ll see them in Kyoto too.
• Umbrella. This is one item I wouldn’t recommend packing unless you already have one or know you’re going to use it. Umbrellas are available all over the place. We ended up purchasing some at Daiso (the 100 yen store aka the Japanese dollar store) for significantly less than what we would’ve paid at home (roughly $3.50 USD). Even though we were there for the rainy season, we only ever needed the umbrellas once or twice and mainly used them to block the sun, which is a very common use among the locals. We call our beloved sunbrellas Brellie now and will definitely use them again at home.
• Waterproof shoes. If you’re visiting during the rainy season, you can expect to be caught in at least one rain shower. Waterproof shoes aren’t a must if you have an extra pair of shoes, but it’s something worth considering depending on your itinerary. I loved the supportiveness of my New Balance Gore-tex sneakers and wore them the entire time while Isabelle was content with her Keen sandals.

No matter what, Japan is a very welcoming country and you’ll have no problem finding what you need there. If you want to read more, find all my Japan posts here and all my travel posts here.

Thanks for reading!