Getting By [Travel Tips]

Restaurants - A lot of Restaurants have picture menus . The more local restaurants/izakayas are Japanese language only ,dont take offence that you may not be able to get a table , the Japanese tend to not want to cause offence because they dont speak English , so its less offesive if they dont interact with a non japanese speaker
Use a translator app or learn a few simple phrases ( this really helps)
Tipping
Tipping is Not a practice , dont try and do it , refusal may lead to offence.
Otoshi - is a small appetizer given once you place an order at a bar .You can think of a it like a cover charge, table charge, or service charge that comes with some food in return.
It might be a bowl of nuts,fried chicken skin, edamame, rice crackers, miso soup, picked vegetables or tofu , it will vary .
It’s primarily seen in bars, izakaya, and restaurants where the primary theme of the place leans more toward drinking . It will not likely be on the menu , it will just be served. Its an accepted custom , you will not see in family restaurants , food focused places or fast food chains
Its not a scam , its the way that bars work ( and izakayas ). Its generally between 300 to 800 yen.

Mobile Data
These days E-Sim is the easiest way , I not used a sim/esim when traveling, I use the free wifi at Hotels and Japan Tourist Information Centers .

I would recommend Sakura Mobile , only because I have dealt withem for the past 25 years in the Telco industry and they are an excellent company to deal with

No Mobile Data
In the olden days we have travelled in Japan without mobile data , maybe a computer at the hotel , just some careful planning ,
a lot of winging it and Japan Tourist Information Centers .

Convenience Stores [kombini]
Besides restaurants discover the joys of Family Mart, Seven Eleven, SunKus , Lawson ,Daily Yamazaki, Mini Stop and others Not only for early morning Oden, fried chcicken and train snacks. The have terminals to but tickets to baseball (a great experience) , theme parks and travel services , the english may not be very good but you can get by,

Post Office
Japan Post offices are as prevelant as kombini . We found it the best place to for ATM service, Easy to understandand use

We found it great way to reduce the amount of souvniers we have to transport around, as soon as we reached an uncumfortable level to manage we will go the post office and ship off a box home of all the best goodies (we have sent back bottles Sake without any issue)

Paying - always keep plenty of cash on hand , you will find cards not are accepted in a lot of establishments .Always put you cash in the payment tray , dont hand over directly.

IC cards - pre paid card for private(and some jr) railways and always handy for paying for snacks at stations IC Cards

Tourist Information Offices
Usually located around the train station , the best source of local information . They are always very helpful from finding accomdation to meet you needs and budget to finding a dentist for emergency dental work
Map of all Tourist Information Offices
Yamagata and Akita !!!

Booking - always book where you can , do not take offence that you cannot get a seat or a rooom , the Japanese tend to not want to cause offence because they dont speak English , so its less offesive if they dont interact with a non japanese speaker . In resaurants you may find clip boards out the front to make a reservation for the next avaibale table, you will still need to waity till your name is called .Use it, translate your name to japanese ( katanya - romanised english) , Katakanya characters NOT in you own language .