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Mount Fuji, Japan

© 123rf.com / Craig Hanson

Travel to Japan

Flying to Japan

Both Japan Airlines (JAL) (www.jal.co.jp) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) (www.ana.co.jp/eng) offer international connections to Japan.

Flight times:

From London to Tokyo is 12 hours; from New York is 12 hours 30 minutes.

Travel by rail

The Trans-Siberian route to Japan is an interesting, if lengthy, trip. Connections can be made daily from London via Harwich or Dover through Europe to Moscow. The Trans-Siberian railway departs regularly from Moscow. Among the many tour operators that organise tickets for this is The Russia Experience (www.trans-siberian.co.uk).

Getting to Japan by boat

Osaka, Kobe and Okinawa.

Cruise ships:

Links to the Russian Federation include weekly services between Fushiki, near Toyama, and Vladivostok (www.bisintour.com). Alternatively, there is a twice-weekly service to Wakkanai in Hokkaido from Korsakov in the Russian Federation. There are cruises between the Japanese islands en route to Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Ferry operators:

Japan is accessible by sea, and passenger ships include the major ports on their schedules. Ferries operate daily from Osaka and Kobe to Shanghai (China) and weekly from Kobe to Tanggu (near Tianjin, China). For Taiwan, ferries depart from Okinawa with Arimura Sangyo Lines. To confirm sailing times in English, try tel: (03) 3562 2091 or (98) 860 1980. For South Korea there's a route between Busan and Fukuoka (www.jrbeetle.co.jp/english), Busan and Hakata (www.camellia-line.co.jp), and Busan and Shimonoseki (www.kampuferry.co.jp).

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