[HN Gopher] Japan to reopen to independent travelers and lift da...
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Japan to reopen to independent travelers and lift daily arrival cap
Author : weissbier
Score : 145 points
Date : 2022-09-22 19:22 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.japantimes.co.jp)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.japantimes.co.jp)
| tamiral wrote:
| This will make a day layover for a trip much simpler !
| kaycebasques wrote:
| Road trip across Japan is quickly moving to the top of my bucket
| list? Has anyone done it? How was it? Must see stops?
| TT-392 wrote:
| If you get to hiroshima, visit okinomimura.
| kadoban wrote:
| Train trips mostly fit Japan better, and it's more relaxing.
|
| Kyoto is an amazing place, Tokyo is a must, and Mount Fuji is
| quite nice. I've heard Osaka is cool, but I've never been.
| Beyond that, specifics depend on what you're into.
|
| My favorite bits were generally the food, temples, museums,
| onsen and just wandering around shopping districts and taking
| it all in.
| bobthepanda wrote:
| Also, Japan has fairly high road tolls, so driving adds up
| fast. And there's not really free street parking either.
| dzhiurgis wrote:
| Travelling by train kinda becomes boring after a while,
| hence I'll go for a car next time.
| dzhiurgis wrote:
| Ryokan in Kyoto is a must. Also, if you spend enough time -
| don't just do Shinkansen all the time. It gets boring pretty
| quick as you are moving from one big city to another. Rent a
| car for some time too!
| cbracken wrote:
| Edit: for some reason I'd interpreted the question as being
| about cycling. Leaving in case it's useful for cyclists or
| motorcyclists.
|
| I've done a lot of cycling across various bits of Japan, from
| shorter day trips on the order of 150km to longer 1000km+
| trips. One thing to keep in mind for visiting cyclists on
| longer road trips: this may seem obvious but Japan is very
| mountainous which means a lot of narrow roads with little/no
| shoulder, and long (sometimes multi-kilometre) tunnels.
| Fortunately drivers are in general, very considerate and
| careful around cyclists.
|
| For shorter day trips, many large rivers/lakes in Japan have
| cycling/walking paths along one or both sides and make for
| really nice riding. In Tokyo, the Tamagawa or in Kyoto Kamogawa
| and Katsuragawa have paths. Lake Biwa has a really nice cycling
| trail as well.
|
| One of my favourite longer routes was along the north coast of
| Japan between Tsuruga and the north end of Fukui. The mountain
| pass along no. 8 through Takefu has some nice views but a lot
| of climbing and tunnels. For something shorter but pretty,
| follow the Tamagawa from Tokyo up to Lake Okutama. As someone
| else mentioned, I find travelling in rural Japan a lot nicer
| than cycling in/near big cities.
| siquick wrote:
| I did a one month vinyl record shopping trip in Hiroshima,
| Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo a few years ago by train.
|
| Hiroshima was my favourite city. Considering what happened
| there, it had a really peaceful vibe and the city rebuild in
| the affected areas is great.
| Klonoar wrote:
| Define "across" Japan. North/South or East/West?
|
| I did Kanazawa to Tokyo some years ago, fun trip.
| impendia wrote:
| I've traveled extensively in Japan and very highly recommend
| it.
|
| I especially recommend a long walk in rural or small-town
| Japan. Perhaps the best one-day option is the Yamanobe Road
|
| https://www.japan.travel/en/destinations/kansai/nara/the-yam...
|
| which is breathtaking. You pass ancient tombs, temples, and
| shrines -- you will have beautiful mountains to your east and
| even more beautiful small towns to your west. If you've seen
| _My Neighbor Totoro_ , imagine that it was brought to life and
| you got to spend all day walking through it. It's fairly easy
| to get to from Nara, Osaka, or Kyoto.
|
| If you have more time, the classic long-distance walk in Japan
| is the Henro-michi in Shikoku, aka the Shikoku pilgrimage.
|
| https://shikoku-tourism.com/en/shikoku-henro/shikoku-henro
|
| I did it on foot over 58 days, and it was absolutely the
| experience of a lifetime. Even if you don't have two months,
| just a few days on the trail will showcase rural Japan at its
| most beautiful, and the Japanese people at their friendliest
| and most welcoming.
|
| Oh -- and I've driven in Japan, but you'll probably want to get
| around by train instead, the mass transit is the best in the
| world.
| TechnicolorByte wrote:
| Those two rural/small town walks you mentioned: can they be
| accessed without driving?
| impendia wrote:
| Yes. The Yamanobe Road is easier to get to, the endpoints
| are each close to train stations (Tenri on the north end,
| Sakurai on the south). These are well connected to Nara and
| Osaka. Alternatively, you can start at Sakurai and walk all
| the way north to Nara (about 30 km).
|
| The henro-michi is harder to get to, because Shikoku in
| general is harder to get to. If coming from Kobe or Osaka,
| you'll probably want to take a bus to Naruto, Tokushima, or
| Takamatsu. (Naruto if you're starting from the beginning.)
| A bit more of a schlep, but still not bad.
|
| If doing these walks, then not driving is a big advantage
| -- because you don't have to worry about where you parked
| your car! In particular, you don't need to end at the same
| place you began.
| lemoncookiechip wrote:
| I would recommend you give
| https://www.youtube.com/c/AbroadinJapan a watch. Chris has been
| all over every Japanese prefecture multiple times, and he
| usually records places that aren't the kind of places you'd see
| on a quick Google Search or trip advisor.
|
| He has biked across Japan in his season 1 of Journey Across
| Japan, he showcases all kinds of hotels, capsule hotels,
| Ryokans (Japanese inns), etc, in every video. It's just a great
| way to learn about Japan, it's culture, food, what dos and
| don'ts.
| yuan43 wrote:
| I wonder to what extent this reflects desperation for foreign
| currency (especially dollars) given the recent intervention by
| BoJ to stop the yen's freefall.
|
| https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/boj-keep-ultra-low-rate...
|
| My guess is that this would be a drop in the bucket, but who
| knows?
| mdorazio wrote:
| Japanese economists are at least hopeful it will help:
| https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/09/18/business/japane...
| kmlevitt wrote:
| Can't find the link at the moment, but some economists in Japan
| think it would have a real impact. Tourism has been a major
| industry for Japan in the last decade, and all those tourists
| buy up lots of yen for their trips.
| bobthepanda wrote:
| I haven't been following this.
|
| This is very interesting considering most Japanese economic
| policy has been an attempt to reverse deflation or stagnation.
| Now it's inflating too fast?
| abc_lisper wrote:
| What's the catch? Can anyone visit Japan without a visa? People
| of any country?
| hunterb123 wrote:
| No just the countries that previously didn't need a visa.
| Wohlf wrote:
| It's only a return to the previous norm.
| karaokeyoga wrote:
| "On Sept. 7, the government allowed those on nonguided tours
| who had booked their flights and hotels through registered
| travel agencies." - is the "through registered travel
| agencies" portion dropped now as well? I couldn't discern
| that from the article.
| ilarum wrote:
| Does this mean tourists don't need a visa for Japan anymore?
| Including people with traditionally "weaker" passports like
| Uganda, India, etc.? The article linked elsewhere in the comments
| is not clear on this.
| bobthepanda wrote:
| Probably not. It sounds like they are lifting COVID era
| restrictions on travel (you could only do pre-arranged tours
| with strict itineraries)
| eloisius wrote:
| Probably not. So far, after COVID, Japan is "open" but only if
| you go as part of a tour group. You can't just land and get
| visa-free entry to go backpacking around. It sounds like that's
| what's changing.
| humanistbot wrote:
| Please don't link to a newspaper's tweet when they have an actual
| story:
| https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/09/23/national/kishid...
| dang wrote:
| Ok, we'll changed to that from
| https://twitter.com/japantimes/status/1572962383252934656
| above. Thanks!
| mortenjorck wrote:
| The headline, "Japan to reopen to independent travelers and
| lift daily arrival cap," is also a more relevant framing, in
| that the "visa-free" part is a return to the pre-pandemic
| status quo, not some novel customs policy as some other
| comments are interpreting it.
| Laaas wrote:
| Japan HN meet-up?
| orblivion wrote:
| This reminded me to check on Canada as I periodically do, and it
| looks like they also just made a related announcement today:
| they're ending vaccine requirements for the border at the end of
| the month: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/government-lifting-
| pandemic...
|
| I've previously been misdirected here, since they have different
| rules for vacationers vs business travelers or something like
| that. But, this sounds like a blanket lift of restrictions.
| gailees wrote:
| What's your favorite snowy mountain onsen in Japan? Thinking of
| going to meditate for ten days for New Years.
| immigrantheart wrote:
| Nooooooooooo, I was about to go to Japan this November, using my
| iPhone 14 Pro to take pictures of Japan with less
| tourists...............
|
| With special privilege that's not available for regular tourist
| of course.
| JTbane wrote:
| something something tragedy of the commons
| immigrantheart wrote:
| yeah thankfully I am asocial.
| hunterb123 wrote:
| Yeah all of those pesky tourists always taking pictures with
| their iPhone 14 Pros, oh wait...
| immigrantheart wrote:
| Loooll, thankfully I am not your average tourist.
| netsharc wrote:
| Feels like everyone thinks they're not the average tourist.
| Ok well the average tourist is really the tour bus, get
| off, take photos, back on the bus kind. But are you the
| average "not-average tourist" ;)
| immigrantheart wrote:
| I mean as in I could get special visa.
| hunterb123 wrote:
| So in your mind it's not your behavior that sets you
| apart as a tourist, but your ability to get a special
| visa?
|
| Personally, someone going with the main purpose to take
| photos of a place is the most touristy of tourists.
|
| Even when I visit a place like Japan for 3 months, I
| barely take photos because it takes you out of it and you
| get in the way.
|
| Take enough photos to capture key memories and places but
| mainly enjoy the actual adventure.
|
| To not be a tourist in my mind you should be living
| there, not trying to document it.
|
| But to each their own how they want to live, I just
| wanted to rant on your rant.
| maldev wrote:
| This is awesome! Me and a few friends were planning a trip, but
| their old policy was really confusing and I couldn't find good
| guidance on it, most of it contradictory. Hopefully they see a
| big boost, I imagine their hospitality sectors got hammered.
| [deleted]
| warabe wrote:
| To fellow American HN people.
|
| Right now USD/JPY is around 145, and it was about 100 in 2020,
| which means almost 30% discount for everything! (Please note that
| CPI of Japan is not so high)
|
| Come to Japan, and enjoy!
| suggestion wrote:
| Any advice or resources for someone seriously considering this?
| TrainedMonkey wrote:
| USD/JPY purchasing power ratio change between 2020 and 2022 is
| even better than 30% because Japanese inflation is so low:
| https://tradingeconomics.com/japan/inflation-cpi
| karaokeyoga wrote:
| ... and it was below 77 in 2012, ten short years ago.
| golemiprague wrote:
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