Japan in the wake of Corona Virus?

If there's a severe epidemic in May still (Level 3 on the CDC's alerts), you absolutely should cancel.

And yes, they likely will cancel your flight if it goes to Level 3 anyway.
If it reaches what would be considered CDC Level 3, all major tourist attractions including TDR will shut down anyway (things like the Ghibli Museum already are), so there’s no real point in being stubborn about having to reschedule or cancel. We were looking forward to a trip to China in a few months, but we will go another time. I’m not even waiting to see how it goes. I won’t feel comfortable & we have plenty of time to go in the future.
 
Monitoring this much more closely now that there's been some acceleration in new developments - I, too, am surprised the CDC went from Level 1 to Level 2 in a short amount of time. We have a July/August trip to Tokyo planned for the Olympics. Still early to make definitive plans, but not shrugging it off as easily as I was before.
 
I think anyone contemplating unnecessary travel to this part of the world in the near future is nuts. YMMV

I didn't have anything prepaid for my trip to see the Minnie event that would have been this week so it was easy to cancel. I'm already out about 250 USD for my May/June trip and my friend already booked his flight for that. So there's only a few things that would get me to cancel that trip:
1. countries start implementing mandatory quarantines for Japan or airlines start cancelling flights to Japan
2. TDR closes or cuts the new things I want to see (Beauty and the Beast, Duffy & Friends Sunny Fun, etc)
3. I am able to get that money back

Best case scenario: I get my money back and my friend is allowed to refund his flight. There's a reason I rarely book stuff this far in advance but a lot of less experienced travelers (including this particular friend) want stuff set in stone months out.
 
This is completely off-topic, but I wanted to let you and others who are travelling with children know that you should always carry your baby's passport with you at all time. Besides being the law, we found that we were required to present my kids' passports multiple times in Nov 2019. We had to show their ID to enter the TSMM, Pooh, and other popular attraction FP lines to prove they were not required to have park admission and thus a FP. My son was 17 months, 2nd percentile for weight, 7th for height - he's TINY and was wearing 6-12 months pants. Nobody would ever mistake him for a 4 year old! We didn't have to show our daughter's passport when we took her to TDR in 2017 so maybe it's a new policy?
This is very weird. I've been going to TDR for the last 6 years that we've lived here in Tokyo and I've never once shown any ID for my kids to prove their ages.
 


This is very weird. I've been going to TDR for the last 6 years that we've lived here in Tokyo and I've never once shown any ID for my kids to prove their ages.

It was only for the most popular rides. If it makes a difference, we were on a vacation package using anytime/anywhere fast passes. I am Japanese, my husband is half Japanese, and my kids are 3/4. Maybe it could be that they are comfortable asking for ID if they can do so in Japanese? This only happened on our most recent trip in November. Prior to that, we hadn't been asked to show ID either.
 
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The Health Ministry or whatever you call it has requested large gatherings in the next two weeks to be cancelled or postponed. Tests such as TOIEC, sporting events, concerts and other large gatherings are all being delayed or cancelled. A more concerning thing is that Samoa and Micronesia have implemented bans or mandatory quarantines for travelers from Japan. Countries are starting to put travel restrictions on travelers from Korea so there's a decent chance that Japan would get hit with travel bans if the outbreak worsens.
 
We are set to leave a month from Friday. I wasn't worried before, but we are starting to pay closer attention now and are concerned. We were planning on starting to book more things in the next week or so, but we are holding off and waiting to see what happens. If Delta issues a free cancellation policy, we will definitely take advantage and cancel our flights.
 


As I feared, Japan seems to be deliberately undertesting likely cases. They will ONLY test if you have been in close contact with a prior confirmed case or if you recently traveled from areas like China and require hospitalization.

With that kind of bar, who knows how many unconfirmed cases out there. I have no confidence in the Japanese government that they are really taking this seriously.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2...als-refuse-coronavirus-patients/#.XlbzcSFKjIU
 
As I feared, Japan seems to be deliberately undertesting likely cases. They will ONLY test if you have been in close contact with a prior confirmed case or if you recently traveled from areas like China and require hospitalization.

With that kind of bar, who knows how many unconfirmed cases out there. I have no confidence in the Japanese government that they are really taking this seriously.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2...als-refuse-coronavirus-patients/#.XlbzcSFKjIU

I just wanted to point out that this is happening in the US as well. ZERO patients in Hawaii have been tested because the CDC has not sent test kits here despite the following:

- HNL airport is one of seven airports that can accept US citizens returning from China
- Doctors have notified the state Dept. of Health that 8 patients should be tested for covid-19
- A Japanese tourist who has been diagnosed with covid-19 spent almost two weeks in Hawaii and was known to have close, extended contact with a friend who resides in Hawaii. The friend was interviewed and told he could go about his normal life. Luckily, the friend decided to self-quarantine.
- 61 people of concern are "self-monitoring" at home . . . whatever that means
 
I just wanted to point out that this is happening in the US as well. ZERO patients in Hawaii have been tested because the CDC has not sent test kits here despite the following:

- HNL airport is one of seven airports that can accept US citizens returning from China
- Doctors have notified the state Dept. of Health that 8 patients should be tested for covid-19
- A Japanese tourist who has been diagnosed with covid-19 spent almost two weeks in Hawaii and was known to have close, extended contact with a friend who resides in Hawaii. The friend was interviewed and told he could go about his normal life. Luckily, the friend decided to self-quarantine.
- 61 people of concern are "self-monitoring" at home . . . whatever that means
Thank you for this information. Extremely concerning.
 
We are set to leave a month from Friday. I wasn't worried before, but we are starting to pay closer attention now and are concerned. We were planning on starting to book more things in the next week or so, but we are holding off and waiting to see what happens. If Delta issues a free cancellation policy, we will definitely take advantage and cancel our flights.

Just an update: unfortunately, we have cancelled our trip. Delta waived the usual fee for changing int'l travel, we are going to Mexico instead. With recent news of Japan closing schools and TDR closing for 2 weeks, I believe we made the right choice for us. I would rather not travel all that way and get stuck in a tiny hotel room.
 

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