Visa and entry requirements Japan:
Passport required
No visa is required

Information from the Foreign Office about your trip to Japan:
https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/japansicherheit/213032

Japan is an island nation in East Asia with around 127 million inhabitants. The country consists of almost 7,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean and borders North Korea and South Korea to the west, China and Taiwan to the southwest, and Russia to the north. The four large main islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, where 98% of all residents live.

The official language of the country is Japanese and the national currency is the Japanese yen, where 1 euro is equivalent to around 130 JPY.

The largest cities in Japan include the megacities Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kobe, Fukuoka, Kyoto, Chiba, Kawasaki, Saitama, Hiroshima and Sendai.

Japan is the fourth largest island nation in the world, the country with the eleventh largest population in the world and one of the strongest economies in the world.

Japan's land area is predominantly dominated by forested mountains, which cover almost 80% of the national territory. The highest point in the country is the Fuji volcano at 3,776 meters. In the forests of Japan you can often find black bears, brown bears, deer, goat antelopes, monkeys and numerous species of birds.

Japan's economy is based primarily on a strong industry with vehicle construction, electronics and mechanical engineering, agriculture with the cultivation of rice, beans, spinach, radish, citrus fruits, ginger and other vegetables, and tourism.

The most important tourist attractions in Japan include the Fushimi Inari Shrine with its many red tunnels, the Eikando Temple with its many maple trees, the Samurai Theater, the train station, the 1001 statues of Sanjüsangen Temple and the Golden Pavilion Temple of Kyoto, the Peace Museum of Hiroshima, the Todai Temple and Nara Park of Nara, the Itsukushima Shrine and the Daisho Temple on Miyajima Island, the Hakone Open Air Art Museum, the temple on the mystical Mount Koyasan, the castle Himeji in Okayama, Kenreku Garden in Kanazawa, Hase Dera Temple in Kamakura, Matsumoto Castle, Magic Bar, Dotonbori District, Universal Studios, Castle Park and Comedy Club in Osaka, Naritasan Shinsho Temple in Narita, the Flower Park in Kuwana, the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park and the 634 meter high Tokyo Sky Tree - the highest television tower in the world, the Kokugikan Sumo Arena, the Meiji Shrine, the National Museum, the Imperial Palace, the Tokyo Museum, the Akasaka Palace, the Tsukiji Fish Market - largest fish market in the world, the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, the government district, the Owl Cafe, the Art Museum, the Samurai Museum, the Rainbow Bridge, the Shinjuku district, the 333 meter high Tokyo Tower, the Imperial Gardens, the Asakusa Kannon Temple, Ueno Park, the National Theater and the Happoen Garden of Tokyo.

The capital and largest city of Japan is Tokyo with almost 10 million inhabitants. The metropolis of Tokyo and its surrounding metropolitan area are, with a population of almost 40 million people, the largest metropolitan region in the world.

Tokyo is at the same time the political, economic and cultural center of Japan, one of the largest financial centers in the world and one of the ten most expensive cities on earth.

In January 2013 I traveled to the island nation of Japan for the only time so far. The destination of my four-day stay was exclusively the capital Tokyo.

After I had already seen several of Tokyo's attractions on the first day during a leisurely tour and a few rides on the metro, the evening was followed by the bitterest hour of my entire travel life.

Not far from the Hilton hotel I had booked in the Shinjuku district, I actually just wanted to end my eventful day with a few drinks. In all the hectic hustle and bustle of Shinjuku, it wasn't so easy to find the right bar with such a huge selection. Finally, I chose a bar right on the street with only one customer and a great view of the colorful and busy Shinjuku district.

My first drink was a vodka-cola after the Red Bull I requested wasn't available. Surprisingly, after about 20 minutes, an African man came in the door with a bag of about 6 to 8 cans of Red Bull and handed them over to the counter. My second drink was of course a vodka-Red Bull, which the bartender, also of African origin, brought to my table. Unfortunately, that was the last detail I could later remember from the evening.

I finally woke up the next day at around 8 p.m. in my hotel bed, with a severe headache and still wearing my shoes and leather jacket. I don't know how I got to my hotel room or what exactly happened in the last 22 hours.

The conclusion was that someone had probably put KO drops or a similar substance in one of the two drinks and I had suffered total memory loss. In the meantime, my account was reduced by around 3,000 euros, and my brand new iPhone and all of my cash worth around 200 to 300 euros were stolen.

Of course, I couldn't remember how the perpetrators, presumably the bartender and his accomplice, got my account. I must have signed several signatures or given out my PIN number.

Since that day, I never leave the house with my entire wallet while abroad and I only drink bottled beer anywhere in the world.

After this shocking experience, I left the Japanese capital the next day for Seoul in South Korea.

But one day I'll come back and give the city another chance because I'm actually a fan of Japanese culture.