Travelling In Japan

This chapter covers how to get around Japan to watch football as visitor or regular fan.

Planning a flying visit

If you are planning a short visit then check the schedule in advance. You may find that you can catch both a home and away match and possibly even catch a match in the weekday and also a match from another team. You also need to take care about the ticket sale date as it might be difficult to get tickets once you arrive depending on the size and popularity of the stadium.

Planning a season

Planning a whole season is a time consuming exercise. You need to plan for both the travel and the ticket buying. Sometimes these unfortunately clash for example if a ticket sale starts at 10AM on a match day you may not be at home to get tickets online. You may have to break travel to be at a convenience store to catch the sale time. If you don't plan to go to every match then you need to prioritize which away matches you would like to go to.

If you book hotels online you can often cancel up to a few days before so initially book any room and as you get closer to the match date check for better and cheaper rooms and then book a better room and then cancel you original booking. Be aware though that AirBNB cancellation is usually more strict than hotels.

Modes of Transport

Local Train

It is is easy to navigate local trains using Google Maps on your phone. If you navigate to the stadium you'll get all the options to get there along with connecting buses and walking routes.

Shinkansen

The Shinkansen is easy to use. There are many tourist sites which show how to book tickets and how to board. If you are living in Japan it is possible to book and change tickets from Shinkansen ticketing applications on your smart phone.

Air Flights

Domestic flights are often comparable in price with the Shinkansen and can be more convenient depending on where the stadium is in relation to the airport. The cheapest prices are available if you buy the ticket well in advance so deciding early which matches you plan to go to can save money.

Expressway Bus

The Expressway Bus can be the cheapest way for long distance travel between cities.

Getting to the Stadium

The last mile to the stadium is often the trickiest to navigate. Most stadiums publish an "Access Map" and instructions on how to get to the stadium. For a lot of stadiums it is long walk from the nearest train station, many have special buses on match days and a few like Tosu and Sendai are very close to the closest station.

One trick is to follow the other supporters they will often being going the shortest way to the stadium. It is always worth gathering as much information as you can before the match day as it is harder while on the move. There is very little information above stadium access in English so you may need some help finding it.