Hello everyone! We made it safe and sound to Tokyo and are so excited to share this trip!!
We woke up early for our 11:00 am flight out of Dallas (at the airport by 8:00 am) and somehow had the wrong travel paperwork from our testing center for entry into Japan….good thing we were there early and got the correct paperwork sent to us to allow us entry on the plane…with 5 minutes to spare before our whole trip would have been canceled and seats given to people on standby (which was already 3 pages long!!).
If you’re getting a travel covid test for entry to Japan, please make sure you have the Japanese ministry form version filled out by the doctor when your test is done (if the correct words aren’t on there, you’ll be denied at your own expense!) and fill out the Visit Japan Web for covid information and customs to get a QR code at your home airport and for Japan customs.
It will be a breeze getting on the plane and also into Japan in a matter of minutes. Don’t be the person that has to fill out paper forms at the airport after a long flight for each member of your group and possibly wait hours in line just to get through immigration and customs. Definitely recommend you fill out all information on Visit Japan Web and your account shows green before you actually board your flight to Japan for easy and fast entry!
I thought our flight was never-ending at about 13 hours from Dallas to Narita. They supplied PLENTY of food items so we definitely did not go hungry. We were provided 2 meals, 1 bag of pretzels, and a snack pack + drinks throughout our American Airlines flight.
Once we made it to Narita International Airport, we had to go through immigration and customs declarations before we actually made it to our terminals, which ended up being a breeze with our QR codes.
We redeemed our 14-day JR Passes and took the NEXpress to Tokyo Station.
We were able to stop for some Starbucks and tried the Sakura Frappuccino and a dark mocha Frappuccino. From there, we took the Keisei line to Maihama station and we walked about 10-15 minutes to our hotel!
We stayed at the Henn na Hotel (Robot Dinosaur) for 2 nights! On our first night, we ended up grabbing a few items from 7-Eleven for dinner and got settled and showered so we would be ready to go for our first full day — which is going to be spent at Tokyo Disney Sea.
Arrival Tips:
— Pre-fill Visit Japan Web which includes Flight information, Passport number, and Proof of Vaccine Certificate for Quarantine (3 doses) OR COVID-19 Negative Test Result Certificate within 72 hours before departure (which includes this info and requirements) — make sure you complete fast track as well as customs declaration — both should turn green and give you a QR code!
— If you are planning to use the trains/shinkansen frequently (7, 14, or 21 days at a time) I really recommend getting a Japan Rail pass from Klook (JR Pass for Whole Japan) 1-2 months in advance and exchanging it at Narita airport’s JR office and taking a NEXpress to Tokyo station. This saved us so much money traveling from Tokyo to Hiroshima and back!
— Travel light. I know, It’s easier said than done but most hotels offer washers/dryers in a common area for a couple hundred yen (ranges from 500 to 800 for a full load) and you don’t have to have a ton of dirty clothes to lug around! I highly suggest you bring 1 carry-on luggage and a backpack as a personal item. This way you don’t have tp wait for your bag at the airport. If your ticket allows a checked item as covered, by all means, bring one (mostly empty) so you can bring back souvenirs or even purchase a cheap suitcase for around $90-100 USD at a Don Quixote while you’re in Japan.
Hopefully, these tips help make your departure and arrival a lot smoother.
I’ll do a couple of larger posts to include what we did in each area for our vacation in Japan.
exploring:
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