The Best Japanese Apps for Visiting and Living in Japan

Before that, I suggest you apply for a Japanese phone number and change the preferred region of the app store to Japan. Some apps can't be downloaded and installed if you don't do this.

The most essential app

Y! 防災速報

This app can immediately inform you when an earthquake occurs. (Or various natural disasters or man-made crimes and other events that may harm your personal safety.)

Its notification is local and will not notify you of information outside the local.

Apps for daily traffic

Y! 乗換案内

This app can tell you how to get to your destination and which subway to change.

モバイルSuica

This app has the function of a virtual bus/subway card.

But please note that Android and apple are different versions. The Android version can only inherit the regular ticket. I suggest applying for another card directly because it isn't feasible to inherit the physical card to an Android phone.

Suica can be used not only on the subway but also on vending machines just like this:

vending machine

And you can even use it in restaurants, convenience stores, and other scenes.

Apps for House renting

SUUMO

This app is used to rent or buy houses.

Nitori (ニトリアプリ)

You may need this to buy furniture.

Online shopping apps

Amazon JP

Amazon Japan's app usage is not much different from your country's. The language option can be switched to your own language, and only the region needs to be changed to Japan.

Rakuten Market [楽天市場] 

This is an online shopping website/app in Japan. The price is always slightly higher than that of Amazon because I have experienced that the cost of the same product on Amazon can even be 2000 yen cheaper.

ZOZOTOWN

This is an online shopping app for clothes.

If you want to buy some theme T-shirts, such as "ゆるキン△, "it's better on this because this app may be the first to sell. You can make a reservation in advance.

However, I still don't recommend using apps to buy clothes because it's better to purchase clothes offline, and there are places to buy clothes around Japan, and the price is excellent.

Mercari [メルカリ]

Mercari is the largest website/app selling second-hand goods in Japan.

Bic Camera [ビックカメラ]

Bic Camera mainly sells electronic equipment, such as computers, home appliances, mobile phones, etc.

It has offline stores, and you can also use its app/website to buy products online.

Virtual Credit Card

VANDLE CARD [バンドルカード] 

I highly recommend this virtual credit card app because it is effortless. I have been using it all the time.

Using a virtual card is a perfect choice if you don't want your personal information to be leaked at will.

And it can urge you to spend less money, especially the money that doesn't belong to you, that is, overdraft consumption.

This card must be charged before you can use it.

You can choose to charge at any convenience store. Here I don't recommend doing this at Lawson because Lawson requires you to manually operate the Loppi machine, which is very troublesome. It's best to charge at Family Mart because you just need to show the bar code and pay the cash.

Apps for daily shopping

FamiPay [ファミペイ] 

This app can help you save money and the trouble of changing.

It can return a certain amount of yen and give points after each purchase. Every 1 point you get is equivalent to every 1 yen, which can be used for shopping.

But before that, you need to apply for a point card. There are three kinds of point cards in Japan, R-card, T-card, and D-card. These three kinds of cards do not seem to issue physical cards now. You need to install the corresponding app to register your account. Before that, you'd better have a Japanese mobile number.

Nanaco

711 special e-shopping card can only be used when it is bound with a physical credit card. The virtual credit card I mentioned earlier cannot be attached to it.

711  [セブンーイレブン] 

711 has its own member bar code, and this app can be bound with nanaco and paypay, so you can get points simultaneously when checking out.

LAWSON [ローソン] 

This is LAWSON's app, but it doesn't seem to support payment.

And it only supports D-card.

Majica

This is Don Quijote's app; its function is almost identical to FamiPay.

iAEON

If you shop in "my basket" food market, you will use it, the same as FamiPay. [まいばすけっと]

Life [ライフ] 

If you shop in the "Life" supermarket, you will use it like FamiPay.

Tips:

Various supermarkets and convenience stores, and shopping malls in Japan have their own apps with the same or similar functions.

Apps for daily eating

松屋フーズ

You can use this app to avoid waiting at vending machines and order directly on the table with your mobile phone. It can get points, which can be used for the following order.

And it currently supports virtual credit cards like vandle cards.

すき家

It's almost the same as the Matsuya-food app. 

You can choose to have a meal in the すき家, take it out, or have someone deliver it to your place.

吉野家

This app only supports getting points, and the point card only supports R-card, T-card, and its own member card. Yes, you have to pay cash for meals in the 吉野家. They have a website that allows you to order meals online, but the app doesn't.

一蘭公式アプリ

A point card app for eating Ichiran-Ramen.

You can use its points to exchange for side dishes, such as "Extra Sliced Pork (4 pieces)", "Kae-Dama," "Rice-Koshihikari Special Selection," and so on.

It can also be used to buy Ichiran products online.

Uber Eats

I don't need to introduce this app because it is already commonly used in your country, especially in the United States.

Apps for Sending mail or express delivery

ヤマト運輸

An app for express delivery.

ヤマト運輸 is the most common express delivery company in Japan; you can see it almost anywhere.

日本郵便

If you want to send a letter/something, you can use this, but l suggest you go directly to the post office.

Apps for part-time jobs

Town work [タウンワーク]

This app can help you find a part-time job nearby in a short time and is very easy to use.

Apps for watching Anime (Just my preference)

Niconico [ニコニコ]

NicoNico has a website and mobile app. If you charge its membership, you can watch all Japanese animes. This is better than Netflix because Netflix does not have all animes.