Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Hello. I'm planning a trip to Japan for the 2020 Olympic games. Most accommodation in Tokyo and the immediate vicinity is either already booked up or is very expensive , so I'm going to be staying in Nagoya and will use the bullet train to get into Tokyo every day. I'm curious to know if anyone is planning anything similar or if anyone would have any advice. This will be my first visit to Japan. Thank you.

Accommodations that far ahead haven't been made available yet, so that's why it seems they're sold out.

As the first response says, accommodations for that time aren't yet open. Most accommodations will open their bookings 3-6 months ahead.

Places open now are taking advantage of people being desperate to secure accommodation, and so are jacking up their prices to make a profit.

Or they are luxury hotels that are always expensive. I've noticed a lot of luxury hotels take reservations further in advance than many other hotels.

The Park Hyatt and the Mandarin are expensive whether there are Olympics or not. But even most 4 star hotels don't take reservations so far in advance and I would be shocked if there wasn't some new hotel opening in the next 9 months or so that will have special offers on rooms. Tokyo has been getting a lot of new hotels.

Staying in Nagoya and commuting to Tokyo is do-able, but you will get tired of the amount of travel if you do that every day (and you would presumably be on a rail-pass to make it affordable and on the Hikari services.) Plus, once in Tokyo, you then need to get to the venues so that can add another hour.

If I was looking at something like that I would probably pick something closer (within an hour) and that covers some of the outer areas of greater Tokyo (Chiba, Saitama, Kanagawa/Yokohama). Even a nearby town like Utsunomia would be better (an hour by shinkansen).

And, many hotels are already full, not just that they are not on sale yet. The Olympic committee block booked 1/4 of all the rooms in Tokyo (45,000 rooms for officials), so that tightened supply. Plus, you can contact hotels direct for longer dated bookings, but expect to pay a lot. Some hotels are charging 400% their regular rates.

Some great replies on this already , so thank you all. Maybe I'll just book flights now and an accommodation that offers free cancellation. This way I'll secure a flight , but can change the accommodation nearer the time if necessary. I'm just so keen to go , I don't want to miss out by booking too late. To travel from Nagoya every day isn't ideal , but I'd do it to avoid being stung by high prices for accommodation in and around Tokyo. I have looked at the surrounding areas and currently they are also as expensive. Even with the additional cost of a 2 week rail pass I will save serious money by staying in Nagoya.

A minimum of 4 hours daily travel would suck all of the enjoyment out of a trip for me. It sounds fine on paper but I would very strongly recommend most people against this.

And if you are really determined to stay out of town then surely there are still better options than Nagoya. Staying in Shizuoka or somewhere in the north part of Saitama (Kumagaya?) for example, would cut your travel time in half.

Still, I think if you're smart you can probably stay in the Tokyo area without too much trouble.

Thanks Liz

Liz. Based on what you've suggested I did a quick search in the Saitama area and I've found a wonderful place just south of Chichibu , called Shomaru which has a train station also. It's a little more pricey than I'd have hoped , but it will cut that daily travel down by at least half. Many , many thanks.

Shomaru is on the Seibu Chichibu line. It's not the most convenient as you'll need to transfer at least twice to get around in Tokyo. It's one transfer already just to get to Ikebukuro. And that's a local line. With schoolkids and workers competing for space, it may not be the best place.

Shomaru to Tokyo station is around two hours. Plus, you will be fighting with commuters and standing part of the way. I would stay in Nagoya rather than that do that trip each day. Plus, did you check a map - there is almost nothing at Shomaru. There is a reason it is the least used train station on the Seibu network (less than 250 people a day).

As they say, some ryokans and hostels dont open up their reservations until 3 or 6 months in advance so starting next year you will se a lot of other options to check if they are affordable.
I made my reservations with Airbnb because i needed a bigger space for the whole family.