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General
Information
Capital:
Tokyo.
Time: GMT +
9.
Tel. Code:
00 81 + 3 Tokyo, 66 Osaka, 75 Kyoto, 090 Cell Phones
Official Language:
Japanese is the official language. Some English is
spoken in major cities.
Currency:
Japanese Yen (¥). Notes are in denominations of ¥10,000,
5000 2000 and 1000. Coins are in denominations of ¥500,
100, 50, 10, 5 and 1.
Electricity:
100 volts AC, 60Hz in the west (Osaka); 100 volts AC, 50Hz
in eastern Japan and Tokyo. Plugs are flat two-pin and
light bulbs are screw-type.
Religion:
Shintoism and Buddhism (most Japanese follow both
religions) with a Christian minority. In Okinawa, however,
people believe in Niraikanai, the realm of the dead beyond
the sea.
Climate
Except
for the Hokkaido area and the subtropical Okinawa region,
the weather is mostly temperate, with four seasons.
Winters are cool and sunny in the south, cold and sunny
around Tokyo (which occasionally has snow), and very cold
around Hokkaido, which is covered in snow for up to four
months a year. Summer, between June and September, ranges
from warm to very hot, while spring and autumn are
generally mild throughout the country. Rain falls
throughout the year but June and early July is the main
rainy season. Hokkaido, however, is much drier than the
Tokyo area. Rainfall is intermittent with sunshine.
Required clothing:
Lightweight cottons and linens are required throughout
summer in most areas. There is much less rainfall than in
Western Europe. Light- to medium weights during spring and
autumn; medium- to heavyweights for winter months,
according to region. Much warmer clothes will be needed in
the mountains all year round.
Airports
Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT)
(Narita City) is 65km (40 miles) east of Tokyo
(travel time - one hour 10 minutes).
(Osaka) Kansai
International (KIX) (Kansai) is 50km (31 miles)
southwest of Osaka.
Fukuoka International (FUK)
is 20 minutes’ travel time from Fukuoka City.
Nagoya International
(NGO) is 10km (6 miles) north of the city.
Departure tax:
Depends on airport; ¥2040 from Narita Airport. Children
under 12 are charged half price; children under two are
exempt. Departure tax is usually paid when purchasing
tickets and not at the airport.
Travel Times
The
following chart gives approximate travel times (in hours
and minutes) from Seoul to other major cities/towns in the
Republic of Korea.
-
City
-
Air
-
Road
-
Rail
-
Sea
-
Nagoya
-
-
-
4.00
-
2.00
-
-
-
Kagoshima
-
1.50
-
26.00
-
10.00
-
48.00
-
Fukuoka
-
1.45
-
13.00
-
6.30
-
-
-
Nagasaki
-
1.40
-
18.00
-
9.00
-
-
-
Okinawa
-
2.30
-
-
-
-
-
60.00
-
Osaka
-
1.00
-
6.00
-
3.15
-
-
-
Sapporo
-
1.25
-
-
-
14.00
Passport/Visa
Passport
Passport valid for the duration of intended stay in Japan
required by all.
Visas
Required by all except the following for tourism,
short-term business meetings or to attend a conference:
-
Nationals of Austria, Germany, Ireland, Liechtenstein,
Mexico, Switzerland and the UK for stays of up to 6
months*.
-
Nationals of Argentina, The Bahamas, Belgium, Canada,
Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominican
Republic, El Salvador, Finland, France, Greece,
Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Lesotho,
Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mauritius, Netherlands,
Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia,
Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey and Uruguay for
stays of up to 3 months;
-
Nationals of Andorra, Australia, Barbados, Czech
Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Hong Kong (SAR and British
National Overseas), Latvia, Lithuania, Monaco, New
Zealand, Poland, Slovak Republic and the USA for stays
of up to 90 days;
-
Nationals of Brunei for stays of up to 14 days.
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