Travel // トラベル

Hotel

Kyoto Brighton Hotel

Please defer to Yuki's email about travel and hotel arrangements. 荻野家・コストロ家は京都ブライトンホテルに宿泊の予定です。 結婚式グループディスカウントがありますのでもしこのホテルに宿泊の予定で、グループ予約情報をご希望の方は直接荻野友希までメールをください。（yuki8ogino@gmail.com)　部屋の情報、お値段など直接お送りさせていただきます。

Travel Note

Kyoto - Car Transportation from Hotel to Heian Jingu

Information to come!

Flight

Japan - For International Guests

Traveling from NYC takes about 13-14hr non-stop from JFK or EWR. You will lose one day flying TO Japan, so for example if you leave on 10/2, you will arrive on 10/3. On return you will gain time flying TO the states, so if you leave on 10/15 at 11am Japan time you will arrive in NYC on 10/15 at 11am ish. Suggested airlines are American, JAL, United or ANA. Delta doesn't fly from NYC non-stop, but from CA or UK, ofc it'd be fine! Suggested airport to fly into - If Tokyo, NRT (Narita) or HND (Haneda). NRT is a bit further away from the center of Tokyo, but you will only see limited options if searching only for HND. Both are fine! (Think of it as LGA and JFK to New Yorkers!) - If going directly to Kyoto, I suggest flying into KIX (Osaka)

Travel Note

Japan - General Information

PASSPORT: Friendly reminder to make sure your passport expiration date is at least 6 months away from your travel date in October! Which means your expiration date should be on or later than approximately April 10th, 2025. Otherwise you will need a new passport to travel internationally. VISA: There's no need for a visitor visa from the U.S., or U.K. Please check local government website for travel regulations. COVID-19: There's no Covid restrictions to enter Japan as of April 2024. No need to show a vaccine card either. TIME: Time difference is +13hrs from NYC (EST), +16hrs from CA (PST) PHONE: Check with your phone company to add a travel pass (Verizon offers $10/day for international travel pass to continue using your current plan in Japan). I don't think buying a local SIM will be worth it but def look into it if you want! WI-FI: You may find Wifi access limited in Japan, of course you will have it available at the hotel, in the metro, and even in the city but you might need to create log-ins and such, which could be all in Japanese. Having your cell with your own data will be helpful, always! TRASH: In Tokyo, we generally do not eat and drink on the street. Since the terrorist attack in the 90's, we got rid of public trash bins everywhere. So you'd have to CARRY your trash basically everywhere! SMOKING: It's also against the law to smoke cigarettes on the street, except for the dedicated smoking area. Just FYI! DRINKING: Yes you can drink alcohol outside! Drinking age is 20 years old.

Travel Note

Japan - YEN (Currency)

- We use YEN in Japan - YEN is very affordable right now, so I recommend exchanging some cash now, as it will be in your favor. You can check with your bank to see if they carry YEN. - We do not tip in Japan, it's going to confuse people if you try, so don't! - We carry cash, more often than credit cards. I suggest carrying some cash, about $200-300 on you at all times. I suggest not to expect you can use your credit cards everywhere! - Check with your bank to see if you have international transaction fees, as it always adds up. - In Japan, you can always go to Seven Eleven Convenience stores, and use an ATM, which you will find EVERYWHERE, to use the ATM and get cash from an American card. Fees will apply. If you are going to use your card to pay in Japan, you will be given an option to charge in local currency (yen) or in your country currency (usd). Choosing local currency will always work in your favor!

Train

Japan - General Train Info

As soon as you arrive in Japan, you should get a Suica or Pasmo ic card. This is similar to a metrocard, but you can add money (cash) at the train station to the card and use it to ride the train (Subway, JR and all others), bus. But also you can use it like a debit card at most vending machines, convenient stores and many others. Deposit for the card is 500 yen ($4 ish) and you'd have to go to the station admin office to get the deposit back so it's safe to assume you will not have time to do it and you won't get it back. You must have this card to ride public transportation so ask me Qs when you have the travel plan booked!