Forty-two cards, and the day put in order
Everything in Core, plus the situations nobody thinks to search for until they are standing in one — and a guide that sequences them by when you will actually hit them.
Not on sale yet. The native-speaker register check is the gate, and it has not happened — so there is nothing to buy on this page and no email list to join. The cards that exist are free to download in the meantime. Take the four free cards, or read the fourteen guides — those are the whole answer either way. Why the check matters: how cards are checked.
The recovery set
The card you hope not to need
What is in it
Cards by category
| Category | What it covers | Cards |
|---|---|---|
| Shops | Market stalls, butcher and fishmonger, 100-yen shops, point cards, omiyage, coin laundry, the barber, shipping home, takkyubin luggage forwarding, konbini services | 10 |
| Stay | Ryokan, capsule hotel, luggage storage, asking to leave bags early | 4 |
| Help | The recovery set — lost, the toilet, wifi, the emergency allergy card, and “something has gone wrong and I need someone who speaks English” | 6 |
The plan guide
What actually justifies the extra $5
The guide is not a card set. It is a sequenced document: day one, the airport IC card counter, your first konbini, the taxi. Day two, your first ramen shop and paying at the front. Day three, the onsen.
It is ordered by when you will hit each situation rather than by category, which is the one thing a deck of cards cannot do for you. It is also the only part of the product that took real editorial judgement, which is why it sits at the top of the ladder rather than being sprinkled through both packs.
Everything in Core is included. If you have already bought Core, the upgrade is the difference in price and not the full amount — email us.
Compare
Against the other two
Four cards, downloaded direct, no email.
- Four cards — the ramen ticket machine, the convenience store, the taxi, and “I don't understand”
- Full resolution, identical to the paid pack
- No email address, no account, no card details
- Straight download. There is no list to join and no sequence to unsubscribe from.
All 22 situation cards, phone and print.
- 22 situation cards at 1080 × 1620, for the camera roll
- Print sheets, 4-up with cut marks, US Letter and A4
- Works offline — they are images, not an app
- Corrections and updates free for 12 months — and the first hundred buyers keep every future Japan card, with no time limit
Not on sale yet — the register check is the gate
Everything in Core, plus shopping, stay, the recovery set and the plan guide.
- Everything in the Core pack
- Shopping and services — 10 cards, including takkyubin luggage forwarding
- Stay — 4 cards: hotel check-in, ryokan, capsule, luggage storage
- The recovery set — 6 cards for when it has already gone wrong
- The plan guide: your first three days in the order you'll hit them
Not on sale yet — the register check is the gate
Questions
Before you buy
What is in the recovery set?
Six cards for when it has already gone wrong: “I don't understand”, an unambiguous emergency allergy card, lost and needing help, where the toilet is, wifi and data, and “something has gone wrong and I need someone who speaks English”.
What is takkyubin and why is it in here?
Luggage forwarding — you send a suitcase from one hotel to the next for roughly ¥2,000–¥2,500 and travel with a day bag. Almost no visitor knows it exists, and it changes how a two-city trip feels. It is the clearest example of a card nobody would think to search for.
Do I need Complete if I'm only there a week?
Probably not. Core covers the 22 situations of the first 48 hours and most of a week. Complete earns its $5 if you are staying somewhere other than a business hotel, shopping seriously, or moving between cities.
Is the plan guide Tokyo-specific?
No. It is sequenced by arrival day rather than by city, so it works for Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto or Fukuoka. Where a detail is genuinely city-specific — the airport IC card counters, for instance — it says which city it means.
Has this been checked by a Japanese speaker?
Not yet, and the site will not claim it has. The cards are dated, the register check is the gate before the price rises, and that is what the founding price is buying you into. See how cards are checked.