March 2020 Japan

Hii guys,

I need your help on my itinerary whether it works.

I have planned a family trip to Japan on 7-15 March 2020 but the virus outbreak, i planned to skip Tokyo city and do a self drive along the countryside to avoid the crowds. Purpose of this is to skip the public transport. The flight ticket cannot be cancel, so i'm thinking to go ahead with my trip.

Day 1: Landed at Narita @ 3.30pm, planned to overnight in Ibaraki area.
Day 2/3: Drive to Nikko, overnight in Nikko for two nights
Day 4/5: Drive to Matsumoto, overnight in Matsumoto for two nights. Planned to visit Shirakawago, it is still snowing on 10th March?
Day 6/7: Drive to Kawaguchiko, overnight in Kawaguchiko for two nights.
Day 8: Midnight flight from Haneda

I wonder above works for me? We are family of 5, we used to drive long distance, so 2-3 hours driving is ok for us. Also, may I know the estimated cost for the toll fares please?

I understand that the cost might be higher than taking public transport but on the safe side, i'm preferably to travel by car for this case.

Thanks a lot in advance! :)

I am assuming that, more nature and less crowds, is what you are wanting. I you go Nikko, you are still going north and to higher elevations, which means better chances for snow.

I do think car rental would be better than public transportation, is probably safer. This would be a road trip vacation in nature.

If you want more nature, you are wanting warmer. I would suggest being near the coast, and, perhaps trying to go a little more south, if possible.

Does the kii peninsula sound good? This is the large southern peninsula between Nagoya and Osaka. Places to go:

Ise grand shrine: the shrine of the royal family.
Toba: Aquarium and Pearl Diving
Iga Ueno: Old Ninja village with a museum.
Kumano trails: pilgrimage trails, and some Onsens.
Nachi Falls: Shrine and Falls, more Kumano trails.
Shirahama: A hot springs beach resort
Mount Koya: Center of Shingon Buddhism, known for Temple Visits (probably snowy in early March).

I am guessing that a beach resort is probably low in attendance except during the summer, so it would be less crowded. There are other places that are interesting, such as the Onigajo Rocks near Kumano City, and the Wedding Rocks (don�ft remember where, but maybe near Toba?).

One of the best Hot Springs is in Japan is the Ryujin Onsen between Tanabe and Koya, due to the high concentrations of Sodium Bicarbonate in the springs.

There should be enough to plan a one week road trip.

Go to The Japan Guide links to the Kansas Region, and check out the places on the Kii Peninsula.

Does this help?
Good Luck, in planning your trip.

I believe there is also a train station that has a cat for the station master. That sounds like silly road trip destination, somewhat like the largest rubber band ball, or ball of yarn. I think the station is near Wakayama, and they are on their third station master.

This type of thing might now be �gcup of tea�h, but I am trying to think of things in the flavor of a road trip.

I like Nachi Falls, and the Hotel Urashima in Katsurra. It is a hot springs resort with hot spring sea caves (2 of them, and 4 other hot spring pools on the resort hill), along with a dinner buffet that features a sushi carving demonstration. Katsurra is a fishing village. Again, I believe this is off season, so there will be fewer people.

Once again, this might not what you planned on doing, but it might work.

Once again, good luck...

Pay attention to US Dept of State Japan Travel Advisory, or equivalent notice from your country. It is currently at Level 2. If it gets worse, some airline company may offer free cancellation or free rebooking.

My trip is in April, and I am concerned (not so much for being in Japan, but for possibility of quarantine upon return from Japan even if not infected). If it gets worse, I hope my airline offers free rebooking.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvi...

I would plan your trip as normal. You are more likely to wreck your car on a country road than get a coranavirus.

Thanks guys....

I do hope that the airline offers cancellation or rebooking though.
My flight is ANA and departs from Kuala Lumpur.
Hopefully by that time it is not worsen.

I do hope that the airline offers cancellation or rebooking though.

I am in a same boat, have less than 2 weeks to decide, my flight is also with ANA, unfortunately, they do not have rebooking offer; currently only "flights" to China ( Including Hong Kong and Macau) would get full refund. I do hope that condition would improve; alas, the daily news is very discouraging.

I am also in that boat (plane) for at trip toward the end of March. According to the travel agent I use on occasion the flights to Tokyo are much less likely to be cancelled as it is a business hub, whereas the tourist destinations will potentially be cancelled. But I am hoping that at cherry blossom time the tourist destinations will stay popular.

Interestingly he also said that one reason that ships are such a breeding ground for transmission is that certain nationalities (dont want to offend anyone here by naming them, one you would expect, one you wouldnt, and Australians werent in the two) dont tend to wash their hands after using the toilet. This is so bad that one cruise line has resorted to sensors in the toilets that you have to trigger to get out, they check for moisture on your hands (after you have washed them). I am never going to eat at a buffet again...

Hi I am currently in Japan on iNEX to Narita, I am honestly not so worried about getting corona virus so much as a quarantine.

There is not a lot of snow this year. We went to the snow monkey park and it was mostly mud with little snow. In Tokyo, nearly everyone is in a mask and I didn't see any face characters at Tokyo Disney Sea including Ariel, who normally has a meet and greet. If you want masks buy them in your home country.

I have heard hand sanitizer is also hard to come by, I brought that from home too.

I would think unless a lot of people cancel trips Shirakawa Go tends to be crowded and might be more than 3 hours each way from Matsumoto.

Good luck

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade updated its advice for Japan and South Korea from level 1 to level 2 on the four-level Smartraveller advisory scale yesterday.

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/health-safety/dfat-raise...

Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsD3Trce4uQ

Hi,

I am also due to travel to Japan in 3weeks, for a 12days trip, with just 2 nights in Tokyo. I know the situation got worse lately but at the same time number are still very low.

https:/�c

Still no advice of no travelling to Japan from UK Gov.

Also, it is difficult from the news to understand where exactly are the new cases located, which region/ city. Anyone has better information?

I am not planning to cancel yet, but of course I will keep monitoring the situation, and hopefully going and avoiding the most affected areas.

Since Japanese government is all about those tourist money and looking good in Olympics, you can expect treatment or at least be able rely on your embassy for help.

If you get sick as a resident, hospitals are scared to take you, tells you to contact government hotline, you reach the hotline after being put on hold for hours, gets told that they cant do anything for you because you hasnt been to China or don�ft have severe enough disease, and tells you to go back to clinic/hospital who won�ft take you. The government is refusing so many tests that even pneumonia patients can�ft get tested. Doctors are going on news and media on this, but no changes are expected.

https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20200224-00000010-jij-soci

My husband and I have a trip to Tokyo on March 9th as our honeymoon. We also booked through ANA and currently don't have any plans to cancell but we are kind of scared they cancell the flights and we lose our hotel and JR Pass money :(

This is why travel insurance is imperative.

Hi!

You won't lose all of your JR Pass money. There is a return process if a JR Pass has never been used. So assuming you bought your rail pass from a reputable company you should be fine, whether you have travel insurance or not.

Check the policy where you purchased yours.

If you have non-refundable hotel stays you can contact the hotels in question if flights from your home country are canceled. I know on my flight to Japan about a week ago there were many people who were placed on the flight when their original flight was cancelled, so if it's just the airline and not all flights you might just get transferred to another airline.

Things I personally noticed, things meant specifically for tourists were a lot less crowded. So, my last few trips to Japan, getting a rail pass has taken 15-20 minutes of waiting, but this trip I just walked in. However places or events that pull on more Japanese tourists were still crowded. Don't go to Disney Sea expecting Coronavirus to have emptied the park. There was a 3+ hour line for Soarin' on Saturday. I thought Shiga Kogen seemed pretty quiet but we were also there on a week day and snow has been an issue this Winter as well. Though if anyone is looking for skiing this year Shiga Kogen does have enough snow for it.

Good luck!

Did you pay for your flight through a credit card? If so I'd check with them as some will refund you in certain circumstances when the retailer refuses.

I do hope that the airline offers cancellation or rebooking though.

You might want to check with your travel agent if are eligible :
https://www.ana.co.jp/asw/topinfo/info_branch_g.jsp?infoID=th_e2020022...

ANA is offering free cancellations https://www.ana.co.jp/en/jp/topics/notice200123/

You need to check the fine print of your travel insurance. Several tv networks have said that pandemics are not covered. As to whether coronavirus has reached pandemic status, is open to debate. Hospitalisation will cost heavily if you need to be admitted, and if you have to self quarantine for 14 days, what hotel will want you, and at what cost.?