Family trip to Japan in 2026

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#3411640 5-Sep-2025 15:10

Blurtie:

Nah, didn't have my wise card loaded on apple pay. Had my amex instead and all worked well. My partner had an ANZ Visa on hers and that worked fine for topping up the virtual suica.

We too managed to top up our digital suica via our ANZ Air Points Visa Platinum (via Apple Pay/Wallet) during our "recent" trip in April this year - no issues at all.

Handle9

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#3411647 5-Sep-2025 15:36

MaxineN:

Get IC cards.

iPhones can be used as Suica cards. Digital payment works fine.

Handle9

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#3411648 5-Sep-2025 15:39

I'd be strongly considering a day trip to Hiroshima. I went to the peace park when I was 15 (it was my first ever overseas trip many years ago) and it really blew my mind. I'm taking my 11 and 13 year olds there in March.

If you are into sport Japanese baseball is an absolute hoot. Well worth going for the colour and chants and a few snacks. With little ones you'll leave early but they'll be mesmerized by the silliness.

wellygary

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#3411650 5-Sep-2025 15:48

Handle9:

I'd be strongly considering a day trip to Hiroshima. I went to the peace park when I was 15 (it was my first ever overseas trip many years ago) and it really blew my mind. I'm taking my 11 and 13 year olds there in March.

If you are into sport Japanese baseball is an absolute hoot. Well worth going for the colour and chants and a few snacks. With little ones you'll leave early but they'll be mesmerized by the silliness.

If you include Hiroshima, you can also do itsukushima (aka miyajima) with the "floating" red torii gate... - the one in all the tourist brochures,

MaxineN

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#3411651 5-Sep-2025 15:50

Handle9:

MaxineN:

Get IC cards.

iPhones can be used as Suica cards. Digital payment works fine.

I did also say that iPhones can have Suica cards. Digital payments was the questionable one.

> If you have iPhones you can set your region to Japan and get Suica on your iPhone (although topping those up maybe another hurdle).

It just wasn't in that post, explained it further.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

Handle9

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#3411652 5-Sep-2025 15:50

wellygary:

Handle9:

I'd be strongly considering a day trip to Hiroshima. I went to the peace park when I was 15 (it was my first ever overseas trip many years ago) and it really blew my mind. I'm taking my 11 and 13 year olds there in March.

If you are into sport Japanese baseball is an absolute hoot. Well worth going for the colour and chants and a few snacks. With little ones you'll leave early but they'll be mesmerized by the silliness.

If you include Hiroshima, you can also do itsukushima (aka miyajima) with the "floating" red torii gate... - the one in all the tourist brochures,

Yeah it's a ways out from Hiroshima though.

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wellygary

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#3411657 5-Sep-2025 16:14

Handle9:

wellygary:

If you include Hiroshima, you can also do itsukushima (aka miyajima) with the "floating" red torii gate... - the one in all the tourist brochures,

Yeah it's a ways out from Hiroshima though.

45min boat ride each way from the peace park,
https://www.aqua-net-h.co.jp/en/heritage/route.html

Or you can rail it to miyajima station and catch the 10 min ferry straight across....

Yes, its not downtown, but its still pretty accessible... ( like most tourist traps in Japan) 😀

Qazzy03

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#3411702 5-Sep-2025 19:33

I was in Japan this Feb/March

My 2 cents.

Life-saving apps: Google Maps, Google Lens, Google Translate.
e-sim was great, I used Travelkon and got 25% off and hotspoting too.
EX Family Hayatoku discount - there is a family discount on certain trains, and if booked at least 3 days in advance, it's very worth it IMO.
IC cards - Worth it if you don't want to pay by cash for every ticket, tap on and off for trains, buses, and more.
There is a kids IC card for under 12 years olds, physical only
Disneysea and Disneyland are queue hells. I suggest rethinking or watching a YouTube tips video, you queue all day.
Speaking of YouTube, use it to learn simple phrases and travel tips. Lots of Japanese people will not want to engage with you, and that is okay.
Teamlabs Planets and Boardless are both awesome, kids will love.
POWERBANK! Your phone is your lifeline.
Wise card, withdraw cash at the "mart" ATMs for very small fees,
Klook is okay, but check directly with the site; sometimes it is cheaper to buy at the door. Klook also will often not have on the day tickets, but the direct site may.
Shoes - Comfy Shoes, lots of walking.
Medication: take NZ cold & flu, Panadol, and ibuprofen. Japanese over-the-counter stuff is pretty weak.
Backpack or Day Sling Bag, there are nearly no rubbish bins, so you take your rubbish with you.
Coin purse, so many coins. Easy hack You can feed coins into certain train ticket machines and load the balance onto the IC cards.
I spent a night in the mountain Fuji area, I would either skip the day trip or spend a night there to be honest. There is a lot to see and do in the area, but the travel in and out can take a long time, just for a day trip.

kiruti

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#3412143 7-Sep-2025 10:35

Not entirely related to Rmani's original post, but why Wise? Why not ASB's free credit card with no currency conversion fees, or Revolut?

shk292

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#3412146 7-Sep-2025 10:39

kiruti:

Not related to Rmani's original post, but why Wise? Why not ASB's free credit card with no currency conversion fees, or Revolut?

if there are no fees, the cost will be hidden in the exchange rates. Wise has a very low overall cost of use

also, Wise’s app gives instant notifications of transactions which protects against fraudulent use.

Wise isn’t the only solution for overseas transactions but it’s a very good one

SpartanVXL

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#3412202 7-Sep-2025 17:25

Wise exchange rate is better, it does take a bit to make up for the one off fee for the physical card but if you travel lots or do online shopping at all it make up for it quickly.

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johno1234

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#3412215 7-Sep-2025 18:08

iPhones can be used as Suica cards. Digital payment works fine.

I could never get any of the Japan transit cards to add into my Apple wallet. Apparently it works with Mastercard but not Visa as the payment instrument. At least that was the case a year ago.

johno1234

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#3412216 7-Sep-2025 18:10

wlgspotter:

Blurtie:

Nah, didn't have my wise card loaded on apple pay. Had my amex instead and all worked well. My partner had an ANZ Visa on hers and that worked fine for topping up the virtual suica.

We too managed to top up our digital suica via our ANZ Air Points Visa Platinum (via Apple Pay/Wallet) during our "recent" trip in April this year - no issues at all.

Couldn’t get that to work with Kiwibank Visa last year.

Nate001

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#3412260 8-Sep-2025 00:39

A lot of conflicting advise on digital IC cards here.

We’ve went twice last year and had zero issues with Apple wallet Suica cards on phone and Watch. Worked so well I helped multiple people at work set them up before leaving NZ. No need to set your region to Japan, just go to wallet and add a transport card.

We used the wise Apple Pay, colleague used AMEX Airpoints. The beauty is you can easily top up the cards on your phone without any cash. You can even load cash onto the digital card at some station kiosks, just place your phone where you’d put the card.

You can then download the Suica app to get he ICs ID number and use them for Shinkansen access, if you also buy your tickets online.

Final tip is if travelling to/from city to Narita you can just take the Asakusa/Skyliner line, it’s one train that changes names after SkyTree. It’s half the price and only marginally longer trip, it comes up as an option in google maps.

wlgspotter

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#3412284 8-Sep-2025 09:00

johno1234:

wlgspotter:

Blurtie:

Nah, didn't have my wise card loaded on apple pay. Had my amex instead and all worked well. My partner had an ANZ Visa on hers and that worked fine for topping up the virtual suica.

We too managed to top up our digital suica via our ANZ Air Points Visa Platinum (via Apple Pay/Wallet) during our "recent" trip in April this year - no issues at all.

Couldn’t get that to work with Kiwibank Visa last year.

I have to say it really is a bit of a hit and miss. Whilst I never had any issues with my ANZ Visa, the Mrs had issues topping up hers using her ANZ Visa about 2 years ago (and she is actually the main cardholder for our Visa!)... Then during our last 2-3 trips (July 2024, Feb 2025 and Apr 2025), she had no issues topping up with the same visa card...

But I must say we've almost had 100% success with Mastercard - our "previous" Wise, when it was a Mastercard back then, worked flawlessly, as is our Q Mastercard.

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