The Japan Travel Apps I Actually Used (As a Family of Five)

Travelling Japan as a family of five means you’re essentially running a small logistics operation from your phone. Navigation, translation, payments, bookings, safety alerts – Japan asks a lot of your phone, and if you’re not prepared, you’ll feel it within the first hour of arriving at Tokyo Station and staring blankly at a board full of kanji!

Before our Easter 2025 trip through Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima, I’d downloaded about 20 apps. By the end of the fortnight, I knew exactly which ones earned their place and which ones I never opened after day two. This is my ultimate list – the ones that genuinely got us through, plus a few I wish someone had mentioned before I left, and one that earned its keep during a genuinely worrying evening near Hiroshima.

The navigation apps that kept us sane across four cities

Japan’s transport network is extraordinary, but it’s also complicated. Tokyo alone has multiple overlapping metro systems run by different operators, and cities like Kyoto involve a mix of buses, subways, and JR lines that each need separate thinking. These three apps, used together, covered almost everything.

Google Maps sounds obvious, but Japan is one of the places where it really earns its keep. It handles multi-modal routes across different operators, shows live departures, and works offline if you download the area maps before you head out each day. This last bit matters because public wifi in Japan is inconsistent, and you don’t want to be standing at a station exit trying to load a map with three tired kids and a heavy bag. Download your city maps the night before. Every night.

Tokyo Metro for Tourists is more specific, but genuinely useful while you’re in the capital. It gives a clearer visual map of the Tokyo Metro lines and lets you tap on stations to get exit information, which becomes very important with stations like Shinjuku (over 200 exits, I’m not exaggerating). We used it to work out which exit to head for before we’d even got off the train, which with a tired eight-year-old in tow is more valuable than it sounds.

Japan Travel by NAVITIME covers the wider picture: bullet trains, long-distance routes, the connections between cities. It’s the one I used when planning the legs between Tokyo and Kyoto, Kyoto and Hiroshima. It’s not as slick as Google Maps but it handles shinkansen routing in a way that’s easy to follow, and it works offline too.

Suica and PASMO: sort one of these out before you even think about packing

Suica and PASMO are Japan’s IC cards – the equivalent of an Oyster card, but they work almost everywhere across the country and you can also use them to pay at convenience stores and vending machines. They’re accepted on the same networks and in the same shops, so for most visitors it comes down to whichever is easier to set up.

We used PASMO in Tokyo and it was seamless – if you’re planning to spend a chunk of time on the Tokyo Metro specifically, it’s a natural fit. I’ve written a full guide to using PASMO which covers everything you need to know before you go.

Suica is the JR East version and works just as well nationwide. iPhone users can download the Welcome Suica Mobile app from the App Store and set it up before travelling. Android users can add Suica via Google Wallet, though the setup is a little more involved and worth researching ahead of time. PASMO also has a tourist app version available for both iPhone and Android.

Whichever you choose, get it set up before you fly. Having it ready means you step off the plane and tap straight through the gates rather than queueing at a machine trying to work out the denominations. And one practical note for families: each person needs their own card. The kids had theirs on their devices, and moving through ticket gates with five people in one go was so much quicker for it.

GO: the taxi app you’ll need more than you expect

Uber doesn’t really work in Japan in the way you’d expect it to. GO is the local equivalent – it pulls together taxi companies into one app, you input your destination in English, and the driver arrives already knowing where you’re going. That removes the language barrier almost entirely, which matters more than it sounds when you’re trying to explain a hotel address at 10pm.

We didn’t use taxis often because the trains are so good, but there were moments where GO was exactly what we needed: late evenings when the kids were done, a rainy day in Kyoto to get to the Samurai museum, and one occasion in Osaka when we had too much luggage to manage a rush-hour train comfortably. It’s not the kind of app you want to be fumbling to install when you actually need it, so download and set it up before you go even if you think you won’t use it much.

Google Translate: yes, even if you think you won’t need it

I know, I know. But Japan is one of those destinations where Google Translate genuinely comes into play multiple times a day. Menus, signs, product labels at convenience stores, a note left in our hotel room – all of it. The camera translation feature, where you point your phone at text and it overlays the translation, is particularly good and means you can read an entire menu without scanning each item individually. This was an absolute godsend at some more traditional restaurants!

My kids ended up using it more than I did, mostly to translate vending machine options and the backs of snack packets. It became a bit of a game, which I’m counting as cultural education.

The currency converter I used more than almost anything else

Japan is still largely cash-based in many places, particularly at smaller restaurants, markets, and traditional guesthouses – though it’s slowly changing. Knowing roughly what you’re spending in pounds matters, and while you can do mental arithmetic in theory, in practice you’re tired, distracted, and trying to stop someone touching something they shouldn’t.

I used a simple converter app set to GBP to JPY that worked offline and updated exchange rates whenever I had wifi. It sounds minor but it genuinely changed how confident I felt about spending day to day, particularly at places with no English pricing context. Japan is often very reasonable by UK standards, but you need that mental reference point to appreciate it rather than just panicking at a number you don’t recognise.

Klook and Save Trip: how we planned without drowning in emails

Klook was the app that handled our big bookings, and it was brilliant for it. We booked our bullet train tickets through Klook before we even left the UK – you show the QR code at the station barrier, no queueing at a machine, no navigating a Japanese-language booking system. We also booked our DisneySea tickets through Klook, which I’d strongly recommend doing well in advance because they do sell out, particularly at weekends. Everything lives in one place in the app, so on the day you’re just pulling up a QR code rather than hunting through your inbox.

Save Trip sat alongside Klook as our itinerary organiser, keeping all the hotel confirmations, activity bookings, and daily plans in one readable format. It’s not glamorous but having a single place to check rather than seventeen email threads made the whole trip feel much more manageable, especially when three kids are asking “what are we doing tomorrow?” on rotation every evening.

Ecbo Cloak: the luggage app I wish I’d downloaded from day one

Japan has coin lockers at train stations, but they fill up quickly at busy stations, they’re not always large enough for proper suitcases, and you can’t always predict where you’ll need storage until you’re already there. Ecbo Cloak is an app that lets you book luggage storage at local shops and cafes near stations – businesses that have signed up to keep bags for a few hours or a full day.

We could have used this on several days when we were checking out of one hotel but had hours before we could check into the next, particularly in Kyoto where we wanted to explore without trailing everything behind us. I didn’t have it and we ended up heading back to lockers we’d spotted earlier. Learn from my mistake and have it ready before you need it.

Safety Tips and NERV: the apps I hoped we’d never need to use properly

I want to be honest rather than alarmist about this: Japan has earthquakes. Most of the time you won’t feel anything significant, but there were tremors recorded while we were near Hiroshima, and not knowing whether something bigger was coming was genuinely unsettling when you’re in an unfamiliar place with children. Having apps that told me exactly what was happening, in English, made a real difference.

Safety Tips is the official Japanese government app for tourists during disasters. It sends push alerts in English for earthquakes, tsunamis, and severe weather, and it also has an evacuation guide and emergency phrases for getting help from people around you. It’s from the Japan Tourism Agency, it’s free, and it takes about two minutes to set up.

NERV Disaster Prevention does something slightly different: it gives earthquake early warnings often before you even feel the shaking, drawing directly from Japan’s Meteorological Agency data. It’s the app that comes up consistently in Japan expat communities when people discuss safety, and it tends to be faster than Safety Tips specifically for earthquake alerts. I’d have both. They take up almost no space and the peace of mind when you’re travelling with kids is worth every megabyte.

The Tokyo Disneyland app: don’t go to the parks without it

If DisneySea or Tokyo Disneyland is on your itinerary – and honestly, it should be – download the official Tokyo Disney Resort app before you go. It shows real-time queue times across every attraction, which for a busy park with kids of different ages is genuinely invaluable for planning your day on the go. You can see what’s packed and what’s not, which means you’re steering towards a 20-minute queue rather than walking straight into a 90-minute one.

It also handles Disney Premier Access (the paid skip-the-line option) if you want it (we used this), and shows parade and show times throughout the day. DisneySea in particular has a slightly confusing layout on first arrival – the in-app map is much clearer than the paper one and helped us get our bearings far more quickly than we would have done otherwise.

DisneySea with kids: everything we wished we’d known

Quick reference: what each app does and whether you really need it

Do I need all of these apps for Japan?

Not every app here will be relevant for every trip. If you’re not visiting a Disney park, skip that one. If you’re staying in one city, Ecbo Cloak is less critical. But the core group – Google Maps, Suica, Google Translate, a currency converter, GO, and both safety apps – is worth having on your phone whatever your itinerary looks like.

Does Uber work in Japan?

Uber exists in Japan but it’s limited in availability and coverage compared to GO. GO works with licensed taxi companies rather than private drivers, which means a much larger fleet across most cities. For the majority of visitors, GO is the more reliable option.

Can I set up Suica in the UK before I travel?

iPhone users can download Welcome Suica Mobile from the App Store and set it up before travelling, though some features only activate after arriving in Japan. Android users can add Suica via Google Wallet, but the process is more involved and worth researching before you go. Either way, it’s worth sorting ahead of time rather than on arrival.

Which earthquake app is better – Safety Tips or NERV?

They do slightly different things and it’s worth having both. Safety Tips is the official government tourist app covering a wider range of disasters including tsunamis and typhoons, with English guidance and evacuation information. NERV is faster and more specific for earthquake early warnings, often alerting you seconds before you feel any shaking. Both are free.

Can you book bullet train tickets through Klook?

Yes, and for UK families it’s one of the easiest ways to do it. You book your date and seat in advance, receive a QR code in the app, and scan it at the station barrier. There’s no need to queue at a machine or navigate Japanese-language booking screens, which is particularly useful when you’re arriving into a busy station for the first time.

Looking for other things to do in Japan?

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Visiting Tokyo DisneySea

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Becky

Meet the award-nominated UK lifestyle blogger behind Spirited Puddle Jumper – a mum of three living in South East London! Becky shares the real ups and downs of family life, parenting tips, and lifestyle inspiration, proving that being a mum doesn’t mean you stop being fun or having other interests! Follow along for honest insights into UK family life and opinions on a whole range of topics, from travel and food, to beauty reviews, home and DIY, business and health and wellness.