Another useful tip: find out the JCC or JCG of your location. You will be asked for that as well in QSO’s.
Enjoy your trip (I am 
)
73, Martin JL1EVF/5 (PE1EEC)
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Thanks Martin!
And good to know what they represent:
In Japanese amateur radio, JCC stands for “Japan Century Cities,” and JCG stands for “Japan Century Guns.” These are numbers used to track and award contacts with amateur radio stations located in specific cities (JCC) and areas, which are known as “guns” (JCG), within Japan.
73 Stephan
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Which you need to say as Juliet Lima One Foxtrot Bravo Lima portable Nine. Otherwise it will be confusing for JA stations.
Have fun activating in JA!
73 Joe
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Good to know, Joe!
So the portable nine means I’m portable in the call area Hokuriku.
I assume you only log the call area (/9 in this case) and omit the portable.
73 Stephan
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Thanks for all the information. I wish you a nice stay in Japan!
73 de Martin / HB9GVW
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Confused me a bit (in Morse) too. It took me a few goes to catch on to that convention from the other end when I was running a POTA from Wadjemup/Rottnest earlier in the week and getting a pile-up of J* stations…
73, Rick VK/M0LEP/P
(…now wondering whether VK/M0LEP/6 would have been better…)
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I just heard today from a friend who is going to visit Japan that you can get at the Japanese Embassy a General Ticket for (all?) Public Transports.
73 de Martin / HB9GVW
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This could be an interesting option, especially if the Shinkansen (bullet train) is included in this general ticket.
Another problem I haven’t quite solved is driving a car in Japan. For Swiss, German, French and a few other nationalities, an international driver’s licence is not good enough, i.e. you need a translation for it, see also: To apply for a translation of their driver’s license | JAF.
Also, you can’t do this on their web portal from outside Japan, but only with an IP from Japan (or probably with a Japanese VPN). Because of this limitation, there are so-called proxy services or intermediaries that do this for you, but not for free…
Still a lot to sort out!
73 Stephan
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Look up Japan Rail Pass. It includes all but the fastest Shinkansen and is generally good value for money if you are doing more than one trip. There are speciality versions that only cover some parts of Japan (eg, Tokyo → Hokkaido)
You can apply online via JR website and then you pick it up at one of the larger stations in Tokyo with your passport.
There’s also what used to be called Yokoso Japan airfares that are only able to be booked by foreigners from outside the country. Maybe Japan Explorer fares is the new name? JAL and ANA both offer them and a one way ticket can be cheaper than the Shinkansen and is useful for routes that might be longer than the flight (eg, like Tokyo to Hiroshima)
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Yes Japan Explorer Pass:
Eg, for JAL: https://www.jal.co.jp/flights/en-au/japan-domestic-routes
Also, with the JR Rail Pass and Shinkansen, you will still need to make a reservation for a seat before you board, and some routes can fill up quickly so you may not always get the train you planned for and the line in the Midori-no-madoguchi (literally green ticket window) can be long.
JR East and JR West both have websites you can book as well as Ekinet if you want to get ahead of things but I can’t recall if you can do that before with a Rail Pass (last time I went it was cheaper to get a Explorer Pass airfare and pay for a Shinkansen ticket than buy a Rail Pass)
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It’s actually quite easy, and the reason you can’t do this outside of Japan is because of the printing of your copy. This is done via a code on a networked printer in the 7-Eleven, so you can’t do this via a VPN from home. It will take about a day for your driver’s licence to be translated. Once you printed the translation, you can go to a car rental, and rent a car.
73, Martin Jl1EVF/5 (PE1EEC)
PS, for readers from other countries, Japan has made certain agreements with various countries. Above is the procedure for Switzerland (plus a few other countries). Check the Japanese Automobile Federation website for your country.
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Hi Martin,
Thanks for your information!
My partner, who is already in Japan, got her license translated, and as you explained, she printed it out at a 7-Eleven.
I will do the same in about two weeks when I land in Tokyo.
Another tip for Swiss and probably other nationalities who need a translation: You don’t need to bring your international driver’s licence, just your national one.
Have fun with your activations, Martin!
73 Stephan
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Just confirming that this information still is accurate in September 2025.
I reached out to JARL International about the TSCN for my Icom IC-705 and was told that the JARL would use the Japanese TSCN despite the European radio not having one (assuming the radio has not been modified in any way, which mine hasn’t). I was planning to take my QMX instead, but since that’s “homebrew” I figured it’d be way easier to use a Japanese assembled TRX.
Ken at the JARL recommended using the JARL address for correspondence and spectrum use payments (costing 300 JPY), instead of using my employer’s Japanese office address to made things easier - the cost is negligible, so I took their advice.
PayPal transaction for 4600 JPY (23.07 GBP). Now I wait in anticipation! 
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