Japan private tour tips for dealing with travel stress and information overload

International travel and travel in general can be educational, relaxing, interesting and fun. But it can also be stressful and quickly lead to information overload.

I have traveled a lot and the country that stands out for stress and information overload is Japan (mainland China and South Africa also rank highly in my opinion).

Japan, as I have stated so many times, is probably the most exotic country and society on the planet. The Japanese people are enigmatic and thus hard to read (especially Kyoto people). They are also not known for speaking English or any other foreign languages well. In fact, many Japanese people have never been outside of Japan nor interacted with foreigners much. And they are afraid of making mistakes speaking foreign languages, which they link with embarrassment. All these factors can be stressful for a foreign or couple traveling in Japan, especially in Kyoto and off the beaten track.

The Kyoto people are the most difficult to read in Japan and any Japanese person will confirm this. It is said that a salesperson who is successful in Kyoto will be successful anywhere in Japan. I studied woodwork with a group of Japanese carpenters in the 1990s. One of them lived in a very old Kyoto neighborhood where most of the families were 10th or 15th generation. My fellow student's family had only lived in this neighborhood for five generations and he said his neighbors always treated him as an outsider! Another friend of mine, an American, once asked a Kyoto man at a bus stop for directions to a nearby famous Buddhist temple in Japanese (my friend spoke Japanese quite well at that time). The Kyoto man took a while to answer and eventually my friend just walked away without an answer. The Kyoto man understood the question but instead of answering it he was trying to decide if he should interact with the foreigner at all! Strange but true . . .

Japan private travel content by Your Japan Private Tours' (established in 1990) founder Japan travel expert Ian Martin Ropke. I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. Your Japan Private Tours specializes in bespoke travel for private clients (I do not work with agents) including exclusive excursions, personalized experiences, and unique adventures. I am 100% client-centric and total individual attention. Consider my Japan travel services for your next trip. And thank you for reading my content. Learn more!

The Japanese language in written form is impossible for foreign travelers, and this means frustration whilst shopping in supermarkets, drug stores and restaurants. And this also causes stress.

Over the years, many of my Japan private tour clients have reported a unique form of fatigue after being in the country for a week or so. And the reason for their tiredness was the unique stresses foreigners experience in Japan and information overload.

Information overload for many is related to reading online. But information overload can also occur in busy foreign environments like Japan's big cities.

I have found, no matter where I experience information overload, that cognitively disengaging from the culture you are in helps a lot. This is also true if you live in a big city, any big city. And when cognitive disengagement is called for there are only a few places a person can find it. If you are an advance meditation practitioner you can find mental serenity nearly anywhere. However, the average person will need to go to special places to clear their mind of information overload and stress.

In Japanese cities, the four best places to find serenity and rest for an hour or more, are museums, parks, rivers, and the very edge of any city.

Kyoto, for example, is home to more than a few big museums where you can find the quiet you need. These include the Kyoto National Museum on Shichijo Street, a little east of Kyoto Station. The Kyoto Museum of Modern Art just south of Heian Shrine. And my favorite, the Kahitsukan – Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art in the Gion district a short distance west of Yasaka Shrine. Of course, there are others. But these three offer visitors space that is quiet, uncluttered, and serene: perfect for information overload stress.

Kyoto also has a few parks that are perfect for taking a break from busy big city life. The park surrounding the Kyoto Imperial Palace is home to small, forested areas where you can hear no car traffic. Instead, you can hear crows and the breeze passing through the park's countless big pine trees. The west side of the Imperial Palace park has plum tree orchards and small stream, an ideal place to space out! And on the west side of Kyoto, the super-popular Arashiyama district (home to the famous Bamboo Grove), offers both serene little parks and the quiet banks of the Hozu River. And if you hike just a bit uphill and west of where all the tourists are you will quickly come to areas that are completely free of people and cars.

Kyoto's Kamogawa River is pretty close to nearly all of the city's top tourist attractions, and this makes it the perfect place to clear your mind.

Finally, the edges of the Kyoto valley are perfect for getting away from the hustle and bustle of busy city life. If you find yourself on the east side of Kyoto then just walk into the Higashiyama hills and feel the stress leave your mind and body. The Daimonji lookout above the Silver Pavilion is a perfect example for chilling in Kyoto but there are many other quiet forested places on the east side of Kyoto's ancient capital. Go slow!

Japan private travel content by Your Japan Private Tours' (established in 1990) founder Japan travel expert Ian Martin Ropke. I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. Your Japan Private Tours specializes in bespoke travel for private clients (I do not work with agents) including exclusive excursions, personalized experiences, and unique adventures. I am 100% client-centric and total individual attention. Consider my Japan travel services for your next trip. And thank you for reading my content. Learn more!