Destination: Tokyo
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Five Things to Know Before You Go
1. Don’t shut the door when you exit a taxi. It shuts automatically, and you’re likely to be reprimanded if you try to close it yourself.
2. The Japanese don’t tip. It may seem strange not to leave something for a waiter or the bellboy in your hotel, but it is absolutely not done. (In some hotels, a 10%-15% service charge will be added to your bill.)
3. Always travel with your hotel’s business card and a map of where you are going. An address means next to nothing, even to a lifelong Tokyo resident, so arm yourself with good directions, including which exit from the metro to take if you are using public transportation. If you’re taking a cab, have your hotel print out contact information for your taxi driver in case he also gets lost.
4. Carry cash. Although the city is changing rapidly, credit cards are still not accepted in some places, especially smaller restaurants and bars. Also, your foreign ATM card may not work at all Japanese banks, so when you find one you can use, withdraw $500 to $1,000 (muggings are extremely rare).
5. Take a bus, not a cab, from the airport into the city. Express buses run to all the major hotels and are exceptionably comfortable and a fraction of the cost of a private car.
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