Have you cancelled the trip to Japan?

Thanks all for all your precious comments.
I am praying for all the Japanese peopleand really hope that the situation with the reactor in Fukushima will not aggravate.
I am supposed to travel with my boyfrined in the beginning of April - arriving on the 2nd at Narita to stay for 2 weeks at Tokyo, Kamakura and Kyoto. We are seriously considering cancelling it - unfortunately, our air carrier is not going to refund us :(
We are extremely sad, as have been planning this for a really long time and were impatiently expecting it. We will wait until 27 March to take a decision - things might change. The power outages, transport limitations and lack of food are a problem in themselves, but not so serious.
However, I consider the nuclear sutation the greatest determining factor.
It is also very sad to imagine the general mood in Japan after such a national tragedy. It seems to me an incredible nightmare

Good point, brought up by Nelsun. Are people in Tokyo and other areas that were barely affected in a depressed mood?

Some people have mentioned the mood, saying, ''I wouldn't want to go on the trip just because everyone in Japan is in such low spirits.''

We're making it sound like they're a bunch of zombies wandering around with blank looks on their faces.

Yes, the situation is beyond devastating, and very depressing. I wouldn't feel right going and being a tourist, snapping photos of Shibuya crossing, while everyone around me is sad, thinking the tragedy 24/7.

as the 2 posters above me allready mentioned. the mood and the atmosphere is also something that ruins my trip. i was giong to travel on my own to meet other people and to talk to locals or other people around the world. my biggest sightseeing was the area in and around tokyo for 3 weeks, the Hanami period and then to travel south to kyoto, osaka, hiroshima.

i originaly planned arriving in tokyo on the 24th of march, but fortunatly the flight company (Emirates) called me and as a result to the incidents in japan i get all my money back. so i am not going to take the risk to travel.

alot of people in this thread have allready booked there vacation. if they plan to go i wish for the best, but for me it's a no-go
the nuclear power problems seem to get worse everytime i watch the news though.

i wish the best to all people in japan and for all travelers who decide to go to japan.

''sorry for the double post''
i want to thank uji, Sira and everybody on the subject about this horrible eartquake. thanks for keeping the updates on tokyo and japan.

We have not cancelled our trip yet. We are waiting a week or two to see if things improve. We are to fly in to Narita from Chicago on April 12th and stay 6 days in Tokyo (Shinjuku area), then 3 days in Kyoto. I am hoping that the power situation will have improved somewhat by then. This trip has been nearly a year in the making for us and the only thing that would stop us from going is the nuclear situation. For now we are just watching and waiting to see what happens.

I'm on the same boat as you Sarah!
I'm leaving from Chicago airport on the 12th April to Narita, and staying a week in Tokyo before continuing on to Nara/Osaka area and then back to Tokyo for 2 days and flying out April 26th.
At this point, I'm waiting till last week of March to determined if I should cancel. The black-outs, transportation, lack of shops open, and possibilities of aftershocks are whats praying on my mind. My trip was 2 yrs in the saving/planning so its painful to even consider cancellation. Not to mention losing money which was not easy to make and scrimp and save in the 1st place.

sorry if I sound a bit frustrated, I'm in the same boat as many - just cancelled my flight with Emirates due for Narita on the 19th.

My issue is I have not found any information on the potential impact of a nuclear meltdown/radiation release at Fukushima - are there any estimates on how far any radiation would be released?

I plan to go to Nagoya which is approximately 400km from Fukushima I think?!?

So this is how my personal situation is. I arrive on 18th Fri night. My hubby is still very keen to go, and so am I. My only concern is how we will be welcomed by the ppl of Tokyo.
I have no concerns for the power plants or earthquakes that we may feel. Just the ppl that are there.
I have checked on the Narita airport website and there are about a dozen flights already landed this morning and dozens more to come in today from all over the world. So I presume that tourists are still heading to Tokyo and beyond. I would love to have this confirmed.
I am confident (very hopeful) that by this weekend some trains to most parts of in and around Tokyo will be operational.
I am awaiting an email from out hostel in Ueno, wrote to them asking if they are still accepting our booked dates and have not shut up shop. If they are, we will be there with bells on.

Are we crazy/insesitive? I know noone wants to answer these questions but I hope I have made them a little more specific than "should we go?".

Also, while I'm on, when the shops open this morning, could we hear an update from someone in Tokyo as to how many are going to open today?
Thanks very much everyone and good luck to all.

We fly in on the 1st of April - spending 5 days in Tokyo and then heading south.

At this stage we have no intention of cancelling, but we're watching the situation closely.

And I just wanted to give a heart felt thank-you to everyone, and especially Uji, for keeping us so up to date, particularly when you are going through such tradgic circumstances. I cannot express just how valuable this site has been for us in the past few days.
Thank-you.

I am scheduled to arrive in Tokyo on March 28, staying for three days before heading off to Kyoto, Kanazawa and Osaka.

The only thing which is of concern is if one of the nuclear plant throws radiation towards Tokyo, but I don't believe that will happen.

I am following the news and understand that there may be some minor inconveniences in Tokyo, but have no intention of cancelling.

We are going to Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima and Kyoto from the 18th of March til the 3rd of April.

We should be fine right? Far from everything?

We are going to see my family too so we will be using a car and not really Train :)

Re shops in Tokyo today, it's only 8am here at the moment so difficult to say. No power outages are scheduled for central Tokyo than I know of (although info from Tokyo Electric changes by the minute), so I'd say most shops will be open.

Most train services are running with slightly reduced schedules. Rush hour trains yesterday were apparently extremely busy even by Tokyo standards, with long waits just to get onto platforms on some lines.

Many independent (non-govt, non-power company) sources have said that there is no chance of widespread radioactive contamination, and any that there is will be in the areas immediately around the nuclear plant, so Nagoya is much too far away to be afftected- here are excerpts of articles I have read with links below (I have highlighted some parts):

"The almost certain scenario at all of the nuclear plants in Japan is that all of the hazardous material will be contained within the carefully engineered and constructed reactor pressure vessels and the surrounding containment building that were installed before the plants were ever started. During the course of events, there will almost certainly be a need for at least some of the the plant operators to carefully release non-condensible gases from their containment building. Some of those gases will be chemically inert "noble" gases that contain radioactive isotopes. No one will receive a high enough dose of radiation to cause any negative health effects."

http://atomicinsights.blogspot.com/2011/03/nuclear-plant-issues-in-jap...

"It is "very unlikely" that the crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant will turn into a Chernobyl-like situation, the head of the UN atomic watchdog IAEA said Monday."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10712494&re...

If you see anything suggesting clouds of radiation will head to Tokyo or similar, please check the source- there is a lot of misinformation out there.

Thank you Sira. Every day that goes past puts my heart at more ease about our long awaited trip. One more question though, I have been hearing about mass cancellation of events. I was wondering if there have been any canellation of events in Tokyo? I would imagine there would be. My main concern is the Tokyo Anime Fair which was to be held on the 26 and 27 March. We were heading there on the 26th then going on to Kyoto. I was wondering if anything has been said about it? (I know its still early days so maybe nothing has been said). If it has been cancelled we may limit our time in Tokyo. Our trip was pretty much organised around that event.

Thanks again!

sira, that first article you quoted was from a guy who worked in the nuclear industry - not exactly impartial...

Imperfect,

Are we crazy/insesitive? I know noone wants to answer these questions but I hope I have made them a little more specific than "should we go?".

Insensitive? I don't think so. Crazy? Maybe.
A number of posters have asked similar questions about whether travelling to Japan right now for pleasure is "insensitive" or "offensive". I don't think that would be the case at all, since Greater Tokyo is not a disaster area. The problem I see is that Tokyo and the surrounding areas are currently experiencing a major power shortage which is likely to continue for weeks - if not longer. Trains are not running, not because of any earthquake damage (there was none), but because there is insufficient power. Where I live, just outside Tokyo, we are totally without a train service all day for the second day running, and it looks like the train service to and from Narita Airport is almost non-existent.
Central Tokyo isn't due to experience any of the scheduled power outages planned for the surrounding areas, but shops and businesses are being urged to take steps to reduce their power consumption. Add to this the fact that staff are having difficulties getting to work, and that products are not being delivered to shops, many places will be closed all day or open for reduced hours.
In short, I personally can't understand why anyone would want to travel to Tokyo any time this month unless their trip was really essential.

Thank you Dave for the very informative response, we really appreciate it!
I agree this is def not the ideal time to travel but it may be mine and my hubbies only chance for the next few years to get to Japan. Our trip is 2 years in the making and we are both going to be changing carrers at the end of the year (therefore having to wait a full year for hols). We have used our only holidays for this trip and so have no more available to replan in a few months time. And then at the end of next year we will be planning for a baby.
So in short, this may be our only chance, and even if it is a little bit difficult, we are planning to make the most of it!
We are anxiously waiting on informaiton about the Anime Fair, as if it is cancelled we will travel to Kyoto much eariler than planned. Does anyone have any information on this?

Thank you again Dave!

Well here's another link to the BBC website, it was a similar thing a friend was saying, who is in the US navy..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12732015

Basically not Chernobyl and not making Tokyo Radioactive.

The people in Tokyo aren't walking around like zombies, no need to worry there. I can easily imagine cancellations of various events though, mostly because of transport and electricity issues. I don't think a visitor would notice a depressed atmosphere though.

As for this issue: sira, that first article you quoted was from a guy who worked in the nuclear industry - not exactly impartial...

While I agree he may not be completely unbiased towards the use of nuclear energy (which I hate the idea of myself), do you have any reason to think he is lying or trying to mislead people? What would he gain from it? If anything I think that someone who worked in the atomic industry would be a bit more informed than most of the people panicking about the "next Chernobyl".

The IAEA says more or less the same thing. This is not Soviet Russia where a massive cover-up was easy for the government at the time, I firmly believe that we are not in grave danger of widespread nuclear contamination and that if we were, we would be told.

Many sources tell us that any amounts of radiation released will be small and very localised. I don't see any good reason not to believe them really.

In any case, people are free to believe what they like and cancel or not as they like- I just hate to see sensationalism and unnecessary panic, whether it's for this situation, Y2K, bird flu, swine flu, soccer hooligans at the world cup or whatever is the latest topic, I have noticed that things that might happen are rarely as bad as any worst case scenario suggested by the media. Just my thoughts on the matter. All we can do is wait and see I suppose.

That's a nice, balanced article Momel, and very informative. Thanks!

I just received a message from my friend in Tokyo whom I will be staying with. He tells me that the train schedules vary from day to day. He has not been affected by the schedule blackouts. It seems like there is a lot of uncertainty, even for Japanese citizens. My friend even told me that this may not be the best time for me to visit Japan. (March 23rd - March 28th). I hope this helps with people trying to make a decision. I'm on hold with Continental right now to see what my options are. Continental has been busy all day.