Tourism whirlwind

A month on, from 10th June 2022

If you work in the tourism sector in Japan, 10th June 2022 would have had been a very significant day for you as it is the day Japan its borders to international tourism!

This was a big step forward for me and my company, and we have been at our busiest since starting our company in 2020, right during Covid. We spent our last month explaining the tourist visa application process to many different people, and realized that many people have the same questions.

Steps to obtaining a tourist visa. Infographic created by TokudAw Inc.

Although the steps seem really simple, most still have many questions and I thought it would be good to consolidate a few here.

Q1: Must I join a packaged tour?

You need not join a cookie-cutter package tour, but you need to make a booking through a Japanese travel agency. Any booking that is made through a Japanese travel agency which can provide you with an ERFS for tourism purposes, help you craft your itinerary and assist you in producing documents required for visa application would be accepted.

Q2: I have heard that I need to create an itinerary beforehand. Can I make small changes to the itinerary once I arrive in Japan?

Yes, you are welcome to make changes, as long as your tour chaperone or the travel agency you made the booking with is aware of the changes.

Q3: Must I have my tour chaperone with me at all times?

Yes, your tour chaperone will be your buddy in this trip. Many who are used to free and easy travel in Japan are reluctant to have a 3rd party tag around, but if you look at things from another point of view, your tour chaperone is someone local and he/she can help you make your trip smoother and more convenient (e.g navigate transport system, translation, local recommendations etc). We also have tour chaperones who can double up as professional photographers too. When you sign up with our private car services, the drivers from our private car tours would be your chaperone too.

If you take up a booking with TokudAw Inc., we can help you craft a tour that is specifically to your needs. It would be the package tour for you and your group only. In the past one month, we have served two groups of guests from USA. One group comprised childhood best friends who loved the music culture in Japan, and we arranged their time in Japan so that they could do both business and travel in Japan. Another group was a family with kids who loved animals (they visited so many animal cafes, and they actually created the entire itinerary themselves with minimal help from us). We also reunited a two daughters from the Philippines with their mom who was working in Japan. We also helped a lady from Singapore who wanted to bring her business to Japan and had to do market research here. There are so many more people who would coming in in the next few weeks: families who have not visited Japan before, couples who are theme park fanatics, friends who cant wait to meet their Japanese idols, anime-lovers and more!

★★★We can’t wait to meet all of you ★★★

If you would like to visit Japan now, send an email to wanping@tokudaw.com.