ESSENTIAL APPS FOR NEGOTIATING JAPAN

Google Translate

This app allows you to translate to and from multiple languages by typing or pasting in text or by speaking into your phone’s microphone. Its finest feature, however, is the camera input. With it, you can scan Japanese text, such as a menu, and a fairly accurate translation will appear over the top of the words it detects.

Hyperdia

Free for 30 days after you first install it, this app makes navigating public transportation easy, providing timetable information and detailed route searches for trains, subways and planes nationwide. The Hyperdia by Voice app is similar, but uses spoken instructions in either English or Japanese.

GuruNavi

Type in parameters such as location, the food you want or your budget, and this will list options, including information on whether or not the restaurant has an English menu or English-speaking staff.

ABOVE LEFT: Robots were trialled for helping visitors ABOVE RIGHT: The Tokyo Water Taxi is another transport option