We love sharing all the great things Japan has to offer! So, even though tours are postponed, we want to let you know some of the resources we use so you can get started your own adventure. =)

Planning is so important and absolutely necessary for your trip to go smoothly. Lack of proper planning can lead to situations where you’ll not only waste precious time where you could have been doing something awesome, but can also cost a lot of money you’d rather be spending on unique souvenirs.

Below are websites we like to use for planning, with a short description to follow:

Japan-Guide.com – A great comprehensive English resource for those travelling to Japan! Includes descriptions, transportation details, admission fees, and features a forum you can post your own questions to.

Japan National Tourism – Another resource for more Japan inspiration. The festival and events list is helpful too, though many smaller local festivals are not included.

Hyper Dia – A website that lets you calculate your train route and fare from city to city. You can make it more specific to not use certain types of transportation. =)

Kayak – Yes we use online airfare searches too! This site is one of our favorites – it compares several sites quickly and has an intuitive interface.

And here are some English assisted tours that you can throw into your trip that we love:

IACE Guided Tours – We’ve worked with IACE for many years now and have offered some of their tour options on our own group tours! We highly recommend the Mt. Fuji & Hakone 2-Day Onsen Trip, Nara Afternoon Tour or the Kyoto & Nara 1-Day Tour, & the Kyoto Maiko Night.

JTB Sunrise Tours – We also work with JTB Japan. Several of their tours are also available online and many of them have pop cultural themes! Our favorites include the Ghibli Museum Afternoon, Ninja & Samurai Tour, Tea Ceremony Experience Tokyo, Kimono Wearing in Gion Kyoto.

Of course we’d love to show you Japan ourselves for a uniquely PJT experience, so check-in every so often for updates. =)

We hope to be up and running tours again soon enough!

-PJT Team

This year we were especially looking forward to our anime tour in March, but because of the current events we will be pushing the dates back to April.

Please know that we are NOT postponing the tour because Tokyo is in danger of radiation. While it is true that the radiation level in Tokyo has risen, the levels are too low to pose any harm. The radiation levels are just higher than our regular daily dosage, around the same as we would get from taking an international flight for being at a higher elevation. This is news as taken from the Japanese government and Nuclear Safety Officials. Why do we trust them? Unfortunately, because of WWII they have 50 years worth of radiation history to know how radiation travels, what is and what isn’t harmful, and what measures people need to take to stay safe. They have also disclosed the situation about the plants publicly and know very well that those at the plant are risking their lives to prevent radiation from spreading to the area. We trust what they are saying, but we leave it for you to decide what to believe.

Here is where we are getting our news information:
Yokoso News – an English broadcast from Japan (site also has the english broadcast link for NHK world)

And here are some articles that we would recommend:
The British Embassy’s Stand
What Would Happen in the Worst Case Scenario

For your reference:
Radiation measurement chart in Tokyo
Measurements of Radiation and dosage examples

People in Tokyo are still working, still going to school, and still living their lives as normal as possible.

Currently the US embassy also requested that citizens stay a safe 80km away from the power plant, and Tokyo is around 200km from Fukushima.

However, because the situation at the nuclear plant has not been stabilized, we do not want to conduct the tour with doubt and fearful expectation of what could happen. No matter how much proof we can give that the area is safe, we feel the overall emotional condition of Tokyo will prevent us from providing a quality tour experience.

Another main factor that we have to consider is that right now Tokyo is experiencing scheduled blackouts in order to conserve energy. This has significantly reduced public transportation and would be a huge obstacle for us to run the tour itinerary effectively.

At this time we are making plans to move the trip to late April (the US Embassy lifts the advisory against travel to Japan April 1st), in order to still enjoy the spring season of Japan. We understand that the new dates may not fit everyone’s schedule, but we will be offering an extended cancellation policy as well as the ability to switch tours if possible. The tour would essentially be the same, but without an anime convention (as ACE and TAF have already released cancellation statements for their events in late March).

Because we will be pushing back the March tour to April, our April tour, we are sad to say that the Sakura Spring tour will be cancelled for this year.

For those still interested in going to Japan, the Anime Insider Tour will be open again to take sign ups.

Enough with the tour updates – Let’s discuss how we can make a difference!

For those who want to help, we would not encourage you to take a flight out to Japan and help in person. Right now they are having enough trouble getting supplies and professionals out to the area, and actually with the severe weather conditions, language barrier, and aftershock effects, so those not prepared would actually be more of a hindrance than a help. There are groups that you can sign up with that will be able to coordinate help to the area at a later time. Overall please carefully research the options that you’d like so that you can effectively help (and also so that you won’t get scammed)!

Here are some reliable ways you can contribute as a fan of Japanese culture:

Manga and Anime fans give back! – Join other fans to give back to the country that gave birth to our beloved hobbies.

Akadot Retail Cranes for Hope – If you already shop at Akadot, you can purchase Cranes for Hope. Also, 10% of DMP book purchases will be donated.

Other ways you can help:

Earthquake Relief Options (Huntington Post) – This article summarizes several options you can take to help.

Google Crisis Response – Google hosts 4 fast and reliable ways you can donate.

We continue to hope for Japan’s swift recovery in all affected areas. Tourism will definitely take a hit for now, even in the areas not effected by the quake, but we want to be there, showing everyone all the great things Japan has to offer, and continuing to support Japan’s economy when we can!

While Tokyo is considered to be a safe area of Japan, it still suffers some setbacks in energy and transportation. You can see how the trains have been effected here (In Japanese, but you can translate it in Google Chrome or another page translator): http://traininfo.jreast.co.jp/train_info/kanto.aspx

On that page it also announces that there are scheduled blackouts in order to conserve energy needed to keep the city running due to the power shortage.
Again, you can hear live news or the latest news recording at: http://yokosonews.com/live/
He is broadcasting from a safe part of Japan (Mie Prefecture), and also translated the latest news on the nuclear power plant.

The nuclear plant’s status in Fukushima is not going well according to the latest report. They are trying to control the situation, and it is being carefully monitored.
Earlier, there was a hydrogen blast at one of the reactors, however, the cause was induced by the plant in order to release pressure. At the moment there is no clear word on if they can successfully cool down the reactors, so it has caused everyone to worry. Please note that because people do not generally know that much about nuclear technology it may sound scarier than it actually is. For example, the radiation released from the initial hydrogen blast to nearby civilians was as much as you get from an international flight. During the most recent announcement from the Prime Minister and the power plant, they have not changed the distance of the safety zone. The only new measure was requesting residents that are 20-30km away from the plant to stay indoors. Tokyo is still very very far away (around 200km or 124mi), and so according to current news would not be effected.

UPDATE 3/15/11 @ 1:45PM PST: Tokyo is registering levels of radio activity, presumed to be trace elements blow from the plant by the wind. However at this point it is not enough to harm human health, and they are urging residents in the Tokyo area to not panic.

Here is an article that we thought had a clear level-headed view on the events: http://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/03/13/some-perspective-on-the-japan-earthquake/

Tokyo also expects to still have some aftershocks. Today it was registered at a 3.0 scale (minor on the Richter scale – may be felt but rarely causes any damage) and the largest of these will be felt up till March 18th. More on the Richter Scale for your reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richter_magnitude_scale
Yesterday, because of the news scare, grocery and convenience store supplies were at a low for resources, however we expect this to bounce back in the next few days.

The good news: Despite the setbacks, and while our hearts go out to those in need in the north, people in the Tokyo area went to work and school, and everyone in the other areas such as the Kansai region remain untouched and fully functioning. Help from several other countries have arrived and are working towards recovery.

Alright, that was a long update but we want to make sure everyone is well informed so they can make the decision they think is best!

Okay, now for the tour update:
PJT will announce on Wednesday, March 16 if the Anime Insider Tour will continue.
We apologize for the inconvenience this causes for those who plan to fly into Japan, however we are at the mercy of how fast the recovery process will be.
While Tokyo is still regarded as a safe area and most businesses are up and running, it would be difficult to tour with everyone if some of the train systems are down.
We say Wednesday because by that time we should be able to tell if things will indeed improve or not by the time the tour is set to start.
If the tour proceeds we ask that everyone understand that the itinerary may be adjusted in order to compensate these things.
We want to let you know that we are hopeful, as Tokyo is built to withstand such events and we feel it will bounce back quickly. However we can’t continue just on assumption and are waiting to see more evidence that we can still provide everyone the PJT touring experience they’ve signed up for.

For all future tours:
All other tours are set to depart after April. The US Government advisory against travel to Japan ends April 1st, so it would be safe to travel to an unaffected area of Japan. Of course safety is our top priority, so we are still closely monitoring all news to all tour locations. If anything changes, we will update all parties involved.
We thank everyone for their patience and kind understanding at this time.

As we went to collect our bags, the shaking began. The earthquake wasn’t so bad here, but that didn’t stop the authorities from evacuating Narita Airport, letting us through Customs without bothering to check our bags. As we awaited news of the flight we were scheduled to meet – the flight carrying the participants on our Argyle/DMA Japan Invasion Tour – aftershocks kept coming, each one making the police and airport staff look slightly more paranoid than before.

Long story short: our tour participants are safe in a hotel in Hokkaido. As for us, we got free sleeping bags, water, and Ritz crackers from the airport and just woke up after a night of napping on the Narita Airport terminal floor. The aftershocks are still coming and kinda getting old – but they aren’t that strong. They finally re-opened the convenience stores so people are getting food – seeing people this happy to have cup ramen is an odd experience all its own!

I know this all sounds pretty dramatic (and believe me, it can feel that way when the authorities have a permanent look of worry on their faces), but I would be lying if I said this hasn’t shown us another side of Japan’s world-famous hospitality. The distribution of food and sleeping bags was orderly and safe, people are volunteering to help translate emergency messages into countless languages, and there’s a group of guys playing a loud game of “Uno” in the center of the terminal – making the best of the situation by having stupid fun. We’ve made friends with our neighboring “camp”, a group of young Japanese people who just returned from a trip to Mexico and were kind enough to share some snacks with us (we shared back ^_^).

We’re still not quite sure how all this will affect the upcoming Anime Insider Tour, but believe us when we say that we will do our utmost to make the tour a reality. We’re at the mercy of the authorities, but we’ll do what we can.

In the meantime, if you wanna come say hi, we’re in Narita Terminal 1, and just woke up after sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags generously provided by the airport. I’m gonna find those “Uno” guys and see if they’ll take a few extra players. XD

- Evan ^_^

If you would like to help, you can go to this website for some of your options:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/11/how-to-help-japan-earthquake-relief_n_834484.html

In response to the quake, The Red Cross has already launched efforts in Japan. Visit Redcross.org or text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 from your phone.

A little bit more about the earthquake – the epicenter of the quake hit off shore in the Pacific Ocean near Sendai:

http://www.google.co.jp/intl/en/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

Right now the area near the shore & nearby cities are devastated. Up to date live news can be heard here: http://yokosonews.com/live/
Areas in Tokyo also felt the quake (and many aftershocks) and Narita and Haneda airports are currently closed, all highways are closed, and train lines are down to check for damages.
Although the quake was large in magnitude, it looks like the Tokyo area has not suffered much damage, and the Kansai regions (Kyoto, Osaka) are still in operation.
Tsunami warnings have been issued to all coastal areas. According to the JR East website, trains in the Tokyo area are expected to return to partial service at around 8AM (3PM PST), all other trains are postponed.
It will take 1-2 days to access damages and to tell if it will affect any of our current travel plans.

So, to update those concerned about if their tour will be running, the answer is, we’re hopeful but will have to wait.

ANIME INSIDER TOUR
If you have arranged your flight to get into Japan earlier than the 14th, you may want to see if they have a policy to change your flight to a later date. Your hotel reservations may also have a policy allowing you to reschedule in the case of an emergency. For those flying with us from LAX, Korean Air has not made any changes to our flight schedule. Ultimately we will have to wait to hear word on the status of the Tokyo area and we will keep everyone updated.

SAKURA SPRING TOUR
Because this tour starts in the Kansai region, it will not be affected. For those taking the extension to Tokyo, we will have to wait to see what the status is, however by April we expect all transportation to be up and running.

FANGIRL PARADISE TOUR
Well into May, we presume this tour will be good to go.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please do feel free to contact us.

Thanks,

-Gigi
Tour Coordinator – Pop Japan Travel

UPDATE 03/11/11 3:55PM PST:

JR Lines in Tokyo have begun to partially running.

JR stations have release information saying that some of their sensors were damaged so they are unable at access the northern area fully.

Half of Japan is completely safe. Coastal areas have tsunami warnings, but areas far from the epicenter like midland Hokkaido, the Kansai region (includes Kyoto, Osaka, etc.), and Okinawa are untouched. Areas with devastating damage by both earthquake and tsunami: Miyagi, Fukushima, & Ibaraki prefectures

If you would like to help, you can go to this website for some of your options:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/11/how-to-help-japan-earthquake-relief_n_834484.html

In response to the quake, The Red Cross has already launched efforts in Japan. Visit Redcross.org or text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 from your phone.

Last year, the teachers at Argyle Secondary School in North Vancouver, Canada contacted us about putting a tour together for students of their “Digital Media Academy” program. The program provides high school juniors and seniors a chance to study graphic design, television and film production, game design, and other cool fields (that I could only DREAM of in high school… I’m so jealous! ;_;) before college.

Although getting the tour together took work, after working with student and teacher feedback, we designed an entire tour just for the students of DMA that’s going to include a photography museum, the chance to explore a ninja labyrinth, and all the fun stuff we include on all of our tours! If you’re wondering how the tour is going, check out our Twitter feed here or on this page; we’ll be updating as we go using the hashtag #argyledma.

If all this news has you thinking “geez, my class should do that!”, then drop us a line at go at popjapantravel dot com! Whether you are a high school class looking to learn more about Japan or a Japanese culture or anime club just looking to have a fun week in Japan, we can create a tour based on your needs – and we’ll even include a guide for you if you manage to gather enough people!

The DMA trip is just the beginning – your group could be next!

If you currently have a Custom Tour request pending, don’t worry – we will still be able to take care of you. Additionally, although we’re scaling back custom tours, we will still be running custom club/student tours, personal custom tours connected to group tours, and tours for groups of six or more. So if you have a request of that nature, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at go at popjapantravel dot com. See you on tour!

UPDATE! Because of a problem Gmail had this past week we will be accepting entries through Sat. Feb 27th at midnight, PST. If you have not received a confirmation that we received your entry, please email us your photo again as we have replied to all applicants! If you do not receive a confirmation before Monday at 2PM, please send us a text email and wait for us to respond. We will update all participants about the final standings on Monday at 5PM!

10 winners will get to pick 2 DMP titles of their choice (see below)! Then they’ll all be posted on our FB where you can have your friends like your image. The one with the most likes will receive a prize package sponsored by Akadot Retail, Pop Japan Travel, and DMP valued at $50! We’re not just giving away any old thing either – we will specially select your prize based on your collection. =) So, if you have a Naruto collection, you can expect a plethora of Naruto goods! If you love yaoi, you can expect more manga and merchandise! If you have a broad collection, you can expect a little bit of everything! Additionally, if the winner would like to join the upcoming Sakura Spring tour, we’ll take $100 off the tour price for him/her and a friend!

*Restrictions Apply, see details below

How to Enter:

Email us at go@popjapantravel.com with your name and attach a photo of your collection. You may only submit one photo per person. Therefore if you have multiple photos of your collection, please edit into one photo. Be creative! We give points for this. =)

DEADLINE EXTENDED to 2/27/11! See below for all date changes!

Once we receive your photo, we’ll send you a confirmation email that you’re entered within 48 hrs. All submissions must be received by 2/27/11 at 12 midnight PST. An email will be sent out to the winners who’ve made it to the facebook fan page on 2/28/11 at 5PM. Voting takes place for 4 days from 2/28 – 3/3. The last “like” must be made by midnight on 3/3/11 PST.

Prizes*:

Grand Prize – The people’s choice will receive $100 off the Sakura Spring Tour for him/her and a friend, a prize package valued $50, and 2 DMP books of choice.

1st Place – The photo PJT/DMI deems as the “most impressive collection” will receive PJT goods from Japan, $100 off the Sakura Spring Tour, and 2 DMP books of choice.

2nd – 10th Place – Everybody wins! 2 DMP books of choice, and depending on your collection we might throw in something extra. o(^o^)v

*Winners will be notified on Friday, March 4th. If we do not receive a valid shipping address to send prizes to, AND the books of choice within 5 days (Wednesday, Mar. 9th), the prize will be forfeited. Prizes will ship free to those in the US. International contestants will be given an invoice for shipping if over $15 USD.

DMP Book Choice list:

Digital Manga (Shonen/Shoujo manga and novels, and How-to-Draw books) listed here:

http://www.dmpbooks.com/books/?format=2&page=1

DokiDoki (Shoujo and Yaoi manga) listed here:

http://www.dokidokibooks.com/books/

June Manga (Yaoi manga and novels) listed here:

http://www.junemanga.com/books/

Restrictions:

One submission per person. If we receive more than one, we will put up the latest one sent. If we receive 3 or more submissions from the same person, we will consider it as spam and you will be disqualified for the contest.

PJT reserves the right to refuse or delete entry of participants at all times. This includes but is not limited to inappropriate pictures, language abuse on facebook, CHEATING (we’re all about justice here), and other business promotion. Please play nice. =)

Well we racked our brains, and what we came up with was the Anime Insider Tour or the A.I. Tour! We feel like this tour is a special treat for anime fans so the new tour name really sums up the exclusive opportunities we’ll have on the tour. We’ll not only be attending the Anime Contents Expo, but we’ll go to Studio Pierrot (animators of Naruto, Saiyuki, Bleach, etc.) to have a behind the scenes look at how anime is created. After that we still have have not one, but two! more special events that we’ll soon announce.

One last thing – this tour is officially a GO! And there’s still time to get $100 off the tour price! So grab a friend and make a reservation now, because at this rate, we may sell out!

We’ve been getting lots of questions asking if the TAF tour will continue since news of the bill first came out. Even our travel agency partners have let us know their concerns!

Some of the biggest names in manga publishing have boycotted the convention, including Kodansha, Akita Shoten, Hakusensha, Shogakukan, and Shueisha. Though Shueisha (producers of weekly shonen manga magazine, Shonen Jump) does not directly exhibit at TAF, they have requested that anime studios not present the works based on their titles. That alone gets rid of many American favorites such as One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, and Dragonball.

Because of the boycott, many are lead to believe that TAF may be canceled, yet even the Prime Minister requests that this be prevented in order to protect Japanese branding on a global level.

Well, regardless if TAF is canceled or not, PJT is proud to announce that we’ll still be holding the Tokyo Anime Fair Tour. Unfortunately if it is canceled, we’ll have to change the name a bit, and also alter the itinerary a little, but we’ll get to that if it comes up. Rest assured we’ve already thought of backup. =)

So, why go on the tour if there’s no convention?

At PJT we’re all about adding value to tours through unique experiences that can’t be found anywhere else. That said, while TAF is a highlight of the tour, we’ve got a few very special arrangements that are on par with the convention (if not better!).

We can now officially announce that we’re revisiting Studio Pierrot (animators of Naruto, Saiyuki, Bleach, etc.) to take a look at how anime is produced! We’ll see artists at work drawing frames, go through the process of digital animation, and even get some free goodies at the end! Additionally, we’ll also have another special event on the tour that we can’t announce yet. BUT! We promise it’s just as valuable as the Studio Pierrot visit.

With those special inclusions, as well as all the sightseeing, anime shopping, and cosplay dining we’ll be doing in Japan, we don’t doubt that this will be one of the greatest tours we’ve had yet!

More information about the TAF Tour itinerary can be found here: http://www.popjapantravel.com/tours/group-tours/tokyo-anime-fair