Mobile Apps to Download Before Traveling to Japan
Traveling as a foreigner in a new place can leave us feeling handicapped. We don’t know the language nor the area, so navigating directions, menus or conversations is tricky. Japan is notorious for having few Wifi hotspots in restaurants, cafes, hotels etc and if you do find a Wifi signal, you will be led to a provider’s login page in kanji making it frustrating to understand. Downloading the following apps will make your trip flow much smoother.
Japan Wi-Fi
Connects you to Wi-Fi at major train stations, airports, metro stops, airports and businesses like convenience stores or tourist destinations (+more). Additionally you can use the integrated offline map to locate major hotspots for Wi-Fi access.
Available in: English, Korean, Malay, Thai, Indonesian, Chinese, Japanese, German, Italian, Spanish, French and Russian.
XE Currency Converter
Japan is one of the most expensive countries to travel around, so having an app that monitors exchange rates is highly beneficial. There are many different converter apps, but I found this one the easiest to use with live rates (and charts) updated every minute for world currency.
XE stores your last updated conversions so you don’t have to search through dozens of official currencies, and you can set up an XE Rate Alert to monitor your favourite currencies for prompt notification (up to 10 at once).
Available in: English, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Swedish and Spanish.
Tokyo Subway Navigation
This app is very helpful if you have a 1-day Unlimited Tokyo Metro Pass (highly recommended, the subway system is very extensive and reaches beyond the city). A free application, you simply touch the station names on a map and easily search for a route. You can also select your arrival/departure stations by using the landmark search functionality (i.e Tokyo Tower). It then displays the main route, time required and fares.
There’s close to 10 million people residing in Tokyo so you can imagine how intricate the subway system is with multiple exits and intersecting lines. This app makes it easier to navigate through the huge number of subway exits by choosing a nearby landmark and you can also use this app offline or by checking which stations offer free Wi-Fi service.
Available in: English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Thai.
Google Translate
The most popular translation app and for good reason. Kanji is difficult to read but with these features, you’ll be able to understand what you’re reading or hearing. Also relevant if you need to communicate in an emergency situation.
Includes:
Offline service
Camera translation: take a photo or import one and directly translate the image
Handwriting: draw text characters (especially important for underestanding Kanji)
Conversations: translate bilingual conversations (including a microphone for speech translation)
Phrasebook: save translated words and phrases for future reference
Available in: 103 languages.
MapsWithMe
The offline version of Google maps with turn-by-turn navigation. More detailed and tourist friendly than other maps as it can lead to hiking or biking trails and other points of interest. You can save locations and search through different categories such as: ATMs, hotels, restaurants, cafes, metro, bus etc. Useful for those planning as they go along.
Likewise you can also make hotel bookings via Booking.com from the app.
Available in: English, Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Chinese, Slovakian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Chinese, Turkish, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.
Navitime
The bible of apps to download while in Japan. It offers a variety of information such as: airport exits, ATM locations, currency exchange, free Wifi locations, tourist information centres etc, with offline access and the ability to download 50 recently searched routes. Essentially a master guide to traveling around Japan with articles written by foreigners/expats who live in the country.
Available in: English, Chinese and Korean.
Couchsurfing Travel
Not particular to Japan, and not completely necessary as the website works fine in connecting you with millions of locals to stay with, it’s simply easier to have the accessibility instantaneous in urgent scenarios and it’s a smoother process than browsing the site online.
Available in: English, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish, Chinese, and Russian.
Hostelworld
Like the Couchsurfing app, not entirely needed if you can easily look up the information through a web browser, but it is much easier to book online through the app while scrolling through thousands of hotels/hostels. There’s also the possibility of checking out what to see and do before you arrive through “My Trips” and to meet new friends with regular meetups posted on “Hostel Noticeboard.”
Available in: English, French, Dutch, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Russian and Chinese.
Sushi Dictionary
If only I knew about this app while I was in Japan. Instead, I spent too much time trying to decipher what sort of fish was being prepared and forgetting the taste of the ones I really liked. Not just for sushi connoisseurs, this simple sushi dictionary (with a seafood glossary) searches for sushi terms in Japanese and English so you know what you’re eating. You can use the audio feature to figure out how words are pronounced or search by voice demand.
Available in: English (with Japanese lists)
