In getting around Japan, you may travel by land, air, or sea. These are the many modes of transportation you can have:
A big majority of domestic flights depart and land in Haneda Airport, but for the ones that are departing for the country's southern islands, Chofu Airport is the usual handler
Big and small cities both have several bus routes, most of which are operated by Toei. However, the bigger cities have more and they are easier to access. Majority of those buses come with a digital signage that has Japanese and English language.
The ferries’ routes are quite vast, as they are considered that ferries as the best alternate for planes, trains, and/or buses. However, it is still most commonly used for travelling to the southern remote islands.
Taxi drivers in Japan are known to provide quality service, but the consensus is that it’s unnecessary, as it is too expensive; residents only turn to taxis during midnight (when trains and buses have stopped operations).
Tokyo has an extensive share of trains. Almost every corner of every city is not without a nearby train station. Along with the standard, everyday subway trains, they have bullet trains, night train. Further, there are stations where two different types of trains are interconnected.
With its good speed, efficiency, and accessibility (it is present in almost all corners of all cities), subways are the most typically-used trains in Japan, especially for normal commuters.
More commonly known as Shinkansen train, this type of train is popular because of its very punctual departures and outstanding speed, which may reach up to 320 kilometers per hour. Its main lines are Tokaido, Sanyo, Tohoku, Joetsu, Nagano and Kyushu.
A tram, or a streetcar/trolley car, is a train that has rails situated on ground-level. Exterior-wise, it is slightly different from other trains as it is more thinly built. As of mid-2016, there more than 20 tram systems across Japan.
Night trains were once regularly used by late night commuters. However, as years passed, its operators disbanded one-by-one as they were unable to match with the competitors, mainly buses and planes. By early 2016, the number of night trains in Japan had gone down to 1, namely the Sunrise Seto.
Travellers generally get to Japan via plane. The Narita International Airport and the Haneda Airport in Tokyo have long been the nation's primary landing areas for international and domestic flights, respectively. However, recent changes have allowed the latter to handle other international flights as well. Both are consistently featured in Skytrax’s coveted Top 100 Airports list. In 2016, Narita moved from #14 in the previous year to #11, while Haneda continued its climb, rising from #5 to #4. Below are the estimated travel times for flights that are from around the world:
DEPARTURE |
EXPECTED TRAVEL TIME |
North America (East Coast) |
12-13 Hours |
North America (West Coast) |
9-10 Hours |
Europe |
11-12 Hours |
Australia |
9-10 Hours |
For Asian countries, the travel time ranges from 4-9 hours, which varies country to country.
Japan issues are several types of visas. They are as follows:
All tourists from 66 countries, which includes almost all countries in Europe, will be immediately given a temporary visitor visa or tanki-taizai as soon as they arrive. The visa usually has a 90-day validity, but there can be cases where it’s shorter/longer. Among the countries that are not on that list are UK, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, Austria, Mexico, and Lichtenstein. The citizens of those nations will be able to extend the validity for another 90 days, which can be done by formally applying at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau.
The Alien Registration Card is for individuals who are planning to stay in Japan for more than 90 days. This card needs to be in the owner’s possession at all times. In the event that the owner is asked by the police/authority for the card and it is nowhere to be found, the owner will most likely be brought to the police station.
Upon finding an employer that agreed to sponsor you, it is a must that you get a Certificate of Eligibility from the Japanese immigration office – they have offices across Japan and you can request the document from any branch. Once that step is done, they can then issue your work visa, which is valid for 1 or 3 years.
- Completing the whole process may take up to 3 months.
- The legalities for foreign employees vary on experience, skills, and/or qualifications.
You can apply for the Working-Holiday Visa if you are citizen of UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand, Ireland, Korea, Denmark, Norway, and Hong Kong, provided you are between the ages of 18-30. According to the Japanese tourism, this type of visa was made so young individuals from the said countries can travel and/or work part-time in Japan.