It’s time to fall in love with Japan again

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The wait is over and excited Far North Queensland travellers are reigniting their love affair with Japan.

Japan’s status as a preferred international holiday destination for FNQ residents appears to be undiminished with travel agencies reporting an influx of enquiries and bookings since visa-free travel for eligible nationalities, including Australians, was reinstated on October 11.

Flight Centre Cairns Central Senior Team Leader Kristie Sorrell said the store had received an “absolutely crazy” amount of interest from customers ahead of Japan’s peak snow season from December to February.

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“We’ve had a lot of enquiries from older people who had put aside money for retirement but have decided to travel overseas now and enjoy themselves because they have also said they don’t know what the future holds.”

Enjoying themselves should not be an issue for travellers, with Kristie confirming many of the most popular tourist destinations are still operating despite the lean period for Japan’s tourist industry.

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“All the major attractions are still operating. Disneyland, Universal Studios, day tours to Hiroshima and Mt Fuji, and the bullet trains are still going regularly,” she said.

The fun does not stop there, with new attractions now open, including Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios in Osaka, the teamLab Planets gardens and Small Worlds miniature theme park in Tokyo, and Atoa Aquarium in Kobe.

Sadly, a victim of change was the popular Robot Restaurant performing art show in Shinjuku, Tokyo, which permanently closed its doors in July 2020.

But with so many other amazing attractions to offer just seven to eight flying hours from Cairns, it’s no wonder that travel to Japan is proving to be a hot ticket with FNQ holidaymakers.

A Nippon Travel Agency spokesperson said the degree of interest in flights from Cairns to Japan had already exceeded pre-COVID levels and the weak state of the Japanese yen compared to the Australian dollar made Japan an attractive option for Australians looking to travel overseas. 

“People are eager to travel to Japan and it is one of the easiest travel destinations to visit while COVID-19 remains an issue,” he said.

“Japan is not expensive to travel, compared to European countries, if using tourist passes and other benefits and the airfare is affordable due to the shorter travelling time.”

Cairns Airport Aviation Business Development Manager, David Nye, said there were currently eight flights departing Cairns for Japan per week, but it could accommodate more if required.

“Hopefully, as demand from Japan and for Australians to visit Japan increases, we would expect to see further services in the future,” David said.

“Aircraft and flight crew availability still remains a challenge for all airlines when considering increased frequencies.”

David said Cairns Airport was expecting an incremental increase in flights from Japan, rather than a dramatic upsurge.

“Japanese are cautious travellers, so with restrictions only just being lifted it is expected the increase will be steady rather than a major rush to visit Australia.

“(For) 2023 we hope services will increase as travellers become more confident and airlines have access to more fleet.”

Japan Meteorological Agency forecasts for snow regions in the north, such as Hokkaido, predict an average snowfall and tipped those in the south, including Honshu, to have a slightly above average season.

It is worth remembering that an average season in these areas still represents some of the deepest snowfall in the world.

Visitors to Japan will need to have either received a COVID-19 vaccine booster or show a negative test result.