Japan, here we come!

And so it began. We’re travelling from San Francisco (SFO) to Narita (NRT), Japan, on Japan Airlines. We’re leaving on Jun 10 but arriving on Jun 11 due to crossing the International Date Line. We’ll be spending three weeks (or so we thought) travelling around Japan to celebrate our son Max’s graduation (MSc CS) from Chapman University, and also our 25th anniversary.

Great Circle Route SFO > NRT

We’re flying Premium Economy for the better seats, which gives us access to the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Lounge, where we have a coffee and some food. The flight is scheduled to be 11.5 hours and is departing on time. This will be my first flight on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, featuring electronically dimming windows. The flight is uneventful, and we’re passing the time watching movies on an iPad or the in-flight entertainment system. Noise-cancelling headphones are great in these situations!

We had a private driver take us from Narita airport to the Park Hotel Tokyo (パークホテル 東京) 🗾 in Tokyo. The trip takes about an hour and passes by Tokyo Disney. While the private car is undoubtedly convenient, in the past I have made this trip using either the Narita Airport Limousine Bus, or the Narita Express train. These are certainly viable and cheaper options.

Below is a map with a rough outline of our planned route (counterclockwise).

Travel Route, counter-clockwise starting in Tokyo

The corresponding itinerary

Our trip was organized for us through an agent, who in turn worked with InsideJapan Tours. The agent proposed cities and activities, but the itinerary and accommodations were finalized with significant input from us. You can explore it through the timeline of our travel.