Travel to Japan

Here's a short summary of more or less frequently asked things on traveling to Japan (on business). For pleasure, there are several good sites

First Timer

If you are planning a trip to Japan for the first time, watch this YouTube video, at least the first 4 min about getting cash and about the exchange rates.

Also, if you are traveling on your own and have flexibily over the timing, avoid traveling to Japan in the summer (June-Aug). It will be hot and humid, unless you can torelate them.

COVID measures

You will probably find more people wearing a mask in Tokyo, especially on trains and subways. This is partly to avoid flus (in winter) and partly from pollen allegry (in spring). I'd still recommend wearing masks in flights and on crowded trains.

Passport and visa

You do not need visa if you have a Canadian or an American passport, but your passport need to be valid during the period of stay (For more).

  • List of visa exempt countries
If you need a visa
  • Montreal, for residents of Province of Quebec
  • Toronto, for residents of Province of Ontario
  • Vancouver, for residents of Province of British Columbia

Flights

  • Generally speaking, flights leaving from North America or Europe for Japan will arrive a day later than the day you fly out. So in order to arrive in Japan on a Sunday, you need to fly out on the Saturday a day early. You arrive back in North America the same day you fly from Japan (when flying direct). So if you fly from Japan on a Saturday in the afternoon, you will arrive in LAX/SFO/YYZ/YUL/YVR on the same Saturday.
  • There are two airports to fly into when heading to Tokyo.
    • Haneda (HND, inside Tokyo). Haneda is less than 30min away from the central part of Tokyo, and cab ride may make sense (JPY5,000 ~ JPY7,000ish) depending on the exact location in Tokyo, but the monorail or trains are the way to go).
    • Narita (NRT, outside Tokyo). Narita is over one hour from the central part of Tokyo, and a cab ride to Tokyo will be very expensive (over JPY25,000).

    Air Canada flies directly to/from Haneda from/to YYZ (Pearson) daily since July 2014, and there should be at least one daily from the major airports in west coast US (SFO, LAX, etc.).
  • YYZ and HND
    • When you look for flights, you will want to choose HND (Haneda), NOT Narita (NRT). But flights to Haneda can be more expensive depending on the timing, sometimes a quite bit.
    • The flight from YYZ to HND leaves after the noon and arrive in late afternoon the next day. The flight from HND to YYZ leaves around 5pm and arrives about the same time the same day.
  • YUL and NRT
    • From June 1, 2018, Air Canada operates direct flights between NRT and Montreal (YUL).
  • YVR and HND/NRT
    • In addition to Air Canada, Japan's two major airlines, Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airlines (ANA or NH) fly direct to/from Haneda from/to YVR.
    • One caution is that (since July 2023?) the ANA flights from YVR arrive at Terminal 2 (the Domestic terminal for ANA) as opposed to Air Canada and all other foreign carriers departing from and arriving to Terminal 3, which is the international terminal. JAL may follow the same suit as ANA and fly from/to Terminal 1 (which is almost exclusively used by JAL).
    • ZipAir, a LCC based in Tokyo, has started flying between YVR and NRT since March 2024.
  • LAX and HND
    • There are 4 carriers flying direct between LAX and HND: JAL (One World), ANA (Star Alliance), American and Delta. ANA leaves after the midnight and arrive very early in the morning the following day..., which you might not want to take. You can't check in till 3pm or something, hotels in Japan are generally very rigid about that and usually show no flexibility.
    • American and Delta leave LAX in the morning around 10~11AM and arrive in Tokyo just after 2PM. So, these are better ones to catch.
    • Similarly, there are 3 flights from HND to LAX by the same carriers, Delta and American leave around 4PM, while ANA at 23:30.
  • LAX and NRT
    • Most of flights from the west coast US to NRT leaves in the morning to early afternoon (10-13) and arrive in Narita the next day mid-late afternoon (3-5PM).
    • Most of flights from NRT to LAX leaves late afternoon (about 5pm) and arrive in LAX before noon the same day.
    • When you do arrive in Narita, and you are not familiar with the train system, you will want to book a hotel in Tokyo to which buses will directly take you. Cab ride to Tokyo will be over $300, so you don't want to do that.
  • Flying into Osaka
    • KIX, Kansai Airport is the only international airport in the Kansai area (Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto) that many international carriers fly into. This is located in south of Osaka, and takes about 50min to Osaka and 90 min to Kyoto by train.
    • There is also Itami (ITM) airport, which serves as a domestic airport. This is located in the north of Osaka, and takes about 20-25min by a cab in early morning or roughly 30min by (multiple) trains to get to the central part (Umeda). You could easily find flights between Haneda and Itami (at least every 30min) but only a few a day from/to Narita.
    • KIX is farther to Osaka than Kobe (domestic) airport (UKB). So, UKB could be an option if you fly domestically. There's even a ferry service between KIX and UKB.
    • Air Canada (Rouge) used to fly between YVR and KIX, I flew once myself, but this appears to have been suspended since the pandemic.
      Air Canada has resumed flights between YVR and KIX (since May 2024), AND added direct flights between YYZ (Toronto) and KIX, 3 a week between June 17 and Oct 25 2024 (more).

Business Cards

  • You will distribute a lot more business cards in Japan than you'd normally do elsewhere. Reprint if you are short on yours.

Cash, Debit and Credit Cards

  • While most of hotels and restaurants (but not all) will accept major credit cards (Visa/MC and AMEX), you will need more cash than you'd normally carry in North America (US). This is for buying a train prepaid card and recharge it (for some reasons, this never accepts a credit card) and small things (coffee, snacks, coin lockers, etc) and cabs (most of taxis in Tokyo now takes credit cards but outside Tokyo, there are more chances of taxis not taking credit cards).
  • You can withdraw JPY cash directly from your US/Canada bank account at ATMs inside 7-Eleven and few others in Japan (there are few right outside the customs at Haneda Airport). The ATMs inside Japan Post no longer do this. Additional fees is applied but as far as I believe, it's more favorable than the foreign exchange kiosks at airports. So you can get JPY cash once you've landed.

Dietary (or being a vegan)

Clean Socks

Some restaurants require you to take your shoes off. In that case, you will want clean socks on :)

Electricity

  • The voltage in Japan is 100V. Most of power outlets are for two prongs, the same one as the iPhone charger, so your camera and phone chargers should work fine without converters. But if your laptop AC adapter has the 3 prong plug, you might want to carry one or two 3->2 prong adapters. I usually have 2 of those in my suitcase.

Sim Card/Wifi router

If you are planning on using a separate sim card for Japan, or an e-sim card or a rental mobile wifi router, you should book it online in advance before you start your journey. This will save quite a lot of money. Usually walk into a wifi shop without a reservation can get very expensive (e.g. over JPY20K for 2 weeks when walk-in as opposed to 9K for the same length when booked online). I normally rent a mobile wifi router from here (all in Japanese) so multiple devices (up to 5) can accsss simultaneously. I am sure there are others that provide services in English or other languages.

Traveling within Japan

  • Between Tokyo and Osaka or Kyoto, we usually take the bullet train though depending on schedule we choose to fly to ITM (Osaka). Should avoid KIX (Kansai), which is far, farther to Osaka than from Kobe airport.
  • In Tokyo, we will be using more subways and trains, which are frequent, convenient and on time, but require a bit of walk, ups and downs by stairs (sometimes unavoidable).
    • Tokyo Metro Subway Map (JA | EN)
    • JR East (On-ground train) Tokyo Map (JA)
    • Greater Tokyo all train routes (JA)
  • Haneda to Shiodome/Shinbashi
    • https://tokyo-haneda.com/en/access/train/index.html
      1. Once you are out of the customs area, head straight. There's the Keikyu Line counter about 70m ahead on the right hand side.
      2. Get a ticket (to Shinbashi) or get a Pasmo prepaid card and load it with at least 3,000 yen (if you are staying for a week).
      3. Go through the gate (tap the sensor with the card you just bought) , take the elevator down to the lowest level, and take the train for Shinbashi/Oshiage/Narita Airport, but NOT Kawasaki, Yokohama, Kurihama, Miura-Kaigan.
      4. If you take a train that terminates at Shinagawa, it will go short. Get off at Shinagawa and wait for the next train.
      5. If you successfully ride a correct one, get off at Shinbashi (normally 15 to 20min in the day time).
    • CEDEC takes place in Yokohama. There's a great guide of its neighborhood.
    • We normally take cabs outside Tokyo (i.e. Osaka, Kyoto, Fukuoka, etc).
  • Haneda to Kyoto
  • Kyoto Sightseeing
  • Kyoto to ITM
    • Rouhgly 60 min by bus. Leaves from various places in Kyoto, but the one on the Hachijo exit (south side) of JR Kyoto station is most frequent (roughly every 30min). Time table

    Misc

    Last Update: 2024-11-11

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