Japan Airlines is giving away free domestic flights to international tourists
If you've been to Tokyo recently, you'll know how overly crowded it is, with record-breaking numbers of international visitors flying into Japan and making the city their first tourist destination. Meanwhile, in the Japanese countryside, however, peaceful, quiet communities with dwindling populations are crying out for tourists, and Japan Airlines (JAL) plans to get them there, by giving away free domestic plane tickets to overseas visitors.
It's a win-win for international tourists, who get to snag a free plane ticket to any of JAL's 64 domestic destinations, and cities outside of Tokyo that might otherwise be overlooked or deemed too difficult to get to. Far-flung destinations like Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaido, for instance, or Naha on the southern islands of Okinawa, are now more easily accessible, putting them on the radar for visitors who may have never thought to travel there before.
▼ Okinawa's tropical climate and white-sand beaches now look even more enticing.
In order to take advantage of the offer, travellers must book their international flight to Japan with JAL and make the booking for the free domestic leg with the same reservation. The deal is currently available to visitors from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, China, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
Travellers are encouraged to head straight from the international airport to the domestic one, with a stopover fee of US$100 for arrivals from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and a fee of CNY 300 for China arrivals, if their stay in the initial arrival city exceeds 24 hours. Other countries get an even better deal as they are exempt from this fee so they can head to their domestic destination whenever they like during their stay, free of charge.
The complementary flight covers one segment of the domestic journey, which means you can arrive in Tokyo, hop on a plane to Osaka and then leisurely explore the area and surrounding sites like Kyoto by train before travelling back to Tokyo by Shinkansen for your flight home. This would ultimately save you around 13,870 yen (US$94.62), which is the approximate cost of travelling one-way from Tokyo to Osaka by Shinkansen.
More intrepid explorers might want to follow the same mode of travel, only to more off-the-beaten path destinations like Kagoshima, where you can visit a convenience store at an active volcano.
▼ The beauty of Kagoshima awaits.
If the free trip has you preferring to fly back to Tokyo domestically, you can do that at a special discount by taking advantage of these little-known special offers from JAL and ANA, which are also exclusively available to overseas residents.
These offers open up a whole new way of travelling for visitors who previously only thought to solely use the train after arriving in Japan. With the Japan Rail Pass not as good a deal as it was before the massive price hike, travelling by plane is now an option that's definitely worth considering, and with no end-date announced for the free flight offer, there's never been a better time to start dreaming of those unexplored rural places you've always had on your bucket list and start making them a reality.
Source: Japan Airlines
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
20 minutes ago
Pokemon-Themed Facility to Open in Tokyo Next Spring
News from Japan Economy Guide to Japan Travel Jul 23, 2025 19:27 (JST) Tokyo, July 23 (Jiji Press)--Pokemon Co. has announced that it will open the first permanent facility for visitors to experience the world of popular Japanese game Pocket Monster, or Pokemon, in Tokyo next spring. The PokePark Kanto facility will be built at the Yomiuriland amusement park in Inagi in a suburb of the Japanese capital. Tickets will go on sale around this autumn. The 2.6-hectare outdoor facility, comprised of the 'forest' and 'town' areas, will allow guests to look for Pokemon characters and buy related goods as well as enjoy parades. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
The Mainichi
2 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Belgian man arrives in Japan's Itami after 448-day, 20,000-km bicycle journey
ITAMI, Hyogo -- A man who embarked on a bicycle tour from Hasselt, Belgium, to Itami, Hyogo Prefecture -- international sister cities -- recently completed his journey at Itami City High School, where he interacted with about 120 students. Jolan Bollen, 32, originally from Hasselt and now residing in Brussels, covered approximately 20,000 kilometers across 15 countries over 448 days. He shared with the students the joy of connecting with people worldwide and the importance of a spirit of challenge. The two cities established their sister city relationship in 1985. Their exchanges continue as the Hasselt city government gifted a carillon installed in front of JR Itami Station, and the Itami Municipal Government is assisting in the creation of a Japanese garden in Hasselt. Bollen planned his first bicycle journey to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the sister city relationship, aiming to reaffirm the bond between the two cities. He departed from Hasselt in April 2024. An Itami city government employee who maintained contact with Bollen through social media during his adventure suggested the interaction with local high school students, and the event was realized. On July 9, Bollen was greeted and congratulated by students in the school's gymnasium. Showing no fatigue, he smiled and recounted his days of adventure. Apart from crossing the sea by ship, Bollen pedaled continuously. He spent a month cycling through a desert without encountering anyone. He also camped in temperatures as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius. Although the journey was tougher than expected and he felt like giving up at times, people in each country showed him kindness, he said. In Uzbekistan, an 80-year-old woman offered him a place to stay. Bollen said that the world is kind and that he now has "family" all over the globe. He added that the most important thing is to share happiness with others and that he hopes the students will be curious and take on challenges. When asked by a student if his bottom hurt from riding the bicycle for so long, Bollen laughed and replied that it was painful at first but now his buttocks are as hard as a rock. Third-year student Nayu Sugawara, 17, remarked, "His words that not giving up is important were impressive. I also want to take on challenges." (Japanese original by Yukiharu Sakurai, Kobe Bureau)
SoraNews24
21 hours ago
- SoraNews24
For the ladies – An awesomely authentic old-school capsule hotel that accepts female travelers
Our experience traveler/capsule hotel newbie spends a night at Apaiser. Though a night in one is a quintessentially Japanese travel experience, the majority of capsule hotels don't accept female guests. Case in point: though our Japanese-language reporter Ikuna Kamezawa is a seasoned traveler, until recently she'd only spent a single night in a capsule hotel, and it was a new, modern one with fancy snore-monitoring wellness equipment. Ikuna has still been wanting to have the old-school, authentic capsule hotel experience, a night in the sort of place that helped form the accommodation sub-category during the bubble economy years when a salaryman needed a place to stay on a shoestring-budget business trip, or maybe to catch some Zs after missing the last train home of the night. Capsule hotels like that that can accommodate female travelers aren't easy to find, but Ikuna finally managed to come across one while planning a trip to Nagoya. The Apaiser capsule hotel is a five-minute walk from Exit 8 of Imaike Station, which is itself just a 10-minute subway ride from Nagoya Station, and the intersection of the Higashiyama and Sakura-dori Lines. So right off the bat, it's situated in a very convenient spot. You take your shoes off in the entryway, before even coming into lobby, and stick them in a shoe locker. Once fully inside, Ikuna checked in and was given a key for a locker in which she could keep her luggage. To Ikuna's surprise, the luggage lockers for female guests are down in the basement level, a women-only floor which also houses the women's bath, but her sleeping capsule was actually all the way up on the 5th floor. However, this setup didn't seem like it was going to be such a big problem after Ikuna looked over the hotel layout. The second and third floors have men's capsules, while the fourth floor, the 'Refresh Floor,' has various massage and beauty services. The fifth floor, in addition to men's and women's capsules, also has a manga and Internet corner, plus a powder room, and there's a restaurant on the first floor as well. With all these possible places to relax in, Ikuna didn't see herself spending a ton of time in her sleeping space idly rifling through the stuff she'd brought with her. ▼ Ikuna's reservation even included a voucher for a free welcome drink in the restaurant upon arrival. As mentioned above, many capsule hotels don't accept female guests, usually under the logic that it would be unwise to offer unsecured bunks for women to sleep in a space where guys are roaming around too. Apaiser's solution to this is to have a block of capsules for women only in a section that's separated from the rest of the hotel by a locked door. The only way to open this door is to tap a luggage locker key that's linked to one of the women's sleeping capsules, ensuring that only women staying at the hotel have access to this area. Ikuna found herself smiling excitedly at just how retro everything looked. She even loved the little steps built into the capsule bank's frame that you step onto to get to the upper spots, like a mini obstacle course. Taking a peek inside, the aesthetic continued to be thoroughly throwback…or maybe that's not the right term, since Apaiser has been around since the days when this was a new, contemporary style. Whatever you want to call it, though, it was exactly what she'd been looking for. Each capsule is outfitted with its own TV, and while you could also stream stuff on your mobile devices for entertainment, be aware that while there's a standard power outlet, there's no USB charging port. ▼ With her mind in '80s mode, though, Ikuna was fine with no USB option, and was honestly too busy admiring the just-leaving-the-analog-age look of the earphone jack for the TV, shown on the left here. Part of the reason the Apaiser has all the facilities we mentioned earlier is because in addition to being a capsule hotel it's also a public bath/sauna that's available for day use. Sure enough, when Ikuna headed down to the bath, she was impressed by how big and nice it was. ▼ Entrance's to the women's (女性専用) and men's (男性専用) baths The manga and Internet area was also spacious and comfy, feeling more like a dedicated manga cafe than a hotel just trying to squeeze a little extra utility out of otherwise unused floor space. Freshly bathed and thoroughly entertained, Ikuna crawled into her capsule, put down the shade, and had a great night of restful sleep. Even after she woke up, though, she was still finding things to love about this hotel. Apaiser's first floor sevres breakfast, and it's not just a table with self-serve toast, boiled eggs, and chopped cabbage like at some budget-priced hotels in Japan. Instead, you can choose from a variety of set meals, reasonably priced for around 600 yen (US$4.15). Ikuna's package included breakfast and allowed her to pick any of the morning meals, so she opted for the grilled fish set, which in addition to a generously sized filet of fish gave her miso soup, rice, okra, pickles, and nori (dried seaweed). In addition to being extremely tasty, it was a perfectly balanced assortment of nutritious ingredients that gave Ikuna a protein boost to fuel her through the morning without leaving her stomach feeling bloated or heavy for the rest of the day. Honestly, if this was her breakfast every day for the rest of her life, she'd have no complaints. As a matter of fact, the one and only grumble that Ikuna had was that while there are hairdryers provided in the women's bath area, there were no electrical outlets for her to plug in the hair iron she'd brought with her from home, and such devices can't be used in the sleeping capsule either. But aside from that, Ikuna gives this ladies-friendly capsule hotel full marks. She was even satisfied with the prices, which are 4.300 yen (US$29.75) per night Sunday through Thursday and 4,800 yen on Fridays, Saturdays, and nights before holidays, with a breakfast voucher an additional 500 yen. Just be aware that female guest capacity is limited to 20 travelers per night, so making a reservation ahead of time is recommended. Hotel information Apaiser / アペゼ] Address: Aichi-ken, Nagoya-shi, Chikusa-ku, Imaike 5-11-14 愛知県名古屋市千種区今池5-11-14 Website Bath/sauna interior photos: Apaiser Manga corner photo: Apaiser All other photos ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! [ Read in Japanese ]
