About Flightlog Japan

Who this is for

Flightlog Japan is for visitors planning a trip to Japan, especially a first one. It answers the practical questions that come up again and again: which rail pass (if any) is worth buying, how to get from Narita or Haneda into the city, how the shinkansen works, which IC card to get, how to send a suitcase ahead, and which Tokyo sights you need to book in advance. It also keeps its roots in plane spotting, with guides to Haneda's observation decks.

Who's behind it

The site is run by Ryo, who lives in the Tokyo area and works for a Japanese railway company. Answering travelers' questions about tickets, transfers and stations is part of everyday life on the job, and that's where the advice here comes from. Ryo is also a plane spotter who shoots at Haneda regularly (Sony α7 IV with a SIGMA telephoto lens), and publishes photography content in Japanese on note.com as "ryou1210."

How the guides are made

• Checked against official sources. Prices, fees, size limits and rules are checked against operators' own websites (JR, Tokyo Metro, Yamato Transport and so on) at the time of writing, and each guide says when it was checked.
• Honest about what isn't needed. If a pass doesn't pay off, or the station counter is simpler than booking online, the guide says so.
• Written with help from AI tools. We use AI to help draft and translate the guides into French, German, Spanish and Thai. Every guide is then reviewed for accuracy, and anything we can't verify is left out.
• Kept up to date. Fares and rules in Japan change. If you spot something out of date, let us know and we'll fix it.

A note on affiliate links

Some articles on this site contain affiliate links (for example, to travel SIM/eSIM or activity booking services). If you book through one of these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only link to services we think are genuinely useful for visitors to Japan.

Why we link to Klook

Most of the tickets and passes in our guides link to Klook. Here's why we chose it, and where its limits are.

• You can book in your own language and currency. Many Japanese operators only sell online in Japanese, or only at a station counter. Klook lets you book in English (and other languages) and pay in your own currency before you fly.
• Most bookings are confirmed instantly. You usually get a QR code or voucher on your phone straight away, so you know your plan is set before you land.
• Prices are usually the same as the official price, or close to it. Some products are slightly discounted, some aren't. We check prices when we write each guide and show them with the date we checked.
• There are lots of real reviews. The popular products have thousands of reviews, which helps you spot problems (a confusing pickup point, a slow exchange counter) before you book.
• Some products offer free cancellation. Not all of them, so check the terms on each listing before you pay.

Where Klook isn't the best choice: for everyday train rides, an IC card (Suica, PASMO or ICOCA) is simpler and cheaper than any booking. When buying at the station or on the official site is just as easy or cheaper, our guides say so.

If you book through our links, we may earn a commission. It doesn't change the price you pay, and it doesn't change what we recommend.