drinking water

is water in japan safe to drink from the tap or do people usually drink filtered water?

the water in jp is safe i drunk tap water everyday and never got sick as a result of drinking it.

I don't know how many people drink bottled/filtered water, but I have had Japanese people tell me it is not good to drink from the tap.

You probably won't get sick right away from water in Japan, but the question is how much of chemical X is considered safe over Y years of exposure? There are lots of studies out there about drinking water quality in Japan and while it is not abismal, it might not be the brightest idea to do for years and years. Good in a pinch, try for bottled/filtered if possible.

You can drink from the tap whereas in Europe even locals try as much as possible to avoid tap water, and whereas in many tropical countries visitors should never drink from the tap. Japanese water is one of the safest and cheapest waters in the world. If you enter a restaurant, they'll give you free water usually from the tap.

However, due to chemicals making it temporarily safe, many people tend to put a filturation devise on the tap and some choose to drink only from the bottle. Also there are certain places with bad quality like Osaka and good quality like Nasu.

I've also assisted some American visitors in Tokyo who said the tap water seemed to cause them slight stomach-aches.

whereas in Europe even locals try as much as possible to avoid tap water,

Really? I didn't know that! My family, friends, city and country must be an exception then :-)

Here in France there are some areas where you are adviced not to drink the water due to argicultural pollution. But all the French drink a lot of bottled water because it tastes better and the bottled water is cheap. When I lived in the Netherlands, hardly anybody bought bottled water although the water didn't taste very good everywhere (but it is save).
I guess it depends on the country.

As for water being save to drink, according to the Lonely Planet Guide for Japan, it is save to drink it everywhere in Japan.

However, after having read Alex Kerr's book Dogs and Demons, I understand Mokurai-san's remark and I would worry myself if I lived in Japan and would find a home as far away as possible from the local waste-disposal installation. ^_^;;

Well, my friends in Germany were using devises and every visitor seemed to carry huge bottles when in Europe while I don't see many of them in the U.S. or Japan, but now I've learned something, thanks.

Btw, I understand that bad water in Japan doesn't necessarily come from waste-disposal installations, but the rivers itself like the Yodo River of Osaka or Tsurumi River of Yokohama is already polluted.

I noticed that in Japan you can buy several different brands of French spring water at the convenience store, but why would they sell Contrex?? To me Contrex tastes awfull and it is so expensive too ^_^

when i first arrived in japan i had the "runs" pretty bad... as soon as i stopped drinking tap water and started buying bottled water it all cleared up. i think its mostly horses for courses but i refuse to drink the tap water here anymore.

Water available in Japan usually contains quite less minerals compared with European counterparts. This water is called soft water by chemical scholors while European ones are named hard water.

Human genetics can not be changed immediately when any kind of environment change occurs. Especially stomachs are very very sensitive. AVIAN sells (medium / soft) a lot here in Japan but average Japanese volks have serious digestion problems when they take hard water and the same is true to Europeans.

A humans' hairs keep more than a million vacterias which clean head skins for us.
Our stomachs also work with numerous vacterias. A stomach alone can not function. With the help of these vacterias for the first time it starts moving. But again sudden enveironmental change generally should be avoided. Or at least it needs more time to tell your stomachs about background shift. How much minerals the water contains really matters.

Did some poking around. There are more so if you are still interested, do some looking on your own.

A page put together by some citizens (basics)
http://www.edu.city.kyoto.jp/hp/murasaki/document/libraryData/GlobalProject1999/kokeshi.htm

Drinking water general survey
http://www.jinjapan.org/trends/feature/fea030509.html

CDC in the US. Good for general travel health info.
http://www.cdc.gov/

The reason why people in Germany drink bottled water is in most cases that they prefer carbonized water. Tap water should be safe everywhere in Germany, while the taste varies.

I didn't mean to say that tap water in Germany is "not" safe, but thank you very much for the detailed information and sorry again for the confusion.

I stayed in Japan for a couple months and everytime I drank the water from the tap I got sick. It might be from the chemicals in the water.

Water that you are not used to can often upset your stomach initially just due to different mineral contents, and some people are more sensitive than others.

This is not limited to Japan, but is the case for everywhere in the world, no matter how developed. Almost any general travel website that has a health section will tell you that.

It was most likely not Japanese tap water per se that was making you sick, it was just that it was different tap water.

I don't drink straight tap water in any big city if I can avoid it, just because I dislike the taste. We have a Brita filter jug because I hate buying bottled water. Tap water from more rural areas like Nagano and Nikko can taste really nice and if I go there I sometimes bring back bottles of the tap water with me!

Drinking the water in my prefecture made me sick (I only learned this later) to the point that I puked once. I finally made the connection and drank bottled from that point on.

On the other hand, the water in my friend's prefecture was fine by my stomach! It had a strange fishbowl smell (chlorine or some added chemical?) but the smell and the strange flavor went away w/a filter.

It is TOTALLY DEPENDENT UPON THE PREFECTURE YOU LIVE IN. That's just how Japan is. A throwback to the feudal/tribal type days no doubt. They all do things different. Check w/the prefectural office of the residence you live/plan to live in. They'd be happy to oblige. Japanese only please :)

It probably depends more on the municipality than on the prefecture.

The French don't drink mineral water because it taste better than tap water, as in many case it doesn't. They drink mineral water because various minerals cure various minor health problems..Depending on which problem you drink this water or that water, even if it taste awful. There are some spring waters that are bland too but you have to know which one. By the way, many French people order in restaurants a "carafe" of tap water because it is free (by law all restaurants must provide free water if asked) . These carafes are kept in the fridge for a while and this remove the chemical taste of tap water. this is what many families do at home too.

When I travelled to France in 2001 I was told not to drink tap water in Paris as it can cause stomach upsets.

I didn't have any problems drinking tap water in Japan and travel books say that it is safe to drink tap water all over Japan. Some people might just be more sensitive I guess.

I know a few people who live in Munich, Germany, and never drink tap water there - which is foolish as this is best quality water from the Alps.
In Italy, there are fountains with drinking water, and fountains with non-potable water. It is always marked whether or not it is advised to drink water from the particular fountain. Nevertheless, I see many tourists who drink bottled water only.
What I mean to say is that this is not always a matter of common-sense but of preconception or habit.