Twenty-two situations you will actually be in
Not a phrasebook. Each card is one counter, one machine or one doorway: the line to hold up in Japanese large enough to read across a counter, the replies you'll get back, and the one thing not to do.
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.
One card
This is what a card looks like
What is in it
Cards by category
| Category | What it covers | Cards |
|---|---|---|
| Food | Ramen, izakaya, sushi counter, coffee, standing soba, the check | 8 |
| Shops | Convenience store, drugstore, tax-free, sizes, the money tray | 5 |
| Transport | Taxi, IC cards, platforms, changing lines | 4 |
| Stay | Hotel check-in, luggage, the onsen | 3 |
| Help | “I don't understand”, and the allergy card | 2 |
Founding price
$9.99 for the first 100 buyers, then $19
The first hundred buyers pay $9.99 and keep every future Japan card free. After that the pack goes to $19.
There is no countdown on this page because the number is real: the price changes when it changes, and the changelog records it when it does.
Thirty days, no questions, and you keep the files. If a card was wrong we would rather know than keep the money — see refunds.
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 format are the cards?
JPEG images at 1080 × 1620, the same 2:3 ratio as a Pinterest pin, plus a PDF of print sheets in both US Letter and A4. No app, no account, no login. You download a zip once.
Do they work without signal?
Yes — that is the whole point. They are images in your camera roll. They work on the plane, in a subway tunnel, and on a phone in airplane mode with a dead eSIM.
Has this been checked by a Japanese speaker?
Not yet, and we will not claim otherwise. Every card is dated and carries the month it was written, and the native-speaker register check is the gate before the price goes to $19. That is exactly why the founding price exists — see how cards are checked.
What is the difference from Complete?
Core is food and transport — the 22 situations you hit in the first 48 hours. Complete adds 20 more: shopping and services, staying somewhere, and the six-card recovery set for when something has already gone wrong. $5 more.
Can I print them?
Yes, at 300 DPI, 4-up with cut marks, grayscale. Cut on the marks and a card is about the size of a passport. Printing all 22 takes six sheets and no colour ink.
What if a card turns out to be wrong?
Tell us and we will fix it and re-send the pack, and you keep the money — the refund window is 30 days and it is not conditional on returning anything. Corrections are logged publicly in the changelog.