Curated websites and guide services for getting around Japan are rapidly increasing to meet the needs of the rising number of people visiting to Japan. However, the more websites/services, the more complications. So, VisitJapanPlaces put them in one place to know which is the best suit for you easily. Use this page as your basement for your wonderful trip to Japan.

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Japan Guide

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Since they founded in 1996, japan-guide.com has played a main role to introduce Japanese things/places in English. Although their Japan Question Forum is useful for people visiting (or planning to visit) Japan, their original contents covering the fundamentals on Japan are also useful before you actually visit. One of their contents "Japan Penfriends" is a unique service to make friends with locals in Japan.

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tripadvisor (Japan Travel Forum)

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World's largest travel site also has the largest forum on Japan with over 70,000 topics posted from all over the world. If you have a plan to go to a specific area, they have sub forums to meet the person with the similar interests easily.

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reddit (Japan Trips & Travel Tips)

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One of the world's largest social networking websites also covers a large category on Japan travel. Updated almost everyday with a wide variety of topics ranging from itinerary check to recommended accommodation.

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Lonely Planet (Japan Forum)

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The world's largest travel guide book publisher Lonely Planet also has a large forum for travelers to Japan. There are relatively many posts focusing on certain areas/activities rather than troubles/things.

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Nomadic Matt (A Complete Guide)

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This website is, as the name indicates, mainly managed by an expert traveller Nomadic Matt. He is also a Japanophile, so, there are many detailed & organized articles on Japanese things/places written by him. Among them, "A Complete Guide to Traveling Japan" must be your help. Of course they has a forum for a trip to Japan.

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TravBuddy (Tokyo Travel Guide)

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TravBuddy has a community of over 1.5 million passionate travelers. They has a "Tokyo Travel Guide" where you can check hundreds of contents provided by People Traveling to Tokyo and Tokyo Locals (registration required to see them).

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VirtualTourist

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VirtualTourist is a worldwide travel community where real travelers and locals share real travel advice and experiences. If you get a reply on your post, their registered members have detailed profiles & reputations so that you can rely on with a certain credibility.

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Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

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Fodor's Travel is the oldest publisher of English language travel and tourism information in the US. They have launched a travel-related website in 1996, which has lots of features & trip ideas. Their JAPAN forum is simply divided into two categories ACTIVITY qustions & TRIP REPORTS and the feeds are compatible with RSS so that you can easily follow them.

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Huber.

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In Huber., you can talk about your trip casually with Japanese local guides via web chat. If you are interested in their suggestions, then you can hire them as a guide for some fee. Although some of them are not full-time professional guides, you can rely on them as they are real locals in the spot where you are going to.

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TOKYO FREE GUIDE

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TOKYO FREE GUIDE, as their service name indicates, offers travelers to Japan a free guided tour in Tokyo. They started this non-profit service in 2004 on a donation basis, and currently, they have over 350 volunteer guide members who speak at least one language besides Japanese (English, Spanish, Italian, and French). Their guide can explain the culture, navigate the transportation system, and show you places and sights you might not otherwise experience. On their Facebook timeline, you can see lots of feedback from participants and pictures of guides. TOKYO FREE GUIDE also covers vicinities of Tokyo, including Kamakura.

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GetAroundJapan

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Before you go to Japan, if you are looking for something fun & exciting, GetAroundJapan has updated them. If you have a specific question, post it to their forums and someone or staff of GetAroundJapan is going to reply to that. As they are powered by CDJapan, their contents are relatively more on J-Pop culture.

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LEVART

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LEVART is an online community where travelers and locals in Japan can communicate each other casually. They also offer TRAVEL HELP, consisting of Arranging Tickets, Restaurant Booking, Translation, Research, and General, in which you can ask specific questions. It might be good if you want to get answers from locals.

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MATCHA

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MATCHA is a free web magazine with hundreds of articles useful to people who are planning on visiting Japan. One of unique features they have is their contents can be read in multiple languages such as -- English, of course -- Korean, Chinese (both in traditional & simplified), Indonesian, and Vietnamese.

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GO TOKYO

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From accommodations to ramen restaurants, and Shibuya to Ogasawara Islands, the official Tokyo travel guide GO TOKYO covers a really wide variety of topics in Japan's most biggest city.

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Savvy Tokyo

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Must-to-see website for lifestyle-and-fashion conscious women. Savvy provides articles mainly for women looking for the latest scoop on what's new in fashion, food and fun in Tokyo.

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POCKET CONCIERGE

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Pocket Concierge is an online restaurant booking platform, specializing in first-class restaurants in Tokyo, Yokohama, Kyoto, and Osaka. For free of charge, you can make reservations at high-end restaurants easy. No need to make phone calls, even to pay at the restaurant as checks billed automatically on your account. One of the unique services they offer is a waitlist system. Yet you can book the restaurant months before you visit Japan, some restaurants they recommend tend to be fully booked before a long time due to the high-popularity, especially for Michelin starred ones. In such case, try the waitlist by registering the date and course you wish. If a seat opens up, the system will search for the waitlist and automatically confirm your reservation by notifying you via e-mail. English and Chinese available.

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VOYAJIN (Japan)

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Despite of your endless search of activities in Japan, it may result in vain as it sold already when you actually visit places. At VOYAJIN, you can book before you go with reasonable cost. Founder & CEO of VOYAJIN Masashi Takahashi started this service because of his personal trip to India where he got a great help from locals when he was at a loss what to do there. So, based on the story, VOYAJIN focuses on the customer support available with chat, Email, phones, and skype.

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washoku.guide

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Try to make dishes on the table in Japan? From easy everyday breakfast to an elaborate dinner. washoku.guide provides thousands of detailed recipes. They even have "SHOPS" category where information about Japanese supermarkets around the world put in one page so that you may able to cook it more easy.

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JAPANKURU

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JAPANKURU is a curated cultural guide to the most charming and unique facets of cities all over Japan (mainly to Tokyo at this point).

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FAST JAPAN

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DESTINATIONS to TIPS, FAST JAPAN is filled with lots of contents which might give you an idea of getting around Japan more fun and exciting. Traditional Chinese characters available.

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JAPORTA

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JAPORTA is a website offering curated contents ralated to various things of Japane such as traditional crafts and local food.

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Taiken Japan

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Focusing on "Taiken," to personally and actually experiencing things, Taiken Japan provides lots of articles written mainly by non-Japanese people currently residing in Japan.

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Travelience

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"Let's discover Japan together." Under this tagline, Travelience Inc. has offered a lot of exciting tour plans with Japanese guides to the people visiting Japan since 2013. Highly-acclaimed by many reviewers in Tripadvisor.

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TripleLights

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TripleLights is a hub to connect between a professional tour guide and a traveler to Japan having a slight concern about which guides to choose for the best experience. Professional certified guides introduce themselves and plans on YouTube videos so that you can check their personalities before you hire them.

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Yokohama Official Visitors' Guide

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If you have a plan to visit Yokohama, go their website to get useful tips. From "Currency Exchange and ATM" to "Muslim Tourist Information," they are very detailed instead of focusing only on Yokohama places/things.

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Ambassadors Japan

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Ambassadors Japan give you information about good sightseeing spots as well as daily life in Japan. This website is mainly managed by a Japanese website owner Yuta Sakaguchi and it has a relatively personal feeling which might give you a sense of affinity than other sites.

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Japan | Prepaid Data SIM Card Wiki

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From frequencies to unique regulations. For getting connected, Fandom powered by Wikia has made a really useful basic information on the Japan's networks in addition to a comprehensive list of companies selling/lending using SIM cards and WiFi routers. Only one weak point is, they have no chart to make them more readable. We VisitJapanPlaces has made an organized chart to supplement it. It would be great that you come back to us after reading through their contents. You must able to see clearer picture on the whole of SIM/WiFi in Japan and can get the best suit one for your trip to Japan.

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TOKYOCHEAPO

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TOKYOCHEAPO is an information portal for getting around Tokyo. The almost entire contents is not written by Japanese but by the people used to live outside of Japan (and now in Tokyo), and it might contribute to thoroughly useful articles for visitors to Japan. Besides SIM/WiFi things, they know lots of tips from a "near-real" your perspective.

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ONLINEJAPAN

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They have useful comparison charts of SIM/WiFi companies, each for heavy to light users.

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JNTO | Internet Access

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JNTO (Japan National Tourism Organization) is one of the representative independent administrative institutions of the government of Japan. Since 1964, they are involved in a broad range of activities to encourage foreign tourists to visit Japan both domestically and overseas.

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Wikivoyage | Japan

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Wikivoyage is the FREE worldwide travel guide, a kind of travel-customized version of Wikipedia. Its Japan page has a well-organized & comprehensive information about Japan.

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Travee

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Travee is a website where travelers can find local people who can guide to their destinations. They recently (around June 2017) have started a service for Japan travel.

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Veltra

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Japan tours & activities. They offer 2,110 tours, activities & fun things to do.