The world is your oyster.
Whether you’re looking for a quick weekend getaway, or a month-long vacation, Japan has got you covered. The country has so much to offer in terms of culture, history, and just plain fun that it’s hard to know where to start. And that’s why we’ve created this list: to help you find the best apps for travelling in Japan.
We’ve examined everything from ride-sharing apps to travel guides and more—all with the goal of making your trip as easy and seamless as possible. So whether you’re looking for an app that shows off the best places to see and eat in Kyoto, or one that helps you navigate Osaka’s subway system, we’ve got what you need here!
Best Apps For Travelling In Japan
Travelling to Japan for the first time can be both exhilarating and a tiny bit stress-inducing. But luckily, technology is here to help relieve some of that stress. These Japan travel apps all make your trip much easier and help you swerve around some avoidable travel problems.
*The Navigatio uses affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you!
Looking for books instead of apps? Here are the best travel guides about Japan.
Best Apps for Japan
Here are the 10 best Japan travel apps:
- Hyperdia
If you’re only going to download one Japan travel app, make sure it’s Hyperdia. This one is an absolute lifesaver for using trains and metros in Japan, especially if you don’t know how to read Japanese.
Hyperdia makes it very easy to plan any metro/train journey. Whether you’re taking the Shinkansen from Nagoya to Osaka, or simply want to make your way around Tokyo, this app tells you exactly what time you need to be at what platform. And best of all, it’s all in English!
If you’re planning to visit more than two cities in Japan, it’s probably worth getting a Japan Rail Pass, too. This pass lets you make unlimited journeys on any JR line for the duration of your pass, saving you a ton of money! You can read my full Japan Rail Pass review to find out whether it’s worth it for your itinerary.
Buy Japan Rail Pass here
- Google Maps
As with any holiday, I personally love planning my trips with Google Maps. It’s very easy to break down your days in this app and make a coherent itinerary. You can save any of the things you’d like to see before travelling to Japan, and then use Google Maps to get directions to these places. - Japan Travel by NAVITIME
If you’re not a Google Maps fan, but still like an offline map to help you navigate through Japan, check out Japan Travel by NAVITIME. It helps you find the most effective routes to take, but it’s also a gem for planning your Japan trip, search for ATM/WiFi spots, make reservations, and much more. - Ramen Beast
Fan of a steaming bowl of fresh ramen? That’s probably one of the things you’re looking forward to most when visiting Japan. But how do you know what restaurant to go to and which to avoid?
Ramen Beast helps you find the best restaurants for ramen in Japan (no tourist traps, no chains, only the real deal). It includes more than 700 of the best ramen shops in Tokyo, plus it gives you English recommendations on what to order. You can also read restaurant reviews on top of the chef’s history, speciality ingredients, and more.
- Ecbo Cloak
When travelling through Japan, you probably have quite a bit of luggage to drag around with you. Normally, this isn’t a problem, because you can leave your bag in your hotel room, or even ask the hotel reception to look after them before/after checking out. But if that isn’t an option, you can use Ecbo Cloak.
Use the app to locate a storage place nearby, store your luggage, pay, and pick it up when you need it again. Super easy!
Japan Travel Guide
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- GuruNavi
Eating all the best Japanese food is one of the best things to do in Japan. So making sure you choose the right restaurants while in Japan is essential. GuruNavi is a Japan travel app that helps you find the perfect restaurant nearby. You can use filters to find the type of food you’re looking for, your budget, and even if they have English staff/menus. - Google Translate
Another great travel app for Japan is Google Translate. And I hear you think… how is this helpful? Google translate is not going to help you speak Japanese, but it has a very handy photo feature, which can translate menus at restaurants.
While many restaurants in the big cities have English menus, it’s not a given. That’s why this photo feature comes in very handy!
- Japan Official Travel App
And of course, the official Japan National Travel Organization app is also in the race of best apps for travel to Japan. Definitely essential when you’re travelling to Japan for the first time. Filled with tons of useful information, up-to-date travel articles, navigation to get to the attractions you want to see, easy access to buying any tickets or passes, and more.
It even comes with offline searches to find the nearest WiFi spots, tourists centres, stations, and hospitals.
- VoiceTra
While you can learn some basic Japanese phrases before you travel to Japan, learning to speak Japanese isn’t easy. That’s why downloading VoiceTra is a great idea! This speech translation app can translate your (or someone you’re speaking to) speech and translates it to the preferred language (including Japanese!). - Memrise (or another language-learning app)
If you do want to step up your language game and dive into the world of learning Japanese, there are quite a few great apps to kickstart the process. I’ve got a full guide on how to study Japanese, but before buying textbooks and cute stationery, you may want to start by using Memrise or Duolingo.
Both of these are a great way to get started and learn Hiragana and Katakana (two of the Japanese alphabets) and some basic words. If you decide you want to take it a step further, you can always buy a textbook, like Genkii or Japanese for Busy People.
Conclusion: Best Japan Travel Apps
Hopefully, these apps will help you plan your trip a bit better or ease any travel anxiety before going to Japan. It is such a wonderful country to visit, and even if you don’t speak the language, it’s very doable to get around!
Of course, there are some other handy travel apps for Japan like the weather app and Whatsapp to stay in touch with your friends and family back home. But the 10 apps above will make your trip even better!
Looking for some more pre-travel inspiration? Check out the best novels about Japan to get you even more excited for your upcoming trip.
best apps for living in japan
Ten years ago, nobody had heard of it. Yet, exactly one decade ago this month, the smartphone was launched and changed all that.
Of course, there was Blackberry, Microsoft and Google, but when Apple announced it would enter the lucrative yet high-risk mobile phone market, established players like Nokia smirked. But 10 years later, Nokia is nowhere to be seen while Apple is about to release its eighth generation iPhone.
There’s no doubt these have become tools integral to our lives. And as smartphones become more ubiquitous, so do the applications users can put on them. However, an app’s relevance very much varies from place to place.
So, whether you’re just visiting Japan or a discerning smartphone user who has been here a while, here are five useful apps to make life in Japan run more smoothly.
- Go-to Restaurant Finder: Gurunavi
Google Play / iOS
Gurunavi has existed in one form or another since before even the first iPhone hit Japan. The website and application has built a reputation for itself as the country’s go-to app for restaurant reviews, recommendations and reservations.
Conveniently, it now a dedicated English iOS and Android app. With this, you can search restaurants and bars by genre, price range, location and review score. You can also make reservations directly through the app, as well. With several thousand venues available to search all across Japan, there are options to suit all tastes and budgets.
Bear in mind though, that an English language listing on Gurunavi does not necessarily mean that an English menu or English-speaking staff will be available at the restaurant. But — hey — this is Japan! Stumbling through the Japanese menu, ordering something different from what you expected, is undeniably part of the fun of dinner dates here.
- Be Prepared: NHK News and Disaster Updates
Google Play / iOS
Of course, we all hope that our time in Japan will be hazard free, but the reality is that it’s one of the most seismically unstable countries in the world. Earthquakes, landslides, flash floods and tsunamis are daily — albeit statistically unlikely — threats that we should be prepared for.
For those times when the worst does happen, an app such as NHK News and Disaster Updates is invaluable. It provides real-time updates and news on any tremors or other natural disasters in Japan as they happen. It will also send an alert to your phone in the event of an earthquake warning being issued. This is especially useful if you’re using a cell phone that you purchased outside Japan.
Almost all phones issued by Japanese carriers have a native earthquake warning app, but of course, phones from abroad do not. So this NHK app makes a very worthwhile substitute.
A couple of important notes: This app is dependent on having an active data connection. Remember that in times of disaster, internet access may be compromised. Also, being an NHK app, the news updates will be in Japanese only. However, these updates are typically accompanied by graphs and other visual data that are easy for English speakers to understand, too.
- Getting There: Japan Trains
Google Play
Japan Trains was one of the first Android apps I was introduced to when I came back to Japan in 2013 and got myself a new phone. Like most great apps, its beauty lies in its simplicity and ease of access.
Japan Trains is a comprehensive train schedule checker, with real-time updates, to help you plan your route to perfection. Operating completely in English, you type in your departure station, your destination and either your departure time or intended arrival time. The app will then present you with five or more different options, showing where you need to be and when, which platform you leave from and how much it will cost.
You can also optimize your search by price, speed, local or express train and a host of other specific options. There are some ads on the page, it’s a free app after all, but these are never intrusive and you don’t feel like you’re being spammed. As far as free apps go, for traveling around Japan, this is an excellent first choice.
- When Google Translate Doesn’t Cut it: Imiwa
iOS
One thing there is no shortage of on smart phones these days is language learning apps. However, sometimes we don’t want to dive into a full-on language lesson — sometimes we just need to quickly look up that elusive kanji compound that Google translate just can’t seem to get its head around.
Imiwa is a highly intuitive “one-stop-shop” for all your daily Japanese dictionary and translation needs. Its crisp, clear presentation also makes reading, and hopefully memorizing, the items you have looked up a lot easier.
Not only does the app offer translations and advice on different readings, but it also shows you how to write the characters correctly using the appropriate order, with sample sentences also added to back up understanding and encourage regular usage. One thing to be aware of with this app due to its size is that you need Wi-Fi to download it.
- Making New Friends: Line
Google Play / iOS
“Hey, can I get your phone number?”
Building up the courage to ask this question to a lovely lady or gent used to be the tricky part. But now, when you’re hitting it off, it’s far more likely you’ll go right to: “Hey, are you on Line?”
Line is one of those apps that make you sit up and go: “Oh, that’s so Japanese.” In essence, Line works the same way as WhatsApp, Viber and other free instant messengers, but with the addition of cutesy anime characters, literally thousands of emoji and the ability to integrate mobile gaming and other shared hobbies. You can even create shared photo albums after a great trip or take a poll in a group chat to see which night is best to meet up.
With Line, it’s also very easy to add friends. Simply tapping your phones together or scanning a QR code is all it takes. With hundreds of different sticker packs available, it can make online communication a breeze. That being said, having your date cancel by way of a sad Pikachu animation doesn’t really do anything to soften the blow.
Do you us any of these apps? Are there other platform-specific mobile applications you would recommend readers to make their life in Japan easier? Let us know in the comments below!
Conclusion
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