US Citizen travel 2 JP on 1 way ticket

Hi, I am a US citizen and do not require a visa to visit Japan. I plan to travel onwards from Japan to China however I am not sure if I will stay in Japan 1 week or 2 weeks? Since the cost to change tickets is quite large I bought a one way ticket to Japan and would buy onward ticket to China from Japan.

On the forum I see information from several years ago that it maybe a problem. Can someone verify that has this been recently a problem as well?

thanks

Unsu

It may be a problem, or it may not. There is no formal requirement for an onward ticket, but the border official still may deny you entry if he or she suspects you are going to overstay.

Yes, there is a good chance that you will be denied boarding at airport when leaving the US.

Since the cost to change tickets is quite large I bought a one way ticket to Japan and would buy onward ticket to China from Japan.

Assuming you do not have Permanent Residence Permit in PRC.
Looks like you are going to tackle a bigger problem - obtaining visa for China in Japan.
You are not likely to get visa in USA without documents showing the itinerary including air ticket booking record (round trip) and proof of a hotel reservation.
Also, the visa application will normally take 3 to 5 working days; you could waste a lot more time lodging your visa application in Japan.
If I were you, I would organise everything in advance.
You probably could purchase a return tickets to China with free stopover in Japan. Might even save a few bob?

You need a round trip or onward ticket - you won't be walking up to Japanese Immigration with just a one-way ticket since you won't even make it that far - you'll be denied boarding at your departure airport, or forced to buy an onward ticket at the airport right there. Airlines are fined big time for transporting someone who'd obviously be denied entry when landing in Japan. That's one reason why the airlines want to look through your passport.

Most likely the ticket you'd be forced to buy would be at full fare - but for such tickets you can typically get a full refund in contrast to the cheapie tickets. So you could enter Japan that way, get a refund on the pricey ticket and buy a cheaper ticket once in Japan. But for the refund it may take several months depending on your credit card billing cycle.