I stayed in Kashiwa, and worked in Abiko (both in the far northeast of Tokyo).
Develop some chopstick skills before you go.
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If you drink (they do):
(Ettiquette):
Go down the street, make a turn and a turn and a turn (to get away from the Westerners)
Find a little Mom and Pop Bar and Grill.
Sit at the bar.
Order a beer. It will probably come with a small glass.
"Master! (or if it is the Mom, "Mama-san!) o-biero kudasai!" (That's about all the Japanese I was able to learn in visits totalling 12 months)
He/she will put it in front of you, and may pour your glass.
Hold up the bottle an make the expression to offer him some.
He'll rummage around for his glass and you pour (never pour your own beer in Japan)
If the guy next to you has an empty glass offer to fill it.
Don't worry, the favor will be returned.
More than likely you will soon have a barfull (won't be but a few people) of new (temporary) friends.
This Master was a Sumo at some earlier point in his life:
Maybe you'll get invited to a table...
If you get the invitation to go to the "next place", take it. It won't be far.
Maybe you'll develop and affinity for sushi if you try it.
As for Western Food (outside of the places that cater to the West and know what they are doing), don't.
Pizza will always be a surprise. Mussels (as a topping) still in the shell is one item I remember. And whole crabs.
Many many places have plastic food outside to show what they make:
They'll often have a picture menu inside.
Worst case (if you go in) you can drag the waiter outside and point to what you think you want.
It may not taste like what you think it should, but that's another story.
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Easiest way to keep track of money - just think 1000 yen is about $10.00
Carry lots of cash. Don't worry.
Currently, 1 US Dollar equals
106.31 Japanese Yen
Most everything will seem expensive. Just forget it.
I needed a new pencil. Went to SOGO (big department store) found the office supplies (Japanese are nuts about office supplies). Mechanical pencils were in a glass case. Nice girl helped me select a pencil. "That one", I said. She bends down, gets the pencil, hands it to Girl #2, who walks it five feet to the register where Girl#3 rings up the purchase, and hands it to Girl#4 who puts it in a nice little pencil box, and SOGO bag, and hands it to me. Best 100Y I ever spent.
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If you look in a little place and it is empty (no customers) go on in.
Japanese reportedly don't like to go into an empty place.
We did once that in Shinjuku. (trying to avoid the crowd outside, and all the other places nearby seemed full)
Within about 10 minutes the place was full.
The proprietor seemed to be happy with us.
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If you try to go in someplace and get rejected/not permitted to enter, leave. Don't take it personally.
It may not be because you're Ethnically Declined.
We tried to stumble into one place, got rejected, looked in the window on the way to the next place, it was a bunch of older ladies playing Mah-Jong. So, the doorman made a correct assessment.
Another rejection was (as it turned out) some place whose clientele (we later learned) reputedly included Yakuza members.
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Order the Japanese Breakfast at the hotel.
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Don't tip (not sure this is
still the case, but two examples):
I left a couple of bucks on the table at a Pizza place.
I left.
About two blocks away somebody is tugging on my arm "You forgot this!"
I should have already guessed, because:
Take two taxis from Narita (out in the countryside International Airport) to Kashiwa (on the outskirts of Metro Tokyo). Give the drivers extra money for the fare (4 of us with luggage). They growl a little and make change. We say keep the change. They just don't seem to understand the concept. We keep trying, no deal. Finally they accept the offer of some soft drinks from the vending machine nearby (there is always a vending machine nearby).
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You might try not to travel during rush hour.
I took the Joban Line from Kashiwa to Nippi-Nippori and transferred to the Yamanote (Tokyo loop) line about 5pm one Friday. The train was already full. I got "pushed" out and "pushed" back in at most of the stops till I managed to stay "pushed out" at the one I wanted. ("Push" meaning just stuck in the flow).
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Toiletries/little household items were the hardest thing for me to buy. I couldn't tell what anything was.
Is it Toothpaste? Hair cream? Vaginal Itch? Fungicide?
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It's a very disorienting place. One Saturday I rode my bicycle a few miles down the road and came to another little city. Stopped at a yakitory stand and had lunch. Had no idea where I was, decided to go a few more blocks and look at the new town.
Rode one block and there was my Hotel.
Having the "spins" at 3am on a foggy Saturday morning, got out of bed to walk around the block. Got totally lost (miles). Finally figured out the little placards on some telephone poles had city names when I saw mine (Kashiwa - looks like a Christmas Tree and a Birdcage). After an intersection I'd see my town name move closer to the top (and I'd keep walking) or it would have dropped from the list (go back to the intersection and pick another road, try again). I got back to the Hotel about 8:30am.
Learn the "symbol" for your part of town, it can come in handy at the train stations, too.
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Go anywhere any time you want. The chances of being mugged are as close to zero as imaginable. I never felt threatened. If someone is "looking" at you, they're just "looking".
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Japanese won't (unlikely) start a conversation with you. You have to make the first move.
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If you need to make your way through a crowd, extend your arm about eye level, flatten your hand, thumb at the top, wiggle your hand up and down and the crowd will part for your passage.
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Don't take a taxi/car if you can take a train.
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Don't refuse to sing Karaoke, doesn't matter how badly you might sing.
I have (or maybe had) a reasonable singing voice.
At one point, the NEC Christmas Party, at the Tamiheden Wedding Hall, I'm on a stage, drink and a borrowed cigarette in hand, doing my best imitation (with some schtick) of
Dean Martin singing "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime", and the crowd went wild...
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Make sure you have comfortable walking shoes.
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Have fun. I would.
