Ok, as a return missionary I can tell you what to pack and
what not to pack…if you are going to the Japan, Tokyo Mission. I will do a separate post for sister’s
clothes. There were so many things that I did not need to bring, that I did,
and then lugged around my entire mission and then quite a few things I wish I
had packed and didn’t and then had to have my parents send me. And that, folks,
is expensive .
Ok first DO PACK…
-A pedigree chart (family tree) with pictures too! Or
just make sure yours is up to date on the church family history website. We
have ipads so you will be able to access it. Familysearch lets you upload
pictures too! So if you have them, add them. Pictures make a very boring family
tree a lot more interesting and it gives you something to talk about. Family
and Ancestors are very important in Japanese culture so this gives you common
ground to build on.
-a CELL PHONE. I had friends who told me to do this and
it worked great for both my brother and I. Go out and buy a cheap pay-as-you-go
phone and put some minutes on it. Then have your parents send it to before you
leave. MAKE SURE THEY ACTIVATE IT. At
the airport you are allowed to call home. Everyone wants to use the phone and
there are not that many, so you end up waiting in line for a good amount of
time and you don’t get to talk to your family for very long. If you have a cell
phone you can talk to your parents without having to wait or get off for someone
else. It worked great for me!
-Compact umbrella. Go to walmart. They have small
umbrellas that are durable and cute! The brand that is the best is TOTE.
-FITTED SHEETS. They tell you not too, I didn’t and it
was the biggest pain in the butt. A twin size fitted sheet will fit around a
futon just fine. Flat sheets need to be re-tucked in every night.
-TOOTH BRUSHES AND TOOTH PASTE. Bring enough tooth paste
and tooth brushes to last your mission. Dental care is not one of Japan’s
strong points. You will have a very hard time finding good tooth brushes (they all look like children’s
tooth brushes there) and an even harder time finding good tooth paste.
-DEODERANT. It doesn’t exist in Japan. Japanese people
don’t need it. They just smell good all the time. Bring lots. Maybe 4 or 5
sticks.
-first aid kit. But don’t spend lots of money on one. The
only thing anybody ever uses really is band-aids and Neosporin. You want strong
bug repellent. The mosquitos are vicious. They are black and blue and big and
leave scars after they bite! I also found having hydro-cortisone cream really
useful. It takes itches away from ANYWHERE.
-sunscreen. I didn’t use much and wish I had. The sun
will take its toll on your skin. You are out all day every day during the
summer and the sun is strong. There is sunscreen in Japan, but I had a lot of
companions who didn’t think it was very good. I don’t know how true that is
though.
-LAUNDRY BAG.
-If you have a special prescription for medicine you need
to bring enough for your mission with you (If it cannot be bought in Japan). If
your parents or a doctor tries to send you medicine it will be confiscated at
customs, burned and you will never get it.
-bring your own helmet and lock for your bicycle. It will
save you $30-$50.00
-what we call a Shokai book. A book full of pictures of
yourself and your family! Get one made at shutterfly or a similar site. Albums
are bulky and heavy. Put lots of pictures of you and your family and friends.
You want things that make you look normal. So trek and EFY…not really the best.
Those don’t mean much to anyone who isn’t Mormon. Pictures of you splaying
sports, going on vacation and anything with Disney is really good. Baby
pictures are fun and having a picture of your baptism opens up conversations to
church. If you are artistic include pictures of your art. Pick pictures that
you can talk about.
-Make-up. It’s expensive in japan!
-A bathrobe for the MTC. It makes traveling between your room and the bathrooms 100 times easier.
-A bathrobe for the MTC. It makes traveling between your room and the bathrooms 100 times easier.
-If you are particular about pads, tampons and
panty-liners bring your own. LOTS. Also this is a side not but girls, use
panty-liners or else your G’s get nasty fast. Smiley face stickers are nice
too.
-Disney stickers. They are fun to give to kids but hard to
find. Other stickers are easy to find..but Disney Princess stickers are hard to
find.
-You will have an ipad in the Japan, Tokyo mission. Something I am so glad I had was a SD card converter...I don't know if that is what it is called. Find (and buy) the tool that allows you to take photos from your SD card and transfer them onto your ipad. It comes in handy when you want to send pictures home or when you want to share photos with others.
DON’T PACK…
-Your driving record. It costs money to print and if you
go to my mission, and are not a Japanese Elder, you will probably never drive a
car.
-True to the Faith, Our Search for Happiness, Jesus the
Christ or Our Heritage. You will have an ipad on which you can access all of
these. They take up space and way a lot and quite honestly you probably won’t
read most of them anyways. True to the Faith is great. But use it from your
ipad.
-In your call packet it says to bring “pens, pencils, a
notebook, highlighters, and any other materials you think you may need for
taking notes and writing letters. “ You do not need to bring a whole supply box
full of these things. Bring a few pens and pencils to get you through the MTC.
You can get letter writing materials at the MTC in the bookstore or in the free
bins placed around your living quarters. And once you get to Japan their writing
supplies and stationary is better than anything we have in America. And cuter
too. American pens also do not really
work on Japanese paper and vice versa. Weird. Also, if you bring a notebook for
taking notes, bring a SMALL one. A Large one is heavy and you probably won’t
fill it all up.
-Clothes hangers. They will be in every apartment and I want
to say they were in the MTC as well. They take up space and weight! Maybe bring
a few to have in the MTC and then you can just leave them there when you leave.
-SUNGLASSES. You can’t wear them..so don’t bother
bringing them.
-Passport holder. I still do not know what this is, but
it was not missed. I got along just fine without it.
-You don’t need anything special for voltage/plugs. Our
appliances work just fine in Japan. And I think will work ok when you get home.
So far I’m ok.
-wind-up alarm clock. Those cheap alarm clocks are…cheap.
Don’t bother bringing or buying one. Chances are someone will have one in your
room at the MTC and then once you are in the field you will never use it again.
We all use our phones as alarms.
Thanks for your list! Great advice for all sister missionaries, especially those bound for Japan! www.sistermissionaryclothes.com
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the great info. My daughter is leaving June 1. I have a few questions, what winter coat works best, 3-1, longer, did you buy it here or there? Boots, any suggestions,did you buy here or there? What kind of garment bottoms were best? Did you buy water proof shoes like crocs? Sorry for the many questions.
ReplyDeleteThat is so exciting!! I had a two in one coat and it was the best thing ever. I could use it in the winter and then zip of the lining and use that for spring. I liked having a shorter coat but a few missionaries I knew had longer coats and they seemed to work well. The only negative I can think of is a longer coat means a longer drying period and there is nothing worse than putting on a damp coat before heading out into the cold. I had two pairs of boots. I got timberland riding boots and hunters. The riding boots lasted my entire mission. I walked everywhere in them and you wouldn't even had known, the tread looked like new till the end. The only downside to those was that they were not waterproof (the product description had said otherwise) and that they were a bit heavy. The rain boots were great. Basically, i wore my riding boots for half of the year and my rain boots for the other half. I got the packable tour kind so you can roll them up and they hardly take up any room! Mine cracked, but I think hunter has since fixed that problem. Another sister in my mission got them after seeing mine and she never had that problem. You can also buy boot liners and it winterizes them very nicely. The hunter brand liners are amazing. I fibally broke down and bought a pair ( i had the ll bean version on my mission) and they are so warm i don't even need socks. They are worth the money. If you order boots from zappos and sonetuing goes wrong they will also fully refund you verses Hunter who has a very limited warranty. You can buy boots in japan but it is so hard to find the bigger sizes. They also don't really do numeric sizes. A lot the shoes are just small, medium and large. I'm a size 8 and a large didn't always work.
DeleteAs for garments I wore caranessa during the fall and spring. And then had the thermal long John pairs for winter. They were a life saver. It gets sooo cold and if you are outside tracting all day the wind just chills you to the core. The thermals offer a little more protection. Thermal tops are not worth getting though. The cut is very hard to fit under any clothing. During the summer I used cotton bottoms. You want something breathable. Otherwise you sweat and then you get a very uncomfortable heat rash. I knew a few sisters who really liked the mesh garments as well.
I never bought water proof shoes because I had my rainboots but water proof shoes are a great idea. They have them all over in Japan during the summer but I think Costcos here also gets some really cute ones in. They look like regular flats and are really cute!
If you have any other questions let me know! Don't even worry about asking too many.
And sorry if there are any typos in that. I'm typing from my phone and my auto correct has a really bad habit of correcting words incorrectly!
DeleteThank you so much for all of your information. I am leaving for Tokyo on June 1 and couldn't be more excited. Where did you get your 2 in 1 coat? Was it more like a rain coat on the outside and a polar fleece on the inside? Did this double as your rain coat and your winter coat. I do not feel like I am prepared for the extreme weather conditions haha. Did you bring all of your winter stuff to bring from home? Do you suggest waiting to buy anything in Japan? Sorry for so many questions! I am just stressing out...I feel like there is so much to do in so little time.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! That is so exciting!
DeleteI think i got my coat from either Sam's club out bjs. My coat had a winter shell so it was waterproof but I didn't use it as a raincoat. I got a raincoat from ll bean. It was totally worth the price! You use it almost everyday from sometime in may until July. Mine held up, I had quite a few companions whose did not. The inside of the two in one jacket was a really light down with a fleece lining. I used that for most of spring and fall (when it wasn't raining). I brought all my winter gear from home but I'm also tall and my size shoe is hard to find in Japan. If you are petite and have small feet you can find anything. Scarves and gloves are your best friend during the winter. Japan has this clothing line called heat tech that you can get at uniqlo and GU. You'll want to get some of those, they are super thin shirts or pants that keep you really really warm. I loved mine! Thermal garment bottoms are also really nice in the winter.
Let me know if you have any other questions! Don't stress, it will all work out. One of the collar things about serving a mission is that you will notice everything seems to magically fall into place, and miracles happen all the time. So don't worry!
Congratulations! That is so exciting!
DeleteI think i got my coat from either Sam's club out bjs. My coat had a winter shell so it was waterproof but I didn't use it as a raincoat. I got a raincoat from ll bean. It was totally worth the price! You use it almost everyday from sometime in may until July. Mine held up, I had quite a few companions whose did not. The inside of the two in one jacket was a really light down with a fleece lining. I used that for most of spring and fall (when it wasn't raining). I brought all my winter gear from home but I'm also tall and my size shoe is hard to find in Japan. If you are petite and have small feet you can find anything. Scarves and gloves are your best friend during the winter. Japan has this clothing line called heat tech that you can get at uniqlo and GU. You'll want to get some of those, they are super thin shirts or pants that keep you really really warm. I loved mine! Thermal garment bottoms are also really nice in the winter.
Let me know if you have any other questions! Don't stress, it will all work out. One of the collar things about serving a mission is that you will notice everything seems to magically fall into place, and miracles happen all the time. So don't worry!
Thank you so much :) Was your coat any specific brand? I'm trying to look for one online, but they all seem really expensive...Also, I had some other questions (sorry, so many questions!) I have my proselyting shoes, however, I am trying to figure out what other kinds of shoes to bring. I want to get nicer ones for zone conferences and church, however, they still need to be comfortable enough to ride a bike in. What do you suggest for those? (brands, places to go, etc...). Also, is it smart to bring a Japanese triple combination and a Japanese Book of Mormon Children's reader? Are these easily accessible in the field and/or helpful to have? For taking pictures, was it smart to have a camera or easier to just take pictures on the iPad? If having a camera is better, what kind of camera did you get and what was the easiest way to transfer the pictures off of your camera to an iPad or a flashdrive? Lastly, should I buy an iPad case? I have heard that they give you a case but it isn't that good? I am planning to buy a bluetooth keyboard because I also heard that you write all of your emails off of the iPad? Sorry for so many questions...thank you so much for all of your information!
DeleteOf course! Sorry I'm responding so late. I don't remember what brand my coat was, and I gave it to one of my last companions so I can't even check. BUT, JCPennys has all its winter coats on sale. This coat is $68.99. http://www.jcpenney.com/jsp/browse/product.jsp?fromBag=true&selectedSKUId=26353510430&commerceId=ci47653020163&selectedLotId=2635351&fromName=false&catId=Bag&quantity=1&ppId=pp5005880108
DeleteI got all of my shoes from Clarks. I was at DSW shoes the other day and they have some really cute flats that are considered "comfort" shoes.i had a pair of brown oxfords that I used as my nice shoes. They were great! I tried finding them online jsut now though and had no luck bringing them up.
Yes and Yes to the easy reader and triple combination. Get the small triple. It is great! Also,when you are intheMTC buy a few mini books of mormon in english. I kept one with me at all times to look things up in english. I don't know how you memorize scriptures, but I dont very well, but I can remember where ascripture I need is based on its position on a page and the color I had highlighted it haha. So, the ipad didnt do me much good, the mini Book of mormon did. And, during my last transfer I ended up giving it away to someone I met on the train who spoke english! The childrens primary song book in Japanese was super helpful too! I had a a camera. A lot of people just had their ipad and got along just fine, but, a lot of people also ran out of space on their ipad really quickly. I had bought a little SD card adapter so I could transfer photos and send them home on p-days too. I didn't have aproblem with the case. It did it's job. But, comparitively I didnt use my ipad as much as others so my case didnt get gross. I did see quite a few cases that were super gross..so I guess it's up to you. I also don't know if you get new cases or old, previously used ones. If they give used cases then I would say yes def get your own! You don't want to inherit an elder's old case..
Let me know if you have any other questions. I just finished my semester so I will be able to respond much, much quicker!
Can you find rain jackets in Japan or would you suggest definitely buying it here?
ReplyDeleteCan you find rain jackets in Japan or would you suggest definitely buying it here?
ReplyDeleteI would definitely buy one here. The ones in Japan are not always as good quality and it's hard to find ones that are 100% waterproof. I highly recommend ll bean for rain jackets. They are guaranteed period so if something goes wrong with it you can get a new one. They are the best! A lot of rain jackets you just sweat in, and then you can't decide if it's better to get trained on our be drenched in your own sweat haha. I never had that problem with mine. It was super breathable, light weight and easy to pack.
Delete