Tokyo Airports experiences

[user 6862]

This can be confusing because the example images show a QR code and the manual is rather vague on this specific detail. In my experience the QR code for Fast Track did not appear on the approval page as viewed on a phone but did appear if printed. The important factor seems to be that the border/banner color changes from red/pink to blue and includes an approval message (in Japanese).

View attachment 31104

In the first screen above you'll want a blue border with Japanese text in each of the white boxes. In the second screen you'll want a blue banner with "Review Completed" at the top. In the last screen you'll want "Review Completed" and "Not Required" for the certificate and test result steps. The Customs (aqua bar) and Immigration (yellow bar) screens are not shown here but did include visible QR codes that needed to be scanned. I have included a link to the sub-manual for the Fast Track portion of the process. Hope this helps!

https://teachme.jp/111284/manuals/18991086

Thank you very much for this help, in particular for taking the time to do this for us. Going back step by step over what I thought was a completed application I found I had completed the application but not given a thought to the info in a box on the quarantine page...

Registering QR code for quarantine procedures upon entry to Japan is no longer required. QR code is no longer displayed here.

I guess that is the answer to no quarantine QR code. When tapping the 'Print' button on the completed quarantine page a page appears relating to phones, that does show a QR code when saving to a phone. We don't use phones to carry documents, everything is printed so the message above applies ... I think.
The printed page I have does not include a QR code.

The sub-manual was particularly helpful alongside your text, dinner in Tokyo 8-10 Feb?

 

[user 6862]

GOOD LUCK!

Thanks ma'am. I think we'll need a sense of humour more than luck

 

[George Harris]

Japanese citizens tend to have a stronger command of (and willingness to engage with) written English over spoken English.

When it doubt, write it out.

(and then hand the pen and paper over so they can write a response)

This is generally true whether Japanese or any other language. Also, many times people can understand what is being said better than their ability to speak. Much can also be inferred from hand gestures and body language. After a couple years several people thought I understood more Chinese than I did because of this. (One of the more unnerving things is to be in a meeting being conducted 99% in Chinese, hearing your name mentioned a few times, and then suddenly being asked for your opinion on something. I would have no idea which way the meeting was flowing and therefore, what would be an acceptable manner of answer.)

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Technically nobody has to do any of this. However, if you show up empty handed you will be pulled aside to be questioned by staff. Because the first step to be checked is the last stage to be approved you will be held back shortly after disembarking. At best you'll be delayed while they question you but at worst you risk being sent down a physically separate path from everyone else. I believe the alternate path leads to even more paperwork and testing with the possibility of being quarantined if a test comes back positive. Japan does not mess around with border protocols and I did not want to risk being denied entry so I filled everything out and hoped for the best.

That sounds very Kafka-esque!

 

[user 6862]

That sounds very Kafka-esque!

I'll let you know

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

I'll let you know

We'll know it was - our confirmation will be not hearing from you via a glowing (or any) trip report. Now whether to send out a rescue party to plumb the labyrinthine depths of Japanese airport bureaucracy will have to be determined in committee. Bring snacks, it may take us a while to organize the search party/mob (after an appropriate recce).

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I found I had completed the application but not given a thought to the info in a box on the quarantine page...

Registering QR code for quarantine procedures upon entry to Japan is no longer required. QR code is no longer displayed here.

I guess that is the answer to no quarantine QR code.

Sounds like it. I'm not even sure how the QR code would have worked at that stage since it's a deluge of people disembarking a large aircraft and rushing into the arrivals hallway. I imagine it was a huge mess trying to scan a moving mob so they scaled it back to the approval message. By the time travelers arrive at immigration the mob has slowed down, thinned out, and queued up.

The sub-manual was particularly helpful alongside your text, dinner in Tokyo 8-10 Feb?

If I were still there I absolutely would but I will be long gone when you arrive. I hope your entry goes smoothly and your trip goes well!

That sounds very Kafka-esque!

Depending on your mood and perspective Japan can look like anything from a futuristic powerhouse to a functional dystopia.

 

[mackinaw chief]

Don't forget about having an extra 50 dollars in your pocket to pay the 25 dollar departure tax not included in your ticket. Fast inbound customs clearance.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Don't forget about having an extra 50 dollars in your pocket to pay the 25 dollar departure tax not included in your ticket. Fast inbound customs clearance.

The departure tax established in 2019 should be included in the price of any applicable tickets. If someone is interested in the minutia of airport fees and taxes they can compare the codes listed in their ticket details to the list of codes in the document attached to this post. The document is 16 pages but searchable.

 

[user 6862]

The departure tax established in 2019 should be included in the price of any applicable tickets. If someone is interested in the minutia of airport fees and taxes they can compare the codes listed in their ticket details to the list of codes in the document attached to this post. The document is 16 pages but searchable.

All international travel has become more complex over the last few years, but 16 pages of codes... On the other hand maybe existing rules are only applied by Japan in full?

 

[Devil's Advocate]

All international travel has become more complex over the last few years, but 16 pages of codes... On the other hand maybe existing rules are only applied by Japan in full?

Many of the codes serve similar/identical functions so it's not as bad as it first looks. Although not explained previously the list is long because each country and regulator/assessor has their own way of doing things. A typical international trip might include 20 codes in the ticket pricing details. What at first looks like gibberish is shorthand for the currency, status, amount, & description.

For most travelers these fees are handled by computers behind the scenes with no reason to wonder or worry about them, but many years ago I bought changeable tickets on Singapore Airlines. The airfare never changed but the taxes and fees kept going up and down every time I called. So I got curious and started looking into it. I've forgotten a lot of the details but I remember bits and pieces.

AFAICT the advice about paying Japanese departure taxes in person with US currency is outdated/erroneous. Having entered and exited Japan multiple times in January the entry process is the problem (at both Narita and Haneda). The exit process was a breeze by comparison. You don't need to remove your shoes, unpack your electronics, or wait for an exit stamp (tracked by facial recognition).

 

[user 6862]

Thank you friend

 

[Ziv]

All international travel has become more complex over the last few years, but 16 pages of codes... On the other hand maybe existing rules are only applied by Japan in full?

I have personal experience of just how much more complex the rules of international travel have become over the past several years. I have made 4 RTW trips (1994, 1998, 2002 and 2004) and two extended trips in SE Asia in 2014 and 2018, and each of them was done by my buying a one way ticket either to Europe or to SE Asia, traveling for a month or two, buying another one way ticket, repeat. No problems.
This trip I have had to buy air fare out of the country I am going to nearly every time and have the proof of that exit ticket on me when I checked in for the flight. So I buy a one way ticket to Japan and I need to have proof that I have a ticket to New Zealand before can board the aircraft for Japan. No problem.
The problems are that:
A. I do not have a clue how long I am going to be in Japan so if I buy the ticket I have to pay large change fees.
B. I do not know what country I am going to next most of the time.
The worst case was my flight from Japan to New Zealand. I had the onward ticket from New Zealand to Australia but the eVisa system for getting the visa for Oz was down for two days so I could not the Australian eVisa. The gate attendant at Narita could not get the eVisa website to work either. But I was not allowed to board my flight to NZ and in fact never got to go there because though I had my exit ticket to Australia, I could not get the online visa in time. So I flew to Thailand instead and the Australian online visa system came back online after I landed in Bangkok and hung out in Ao Nang. Incredibly frustrating to actually be told I could not board a flight, but those are the new rules. So I bought tickets out of SE Asian countries on Scoot and Lion Air that were dirt cheap and I simply did not use them. Basically throwing that money I spent on that ticket away. I wonder if the bargain airlines are seeing an increase in people no-showing for flights or if travelers like me are a tiny minority?
Another rule I have seen only cited once so far, but I am afraid it will become more popular, is that I needed to prove I had travel insurance to board a flight from Indo to Thailand with one of the budget airlines. That was a shock. I convinced the gate person (or she just let me slide) that my Kaiser Permanente insurance card covered travel insurance, which I do not believe it does.
Finally, after traveling with shorter stays at each country I was pulled aside for a very close immigration screening in a country to be named later. They took my suitcase apart, read every page of both of my notebooks and asked for the password for my phone so they could search that too. It turns out that short stays at several countries (combined with my long hair, kind of hippy look?) means you may be flagged for a more vigorous screening. They did not actually search my person, thank God, but they searched my belongings VERY thoroughly.
But the up shot is that when I go to an airport now I am worrying what is going to go wrong, whereas in the past there was just the joy of travel.
Sorry for the long rant, but for me travel is just not as fun and care free as it used to be. I still love it, but I think my trips in the future will be just one or two countries, not meandering RTW trips.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I have personal experience of just how much more complex the rules of international travel have become over the past several years. I have made 4 RTW trips (1994, 1998, 2002 and 2004) and two extended trips in SE Asia in 2014 and 2018, and each of them was done by my buying a one way ticket either to Europe or to SE Asia, traveling for a month or two, buying another one way ticket, repeat. No problems.
This trip I have had to buy air fare out of the country I am going to nearly every time and have the proof of that exit ticket on me when I checked in for the flight. So I buy a one way ticket to Japan and I need to have proof that I have a ticket to New Zealand before can board the aircraft for Japan. No problem.
The problems are that:
A. I do not have a clue how long I am going to be in Japan so if I buy the ticket I have to pay large change fees.
B. I do not know what country I am going to next most of the time.
The worst case was my flight from Japan to New Zealand. I had the onward ticket from New Zealand to Australia but the eVisa system for getting the visa for Oz was down for two days so I could not the Australian eVisa. The gate attendant at Narita could not get the eVisa website to work either. But I was not allowed to board my flight to NZ and in fact never got to go there because though I had my exit ticket to Australia, I could not get the online visa in time. So I flew to Thailand instead and the Australian online visa system came back online after I landed in Bangkok and hung out in Ao Nang. Incredibly frustrating to actually be told I could not board a flight, but those are the new rules. So I bought tickets out of SE Asian countries on Scoot and Lion Air that were dirt cheap and I simply did not use them. Basically throwing that money I spent on that ticket away. I wonder if the bargain airlines are seeing an increase in people no-showing for flights or if travelers like me are a tiny minority?
Another rule I have seen only cited once so far, but I am afraid it will become more popular, is that I needed to prove I had travel insurance to board a flight from Indo to Thailand with one of the budget airlines. That was a shock. I convinced the gate person (or she just let me slide) that my Kaiser Permanente insurance card covered travel insurance, which I do not believe it does.
Finally, after traveling with shorter stays at each country I was pulled aside for a very close immigration screening in a country to be named later. They took my suitcase apart, read every page of both of my notebooks and asked for the password for my phone so they could search that too. It turns out that short stays at several countries (combined with my long hair, kind of hippy look?) means you may be flagged for a more vigorous screening. They did not actually search my person, thank God, but they searched my belongings VERY thoroughly.
But the up shot is that when I go to an airport now I am worrying what is going to go wrong, whereas in the past there was just the joy of travel.
Sorry for the long rant, but for me travel is just not as fun and care free as it used to be. I still love it, but I think my trips in the future will be just one or two countries, not meandering RTW trips.

Makes one long for the Days when Pan AM Flight 1 flew around the World and you could get a Bargain ticket good for a Year as long as you kept going in the Same Direction, with No Back Tracking!

Now I have the Time, but not the Money,to do this thanks to there not being such a Flight anymore, and Inflation World Wide along with the Red Tape you mentioned!

911 and COVID are still taking their Toll on International Travel!!( and Domestic too)

 

[Devil's Advocate]

So I bought tickets out of SE Asian countries on Scoot and Lion Air that were dirt cheap and I simply did not use them. Basically throwing that money I spent on that ticket away.

There are booking services that cater to this market by selling placeholder tickets for a fee. Supposedly the reservation is genuine in the sense that it's a real booking with a real airline but it cannot be used for actual travel because it will be auto-cancelled before departure.

Another rule I have seen only cited once so far, but I am afraid it will become more popular, is that I needed to prove I had travel insurance to board a flight from Indo to Thailand with one of the budget airlines. That was a shock.

Although I have not encountered this as an actual rule (yet) it does seem to be on the horizon as a future requirement. It's annoying but I can also see why governments do not want to bear the cost of treating foreign visitors from other countries. Perhaps a very basic policy will become just another cost code that gets quietly rolled into the total ticket price for countries that impose such a requirement.

But the up shot is that when I go to an airport now I am worrying what is going to go wrong, whereas in the past there was just the joy of travel.

I've found some aspects easier and other aspects more difficult. Entering through LAX as a US citizen required no preparation or paperwork. The whole process took about fifteen minutes, most of which was walking from the plane to the inspection area. So in that sense it's easier than before. On the other hand when things do not work as intended it seems to cause a lot more problems than in the past. For instance, if your face or fingerprint fails to scan properly the automated systems are not setup to work around that kind of problem and it can create an extended delay.

 

[Ziv]

Bob, I am jealous. I never got to fly Pan Am and that ticket type would have been PERFECT! I started traveling by air in the late 1980's so I missed the Golden Age of air travel.
DA, I will have to check for that booking service in the future. I used RyanAir as my exit ticket from Greece and it was a pain.
I have to admit that the travel insurance requirement has merit, but I am too set in my ways to change. Old dogs and all that.
Modern travel is so easy in many ways. The ubiquity and reliability of ATMs is amazing when you think about the irritations of travelers checks and bank to bank wire transfers. And visaless travel prior to Covid was a dream for EU, Antipodeans and North American residents. I am so spoiled by visaless travel that I changed my South American itinerary and skipped Bolivia. No saltenas was a major sacrifice!

 

[jis]

Actually none of those impediments are new for travelers with non-Western Passports, and the worst offenders were the Western nations for them. I have vivid memories of traveling on an Indian Passport 50 years back. I am somewhat happy to see the same treatment now being meted out to all, though I am not so happy as an American Passport holder. I suppose Globalization is a great equalizer of both things good and bad.

 

[Ziv]

Actually none of those impediments are new for travelers with non-Western Passports, and the worst offenders were the Western nations for them. I have vivid memories of traveling on an Indian Passport 50 years back. I am somewhat happy to see the same treatment now being meted out to all, though I am not so happy as an American Passport holder. I suppose Globalization is a great equalizer of both things good and bad.

The Europeans, Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand did set the system up for the convenience of their own citizens. There is no doubt of that.
I just wish the system could have expanded to include more countries instead of moving to stricter controls.
9-11 among other things put paid to that Panglossian dream.

 

[user 6862]

Sorry for the long rant, but for me travel is just not as fun and care free as it used to be. I still love it, but I think my trips in the future will be just one or two countries, not meandering RTW trips.

I don't think this was a long rant, just telling the story of travel as it is giving some great examples.
I apparently looked like a member of the Baader Meinhoff gang when working in Germany. I travelled for business and back to the UK for family and friends frequently, some of the border crossings were painful!

I have to admit that the travel insurance requirement has merit, but I am too set in my ways to change. Old dogs and all that.

Maybe what you look for in travel has changed? Putting up with frequent changes and sometimes hardship in travel gets less attractive in travel as you get older (and wiser?). As you write you change with the modern world or you approach travel in a different manner. We are having the same conflicts so are trying to hold on to some of our original travel ideas but are redesigning other aspects of our travels

I suppose Globalization is a great equalizer of both things good and bad.

Agree

I just wish the system could have expanded to include more countries instead of moving to stricter controls.
9-11 among other things put paid to that Panglossian dream.

That's the positive approach, but much happening globally is not so positive.

 

[user 6862]

We'll know it was - our confirmation will be not hearing from you via a glowing (or any) trip report. Now whether to send out a rescue party to plumb the labyrinthine depths of Japanese airport bureaucracy will have to be determined in committee. Bring snacks, it may take us a while to organize the search party/mob (after an appropriate recce).

No search party needed, although yes it was Kafka-esque.
After surviving the Japan border experience the hotel's heated toilet seat was very welcome in a chilly Tokyo

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

No search party needed, although yes it was Kafka-esque.
After surviving the Japan border experience the hotel's heated toilet seat was very welcome in a chilly Tokyo

Glad you survived the ordeal of the bureaucrats!

Ah yes, the infamous TOTO seat!

 

[user 6862]

Glad you survived the ordeal of the bureaucrats!

Ah yes, the infamous TOTO seat!

The long walk from the aircraft to the arrivals area is now lined with mainly young and very young people holding up small placards in English questioning if you have completed the online pre arrival form, it was a great help to have printed copies with us that they had been completed. There were maybe 40 or 50 of these assistants, some doubling up maybe to spread language skills? They were helpful and well trained in their specific role of guiding you through to the actual immigration process.
I think part of their purpose was to soften you up for the real immigration area where the professionals sprang into action, only 3 extra forms to fill, 2 of them as we didn't have a QR code on our phone. But even the older immigration professionals were ultra polite and helpful as they ushered us towards the customs section after we collected our bags.
There only one form to fill but a longer one. Not as long as the US form for non US visitors but long enough.

There were not too many arrivals, no queues and it only took about an hour to be released to buy Monorail + transfer tickets. With the help provided here on this forum we managed that fairly easily too, or at least had the confidence to work through the new to us systems calmly ending in valid tickets to the hotel.

Last night we couldn't get the room heating to work so turned the toilet seat temperature up to high to help heat our room. Only problem was if you forgot it came as a surprise!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I think part of their purpose was to soften you up for the real immigration area where the professionals sprang into action, only 3 extra forms to fill, 2 of them as we didn't have a QR code on our phone.

Were you unable to print the QR codes or save them as screen captures (pictures) on your phone? I have cell service in Japan but I used the photo option to keep it as quick and simple as possible.

But even the older immigration professionals were ultra polite and helpful as they ushered us towards the customs section after we collected our bags. There only one form to fill but a longer one. Not as long as the US form for non US visitors but long enough.

Japan is super strict about entry requirements but calm and polite when interacting with prospective visitors. Western staff could learn so much.

There were not too many arrivals, no queues and it only took about an hour to be released to buy Monorail + transfer tickets. With the help provided here on this forum we managed that fairly easily too, or at least had the confidence to work through the new to us systems calmly ending in valid tickets to the hotel.

Excellent!

The main factors I dislike about the new process are the way they hold back half the plane on landing (arrivals vs connections) and how the resources are divided between queues. If the QR line routinely balloons to 90% of the backlog then it clearly needs more resources. The rail kiosks are quick and smooth while the airport kiosks are slow and clumsy, but I think they'll figure it out. They've certainly done a good job streamlining the exit process.