Supposed to be visiting Japan in a month, but Coronavirus - What do?

[FirMatt]

I mean, if I'm actually allowed by the government to go, I'd just wear a face mask and use hand sanitizer a bunch. But what do you think the likelihood is that travel will be cut off and I'll be stuck in the states? I need to know if I should start canceling reservations or asking for a refund...

Any other ERA folk traveling to East Asia in the next 60 days or so? What are your plans?

 

[nsilvias]

japan is canceling alot of events and stuff rite now so it might not even be worth going tbh

all the musicians i follow are canceling shows

 

[Nigel Tufnel]

I would not be surprised to see increased travel restrictions placed, most likely for purely political reasons.


This is a tough spot. I'm fairly risk averse, I'd probably canceling and trying to get refunds. Really sucks though, man. There probably isn't a right call here. Just not enough information to be fully informed.

 

[Video Games Are Dumb]

Normally I'd say just go BUT Japan seems to be ready to stop everything already. Could scale back or escalate. Sucks there isn't a clear answer but I'd assume it's going to get canceled.

 

[Deleted member 29280]

Use your brain. Don't go, dont put yourself and others at risk.

There are already cases of people with coronaviruses in Japan.

 

[Doogdogg]

You can go another time when it's safer.

 

[z1ggy]

I wouldnt go, better be safe than sorry.

 

[GangWarily]

Im cancelling my trip to Japan in June since my company now has a quarantine policy now. They cancelled business trips a bit back too.

I personally don't recommend it

 

[Deleted member 21709]

Don't go? Why wouldn't you just cancel? You are putting yourself and others at risk.

 

[Van Bur3n]

I would not go. I already canceled my own trip to just Toronto. I ain't going on any plane full of people.

 

[SuperBanana]

Hand sanitiser, face mask(not that it really does much), and maybe avoid very heavy tourist events. You'll be fine. 156 people have been confirmed infected out of 126.8 million + millions of non-residence. That means at most 0.000123% of the population.

The biggest issue is the government closing down events but they won't stop transport. It's critical to their economy.

Edit: Correction, just over 200 infected. So 0.000157%.

 

[Subpar Scrub]

Australian government says to exercise a high degree of caution but doesn't recommend rescheduling existing trips.

Search | Smartraveller

www.smartraveller.gov.au

If you're immuno-compromised or elderly then probably reconsider. Also just keep an eye on the news and future developments.

I'm going in May so I hope the situation improves. Already booked flights so 🤷🏻‍♂️ Luckily haven't paid for accomodation yet.

 

[Deleted member 8901]

I would cancel. I was supposed to go to Tokyo on March 10 for my honeymoon but we made the decision to cancel it. Seems like events are getting cancelled in Japan and some airlines are starting to cancel flights there too. Imagine if things escalated and flights got cancelled mid-way through your trip... not worth the risk.

 

[Phoenix4]

We had a similar trip planned next month and ended up cancelling. Was really looking forward to it as well and even managed to finally get tickets to the Ghibli museum after trying 4 times. The museum ended up being closed until the end of March so wouldn't be to visit anyway.

Ended up getting everything back, even the nonrefundable hotel rooms. If you end up cancelling and have any nonrefundable rates, just call the hotel and explain the situation.

 

[Dany]

Japan Travel Advisory

travel.state.gov

Good website.

 

[Tophat Jones]

There are already cases of people with coronaviruses in Japan.

Click to shrink...

America too.

 

[CanUKlehead]

Hand sanitiser, face mask(not that it really does much), and maybe avoid very heavy tourist events. You'll be fine. 156 people have been confirmed infected out of 126.8 million + millions of non-residence. That means at most 0.000123% of the population.

The biggest issue is the government closing down events but they won't stop transport. It's to critical to their economy.

Edit: Correction, just over 200 infected. So 0.000157%.

Click to shrink...

This. You'll probably be fine.

Still, I wouldn't go if I don't have to.

 

[Big-E]

You shouldn't worry about getting infected while you are there. The biggest issue is that events are getting postponed and cancelled. They played in empty stadiums for baseball already. If you wanted to see the hustle and bustle, you won't be seeing it. That is probably the biggest factor on going now or not.

 

[Nesotenso]

don't go

 

[Darryl M R]

I canceled my flight today for a March trip. Airlines are even removing their cancellation fees.

Don't go.

 

[SuperBanana]

You shouldn't worry about getting infected while you are there. The biggest issue is that events are getting postponed and cancelled. They played in empty stadiums for baseball already. If you wanted to see the hustle and bustle, you won't be seeing it. That is probably the biggest factor on going now or not.

Click to shrink...

A less busy Japan sounds amazing. You'll have no many things to see without queues or congestion. The hustle and bustle is the worst bit imo.

 

[TaySan]

It's not worth it at this time. Go when it is safer.
I hope my trip in Alaska doesn't end up getting canceled if all of this is still going on. :/

 

[Midramble]

Just got back from there today. Will being going back all of April again for work. Seeing the 5678s at a friends bar at the beginning of that. That is if no one forces any of that plan to be cancelled. Over the last month in Shinjuku the biggest change I noticed was just normal places being less packed.

 

[Dog]

I wouldn't.

 

[maigret]

Best time to go, fewer crowds and prices may be lower.

 

[Deleted member 16908]

Japan isn't going anywhere. Unless your days are numbered you should seriously consider canceling.

 

[Fridaynightcatlady]

You should check out r/Japantravel at Reddit. They have its own thread on Coronavirus and discussion whether to cancel or go. From what I've read, lots of restrictions on main attractions (TeamLab, Ghibli, museums, etc).

 

[Deleted member 21709]

The 'don't worry about getting infected' crowd is annoying.

 

[TurokTTZ]

Go if you're adventurous. But it would be understandable if you didn't. Better safe than sorry.

 

[carlsojo]

Cancel.

 

[Midramble]

The 'don't worry about getting infected' crowd is annoying.

Click to shrink...

CDC doesn't recommend canceling flights to Japan yet.

 

[ggdeku]

My brother is moving to Kyoto in two weeks. You'll be fine OP, just keep on top of personal hygiene and wash your hands.

The big issue are businesses and attractions closing. If that gets in the way of your plans i would cancel.

 

[Rockstar]

 

[Mik2121]

Things are getting temporarily closed or cancelled, so in that regard you'll miss many things.
Otherwise, stuff is as usual here, except some people are panicking and buying too much toilet paper and masks. But otherwise...

I would still cancel it, just for the ease of mind and being able to enjoy the trip fully without things getting canceled.

 

[Calvinien]

1-Contract Coronavirus
2-Return home and attentd trump rallies
3-Shake all the hands/kiss all the babies
4- The oldest generation and next generation of conservatives are both destroyed by a disease they don't belive in, and thus take no steps to prevent
5- America is saved.

 

[the_bromo_tachi]

I would cancel. The museums, amusement parks, and places like the sky tree are closing until mid or near the end of March. If you plan to go to places like these, then there's really not much to do here.

 

[Lucas M. Thomas]

Cancel

 

[Sutton Dagger]

We are supposed to leave from Australia on the 3rd of April and still plan to go at this stage. The closure dates for most places currently run until the 16th of March, so we are going to reassess after that date.

 

[Frester]

As some purely anecdotal evidence, I got back from my honeymoon in Vietnam yesterday and things were relatively quiet. Shit didn't start to hit the fan until it was too close to our departure to rearrange, but since you have a month, you should cancel or reschedule. Nothing was really closed where we went, but noticeably fewer tourists in general and a clear absence of Chinese tourists. Lots of flight cancellations too, more so when we were on the way back.

 

[ninnanuam]

I'm going in about two weeks.
I thought about cancelling, then Italy, SK and Iran exploded, the Cali community spread case happened and a lady in Australia went to work with it. SK and Italian flights haven't been suspended.

It's already in 50 countries, people with no known vectors are catching it within communities, and you can be a spreader without symptoms.

At this point going to Japan is only slightly less safe than staying home and waiting for community spread here.

And on the positive side hotels have never been cheaper.

That being said I'm not worried about self quarantine when I get back. I already have 10 days of leave booked after I return anyway. And my work will likely give me miscellaneous leave for the remainder if it comes down to that.

 

[Zoe]

My coworker is going back to her hometown a week from Sunday. That area has the third highest number of infections.

We've been teasing her that she'll have to go into quarantine when she returns, but I'm not so sure it's a joke anymore.

 

[Raysoul]

Waiting until end of month before I decide to go or not on April.

 

[vacantseas]

The 'don't worry about getting infected' crowd is annoying.

Click to shrink...

But the "dont leave your home, you'll get infected" crowd is any better?

 

[skycamefalling]

I wouldn't go, simply because I'm afraid of some kind of travel restriction/quarantine situation that will leave you stranded.

 

[jobrro]

It depends on what you are wanting to do there. At this point I wouldn't be that worried from a health point of view but between travel restriction possibilities and many tourist heavy places (Tokyo Disney, USJ, Tokyo Skytree to begin with) being shut down I would consider cancelling if you are wanting to do tourist heavy experiences.

Normal malls and restaurants seem pretty normal but far less busy than usual in Tokyo at least. Hard to tell where things will go in the next couple weeks though.

 

[SuperBanana]

The 'don't worry about getting infected' crowd is annoying.

Click to shrink...

Nah, the "cancel everything over a tiny fraction of a percent I might get sick" is annoying. You have a higher chance of being hit and killed by a car on the way to the airport than contracting coronavirus. People here just love fear and dread. There are people in here worried about trips to Alaska for god sake.

You take precautions and act smart(eg: wash your hands with soap) and governments are smart to take measures to stop it spreading but a single person doesn't need to panic. You don't blacklist a country of 129 million because 200 people are sick. If it exploded and tens of thousands are sick then sure. At the moment you have less than 0.000157% chance of getting sick.

 

[Magneto]

I'm going with some friends on the 1st of April for two weeks. No way i'm cancelling my trip to Japan lol.

We just cancelled our plane tickets tho', because we had a stop in China with these, and the quarantine stuff when you come back from China makes thing a little bit difficult, and bought other ones for a non stop flight to Japan (and we won 100€ in the process so yay i guess).

 

[Netherscourge]

Considering the hysteria, I would not go.

Even if you don't get sick, the rest of the world is going nuts over this and you'll wind up getting swept into whatever emergency situations or regulations or unintentional consequences/responses related to it all.

People do weird shit in panicky situations. I'd be more concerned about that, than actually getting the virus.

 

[Glasfrut]

When it gets to the stage you need strangers on the internet to talk you into doing something, maybe it's better to postpone.

To be fair, it all depends on what you want to do while in Japan. Now is probably the best time from a crowds perspective (and if you don't have any pre-existing conditions). Although certain events and spots are closed.

 

[Coyote Starrk]

Honestly in my opinion the danger would not be the virus itself but the hysteria that surrounds it. Imagine if you were overseas and Trump's dumbass decides to enact some kind of new travel restriction or quarantine procedure.