Plum blossoms are blooming, and sakura season is just around the corner!
Japan is seeing a huge number of tourists entering the country, and ended 2023 with over 25,000,000 arrivals. Spring 2024 is expected to be even more chaotic than the previous year with high tourist congestion in major destinations such as Tokyo, Kyoto and Takayama.
EXO Japan implemented a stop-sell from 1st March-May 17th in order to guarantee our high level of quality and assistance to the clients on the ground. We always recommend visiting during non-peak seasons, or to consider different destinations within Japan where clients can enjoy the spring season without crowds.
Our staff keeps growing and we hope our new members will find EXO to be a great and satisfying environment where their work and effort are recognized. On January 22nd we went to the Nogi Shrine to receive a blessing for the future success of our employees, for the safety of our business and for the prosperity of our livelihood.
Key Takeaways:
- IC Card
The shortage of chips for IC cards continues, and traditional Pasmo and Suica Cards are still not available. Travellers can still buy the PASMO Passport by presenting their passport in major Tokyo stations, as well as other IC Cards available in other cities of Japan. IPhone users can easily add a digital PASMO to their wallet, but for the moment there are no easy digital solutions for Android users.
We are pleased to have recently announced that EXO Japan has found a suitable solution to provide IC cards for our 2024 arrivals.
- Mount Fuji Regulation Climbing Season 2024
In order to protect the environment and reduce the congestion at the top of Mount Fuji, some new regulations will be started for the next climbing season (mid July to mid-September 2024). Yoshida Trail will be closed from 16:00 to 2:00 and there will be a daily cap on entry of 4.000 people. Climbers with a mountain hut reservation will be able to access the trail even if the daily cap has been already reached.
In addition, an entrance tax of 2,000 JPY has become mandatory and the money collected will be used for the maintenance and preservation of the mountain trails and facilities.
- Cherry Blossom Forecast
According to the last forecast, the main sakura blooming period will begin on March 22, reaching full bloom by March 29 in Tokyo and a couple of days later in Kyoto. Sapporo, the capital city of northern Hokkaido, will reach full bloom around May 5th.
Destination news
- Shinkansen Network extension:
The earthquake of January 1st in Noto Peninsula will not affect the opening of the extension of the Shinkansen bullet train line between Kanazawa and Tsuruga, proceeding as planned to begin service on March 16th.
From that time, there will no longer be a direct Thunderbird express train between Kanazawa and Kyoto/Osaka. Clients traveling between these destinations will need to transfer between bullet train (Shinkansen) and Thunderbird in Tsuruga.
Note that this will also affect stops at Kaga Onsen, which will also be served by Shinkansen.
- Hotel update:
Sankara Hotel & Spa in Yakushima is scheduled to close for renovation work from December 2024 to March 2025.
- Hotel opening:
The same company management of the Sankara Hotel & Spa in Yakushima is opening a new 4* property on the island. Samana Hotel Yakushima is opening in April 2024th and EXO is happy to announce that we will be offering this property to our clients.
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