First of all this is not meant to be a hate rant or anything. I’m just comparing the differences between the two from what I have experienced.

I have been to japan many times and my recent trip was 3 weeks and now I’m currently in korea (been in Korea many times with family but it’s my first time travelling solo) and nearly finishing my 2 week trip.

Convenience stores:

Honestly I preferred Japanese convenience stores over Korean experience stores. There are way more proper meal options in japan. For example, there’s a dessert fridge for puddings, crepes and cakes which I used to always buy during my trip in japan but in Korean convenience stores, there’s hardly any.

If you like ramen, Korean convenience stores can align more to your taste as there are more options.

That said, Korean convenience stores are really expensive. water was like 2-3 usd for a large bottle while in japan it’s 1 usd. A hotel staff told me not to buy stuff from convenience stores and go to local supermarkets instead as it was way too overpriced.

I used to use my ic card all in japan for food when I’m lazy but I hardly buy anything in Korean convenience stores due to the lack of options. Ic card talk will be explained in more detail in the next point.

That said, if you like ramen, Korean convenience stores can align more to your taste as there are more options.

IC cards:

japan ic cards are way more valuable than Korean ic cards. I have bought tickets for museums and other sites using ic cards compared to koreas t money card (I could be wrong but I have yet to see it’s use elsewhere)

Food delivery:

Probably one of the biggest gripes I have in Korea is the lack of delivery apps for foreigners.

In japan, you can use Uber eats and I had 0 problems with it where as Korea locks it to Koreans only for no damn reason.

Transport:

Transport is fairly similar but I’d give it heads up to Korea. Korea doesn’t have private rail which can make it was less confusing compared to Japanese rail.

When I first arrived in japan, I took a while to figure how to use japans rail system since it was so overwhelming.

Taxis are also way cheaper in Korea than japan. I remember forking out 70 dollars from dotonburi to my hotel in Osaka.

Tourist sites:

This can be controversial due to japan and koreas war time but I feel like Korea lacks a lot of cultural sites.

I like to see a lot of cultural sites and museums and japan has a lot of that but Korea doesn’t have as much and most of the touristy stuff can be done in a span of a day.

I am Korean so I know that a lot of the cultural sites were destroyed due to war etc but I’m just saying it as a tourist point of view.

hotels and facilities

Korean hotels rooms tend to be larger than Japanese hotels. Japanese hotels tend to have bathtub shower attachments in 1 to account for its small room size. to be fair though, I have grown quite fond of the Japanese styles and don’t mind it as much as before.

From the hotels I have been to, japanese hotels has better facilities such as laundry rooms and vending machines. I have yet to see a laundry room like japan in Korea. Korea offers its own laundry service where washing a t shirt costs 10 usd.

From my experience as a solo traveller, japan hotels are the way to go especially for the laundry rooms.

Hotels in Seoul is way more expensive than Tokyo by the difference for 100-200 for a 3 star hotel. Make sure you bring a lot of money if you want to stay in Korea imo.

Etiquette:

Japan lives to bow and I kind of live that, it makes me feel more welcome compared to korea. That’s not to say Korea is rude as I’ve seen nice Korean grandmas asking me to sit down and young people giving seats to the elderly.

The bowing especially when in hotels, trains etc really makes you feel welcome while in Korea they just don’t look or look away.

Smell:

Honestly it might sound rude but I am Korean and I know the smell since I was a kid.

Some Korean places have bad sewage smell. I have experienced this in gyeongju. It could have been a one off thing but I do have that ptsd.

Food:

Now this can depend on personal preference. When I first went to japan 4 years ago, I didn’t like the food because it was too salty and lacked the flavour compared to Korean. After my recent and current trip in Korea, I can say that koreas new generation of food is abit off putting with all the sugar. for example, I went to isaac toast because YouTubers were ranting about it and after trying it today, I can say that it is overrated. It was overwhelmingly sweet with the sauce, eggs and pickles.

That said, traditional Korean food is the way to go for the authentic taste.

also from my recent illness, I can say that foreigners should stay away from raw seafood especially oysters and clams in Korea. I got norovirus from it and was throwing up and having diarrhoea for 2 days.

Japan has a lot of cheap bentos such as a 1kg tonkatsu meal for 12-13 usd.

Japan also seem to have more options for food in restaurants for solo travellers compared to Korea.

Honestly i feel bored in Korea right now but I might be because I’m just tired of travelling now and I miss my bed and my cat.

Feel free to ask questions if I have left things out.