Safe to travel between 17-25th March?

I'm currently living in Tokyo now and safe to say, the earthquake was scary as hell.

I'm going to be traveling Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go, Takayama, Koyasan, Kyoto and Miyajime from 17th -25th March. I'm worried if I should cancel my travel plans. Everything has already been booked and quite a number of things have even been paid for. But if it's not safe, I will cancel my trip.

Please advice me on what I should do.

Many thanks,
Michelle

Why do you think it would not be safe?

None of the areas you plan to visit have been affected by the earthquake. In fact, they are all further away from the disaster area than Tokyo and, therefore, come with a lower risk of aftershocks than Tokyo.

Transportation in and to Western Japan should be back to normal by the 17th (and possibly even by tomorrow).

Hi Michelle

Can you tell me more about the situation in Tokyo? I am supposed to go Tokyo on Monday 14 Mar for a few days. I'll be staying in Akihabara Washington, with plans to buy electronics in the areas, taking photos in the Palace surroundings and in Mt Fuji 5 lakes. Would activities be back to normal by next week? What about the Narita Express?

If anyone could help the above update I'd be very appreciative. Thanks!

Oops. Sorry for the double post. Thought this one did not get through.

@Uji I'm actually more worried about the areas nearer to Tokyo because I can't seem to find enough information in English about where exactly near Tokyo has been affected strongly.More than anything, I'm asking to reassure my parents who really want me to cancel the trip.Something I'm quite reluctant to do for the same reasons you're citing.

@Bud I'm really not that sure about that right now (up-to-date information about the local situation seems to be mostly in Japanese) and afraid I can't be of much help. What I currently do know is that central Tokyo doesn't seem to be affected too bad. Things should resume to normal by tomorrow or the day after. I think it is areas nearer and at Chiba that is more badly affected. I'm not sure how long the aftershocks are going to last but they are pretty minor and should not really affect anything. Uji seems much more knowledgeable on the subject so he probably can tell you much more than I could.

I can't seem to find enough information in English about where exactly near Tokyo has been affected strongly.

There is almost no damage in and near Tokyo.

Can you tell me more about the situation in Tokyo? I am supposed to go Tokyo on Monday 14 Mar for a few days.

Unless there are more major aftershocks, the transportation situation in Tokyo should normalize by tomorrow, March 12.

What about the Narita Express?

I expect it to be running again tomorrow, March 12.

@ michelle, If anything you'd be safer going south than staying in Tokyo.

@ bud, I spoke to my gilfriend on the phone, she said there isn't much damage in Tokyo. The shocks were scary but it's over now. Ofcourse I'd be wary of any aftershocks or further earthquakes in the upcoming days/weeks.

I m supposed to go tokyo via narita nxt thu... Wit the massive quake, we have cancelled our hotel in tokyo and switch to osaka... My qn is whether is it possible to traval from tokyo narita to osaka bia shinkansen??? R they back in operation? When will they b back in operation? The earthquake is devastating... The last thing is to cancel the trip...

Pray for japan! B safe and get well soon!!!

is it possible to traval from tokyo narita to osaka bia shinkansen?

The Tokaido Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka has resumed operation today already. Whether the Narita Express will resume operation tomorrow has not been announced yet, but I expect so. If not tomorrow then probably from the day after tomorrow. After all, the Narita-Tokyo-Osaka route has not suffered any damage.

@uji thanks for the info. there is no news about whether kansai area or kyushu area are hit by the quake or tsunami. is there any news or alert issued by japan govt?

Here is information about Kansai and Kyushu:
http://www.japan-guide.com/news/0018.html

Kansai is the area around Osaka.
Kyushu is the island in the left lower corner of the map.

I guess that you won't have much of a problem from the 17th, but for the moment the US government, at least, recommends to reconsider any immediate travel plans:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/03/11/japan.quake.travel.alert/inde...

The travel alert by the US authorities contains wrong information. I strongly recommend to get your information elsewhere!

Below are some of its erroneous or misleading claims:

Tokyo airports are currently closed

Wrong! Both of Tokyo's airports are open again less than 24 hours after the earthquake (but there are numerous cancellations today).

other airports in Japan may be closed or have restricted access.

I believe that only three out of Japan's airports are concerned by closures. All of them are minor airports.

Public transportation, including trains and subways are closed in the Tokyo area

Most subways and trains in the Tokyo area are expected to be running today, less than 24 hours after the earthquake, if they did not do so already yesterday night.

and service has been interrupted in other areas.

Only in the Tohoku Region will a considerable number of trains remain out of service for a few more days to come. This does not affect most tourists' travel plans.

Many roads have been damaged in the Tokyo area and in northern Japan.

No roads have been damaged in the Tokyo area! Only the eastern Tohoku region has suffered damage.

Uji-San, thank you very much for the update. I'm glad that Tokyo is largely unaffected. I hope Nex would be up and running by today or tomorrow. However, if otherwise, is the limousine bus service back to normal operation already? And had the power/water/gas supply to the central Tokyo resumed to normal?

Airport buses do not operate to Narita today, and there are no announcements about tomorrow. Some buses to Haneda Airport re-start running from this afternoon.

Trains do not operate to Narita Airport either, but they do operate to Haneda Airport.

The rail companies are checking the tracks for possible damage. I personally expect the trains to Narita Airport to re-start running tomorrow, but I cannot guarantee anything.

hello, can someone give us more information on emergency nuclear?
I planned to visit Japan from March 27 to April 11 with my 6 year old son. Generally I do not worry easily, but the nuclear scares me.
I feel very close to the Japanese people in these bad times.

can someone give us more information on emergency nuclear?

This is a very difficult issue to get factual reporting about. It is certainly a very serious incident, but tons of panic making reports make it difficult to judge what is actually at risk.

My personal stance is to stay calm and keep updated about what the authorities are advising. According to them the problems currently seems to be restricted to a small local area at the coast of Fukushima Prefecture.

My personal stance is to stay calm and keep updated about what the authorities are advising. According to them the problems currently seems to be restricted to a small local area at the coast of Fukushima Prefecture.

I agree with you. Personally, I am an opponent to the atomic policy of the Japanese government, however, at this time I do not think there is a life-threatning danger. Even at the level of the 1015 micro Sievert per hour, 3500 hour stay will reach the half death dose of 3.5 Sievert. However the level of 1015 micro Sievert per hour is not good for health. The travelers and the residents in Japan should keep attention to the TV (or the Internet) news.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionizing_radiation

Yukio Edano, the Chief Cabinet Secretary announced that the radioactivity level significantly decreased after the explosion at 15:36. He said that the reactor container is not destroyed at present.

My flight leaves haneda tomorrow as scheduled (3/14) But I don't know if trains to the airport had resummed running. Does anyone have informTion abt this? I leave from wakoshi station. I suppose to change train at yurakucho station than take monorail to Haneda. Thanks.

The trains are all running:
http://www.japan-guide.com/news/0018.html