Originally Posted by
5khours
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.