Japan - Help for not getting lost in Japan

After reading a few guidebooks I learned that getting lost in Tokyo seems to be common. It's probably common knowledge here that the addresses (or lack thereof) might be confusing. Being already geographically challenged (for which I am already mocked by most of my friends), I was wondering what my options would be for my upcoming trip to Tokyo, Hakone, Osaka and Kyoto. I am used to walking around until I finally find my destination, but this time I will be traveling with my mother and she is now using with a cane, so I would like to help her walk only the necessary.
- upgrading my old Nuvi to a newer model and purchasing a Japan map
- iPhone/iPad offline maps, since data plans can be very pricey (I just got a 4S since my vintage 3G died and also got the iPad2, so still learning how to best use them for my trip)

Unfortunately, I don't speak Japanese. My mother speaks some Japanese but cannot read Kanji, One of the travel guides actually suggested that we ask several Japanese for directions and take the one the majority suggests, as even them have trouble finding locations they are not familiar with.
Would there be any advantage in getting a GPS? Any particular recommendation from someone that used one or any apps that were helpful? Many thanks in advance.

I'm old-fashioned enough to like maps.

The Tokyo City Atlas has not been updated since 2004, but I've found that to be problematic mostly for commercial structures (banks that merge and get new names, for example). The major tourist sites are still in the same places under the same names as before, and there's a new rail line out to Tsukuba, but you're unlikely to need it.

Somehow, the compilers have managed to squeeze both English and Japanese labels onto the pages, which makes it useful for asking directions.

Enlarged maps of the most popular areas even number the subway exits so that you know where to go if you want to end up on the route to a particular destination.

There is a similar, less comprehensive atlas for Kyoto and Osaka, but there are also very good Periplus maps available for each of those cities, with maps on the reverse side showing the surrounding areas.

Hakone is no problem. Just follow everyone else, but if you don't want to do that, I'd be willing to bet that you can pick up a map of the area with your Hakone Free Pass.

Where will you be staying? Most hotels will have maps onhand to provide you, and should also be able to provide you with detailed directions to pretty much anywhere that you will need to go.

I'm old-fashioned enough to like maps.

The Tokyo City Atlas has not been updated since 2004, but I've found that to be problematic mostly for commercial structures (banks that merge and get new names, for example)....

Amazingly, there is a newer bilingual Tokyo City Atlas and it is not published by Kodansha! It's published by an outfit called Tokyo Chizu Publishing Co., Ltd. I can't find the publication date, but it's definitely significantly newer than 2004 since it shows the Fukutoshin line on its subway map.

It is pocket book size, and I find it better than Kodansha's book in almost every way except the index, which is sorted first by ku -- leading to long index searches if you don't know the right ku for something (which still often applies to me after many visits). But it's still my preferred choice. Cost in Japan is Y1,995.

Amazingly, there is a newer bilingual Tokyo City Atlas and it is not published by Kodansha! It's published by an outfit called Tokyo Chizu Publishing Co., Ltd. I can't find the publication date, but it's definitely significantly newer than 2004 since it shows the Fukutoshin line on its subway map.

It is pocket book size, and I find it better than Kodansha's book in almost every way except the index, which is sorted first by ku -- leading to long index searches if you don't know the right ku for something (which still often applies to me after many visits). But it's still my preferred choice. Cost in Japan is Y1,995.

Great! I'll look for it when I go there later this spring!

ON EDIT: I found it on the Amazon Japan website, which was a challenge, because the publisher has changed its name to My Navi.

Anyway, they publish bilingual atlases of both Tokyo and Kyoto.

That's a better name than "Cheesy Publishing," however!

Maps are good. Google maps have some English I think.

You can ask directions and people are pretty willing to help, but Tokyoites have a navigational IQ of about 15. When asking directions, I was once told "Follow this road and then take a left at the corner where the sake shop used to be."

Look for the nearest koban (police box) and ask directions there. That's what Japanese friends advised and it worked quite well for me for the most part, except for the time (not in Tokyo) when I was standing right in front of the hotel I was trying to find but didn't realize it because the English name it had on its website was notably absent on the hotel itself.

The advantage of a bilingual map is that you can ask passersby to point to the place on the map where you are currently located. That's a good start.

The kôban police keep lists of phone numbers for each residence or business in their district. Their English tends to be rudimentary, but they can usually understand a place name or store name written in block letters.

Another option is to rent a myfi and use googlemaps - which I did on my last trip. The battery life is about 4 hours so you have to turn it on and off as necessary, but it's helpful in that it gets you internet too.
Or you can also use an app called mymaps to cache map tiles when you have wifi available, and use them to navigate while you're walking around, since all the phone needs to determine your position on the (cached) map are the signals from the surrounding cell towers. The advantage there is that mymaps also allows you to access your googlemaps, so if you set up your points of interest ahead of time it can be very useful.
One thing I have always done that seems crazy but is really useful, since my kanji is atrocious, is have the picture of the front door of my destination available on my phone - these can easily be downloaded from sites like tabelog and such for restaurants, or jalan for hotels - so I know what to look for when I'm in the vicinity. If you don't read kanji you could easily be standing in front of your destination and not know it.
Japan is by far my favorite place to visit. Have fun!

PS Here's a link to my now slightly outdated Tokyo map with a lot of "front door photos": http://g.co/maps/xj983

You could get a data SIM discussed in another thread.

If you are looking for something "free", FON is pretty ubiquitous (I know because they have a deal with Softbank and my Iphone is frequently trying to logon). So you could join up with them and it works globally. FON is crowdsourced wifi. Softbank is supposed to give you a FON router when you sign up with a data plan, but they didn't with me.

Thank you for all the responses. I usually bring a map and get the ones from the hotels, but it's almost embarrassing to say, I still manage to get lost and can't find where I am on the map. I know, pretty bad for someone who loves to travel, but it's not on my gene:(

So, I'm trying to take advantage of technology to make things a little easier this time. Thanks for the tips on atlas and asking policemen as well.


Another option is to rent a myfi and use googlemaps - which I did on my last trip. The battery life is about 4 hours so you have to turn it on and off as necessary, but it's helpful in that it gets you internet too.
Or you can also use an app called mymaps to cache map tiles when you have wifi available, and use them to navigate while you're walking around, since all the phone needs to determine your position on the (cached) map are the signals from the surrounding cell towers. The advantage there is that mymaps also allows you to access your googlemaps, so if you set up your points of interest ahead of time it can be very useful.
One thing I have always done that seems crazy but is really useful, since my kanji is atrocious, is have the picture of the front door of my destination available on my phone - these can easily be downloaded from sites like tabelog and such for restaurants, or jalan for hotels - so I know what to look for when I'm in the vicinity. If you don't read kanji you could easily be standing in front of your destination and not know it.
Japan is by far my favorite place to visit. Have fun!

PS Here's a link to my now slightly outdated Tokyo map with a lot of "front door photos": http://g.co/maps/xj983
snaporaz, there are two MyMaps apps and one MyMaps Pro, do you recall which one you used?
I am looking forward for this trip and hope to have lots of fun, particularly if I don't spend too much time trying to find the places we're trying to get to;)

You can ask directions and people are pretty willing to help, but Tokyoites have a navigational IQ of about 15. When asking directions, I was once told "Follow this road and then take a left at the corner where the sake shop used to be."

The other problem is that nobody wants to say they have no idea, so they will often try to put on a show of helping you and lead you off in a totally random direction.

I've had the kodansha atlas for more than 10 years and for finding an address, seeing where you want to go etc it's brilliant.

On the ground and walking around I have offmaps on the iPhone. You'll need to load the maps before you leave home but even with data roaming turned off the 4S will get a GPS fix in a matter of seconds and you can use that to see exactly where you are even if you are using a map/atlas to do the actual navigation (the atlas pages are much bigger than an iPhone screen)

On my trip in January, I rented an iPhone4 with unlimited data and used Google Maps when I wasn't relying on maps from hotels. It was the same price as a MiFi, and I used it for general smartphone stuff as well. It was certainly more convenient that previous trips, but it meant less interaction with locals, even if their directions were less than helpful.

snaporaz, there are two MyMaps apps and one MyMaps Pro, do you recall which one you used?


Here's a link to the one I used: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-maps/id321930101?mt=8

It's by Ruths Research and Design.
There may be better apps out there, but I thought for $1.99 it was worth it to be able to access all of my places on googlemaps info as well as the photos of the front door that I have in the notes for most places.
On a side note, if you can rent a local iPhone 4 with unlimited data for as much as a mifi then I would go for that and you can still use this app or regular old googlemaps. I so wish I were heading there!

iPhone or standalone GPS are not super reliable for walking in the city, especially Tokyo with tall buildings and narrow side streets, as GPS requires line of sight to the sky and mutiple satellites are required for correct positioning.

If you are walking along wide boulevards or crossing parking lots or public parks, then yes it's excellent.

I used google maps (with a local data plan) and MapFan (Japanese standalone GPS app that requires no data) trying to access certain addresses and neither of them is very good. It typically lacks behind by 500m or so.

At least with google maps you can use street view to see the actual neighbourhood or things along the route.

Or just use a map, which works no matter how tall the surrounding buildings are. :D

Sometimes the low-tech options are best.

Or just use a map, which works no matter how tall the surrounding buildings are. :D

Sometimes the low-tech options are best.

Sometimes reading all of the posts in a topic before responding is best. :td:

Thank you for all the responses. I usually bring a map and get the ones from the hotels, but it's almost embarrassing to say, I still manage to get lost and can't find where I am on the map. I know, pretty bad for someone who loves to travel, but it's not on my gene:(

So, I'm trying to take advantage of technology to make things a little easier this time.

I use offmaps on my iphone. if you download the map in advance, the gps in your phone should work to locate you without a data plan. it's not perfect as others have pointed out but i found it works pretty well. I almost use the compass feature more than the physical map itself.

sometimes in the maze of small side streets, i just need a general pointing in the right direction to get out onto a bigger street where I can get on the train at a nearby station.

The kôban police keep lists of phone numbers for each residence or business in their district. Their English tends to be rudimentary, but they can usually understand a place name or store name written in block letters.

They don't have lists for each residence or business, at least in cities. The people there will know the general area but you'd need an address for anything other than bigger places.

Maps are quite common here but it's important to remember that up can (and usually is) any direction, not north.

I've never used a conventional map before.and not got lost much.most of the places of interest in those cities you mentioned are easy to find. in kyoto, if you go to the info booth in the JR station they give you a bus map and thats all you need. tells you which bus goes where as well as the places of interest on it

Maps are quite common here but it's important to remember that up can (and usually is) any direction, not north.
If you're looking at a map that's fixed to a wall or a couple of posts in the ground, then the top of the map is usually the direction you're facing to read it. (Even if the map is underground). It must increase the cost of planning and printing street maps ... but the orientation of those maps isn't just random - there is an organizing principle, of sorts.
When it comes to portable, paper, maps ... omst Japanese people do that thing of twisting them round and round until they can see it's pointed the way they're pointing - as if the world needs to align itself with them (or as if it's impossible to imagine a direction other than forwards when looking at a piece of paper). When I see someone doing that with a map, (or worse, a nautical chart), my heart sinks.
Having said that, the old maps of Edo with all the names of the daimyo around the castle legible only when you walk around (or twist the enormous map, god forbid) to that part of the map ... those are pretty cool.

iPhone or standalone GPS are not super reliable for walking in the city, especially Tokyo with tall buildings and narrow side streets, as GPS requires line of sight to the sky and mutiple satellites are required for correct positioning.

If you are walking along wide boulevards or crossing parking lots or public parks, then yes it's excellent.

I used google maps (with a local data plan) and MapFan (Japanese standalone GPS app that requires no data) trying to access certain addresses and neither of them is very good. It typically lacks behind by 500m or so.

At least with google maps you can use street view to see the actual neighbourhood or things along the route.

500 m is an exaggeration; a few 10s of meters at best. I use my Google maps on my iphone as a back-up for car navigation without a problem and it works flawlessly all over Tokyo except tunnels. It even seems to work ok when you are on Roppongi dori with the expressway above. There is a slight lag of a fraction of a second but you easily compensate.

Since most tourists are not driving around Tokyo, I am sure they can manage.

The Navi in my car even works below ground in the Yamate tunnel, for example.

I believe that the iPhone GPS will use nearby mobile phone towers as well as GPS satellites to figure out where you are.

And Wifi base stations too, though not to the same level of accuracy as GPS.

Google's Android phones and Sony's PSP PSVita have similar location services through wifi triangulation when GPS is not available. You will need a data connection for it to work.


The Navi in my car even works below ground in the Yamate tunnel, for example.
Factory-installed automotive navigation systems may receive speed and steering input to continue estimate your location when GPS signals are not available. This feature is called dead reckoning. You can also achieve the same result with accelerometers.

When it comes to portable, paper, maps ... omst Japanese people do that thing of twisting them round and round until they can see it's pointed the way they're pointing - as if the world needs to align itself with them (or as if it's impossible to imagine a direction other than forwards when looking at a piece of paper). When I see someone doing that with a map, (or worse, a nautical chart), my heart sinks.

What's wrong with doing that? It's just setting the map by eye; it's hardly any different from setting it by compass, which is a standard navigational technique (at least according to my training, and my copy of Mountaincraft and Leadership).

Factory-installed automotive navigation systems may receive speed and steering input to continue estimate your location when GPS signals are not available. This feature is called dead reckoning. You can also achieve the same result with accelerometers.

My car has this - it gets confused by certain types of automated parking here in Japan. The worst is the type where you drive your car straight into the machine, onto a pallet. The machine then whisks the pallet up and stores it away. When you retrieve the car, the pallet arrives back turned through 180 degrees so you can drive straight out.

Of course, the whole rotation of the pallet happens when the car is turned off... so the navi thinks you're driving in completely the opposite direction until it manages to get a good GPS fix and reset itself.

What's wrong with doing that? It's just setting the map by eye; it's hardly any different from setting it by compass, which is a standard navigational technique (at least according to my training, and my copy of Mountaincraft and Leadership).

I think it's the twisting and turning of the page after reader has already worked out his/her current location and orientation that really stands out as a danger sign. It's as if the person is trying to mentally "walk through" a route and needs to keep turning that page for it to make sense ...

I wouldn't mind if it worked, but it's a strong indicator IME that the person handling the map hasn't a clue. The directions you get from the person are likely to have left and right mixed up after the first turn. The nautical chart story comes from a guy I met who wasn't happy that the chart table on a yacht was facing astern. Claimed it made it hard to think straight. His navigational abilities were *&%$. Purely anecdotal, I know ... but it's something I take as a sign of low spatial intelligence now.

iPhone and google maps was a great combo for me. It allowed me to get off the beaten path to explore and not worry about getting lost or asking anyone. I relied on it a lot. The only problem with google maps is that if you search for something using English the map may be displayed with Japanese characters.

try iphonetrip.com for about $12 per day with unlimited data in Japan. It works even if your phone is locked with AT&T.

Tokyo Teleport Plus for iPhone has offline maps and costs about $10.

....try iphonetrip.com for about $12 per day with unlimited data in Japan. It works even if your phone is locked with AT&T.


Their webpage says the phone has to be unlocked. Also, it gives no information about whose network they are using (for any country). Finally, it is not great for a phone as the voice call options are ridiculously expensive (twice as much to rent the SIM >$2 a minute), so you would need a dual-SIM phone.

If it works with a locked AT&T phone, then that means they have a deal with AT&T. Probably better just to get service directly from AT&T.

Iphone will work fine everywhere.

Most Tokyoites have no conception of North, South, East, West, so they are unable to use normal maps.

Get someone to write down the address of where you are staying in Japanese.

The hard part is not getting lost but trying to find something. I once gave a cab driver an address, and he turned around at me and asked, "What do you think I am...a mailman?"

500 m is an exaggeration; a few 10s of meters at best. I use my Google maps on my iphone as a back-up for car navigation without a problem and it works flawlessly all over Tokyo except tunnels.....

As you said, you use it in your car, in the middle of the road, with the best possible satellite reception.

I used it in Fukuoka/Hakata, no tall building, wider lane ways. And the software was constantly trying to compensate (using nearby WiFi) so the blue dot was always roaming.

Also with a car navi, the built-in algorithm projects your where about using your current speed, which is not possible when one's walking (as the speed is too low).

Iphone will work fine everywhere.

Most Tokyoites have no conception of North, South, East, West, so they are unable to use normal maps.

Get someone to write down the address of where you are staying in Japanese.

The hard part is not getting lost but trying to find something. I once gave a cab driver an address, and he turned around at me and asked, "What do you think I am...a mailman?"

In real life, Japanese city residents advise cabdrivers by telling them where their destination is located relative to some well-known train station or landmark. If you're staying at a major hotel, the cabdrivers tend to know where those are, and even a small hotel will be glad to give you a card with the address or even a tiny map of its location.

If you are taking a cab to your hotel for the first time, look at its website. There will undoubtedly be a map showing its location relative to the nearest train station or other landmark, if not on the English website, then on the Japanese one. Print out both and show them to the cabdriver.

I think it's the twisting and turning of the page after reader has already worked out his/her current location and orientation that really stands out as a danger sign. It's as if the person is trying to mentally "walk through" a route and needs to keep turning that page for it to make sense ...

I wouldn't mind if it worked, but it's a strong indicator IME that the person handling the map hasn't a clue.
jib71, that person would be me, as I shamefully admitted on my 1st post:( My friends take a peek at a map and instantly memorize them, but this time I won't be able to count on them and, of all places, I picked a perfect one to get lost. But I'm really looking forward to this trip and really appreciate all the input received here.

Their webpage says the phone has to be unlocked. Also, it gives no information about whose network they are using (for any country). Finally, it is not great for a phone as the voice call options are ridiculously expensive (twice as much to rent the SIM >$2 a minute), so you would need a dual-SIM phone.

If it works with a locked AT&T phone, then that means they have a deal with AT&T. Probably better just to get service directly from AT&T.

I found this to be an interesting proposition, if it works with my devices. According to posts on this thread, it works with jailbroken iPhone3G but not with non-jailbroken iPhone4s.
I'm leaning towards renting an iphone, if anyone has used one that would recommend I appreciate. Off to doing some more research...
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-technology/1053081-iphonetrip-reviews-6.html

I used these guys on my last trip (based on info I got here on FT): www.globaladvancedcomm.com (http://www.globaladvancedcomm.com/) They seemed to have the most reasonable prices for unlimited data, and I wasn't making too many actual phone calls so I didn't care about that. You choose your pick-up location (usually a Narita post office) and just pick up the package under your name. When you are ready to return the phone, you just put the case in the prepared envelope and drop it in a mailbox, which you can do at any airport. If you are familiar with iPhone, you need to associate it with an apple account to purchase any apps (I think to download free ones too). Larger apps like Skype require a wifi connection to download.

Long story short, I got exactly what I expected and it was very useful.

I used these guys on my last trip (based on info I got here on FT): www.globaladvancedcomm.com (http://www.globaladvancedcomm.com/)

I used these guys too on my last trip to J-land and was pretty satisfied as well (find my big write-up in the other simcard thread). Note that the package is literally waiting for you at the post office upstairs at Narita - for some reason I didn't get that initially and was wandering all over the airport looking for a Global kiosk!

I have an Android phone with GPS. Before a trip (Japan or otherwise) I always download maps I need using MOBAC (http://mobac.sourceforge.net/) then use RMaps and Big Planet to navigate.

The newest version of MOBAC doesn't let you download Google maps. You have to find version 1.8.x for that.

I like RMaps a little better overall, but Big Planet has some uses too.

These are all free, btw.

You will get lost in Tokyo, even if you are quite good in finding directions. I had simple directions once from a metro station to a hostel (including which exit to take etc) and I still got lost, luckily there were some Japanese in the neighbourhood who actually understood where I was heading and walked with me to the location. I have been in many cities around the world, including big ones like Moscow, London, Beijing and Los Angeles. Now well London and Los Angeles are easy because everything is in English of course, but Moscow and Beijing are both very logically built up whereas Tokyo is not. Just a mess of many cities melted into one.

On the ground and walking around I have offmaps on the iPhone. You'll need to load the maps before you leave home but even with data roaming turned off the 4S will get a GPS fix in a matter of seconds and you can use that to see exactly where you are even if you are using a map/atlas to do the actual navigation (the atlas pages are much bigger than an iPhone screen)

I use offmaps on my iphone. if you download the map in advance, the gps in your phone should work to locate you without a data plan. it's not perfect as others have pointed out but i found it works pretty well. I almost use the compass feature more than the physical map itself.


In order to use Search do you have to use the address in Japanese?
I tried a couple of addresses (one was Park Hyatt Tokyo) and nothing came up.
If you do find an address, I believe you can bookmark it for when you're offline, is that correct?

I've never used the search but from playing with it it looks like it will either search the web (kinda defeats the purpose) or the loaded guide. So if you load the Tokyo guide that will help however having a quick look at it I have to say it's a bit rubbish, there's just not that many places in it. Probably the best bet is to add your own bookmarks to places you know you want to have marked so then they'll be available once you're there.

Thanks, didn't see many of the places I needed either.I tried adding a bookmark for the hotel, but when I searched with the address inEnglish it didn't find it. In order create your own bookmark do you have to know where it is on the map or am I missing something?

Yep, you need to know the location, hold your finger on the screen for a second or so at it will put a bookmark which you can name at that spot.