March / April: Delay Travel to Japan

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

There are a huge amount of rumors about this at the moment. There are people who are in hit areas who are actually afraid to leave Japan because of the possibility that they may not be allowed to return if things take a turn for the worse. There are others who are outside Japan right now, with tickets to come back in the next few weeks who are terrified that they may not be allowed.

While some people out there may think that it would be just great to be safe and far away... For others, this is home and getting back is top priority.
I am seeing talk of cutting vacations, visits, and business short to get back while it is still possible.

For the Japanese community I know, it is crazy now. This is the best time to buy tickets for summer vacation (usually) but it is impossible to know if it is safe or not.

[MissMisa]

Me and PrincessMarisa will be travelling on the 31st May. Do you think that will be fine? It's more in June obviously, and our first week will be spent in Osaka, second week in Tokyo.

[Nyororin]

A this point, I doubt that there will be any issues that far in the future - particularly in Osaka.

[miiya]

So it's safe there? because I'll be staying in Okinawa for the summer, and hopefully going to Sapporo for school in October. Is that safe? or should I not do it? I contacted the school I'd be going to and they said they are doing well. I was also wondering how else could I travel from Naha to Sapporo besides by plane. Could I perhaps take a ferry?

Any help would be appreciated.

Arigato Gozaimasu.

[JohnBraden]

Originally Posted by miiya

So it's safe there? because I'll be staying in Okinawa for the summer, and hopefully going to Sapporo for school in October. Is that safe? or should I not do it? I contacted the school I'd be going to and they said they are doing well. I was also wondering how else could I travel from Naha to Sapporo besides by plane. Could I perhaps take a ferry?

Any help would be appreciated.

Arigato Gozaimasu.

The two places you state are about polar opposites in Japan-Okinawa being far south, close to Taiwan and Sapporo being far north.... Both of those areas were unaffected by the triple disaster.... There should be no problem going to these places....

Taking a ferry from Naha to Sapporo would be a cruise of about 6 days! It appears most All Nippon and JAL flights to Chitose (Sapporo-CTS) from Naha (Okinawa-OKA) have a connection in Tokyo, Nagoya, or Osaka....

[philostyle]

Hi, I am supposed to visit tokyo on April 14. May I ask if everything is quite normalizing? thank you!

[philostyle]

not entirely concerned with the radiation scare as i think it's so small.. smokers are even more at risk.. however, I am quite concerned with unavailability of food and aftershocks as I am not used to earthquakes. i hope anyone could reply who is actually in tokyo. shinjuku or roppongi area to be more precise.

Thanks in advance!

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by philostyle

not entirely concerned with the radiation scare as i think it's so small.. smokers are even more at risk.. however, I am quite concerned with unavailability of food and aftershocks as I am not used to earthquakes. i hope anyone could reply who is actually in tokyo. shinjuku or roppongi area to be more precise.

Thanks in advance!

I live in Shinjuku and I can say that you will be just fine as a tourist as I am as a resident. I don't know what you may have been hearing but there is no need to worry about the availability of food at all. Certain products that come from the heavily-hit areas will obviously not be available as you can imagine, but those have quickly been replaced by similar products from other regions. There is simply no way that Japan can afford to let Tokyo go starving.

Restaurants and bars are open though some of them voluntarily close a couple of hours earlier at night now to save electricity. Convenience stores are still open 24 hours. I almost feel "guilty" that Shinjuku, along with 3 other more "important" wards do not even get the rolling blackouts that I hear on TV about.

Regarding the aftershocks, there is no predicting, naturally. We get a small one every 2 or 3 days now but that is nothing like the very first quake 2 weeks ago. Even back then, Tokyo incured almost no physical damage.

[samokan]

I also work in Tokyo, live in Kawasaki. Trains are running OK.
like what masaegu said, food are still OK. Hotels and establishment are open just fine.

And in Kawasaki, I don't feel that much and in Tokyo this past few days its barely aftershock anymore.

Btw, I work near roppongi, and roppongi is still roppongi

[philostyle]

Thanks so much masaegu and sommokan. really appreciate it!