Fast Facts: N-Z

Newspapers & Magazines -- Three English-language newspapers are published daily in Japan: the Japan Times and the Daily Yomiuri (both with weekly supplements from the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and London's Times), as well as the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun. Hotels and major bookstores carry the international editions of such newsmagazines as Time and Newsweek. You can also read the Japan Times online at www.japantimes.co.jp.

Police -- The national emergency telephone number is tel. 110. For non-emergency criminal matters or concerns, the Metropolitan Police Department maintains a telephone counseling service for foreigners at tel. 03/3503-8484 Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 5pm.

Radio -- For English-language radio programs, AFN Eagle 810 (at 810 kHz), is the English-language radio station operated by the U.S. military, with news updates on the hour, music, talk shows, and sports events from the United States, as well as Tokyo sumo matches. Tokyo's J-Wave (81.3 mHz) broadcasts programs in English with a wide range of music. InterFM (76.1 mHz) in Tokyo specializes in foreign-language broadcasts including adult contemporary music and information, mostly in English but also in French, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, and other languages.

Restrooms -- If you're in need of a restroom in Tokyo, your best bets are train and subway stations (though these tend to be dirty), big hotels, department stores, and fast-food chains like McDonald's. Use of restrooms is free in Japan, but since public facilities may not supply toilet paper, it's a good idea to carry a packet of tissues.

To find out whether a stall is empty, knock on the door. If it's occupied, someone will knock back. Similarly, if you're inside a stall and someone knocks, answer with a knock or else the person will keep on knocking and try to get in. And don't be surprised if you go into some restrooms and find men's urinals and private stalls in the same room. Women are supposed to walk right past the urinals without noticing them.

Many toilets in Japan, especially those at train stations, are Japanese-style toilets: They're holes in the ground over which you squat facing the end that has a raised hood. Men stand and aim for the hole. Although Japanese lavatories may seem uncomfortable at first, they're actually much more sanitary because no part of your body touches anything.

Across Japan, the rage nowadays is washlets, combination toilet/bidets with heated toilet seats, buttons and knobs directing sprays of water of various intensities to various body parts, and even lids that raise when you open the stall. But alas, instructions are usually in Japanese only. The voice of experience: Don't stand up until you've figured out how to turn the darn spray off.

Safety -- Tokyo is one of the safest cities in the world. However, crime -- especially pickpocketing -- is on the increase, and there are precautions you should always take when traveling: Stay alert and be aware of your immediate surroundings. Be especially careful with cameras, purses, and wallets, particularly in crowded subways, department stores, or tourist attractions (such as the retail district around Tsukiji Market). Some Japanese caution women against walking through parks alone at night.

Smoking -- Smoking is banned in public areas, including train and subway stations and office buildings. In most wards (city districts), nonsmoking ordinances ban smoking on sidewalks but allow it in marked "Smokers Corner" areas, usually near train stations. Many restaurants have nonsmoking sections, though bars do not.

Taxes -- A 5% consumption tax is imposed on goods and services in Japan, including hotel rates and restaurant meals. Although hotels and restaurants are required to include the tax in their published rates, a few have yet to comply (especially on English-language menus). In Tokyo, hotels also levy a separate accommodations tax of ¥100 (95¢) per person per night on rooms costing ¥10,000 to ¥14,999 ($95-$142); rates ¥15,000 and up are taxed at ¥200 ($1.90) per night per person. Some hotels include the local tax in their published rack rates, others do not.

In addition to these taxes, a 10% to 15% service charge will be added to your bill in lieu of tipping at most of the fancier restaurants and at moderately priced and upper-end hotels. Thus, the 15% to 20% in tax and service charge that will be added to your bill in the more expensive locales can really add up. Most ryokan, or Japanese-style inns, include a service charge but not a consumption tax in their rates. If you're not sure, ask. Business hotels, minshuku, youth hostels, and inexpensive restaurants do not impose a service charge.

As for shopping, a 5% consumption tax is also levied on most goods. (Some of the smaller vendors are not required to levy tax.) Travelers from abroad, however, are eligible for an exemption on goods taken out of the country, although only the larger department stores and specialty shops seem equipped to deal with the procedures. In any case, most department stores grant a refund on the consumption tax only when the total amount of purchases for the day exceeds ¥10,000 ($95). You can obtain a refund immediately by having a sales clerk fill out a list of your purchases and then presenting the list to the tax-exemption counter of the department store; you will need to show your passport. Note that no refunds for consumption tax are given for food, drinks, tobacco, cosmetics, film, and batteries.

Telephones -- To call Japan: For dialing Japan, the country code is 81. If you're calling a Tokyo telephone number from outside Tokyo but within Japan, the area code for Tokyo is 03. If you're calling Tokyo from abroad, drop the zero and dial only 3. If you have questions, call the international operator in the country from which you are placing your call.

Domestic calls: You can make local, domestic, and international calls from your room in all but the cheapest hotels. It's more economical, however, to use a public telephone. Despite the proliferation of cellphones, public telephones are readily available -- in telephone booths on the sidewalk, on train platforms, in restaurants and coffee shops, even on bullet trains (but these require a prepaid telephone card; see below). A local call costs ¥10 (10¢) for each minute; a warning chime will ring to tell you to insert more coins or you'll be disconnected. I usually insert two or three coins at the start so I won't have to worry about being disconnected; ¥10 coins that aren't used are returned at the end of the call. Some older models available for public use outside ma-and-pa shops accept only ¥10 coins, but most public phones accept both ¥10 and ¥100 coins. The latter is convenient for long-distance calls, but no change is given for unused minutes. All gray ISDN telephones are equipped for international calls and have dataports for Internet access.

Toll-free numbers: in Japan begin with 0120 or 0088. However, calling a 1-800 number in the U.S. from Japan is not toll-free but costs the same as an international call.

If you think you'll be making a lot of domestic calls from public telephones and don't want to deal with coins, purchase a magnetic prepaid telephone card. These are available in a value of ¥1,000 ($9.50) and are sold at vending machines (often located right beside telephones), station kiosks, and convenience stores. Green and gray telephones accept telephone cards. In fact, many nowadays accept telephone cards exclusively. Insert the card into the slot. On the gray ISDN telephones, there's a second slot for a second telephone card, which is convenient if the first one is almost used up or if you think you'll be talking a long time. Domestic long-distance calls are 20% to 40% cheaper at night, on weekends, and on national holidays for calls of distances more than 60km (37 miles).

In addition to the common green and gray public phones, NTT has its own silver and orange IC Card Payphones (found mostly in hotel lobbies) with its own card (sold in adjacent vending machines) which you insert into the phone.

Mobile Phones: You can, of course, avoid public telephones altogether by using a mobile phone. Unfortunately, Japan's system is incompatible with GSM or the U.S. system. You may want to rent a phone, either before you leave home or once you're in Japan.

To make international calls: For a collect call or to place an operator-assisted call through KDDI, dial the international telephone operator at tel. 0051. From a public telephone, look for a specially marked INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC CARD/COIN TELEPHONE. Although many of the specially marked green or gray telephones, the most common public telephone, accept both coins and magnetic telephone cards for domestic calls, most in Tokyo do not accept magnetic cards for international calls (due to illegal usage of telephone cards). You'll therefore either have to use coins, or purchase a special prepaid international telephone card that works like telephone cards issued by U.S. telephone companies. An access number must first be dialed, followed by a secret telephone number and then the number you wish to dial. Such cards are often sold from vending machines next to telephone booths in hotels or in convenience stores like 7-Eleven or Lawson. There are numerous such cards (with instructions in English), such as the Brastel Smart Phonecard (tel. 0120/659-543; www.brastel.com), Primus' Phonebank (tel. 03/5846-3754; www.primustel.co.jp), and KDDI Super World Card (tel. 0057; www.kddi.com). Some hotels have special phones equipped to accept credit cards.

International rates vary according to when you call, which telephone company you use, and what type of service you use. Direct-dial service is cheaper than operator-assisted calls and is offered by both international public telephones and by hotels that advertise the service (though remember to ask about the surcharge). The cheapest time to call is between 11pm and 8am Japan time, while the most expensive time is weekdays from 8am to 7pm. From a pay phone, a ¥1,000 ($9.50) call to the United States will allow you to talk 7 minutes and 25 seconds during prime time and 9 minutes and 45 seconds after 11pm.

If you're not using a prepaid card (which has its own set of instructions and access numbers), to make a direct-dial international call, you must first dial one of the international access codes -- 001 (KDDI), 0041 (Japan Telecom), 0033 (NTT-Com), or 0061 (Japan Telecom IDC) -- followed by 010 and then the country code. The country code for the United States and Canada is 1; for the United Kingdom, it's 44; for Australia, it's 61; and for New Zealand, it's 64. To call the United States, for example, dial an access code such as 001, followed by 010, the country code 1, the area code, and the telephone number. If you're dialing from your hotel room, you must first dial for an outside line, usually 0.

If you wish to be connected with an operator in your home country, you can do so from green international telephones by dialing tel. 0039 followed by the country code. (For the United States, dial tel. 0039-111.) These calls can be used for collect calls or credit card calls. Some hotels and other public places are equipped with special phones that will link you to your home operator with the push of a button, and there are instructions in English.

If you have a U.S. calling card, ask your phone company for the direct access number from Japan that will link you directly to the United States. If you have AT&T, for example, dial tel. 00539-111 (you can also pay by credit card at this number for calls made to the United States). If you're using MCI, however, it depends on which Japanese company you're using (for KDD, it's tel. 0053-121).

Television -- Almost nothing is broadcast in English; even foreign films are dubbed in Japanese. Most upper-range hotels, however, offer bilingual televisions (you can switch from Japanese to English if the program or movie was originally in English), though very few (and fairly dated) English movies and sitcoms are broadcast each week. The plus of bilingual TVs is that you can listen to the nightly national news broadcast by NHK at 7 and 10pm. Otherwise, major hotels in Tokyo have cable TV with English-language programs including CNN broadcasts (sometimes in Japanese only) and BBC World as well as in-house pay movies. But even if you don't understand Japanese, I suggest that you watch TV at least once; maybe you'll catch a samurai series or a sumo match. Commercials are also worth watching.

A word on those pay video programs offered by hotels and many resort ryokan: Upper-range hotels usually have a few choices in English, and these are charged automatically to your bill. Most business hotels usually offer only one kind of pay movie -- generally "adult entertainment" programs. If you're traveling with children, you'll want to be extremely careful about selecting your TV programs. Many adult video pay channels appear with a simple push of the channel-selector button, and they can be difficult to get rid of. In budget accommodations, you may come across televisions with coin boxes attached to their sides or, more common nowadays, vending machines offering prepaid cards. These are also for special adult entertainment videos. Now you know.

Time Zone -- Japan is 9 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, 14 hours ahead of New York, 15 hours ahead of Chicago, and 17 hours ahead of Los Angeles. Since Japan does not go on daylight saving time, subtract 1 hour from the above times if you're calling the United States in the summer.

Because Japan is on the other side of the international date line, you lose a day when traveling from the United States to Asia (if you depart the U.S. on Tues, you'll arrive on Wed). Returning to North America, however, you gain a day, which means that you arrive on the same day you leave. (In fact, it can happen that you arrive in the U.S. at a time earlier than when you departed from Japan.)

Tipping -- One of the delights of being in Japan is that there is no tipping -- not even to waitresses, taxi drivers, or bellhops. If you try to tip them, they'll probably be confused or embarrassed. Instead, you'll have a 10% to 15% service charge added to your bill at higher-priced accommodations and restaurants.

Water -- The water is safe to drink anywhere in Japan, although some people claim it's too highly chlorinated. Bottled water is readily available.