Chuck Waterman here: TOPIC: Additional Required Return to Japan software for smartphone newbies like me.

Is there anyone else out there who, like me, normally avoids using smartphones? If so, be aware of two more things you’ll need to prepare on your smartphone to get throught the 2 -3 hour wallk through the airport checkpoints upon returning to Japan.

  1. Make sure you have downloaded a QR Code Reader! (Yep, I’m old school and didn’t have that pdownloaded before I got to the airport. Duh.) They are NOT automatically installed on all inexpensive Android phones bought in the US.

  2. The Google Maps APP must be installed on your phone.
    A ) Having Google with a link to Google Maps is not enough.
    B ) Similar apps like “Maps Go” are also not acceptable.

( Of course, I think anyone who has read up on the apps required to be installed on your phone when returning to Japan knows that you need to have the COCOA app and the MySOS app installed. Having them ready to activate before you get to the airport will really expedite your path through the checkpoints. (my experience yesterday was only 2 hours and it could have been 95 minutes))