Japan packing list for December

Two climates on one trip

Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka in winter are mostly dry and bright, at about 2–12 °C by day. The harder part is indoors: trains, department stores and restaurants are heated well past what a coat is for, so wear layers you can open or carry rather than one thick one. Hokkaido and the Japan Alps are another matter. Sapporo, Takayama and Shirakawa-go sit well below freezing, with snow and packed ice underfoot. For those legs, switch the form to Freezing and pack shoes with deep, grippy soles; city trainers slide.

Shoes that come off

You will take your shoes off more often than you expect: temple halls, ryokan, restaurants with tatami seating. Laced winter boots turn every visit into a wait at the step, so choose a pair you can slip off and on standing up, and pack socks you are happy to be seen in.

Buy the base layers there

Thin heat-retaining base layers, Uniqlo’s Heattech among them, are sold in every city and usually cost less than at home. Pack one set and buy more there. Convenience stores also sell disposable heat pads (kairo) that sit in a pocket or stick inside a layer for a cold evening at a shrine.

Money, trains and rubbish

Load an IC card — Suica, PASMO or ICOCA — for trains, buses and convenience stores. Suica and PASMO can live in an iPhone’s Wallet; on Android it depends on the handset. Still carry cash, and top it up at 7-Eleven or post-office ATMs, which take foreign cards. An eSIM is simpler than a pocket wifi unless several people share one connection. Coin lockers at large stations hold a day bag. Public bins are rare, so keep a small bag for rubbish.