So I recently (June 2016) went on a trip to Kyoto and Osaka in Japan, to visit my brother who is a permanent resident in Osaka.
Before leaving Australia, I googled the best apps to use in Japan if you can't speak Japanese. Whilst there I was able to determine which apps I found most useful, which I'll write about in this post.
Just a quick write up, not comprehensive - mostly because I had my brother with me most of the time to help out (eg. with trains). I will say that I did catch trains without the assistance of my brother, but it was when I already knew where the station was (it can be a maze), and what type of train line I was taking (there's 4... JR, Hankyu, Subway... another one... oh and the Shinkansen fast train but you aren't likely to just wonder on to that - it's more expensive).
Timing-wise... I didn't worry too much as I always planned to be places quite early, and I found that generally the trains ran every 10 minutes ON THE DOT. It's only later in the night that you can't rely on this kind of haphazard train catching.
So basically - I can't give you a full run down on the train-catching system. I did notice there are always people around to help though, and they wear badges that say "English" or armbands that say "Translator".
First things first - how to get internet over there without being charged a million dollars for data. I turned off all mobile data and instead relied on a portable wifi. Luckily my brother had a spare one for me to use, however you can book these online to pick up at the airport, or book at a stall in the airport. Otherwise, there is usually free wifi in shopping malls, airport, cafes, some hotels. I wanted to be certain that I had access to the internet so I could converse with my brother for meet up times etc. so the portable wifi was best for me.
Tip: Buy a powerbank before you go. I found this SO handy for being out the whole day. I got a 4000mah light powerbank from JB HiFi (can charge an iphone 5 fully - twice). I used it often - both to charge my phone (I used snapchat a lot to record my adventures), and to recharge the portable wifi. It was a lifesaver.
MOST USEFUL APPS:
So the most helpful app for me (as a keen shopper... and someone who likes to try new food/drink).
You can type in text, but the most use I got was by taking photos of signs or labels and having them translated. Very helpful for knowing what you are buying!! I used this app almost every day. From little things like "is this a leave in conditioner or a wash out"... to checking what signs said in restaurants... to checking the ingredients of certain foods. I can't praise this app enough, and I didn't even use it to it's full potential. I think you can also have Japanese words spoken back to you (as translated from your English. A bit like Voicetra app. I got that before I went but didn't need to use it as I was able to be understood using actions and a couple Japanese words).
I had originally downloaded a different app for this "Waygo" which was recommended in my google searches of other people's travels but it would only give me 10 photos a day for free and then it wanted me to pay. pfft. I found the Google app much better... AND FREE.
I only really needed this for big items where I wanted "to be sure" how much I was spending. Otherwise I had a rough idea of the conversion in my head.
There's a thousand currency converting apps. I find this one quick and easy and I'll be honest - I like that the icon for it looks like the calculator icon on the iphone, so it looks nice and matching on my screen.
Seems like an obvious one, but I thought I better mention it. It's very helpful to be able to "star" certain locations like your hotel so that you can make your way back there regardless of any language barriers. To do this, hold your finger down on your location until it comes up with a name/address at the bottom of the screen. Then click that address, and press "save" (it's a yellow star) - you'll then be able to refer back to it in the future.
That's it for now (sorry a very short post). I will be attempting to put up a post on Japanese shopping items soon.
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