General Information
Passports and Visas
Any foreign visitor who wishes to enter Japan must have a passport, which will remain valid during the period of stay.
Australians are able to travel without a visa for periods of less than 90 days for tourism purposes.
When you enter Japan, you are requested to hand in the "Customs Declaration" form of both your accompanied and unaccompanied baggage at the Customs Clearance. "Customs Declaration" forms are available on the plane/ship or at the Customs office.
Money
The unit of Japanese currency is yen. Coins are available in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 yen and bank notes in denominations of 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 yen.
You cannot use you’re AUD in Japan, but can exchange it for Yen at foreign exchange banks and other authorized money exchangers. At the international airports, currency exchange counters are usually open during normal office hours.
Travellers Cheques are accepted by leading banks, hotels, ryokan (Japanese inns) and stores in major cities.
International credit cards such as American Express, VISA, and MasterCard are also acceptable at most establishments. Please note that credit card transactions are not always available outside the big cities, so obtaining cash beforehand is recommended when you travel to the countryside.
Foreign credit and cash cards can be used at Post Office and Seven Bank ATMs throughout Japan. There are over 26,000 Post Office ATMs in Japan and post offices which provide this service display stickers indicating which cards are accepted. Cards from the Cirrus, PLUS, Maestro and Visa Electron networks can be used. Accepted credit cards include VISA, MasterCard and American Express.
Withdrawal of Japanese Yen on Seven Bank ATMs is also available for international cash cards and credit cards. Over 12,000 Seven Bank ATMs are placed at 7-Eleven convenience stores throughout Japan and the service will be given 24 hours a day in English, Korean, Chinese and Portuguese. Cash cards from the PLUS and Cirrus networks can be used. Accepted credit cards are VISA, MasterCard, American Express, JCB and China UnionPay.
Electricity
The voltage used throughout Japan is 100 volts, A.C.
There are two kinds of frequencies in use; 50 Hertz in eastern Japan and 60 Hertz in western Japan (including Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka). Hakuba uses 60 Hertz.
A convertible type of electrical appliance such as a hair dryer, travel iron and shaver will therefore be handy; otherwise a step-down transformer is required to convert the voltage.
There are no columnar-shaped plugs or 3-pin plugs used in Japan but 2-flat-pin plugs are used instead. It is therefore advised to purchase a plug adapter beforehand.
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