You will quickly discover that virtually no bathroom or other place where you might get your hands wet offers towels. In particular, (public) bathrooms often provide no towels or even blow-dryers. Temple water purification sites also do not have towels. More tourist-oriented hotels and restaurants may offer paper towels in some cases or an occasional blow-dryer. You are expected to carry a small towel with you for personal use. Here in the US, we generally don’t have that size of towel, so you’re best off buying one soon after you arrive. Don Quijote is a good place for that; there are quite a few locations. It might be a good idea to carry your towel with you in a small zip-loc bag.

Napkins are another thing that is handled differently. In virtually every restaurant, shortly after being seated, you are handed a rolled-up towel, called an oshibori (おしぼり). Sometimes warm, and served on a small platter, occasionally cold, possibly wrapped in plastic. They can be made of cloth or paper.

These oshibori are expected to be folded or rolled up after initial use. You can use them during dinner to clean your hands. It is considered impolite to use them on your face. Some places will give you paper napkins for this purpose, but in our experience, quite a few do not (perhaps they do if you ask).