Basic Info

- Regions of Japan -
Japan consists of four main islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. These areas are subdivided into a total of 47 prefectures. Tokyo is located in Kanto prefecture.
The population of Japan is about 128 million, around 35 million of which live in the Greater Tokyo Area.
More info about regions of Japan at Wikipedia...

- Time difference -
UTC / GMT +9 hours (No daylight saving time)
Current time in Japan at Localtime.info...

- Transportation -
Despite the language barrier, getting around Japan is easier than you might expect.
Most train stations (particularly those in the main cities) will have some English signs, and the transportation network itself is clean, efficient and punctual.

- Food -
In larger cities such as Tokyo, a lot of menus will have some English translation.
Many restaurants will also have photographs or plastic replicas of the various dishes.

- Onsen (Hot-spring baths) -
Hot-spring baths are hugely popular in Japan.
Before trying one out for the first time, however, there are some important rules to be aware of.
Bathing etiquette guide at Travel-Japan.jp...

- Making an international call to Japan -
First, dial the international access code. Then dial Japan's country code, which is "81". Finally dial the intended number, but drop the "0" from the area code at the start of the number.
More information about international dialling codes at Timeanddate.com...

- Electricity -
The standard current is 100V. Eastern Japan (including Tokyo) uses 50Hz and western Japan (including Kyoto and Osaka) uses 60Hz.