Air Travel

International Air Travel

basic information

Airfare

International flights to Japan have never been cheaper thanks to ever increasing competition between the airlines.

Furthermore, various special offers on flights to Japan are now available, thanks to the "Visit Japan" campaign by the Japanese government to increase the number of foreign visitors.

The following are ways to save on airfare to Japan:

• Fly outside the peak seasons, which include Christmas and New Year, the Golden Week (end of April, beginning of May) and the summer holidays (July and August).
• Check travel agents, newspapers, travel websites and the airlines' websites for special offers. Most major airlines have a "special offers" section on their website. Many airlines also provide individual websites to the residents of each country or world region, which they are flying to.
• If your city has a sizeable Japanese community, chances are that a large Japanese travel agency, such as HIS, operates a branch there. Check them out, as they tend to be very well informed about offers on flights to Japan and often have access to the lowest fares.
• Consider tour packages. Good packages combine airfare and accommodation at low rates, unavailable to individual consumers. There are tour packages for both, individual travelers and those who prefer to travel with a guide.
• Use an airline's mileage program, also known as frequent flyer program. In the ideal program 1) collected miles never expire, 2) miles can also be earned and used on flights of partner airlines, 3) miles can be shared among family members and 4) there are alternative ways to collect miles, e.g. through usage of a credit card.
• Some airlines offer discount fares on domestic routes, if you use them to fly to Japan. Visit our discount air tickets page for more details.

Airlines and Airports

Few of the world's major airlines and airports do not offer flights to Japan. The country's own two leading airlines, Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA), both serve a broad range of international destinations.

Japan's most important international airport is Tokyo's Narita Airport, followed by Osaka's Kansai Airport and Nagoya's Central Japan Airport.

Japan's fourth largest international airport is Fukuoka Airport, which links the city with several Asian destinations. Many other Japanese airports have a small numbers of international flights, mainly to Korea and China.

Below is a map of Japanese airports with international flights, followed by a list of airlines and international destinations for each airport, as of July 2006. The data is subject to change.

Narita Airport (Tokyo) Aeroflot London, Moscow, Paris, Rome Air Caledonie Noumea Air Canada Toronto, Vancouver Air China Beijing, Chengdu, Dalian, Shanghai, Shenzhen Air France Air France, Paris Air India Bangkok, Delhi, Mumbai Air New Zealand Auckland, Christchurch Air Niugini Port Moresby Air Pacific Nadi Air Tahiti Nui Papeete Alitalia Milan, Rome All Nippon Airways Bangkok, Beijing, Dalian, Frankfurt, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Honolulu, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Shenyang, Singapore, Taegu, Taipei, Washington, Xiamen American Airlines Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, San Jose Asiana Airlines Seoul Austrian Airlines Vienna Biman Bangladesh Airlines Bangkok, Dhaka British Airways London Cathay Pacific Airways Hong Kong, Taipei China Airlines Honolulu, Taipei China Eastern Airlines Beijing, Shanghai, Xian China Southern Airlines Changchun, Dalian, Guangzhou, Shenyang Continental Airlines Guam, Houston, New York, San Antonio Delta Air Lines Atlanta Dragonair Hong Kong EgyptAir Cairo EVA Airways Taipei Finnair Helsinki Garuda Indonesian Airways Denpasar, Jakarta Iran Air Beijing, Tehran Japan Airlines Amsterdam, Bangkok, Beijing, Brisbane, Chicago, Dalian, Delhi, Denpasar, Frankfurt, Guam, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Jakarta, Kaohsiung, Kona, Kuala Lumpur, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Manila, Mexico City, Milan, Moscow, New York, Paris, Pusan, Rome, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Taegu, Taipei, Vancouver, Xian, Xiamen, Zurich KLM Amsterdam Korean Air Cheju, Los Angeles, Pusan, Seoul Lufthansa Frankfurt, Munich Malaysian Airlines Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur Miat Mongolian Airlines Ulan Bator Northwest Airlines Bangkok, Beijing, Detroit, Guam, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Manila, Minneapolis, Portland, Pusan, Saipan, San Francisco, Seattle, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore Pakistan Intl. Airlines Beijing, Islamabad, Karachi Philippine Airlines Cebu, Manila Qantas Airways Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney Scandinavian Airlines Copenhagen Singapore Airlines Bangkok, Los Angeles, Singapore SriLankan Airlines Colombo, Male Swiss Zurich Thai Airways Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Phuket Turkish Airlines Istanbul Uzbekistan Airways Tashkent United Airlines Bangkok, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Washington Vietnam Airlines Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City Virgin Atlantic Airways London

Haneda Airport (Tokyo) All Nippon Airways Seoul Asiana Airlines Seoul Japan Airlines Seoul Korean Air Seoul

Kansai Airport (Osaka) Air Caledonie Noumea Air Canada Vancouver Air China Beijing, Dalian, Shanghai Air France Paris Air India Delhi, Hong Kong, Mumbai Air New Zealand Auckland, Christchurch Air Tahiti Nui Papeete Alitalia Milan All Nippon Airways Beijing, Dalian, Guam, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Qingdao, Seoul, Shanghai, Shenyang, Xiamen American Airlines Dallas Asiana Airlines Pusan, Seoul Cathay Pacific Airways Hong Kong, Taipei China Airlines Taipei China Eastern Airlines Beijing, Nanjing, Qingdao, Shanghai, Yantai China Southern Airlines Dalian, Guangzhou, Harbin, Shenyang Continental Airlines Guam EgyptAir Cairo Emirates Dubai EVA Airways Taipei Finnair Helsinki Garuda Indonesian Airways Denpasar, Jakarta Hainan Airlines Haikou Japan Airlines Bangkok, Beijing, Brisbane, Dalian, Denpasar, Guam, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Kuala Lumpur, London, Los Angeles, Pusan, Qingdao, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei KLM Amsterdam Korean Air Cheju, Pusan, Seoul Lufthansa Frankfurt Malaysian Airlines Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur Miat Mongolian Airlines Ulan Bator Northwest Airlines Detroit, Guam, Honolulu, Saipan, Taipei Philippine Airlines Manila Qantas Airways Cairns Qatar Airways Qatar Royal Nepal Airlines Kathmandu Shanghai Airlines Shanghai Singapore Airlines Bangkok, Singapore Thai Airways Bangkok, Manila, Phuket Turkish Airlines Istanbul Uzbekistan Airways Tashkent United Airlines Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Francisco Vietnam Airlines Ho Chi Minh City Vladivostok Air Vladivostok Xiamen Airlines Xiamen

Central Japan Airport (Nagoya) Air China Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai All Nippon Airways Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei Asiana Airlines Seoul Cathay Pacific Airways Hong Kong, Taipei China Airlines Kaohsiung, Taipei China Eastern Airlines Shanghai, Xian China Southern Airlines Changchun, Dalian Continental Airlines Guam, Honolulu Emirates Dubai EVA Airways Taipei Finnair Helsinki Garuda Indonesian Airways Denpasar, Jakarta Japan Airlines Bangkok, Beijing, Guangzhou, Honolulu, Manila, Paris, Pusan, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, Tianjin Korean Air Cheju, Pusan, Seoul Lufthansa Frankfurt Malaysian Airlines Kuala Lumpur Northwest Airlines Detroit, Guam, Manila, Saipan Philippine Airlines Manila Qantas Airways Cairns Singapore Airlines Singapore Thai Airways Bangkok United Airlines Boston, San Francisco, Taipei Vietnam Airlines Ho Chi Minh City

Asahikawa Airport Asiana Airlines Seoul

Shin-Chitose Airport (Sapporo) Cathay Pacific Airways Hong Kong China Airlines Taipei China Eastern Airlines Shanghai China Southern Airlines Shenyang Continental Airlines Guam EVA Airways Taipei Korean Air Pusan, Seoul SAT Airlines Sakhalin

Hakodate Airport Korean Air Seoul SAT Airlines Sakhalin

Aomori Airport Dalavia Airways Khabarovsk Korean Air Seoul

Akita Airport Korean Air Seoul

Sendai Airport Air China Beijing, Dalian, Shanghai Asiana Airlines Seoul China Southern Airlines Changchun Continental Airlines Guam EVA Airways Taipei

Fukushima Airport Asiana Airlines Seoul China Eastern Airlines Shanghai

Niigata Airport China Eastern Airlines Shanghai China Southern Airlines Harbin Continental Airlines Guam Dalavia Airways Khabarovsk Korean Air Seoul Siberia Airlines Irkutsk Vladivostok Air Vladivostok

Toyama Airport Asiana Airlines Seoul China Southern Airlines Dalian Shanghai Airlines Shanghai Vladivostok Air Vladivostok

Komatsu Airport (Kanazawa) China Eastern Airlines Shanghai Korean Air Seoul

Okayama Airport China Eastern Airlines Shanghai Continental Airlines Guam Korean Air Seoul

Hiroshima Airport Air China Beijing, Dalian Asiana Airlines Seoul Bangkok Airways Bangkok China Airlines Taipei China Southern Airlines Dalian, Shanghai Continental Airlines Guam

Yonago Airport Asiana Airlines Seoul

Takamatsu Airport Asiana Airlines Seoul

Kitakyushu Airport China Southern Airlines Guangzhou, Shanghai

Fukuoka Airport Air China Beijing, Chengdu, Dalian, Shanghai Asiana Airlines Cheju, Pusan, Seoul Cathay Pacific Airways Hong Kong, Taipei China Airlines Taipei China Eastern Airlines Beijing, Shanghai, Quingdao China Southern Airlines Dalian, Guangzhou, Shenyang Continental Airlines Guam EVA Airways Taipei Japan Airlines Shanghai Korean Air Cheju, Pusan, Seoul Malaysian Airlines Kuala Lumpur Philippine Airlines Manila Singapore Airlines Singapore Thai Airways Bangkok Vietnam Airlines Ho Chi Minh City

Nagasaki Airport China Eastern Airlines Shanghai Korean Air Seoul

Kumamoto Airport Asiana Airlines Seoul

Oita Airport Korean Air Seoul

Miyazaki Airport Asiana Airlines Seoul

Kagoshima Airport China Eastern Airlines Shanghai Korean Air Seoul

Naha Airport (Okinawa)
Asiana Airlines	Seoul
China Airlines	Taipei
China Eastern Airlines	Shanghai
Philippine Airlines	Manila

Temples

Buddhist Temples

basic information

Temples are the places of worship in Japanese Buddhism. Virtually every Japanese municipality has at least one temple, while large cultural centers like Kyoto have several thousands of them.

Temples store and display sacred Buddhist objects, and some of them used to or still function as monasteries. Structures typically found at Japanese temples are:

	Main hall The sacred objects of worship, such as statues, are displayed in the main hall. In Japanese, main halls are usually called kondo, hondo, butsuden, amidado or hatto. Example: Main hall of Todaiji in Nara.
	Lecture hall Lecture halls are for meetings and lectures and often also display objects of worship. Lecture halls are called kodo. Example: Lecture hall of Toji in Kyoto.
	Pagoda The pagoda, a structure that has evolved from the Indian stupa, usually comes with three (sanju no to) or five (goju no to) stories. Pagodas store remains of the Buddha such as a tooth, usually in form of a representation. Example: Three storied pagoda of Kofukuji in Nara.
	Gates Gates mark the entrance to the temple grounds. There is usually one main gate, and possibly several additional gates, for example, along the temple's main approach. Example: Sanmon Gate of Kenchoji in Kamakura.
	Bell On New Year's eve, temple bells are rang 108 times, corresponding to the Buddhist concept of 108 worldly desires. Example: Great Bell of Kenchoji in Kamakura.
	Cemetery Most cemeteries in Japan are Buddhist and are located at a temple. The Japanese visit their ancestors' graves on many occasions during the year, especially during the obon week, the equinoctial weeks and the anniversaries.

The best cities to visit temples are Kyoto, Nara and Kamakura. One of the best places to overnight at temples is Mount Koya.

Shrines

Shinto Shrines

basic information

Shinto shrines are places of worship and the dwellings of the kami, the Shinto "gods". Sacred objects of worship that represent the kami are stored in the innermost chamber of the shrine where they cannot be seen by anybody.

People visit shrines in order to pay respect to the kami or to pray for good fortune. Shrines are also visited during special events such as New Year, setsubun, shichigosan and other festivals. New born babies are traditionally brought to a shrine a few days after birth, and many couples hold their wedding ceremonies there.

The following structures and objects can be typically found at a shrine:

	Torii One or more torii gates mark the approach and entrance to a shrine. They come in various colors and are made of various materials. Most torii, however are made of wood, and many are painted orange and black.
	Komainu Komainu are a pair of guardian dogs or lions, often found on each side of a shrine's entrance. In the case of Inari Shrines, they are foxes (see picture) rather than dogs.
	Purification through Found near the entrance, the water of these fountains is used for purification. You are supposed to clean your hands and mouth before approaching the main hall. Click here for more details.
	Main and offering hall Depending on the shrine's architecture style, the main hall (honden) and offering hall (haiden) are two separate buildings or combined into one building. The main hall's innermost chamber contains the shrine's sacred object, while visitors make their prayers and offerings at the offering hall. Click here for more details.
	Stage Stages for bugaku dance or no theater performances can be found at some shrines.
	Ema Shrine visitors write their wishes on these wooden plates and then leave them at the shrine in the hope that their wishes come true. Most people wish for good health, success in business, passing entrance exams, love or wealth.
	Omikuji Omikuji are fortune telling paper slips found at many shrines and temples. Randomly drawn, they contain predictions ranging from daikichi ("great good luck") to daikyo ("great bad luck"). By tying the piece of paper around a tree's branch, good fortune will come true or bad fortune can be averted.
	Shimenawa A shimenawa is a straw rope with white zigzag paper strips (gohei). It marks the boundary to something sacred and can be found on torii gates, around sacred trees and stones, etc. A rope similar to the shimenawa is also worn by yokozuna, the highest ranked sumo wrestlers, during ritual ceremonies.

There can be a variety of additional buildings such as the priest's house and office, a storehouse for mikoshi and other auxiliary buildings. Cemeteries, on the other hand, are almost never found at shrines, because death is considered a cause of impurity in Shinto, and in Japan is dealt with mostly by Buddhism.

The architecture and features of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples have melted together over the centuries. There are several construction styles, most of which show (Buddhist) influences from the Asian mainland. Only a few of today's shrines are considered to be built in a purely Japanese style. Among them are Shinto's most important shrines, the Ise Shrines.

There are tens of thousands of shrines across Japan, some of which can be categorized into a few major groups of shrines. Some of these groups are:

• Imperial Shrines
  These are the shrines which were directly funded and administered by the government during the era of State Shinto. They include many of Shinto's most important shrines such as the Ise Shrines, Izumo Shrine and Atsuta Shrine, and a number of shrines newly built during the Meiji Period, such as Tokyo's Meiji Shrine and Kyoto's Heian Shrine. Imperial shrines can be recognized by the imperial family's chrysanthemum crest and by the fact that they are often called "jingu" rather than "jinja".
• Inari Shrines
  Inari Shrines are dedicated to Inari, the kami of rice. They can be recognized by fox statues, as the fox is considered the messenger of Inari. There are several ten thousand Inari Shrines across Japan, among which Kyoto's Fushimi Inari Shrine is most famous.
• Hachiman Shrines
  Hachiman Shrines are dedicated to Hachiman, the kami of war, which used to be particularly popular among the leading military clans of the past. Of Japan's thousands of Hachiman Shrines, the most famous is probably Kamakura's Tsurugaoka Hachimangu.
• Tenjin Shrines
  Tenjin Shrines are dedicated to the kami of Sugawara Michizane, a Heian Period scholar and politician. They are particularly popular among students preparing for entrance exams. Tenjin Shrines can be recognized by ox statues and plum trees, Michizane's favorite trees. The first and most famous Tenjin Shrine is Dazaifu Tenmangu near Fukuoka.
• Sengen Shrines
  Sengen Shrines are dedicated to Princess Konohanasakuya, the Shinto deity of Mount Fuji. More than one thousand Sengen Shrines exist across Japan, with the head shrines standing at the foot and the summit of Mount Fuji itself.
• Shrines dedicated to the founders of powerful clans
  Some powerful clans in Japanese history established and dedicated shrines to the their clans' founders. The most famous example are the several dozens of Toshogu Shrines dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, including the famous Toshogu Shrine at Nikko. Another example is Kanazawa's Oyama Shrine which is dedicated to Maeda Toshiie, the founder of the powerful, local Maeda clan.
• Local Shrines
  Many shrines are dedicated to local kami without association to other shrines.