Four Mistakes I Did in My Japan Trip 2026 (and What Should I Do Better)

From the first steps out of my United flight to Haneda to touching down to New Orleans, I had a great experience in Japan.

From eating different styles of food to participating in Tanabata in Sendai to even just shopping around for some souvenirs and snacks to bring back into the United States, going to Japan is always a great experience for me to have.

It was my third time going to Japan (second time going in the summertime) and I've been a lot more prepared than I expected to be for the times I've been to Japan.

However, despite being a lot more prepared, there are some gaps and mishaps I've made during my trip that I either should've prepared for or got unlucky during my stay.

Although there are a lot of things I did wrong, here are the main four things I missed the mark in Japan, and how will I do better the next time I go back so that way you don't make the same mistakes I did.

1. No Samsung Phones

I know for this one it can be common sense for a lot of people, but back in the United States, I always tend to get a Samsung phone since they're my go-to brand. The refurbished phones tend to be a lot more affordable than iPhones, and I tend to keep a lot more of my memory from my last phone and transfer it to my new refurbished phone.

However, the moment I land into Japan, the phone tends to be useless than most phones.

Now I know what you're thinking:

You should know Japan is not friendly to people bringing in their Samsung phones! What were you thinking??

And yes, bringing a Samsung phone in Japan does make little sense but since it's my main phone, I don't really have a choice. 

Although, yeah it can be a lot useless compared to the iPhone, it does help me with the basics necessities such as surfing the web and calling my friends and family back home.

However, looking around the average street of Japan, there are swarms of Japanese people using their iPhones for many ways that my Samsung phone won't even comprehend in the first place.

Solution: Buy A Refurbished iPhone For The Next Japan Trip

Yes! I did say buy a refurbished iPhone because I am not going to use rent money to buy the newest iPhone and it depreciates almost immediately.

The ideal iPhone that's the best fit for my next trip to Japan would be either the iPhone 14 or 15 so that way I can use my PASMO card and my boarding pass at the same time. 

While I was walking to the ticketing gates at either the Minatomirai Station or the Yokohama Station, I've constantly seen Japanese people use their phones to get through the gates. And there's me slowly getting the card out of my passport holder, which tends to be a lot slower than to just use a PASMO card on Apple Wallet.

Plus, it does help with the whole conformity in Japan because it tends to be strange to say to Japanese people that you have a Samsung phone.

Hopefully, sometime this year I get the chance to get a refurbished iPhone for the Japan trip so everything will be a lot smoother.

2. Faulty Debit Card

This part was mostly my fault because I did realized that I had a faulty chip on my debit card, and I never got the chance to replace the physical card.

As a result, I couldn't withdraw money from my debit card at all when I go to any 7-Eleven ATMs. Plus, because my card was not in good shape, there were times during checkout that my card won't even tap to pay.

So I would have to use mostly my credit card to both withdraw money for loading PASMO card, order Shinkansen tickets, and to pay my shopping spree. Let's just say, I have to pay a huge balance the moment I landed back to America.

So for the entire trip, I had a credit card that has an increasing balance because of the shopping, and a faulty debit card that works here and there.

Solution: Replace It Before Your Trip

The one thing I would say I would've done differently is to replace my faulty debit card a little before even checking in for my flight to Japan.

I would say I would've replaced it either one to three weeks before you check into so that way it would still be new to use and it makes the entire process of using it A LOT easier.

3. Not Booking Hotels Outside of Kanto

For the first time, I get the chance to travel outside of the Kanto region and go to Sendai and Osaka.

While I went to Sendai and Osaka, there were both times that I didn't book a hotel before heading to the destinations

My friend from Singapore was surprised that I went to Sendai and haven't bought a hotel before I got here.

Also, when I was traveling and sightseeing around Osaka right after, I also didn't book a hotel before I got there as well.

Since it's in Japan, I got really lucky on how safe the country is because a situation like this would not fly in certain countries in South America or Europe.

Solution: Book it before you go or find an APA Hotel

The one solution I would need to do before heading out of Yokohama is to buy the accommodations a day or two before I head to the Shinkansen.

That way I would have everything on board and I won't have to wonder where I would sleep for the night. 

Still, if everything else fails and I forgot to book a hotel, I would just go to the nearest APA hotel since they're one of the best budget hotels in Japan. I should know because I always go to the one in Yokohama!

4. Broken Japanese

Well, in my honest opinion, I won't really call this a mistake, but something I still would need to improve on.

When I am in Louisiana, I don't really have a lot of chances to improve my Japanese since there aren't a lot of Japanese people in Baton Rouge, let alone Louisiana.

So when I go from Louisiana to Japan, and I start to rely more on my Japanese, it tends to still be a lot broken than I thought it'll be.

Don't get me wrong. Compared to last year, my Japanese has improved a lot more, but compared to my friend from Singapore, it's still lackluster at best.

My Japanese tend to be short and too casual, which at times, can confuse some Japanese people and that's when the language barriers begin.

Solution: Practice Japanese efficiently

The one way I can practice my Japanese is to talk Japanese more often. The good thing about that is I do have some people from Japan that I can speak Japanese to.

So the more times I talk to Japanese to them, the better.

Also, with my grammar being a lot worse than my vocabulary, a couple of books from TATSUYA Bookstore will help make my Japanese feel a lot less broken than it was now (my casual Japanese can't immediately be turned off sadly...)

Conclusion

I know it's not the most ideal post to say, but let's all be honest for a second.

Even the most seasoned travelers would make their mistakes during their trip, but I think I done the best thing to keep you informed on something even super small.

The more gaps you closed for your next trip, the more convenient it'll be so you'll just think of what else to do while you're in Japan.

There's always a saying: it's better to track down what you need to improve on than to only rely on your strengths.