The Japan Earthquake and Travel to Japan
I just wanted to post a quick message up here for people who have been reading the site. The majority of damage after the latest earthquake in Japan is in the Sendai and Fukushima area north of Tokyo.
However, the aftershocks are continuing. I don’t want to give too much advice until we feel the earth has calmed down more, but right now it’s night time in Japan. There are still transportation problems all over the Kanto region, people trapped and missing.
TBS and NHK are both broadcasting live news internationally on UStream.tv (just change the language to Japanese in order to see the Japanese stations) if people want to try and stay current.
If you are planning a trip to Japan in the near future, I want to say you should make the trip anyway. Areas hit by disaster often suffer because of loss of tourism income in addition to how the disaster hits them directly. There may be transportation inconveniences, but as soon as Japan is accepting flights from abroad, I think you can trust their judgement.
OK. Back to the news as tsunami warnings are affecting areas all over Japan right now.
We still plan to fly in to Tokyo on 23rd March, fortunately our travel plans are all west of Tokyo (Nagoya/Kyoto/Hiroshima). I would expect most flights to the major cities (except Sendai) to be back to normal in the next day or two. I agree it is important to continue your travel so long as it is safe to do so. The lack of tourism can compound the economic impact in regions effected by natural disasters.
Hopefully the earth will calm down over the next few days and get this out of its system. Nagoya Kyoto and Hiroshima seem all clear right now, and Tokyo itself isn’t reporting excessive damage. That area north of Tokyo though has had whole towns washed away or burned down.
It looked for a while like the aftershocks were moving south and west, but the most recent ones have been focused around Fukushima and Niigata and Nagano.
Not sure yet if I plan to carry on my plans to Tokyo March 28. My major concerns are aftershocks and the nuclear radiation. I’m from California so it’s not like I’m not used to earthquakes. I hope you’ll keep us updated here as I’d like to see Tokyo getting back to normal even more, such as with food and water supply, less aftershocks, etc.
I’ll try to keep everyone posted. Right now Japan TV is broadcasting for free wherever cable companies are offering in the US. (Possibly other countries as well.)
Right now Tokyo is fine for the most part. There are temporary planned blackouts and brownouts now because Tokyo electric is helping to supply power to some of the areas to the north.
I think aftershocks are a valid concern (especially if they are still going on a few days from now), and nuclear radiation should be OK, considering how far Fukushima is away from Tokyo… but I understand those concerns as well. I want to say that everything should be fine by the 28th, or at worst you can fly in and immediately head down to Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Himeji, Hiroshima, Okayama, Fukuoka, and the rest of Kyushu and Shikoku where there was no trouble.
Tokyo seems like its moving for the most part… provided Mother Nature can control her temper for a while.
That should be TV Japan, by the way. It will be free where available for at least the duration of the emergency period on Comcast, RCN, and other cable tv systems.
Tisha, I think you should also know that the rolling planned blackouts in Tokyo are expected to continue until April. I hope that it’s like a Japanese pizza delivery though (by this I mean that if you order a pizza in Japan, they usually give an extra long time estimate for delivery so that they don’t stand any chance of being late and disappointing the customer… this has gotten me caught off-guard though when I wasn’t ready for the pizza to arrive 20 minutes earlier than expected.)
The point is they are saying they expect the blackouts and at least some restrictions in Tokyo to continue through March.
Train and subway services are running limited times, or running with the lights dimmed and air conditioning off, but I believe most Tokyo public transportation is moving.
As I mentioned before, the Kansai area and other areas West are fine if people are worried about the blackouts and possible radiation. Just hoping things start getting back to normal soon.
Thanks for the updates. Something I read said the blackouts would exclude central Tokyo. But I wonder what exactly is considered central Tokyo. Our travel plans are all pretty much inside Tokyo. We’d be staying in Shinjuku.
I still really want to continue with our plans, but my friend is a little more freaked out and might back out on me. We plan to make a final decision by next weekend, so hopefully things will be more stable by then.
Does anyone know an English website listing when the blackouts are scheduled and for which areas etc?
My wife has found a listing of Tokyo train outages on japantoday.com:
http://japantoday.com/category/national/view/tokyo-power-outages-to-start-later-than-planned-trains-reduce-services
It appears Narita line and Yamanote line are unaffected, so getting from the airport to Tokyo/Shinjuku/Shinagawa etc looks to be ok. And getting out of Tokyo towards Shin-Osaka on the shinkansen looks to be ok too.
The question is what facilities will be open for the 3 days we are in Tokyo, obviously parks and shrines etc will be relatively unaffected during the day, so no problem sightseeing.
Hopefully things will be more normal in 9 days when we plan to fly in, we aren’t too concerned about trains. If we have to wait an hour for a train so be it, it’s not our local train station so we won’t be bored. We are more worried about whether restaurants/takeaway outlets etc will be open as it’s not like we will have a stocked pantry of food at our hotel. Of course the reported panic buying of food etc at the moment will no doubt relax in a few days as people realise the end of the world probably hasn’t actually happened.
Stephen – there is an english page on Tokyo Electric’s site but there may also be changes by the time you guys are in Tokyo. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html
I would advise bringing more than enough diapers, feminine products, toilet paper, towels, and things like that for the 3 days you are here just in case things are not stocked up again. I have heard of places selling bentos made up only of rice, and that a lot of instant ramen or instant yakisoba is sold out. Trains will be crowded unless service picks up.
Disneyland will not be open.
To both Stephen and Tish, right now I am most concerned about what kind of range the nuclear troubles in Fukushima will have. This is definitely a story that we don’t have all the facts about yet.
If you have a Rail Pass when you come, you can be more mobile using the shinkansen and can make a day trip to someplace with more food available (if it comes to that).
Hopefully they will be able to get the nuclear power plants in good condition and confirm the safety of the air and radiation levels within the next few days. If Tokyo Electric doesn’t become more forthcoming, I’d be worried.
My trip is officially cancelled. I was willing to wait it and out and see, and I really wanted to go, but my friend freaked out and backed out on me. We got a full refund except Korean Air charged a $200 cancellation fee per ticket.
So the cherry blossoms will have to wait until next year for us. I was very depressed about it yesterday. After months of planning and looking forward to this trip it’s a bummer for this to happen now and have to cancel last minute. But the power plant situation just keeps getting worse and worse so I’m feeling better about waiting.
We are still coming, we have until friday to cancel our Tokyo hotel, so we might not stay in Tokyo for 3 nights, we will decide later in the week. We have a 14 day JR pass so going somewhere else will not be too much of a problem.
I would expect we will know by Friday whether supermarkets and convenience stores will continue to be out of essentials or not, my feeling is that everyone has just panicked and bought a months worth of food. Hopefully in a weeks time the rolling blackouts will become a routine and shops in certain areas will be open most of the day etc.
The Power plant situation doesn’t worry me much at all given the huge distance from Tokyo. Even if there has been a partial meltdown, it’s a completely different situation to Chernobyl. The nuclear reaction was stopped on Friday during the earthquake, it’s just the cooling system that has failed, in Chernobyl the reactor was still running whilst it was melting down, and it had almost no containment and was spewing material everywhere. The worst that will happen in Japan is only likely to effect the immediate area 10-20km from it, and the people in that area.
Thankyou for the TEPCO link in english, I have been able to work out that Shinjuku, Ginza, Tokyo, Shibuya areas will not be effected by the rolling blackouts, but Shinagawa is, and our hotel is in Shinagawa, and it is between 9:20am and 1pm, so basically if we are out of the hotel by 9am and don’t come back till after lunch we can go sightseeing, even if it is on foot, but probably on Yamanote line into the unaffected areas.
Stephen – you have a great attitude toward this. The JR pass is going to serve you well. I don’t know how long it will take to replenish the food, but if you have a positive attitude everything will be fine, right.
The news today was saying to evacuate the area 20km around the reactors, and for people between 20 and 30 to stay indoors. Maybe visitors should just give the area a good 40 or 50 km berth if there’s no real reason to head up to that area.
we don’t plan to go any further north than the northern stations of the Yamanote line, and everything outside Tokyo is heading towards or beyond Osaka.
I don’t think there is any danger to our lives or health or else I would cancel.
There will be inconvenience and we won’t be able to do all the things in Tokyo we wanted to, such as the Ghibli Museum which is closed this week and we expect they will probably remain closed and we will have to get a refund of our tickets unless they reopen next week.
We are prepared to cancel the hotel and take the next shinkansen to Osaka if we find Tokyo too difficult.
I just took a look at the Ghibli Museum website and they said they’ll be closed until March 21st and may or may not re-open from the 22nd. They may not decide until the 21st whether to reopen on the 22nd.
I haven’t been there yet but I’ve heard good things. I hope you get to go.
Another site with Tokyo train schedule updates:
http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/feature/2549/Tokyo-Train-Information
Unfortunately the Australian Government has changed it’s travel advise and recommends we don’t go, so we have decided to cancel. It is very disappointing, but we are planning to reschedule in a few months time. We won’t see the cherry blossoms, but that’s just another reason to go back yet again another time.
Stephen, I’m really sorry to hear that but glad that you still want to come. It would be great if by the time you make the trip you can go up to the Tohoku region, spend some yen, see the sights and meet some people.
Things seem to be moving toward the find people, mourn, and rebuild phase on the ground, though a bit postponed by the nuclear plant troubles. It’s been exactly a week since the earthquake now and I haven’t watched this much tv since I lived alone in Osaka and found out that Sun TV showed reruns of the A-Team (well over a decade ago).
You have such a great attitude that you are exactly the kind of friend that Japan needs. I’m sure you’ll have a great time when you get there…. hopefully sooner rather than later.
Here’s hoping the Tohoku region recovers… or whatever form of “recovery” is even possible after the deaths of over 6,400 people in such a small region, a number that might go over 10,000 even if nothing else happens… so sad.
My husband and I are still scheduled to fly into Tokyo on the 31st of March. We had originally planned on staying one night near the airport then heading to Fukuoka for the weekend. Heading to Osaka for the week (with day trips to near-by cities) then to Tokyo for 5 nights before flying back home.
We are from Canada, so the government has a travel advisory for Tokyo and surrounding area – Avoid all non-essential travel. South of Tokyo does not have a travel advisory at all.
We change our mind 20 times a day whether or not we should go or cancel. If we do cancel, we do not know when the next time we will be able to go (personal commitments), so I think that is clouding our judgment! Knowing what you know about the situation, would you recommend that we still continue our trip and avoid Tokyo, only to arrive and depart the country, or would you recommend canceling the trip all together? Your recommendation would be appreciated as it is difficult to get a sense of what it is like in the rest of the country, even in Tokyo (does not make for sensational news).
Thanks in advance!
I am planning on traveling to japan April 5th to saitama. I will be studying at saitama university for about 4 months. How are things in that area? Do you think things will shape up in the next week or so in terms of the radiation risk, contamination of food, and the cooling of the reactors? Also, how far is saitama, and the university in particular, for the fukushima dai-ichi plant? I am still very optimistic about everything being okay for my travel, and am very excited (^-^)
Dear Christina,
I know that Tokyo is the city that people hear the most about, but the best experiences I have had have been in small towns. Also, I spent most of my years in Japan living in Kansai and going to Tokyo was not really much of a big deal for me… by this, I mean that the other parts of Japan have a lot to offer.
My favorite place to see sakura, for example, is the big park around Himeji Castle. I will never get tired of the cute little zoo next to the park and the nice walk you can take through the castle. I’ll have to write an article about that park and castle because I think the “White Crane” gets overlooked.
Osaka has a lot to offer in the way of nightlife and Osaka Castle. Kobe is a beautiful city. Kansai is also not too far from Hiroshima which is a great place to visit, not to mention Kure near Hiroshima which houses the “Yamato Battleship” museum. Kure is a small town, but that museum is great.
I don’t think a trip to other parts of Japan will be wasted at all, and in fact, the only Tokyo experience that I think is especially unique is the Akihabara experience (with all the anime and manga figure shops and people in costume).
I’m optimistic about things improving, but I may be naive. Most of the Japanese people I know in the Tokyo area are also optimistic about things getting under control. Fukushima is also pretty far from Tokyo…
Trains are getting back to their regular schedules and I’ll check on the blackouts in the area (though downtown Tokyo is not getting it bad).
Feel free to ask me more if you are still unsure.
Also, commenters are welcome to jump in with advice (or to argue that Tokyo is a must-see)
Lisa, I think my biggest concern about a 4 month trip would be that prices might rise. The cooling of the reactors and how this nuclear reactor story is going to play out is anyone’s guess… but Saitama is much closer to the Tokyo area than Fukushima. I think it’s about 150 miles from the problematic reactors.
I want to believe that your school would be telling you not to come if they thought it would be at all dangerous, and the Japanese govt is working to make sure that no contaminated foods go to market.
I hope that in the next few weeks things calm down. People who’ve left Tokyo for the time being (it’s also Spring Vacation now, which is the big one between grades in Japan) but if no other problems develop, I think things will be mostly back to normal in April when things, traditionally, start up again… new employees start work in April, the new school year starts up… it’s a big time.
I haven’t heard a lot of mention of Saitama, but I’ll be sure to keep you in mind if I hear something from now on.
Here are some more links people traveling (or considering traveling to Japan) in the near future might find useful.
http://www.mlit.go.jp/page/kanbo01_hy_001411.html
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eq/
Note these are both “official” type sites, so please take that for what it is. Although I don’t buy into all the sensationalism in the non-Japanese media, I also think the Japanese will do whatever it can to be optimistic and keep things calm.
I also actually think things will stabilize soon… maybe I’m overly optimistic… but I hope not.
Is it safe for me and my 2 small childen to visit my family in Nagoya Japan?
Hi Patricia. Thanks for the comment.
Right now I haven’t heard anything about troubles in Nagoya. It’s pretty far from Fukushima and hasn’t seen any earthquake damage that I’ve heard of.
If you are flying into Narita or Haneda, you’ll be in Tokyo for your layover but there are millions of people going through there. If you are transferring through Kansai International or another airport, all is the same as it ever was there.
Fukushima is over 300 miles away from Nagoya. I haven’t heard about any countries with travel advisories against the Tokai area (as the area Nagoya is in is often referred), but I would be surprised if most travel warnings (except against the main areas hit by the tsunami and earthquake) are not lifted within the next few weeks.