How to get the safe and reliable water during your trip to Japan is very important.
Luckily Japan has a wonderful water infrastructure so that you can easily access safe water.
In this article, I'm going to write about the water in Japan.
- Is it drinkable?
- What is a pH level and how about the quality?
- What shall I pay attention to when I try to access the water in Japan?
Let's jump into it.
Is tap water in Japan drinkable?
The answer is yes.
Many Japanese people drink tap water in Japan including me in their daily lives.
In Japan, there is a water supply law saying that tapwater in Japan should be drinkable and that it must not affect health negatively if you continue to drink for a long time.
In fact, I and my parents drunk tap water since we were born but we don't find ourselves unhealthy.
In addition to clean and safe tap water, there is a way to get free drinking water in Japan.
Surprised?
Please take a look at How to get drinking water for free when you travel to Japan. Solution: Mujirushi & Mymizu to know more about this interesting topic.
Some people in Japan use attachments like this to enhance the taste or to remove very tiny particles but of course, this attachment is not mandatory; many Japanese drinks do without this.
PH level & Water Quality
So the pH level of water in Japan is more than 5.8 but less than 8.6.
This level is set by the Ministry of Health, Labour Standards, and most of the water supply companies are public companies and I have never heard a story about a water supply company not following this rule.
The water in Japan is soft.
So if you are from a country where the water is basically soft, you wouldn't find it so different.
However, if you are from a country of hard water such as a European country, except for Sweden as far as I know, you might find the taste of water in Japan is a little unusual especially if it is the tapwater.
If you step into a convenience store in Japan, you will find cheap bottled water they sell both hard water and soft water.
If you want to know more about the convenience store in Japan, please refer to the article 5 reasons why Convenience Stores in Japan are Amazingly Convenient.
If you prefer to drink bottled water, you will also have the choice to go for the street vending machine which you can find technically on every corner of the street.
Japanese street vending machine is just awesome so I have written about them in the article All about the street vending machine in Japan.
One thing to pay attention
One thing to pay attention to when you try to access tap water in Japan is that you shouldn't drink tap water located in the park, the station, the toilets, or other places outside the facility.
My suggestion is that you want to prefer to choose the tap water in the hotel or some other reliable facility.
If you're staying at the Airbnb or Japanese hotel, the tap water there would be absolutely drinkable.
Please leave a comment if you have any questions about this topic.
I would love to answer you back shortly.