Travelling to Japan is about to get MUCH Harder Here’s Why | Big Changes in 2025

Travelling to Japan is about to get MUCH Harder Here’s Why | Big Changes in 2025

there are big changes happening in Japan in 2025 and 2026 that every tourist needs to know some of these might even make you reconsider going to Japan here are the big changes happening in Japan in 2025 the next station is [Music] Hey guys Hang here and today we are going to dive into some of the major changes happening in Japan in 2025 and some of these can be a major inconvenience for you if not make you rethink your trip let’s get started let’s start off with some positive change for the past several years there have been chip shortages that have limited or even stopped the sale of the famous Suika and Pasmo cards and in 2025 you will be glad to hear that you can now purchase these cards again these iconic cards make for great souvenirs especially the Welcome Suika card which has the iconic Japanese cherry blossoms on it the thing to know about the welcome Suika card is that it only works for 28 days from activation meaning that it is designed for tourists coming for less than a month if you are staying longer than that then you will need a regular Sua card if you are an iPhone user then you can get a virtual Suika card which goes on your phone’s digital wallet instead of getting a physical card but in my opinion you do miss out on a neat souvenir opportunity the Welcome Sua mobile app has also launched now as of 2025 and that will allow you to get your own virtual Welcome Sua card through the app that is valid for 180 days from activation and allows you to reload your card with Apple Pay these IC cards are legendary in Japan and used everywhere from trains buses shopping and many vending machines so having one of these will make your time here a lot more convenient to aid in your navigation of the world famous metro systems in Tokyo which can be a bit confusing for visitors to know which lines to take in Tokyo then the Tokyo Metro System has launched an app late last year that is designed to make your time navigating the Tokyo Metro system easier the app is literally called Tokyo Metro for tourists and it is a free app for iPhone and Android devices and is available in English Korean Chinese Thai French and Spanish the app also provides sightseeing suggestions and helps you find the best train lines to use to get around to make it more convenient to get to those sites it also has guides on using the metro to get to and from the airport and it also has a fair calculator to help you plan your trip and expenses though something to know is that train fairs are expected to increase in 2025 and this includes the Shinkansen or the bullet train and these fair increases are expected to be up to 15% though on the topic of paying for things this does bring us to the first major change and that is that tapandgo credit cards are coming to train stations what does that mean that means that instead of using an IC card or getting a train ticket you can tap your credit card or debit card assuming it has the tap to pay feature which is the little sideways Wi-Fi symbol and this lets you pay directly for your train ticket without needing anything else you can also use your phone’s digital wallet to pay as well now this isn’t everywhere yet but they are introducing it in major cities and for now that includes Tokyo and Osaka this can make it a bit easier for people who are making short trips to Japan and don’t want to get an IC card though I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to get one of these amazing cards this is not at every station or for every line yet for now it is still being tested and in Tokyo it is being implemented on three main lines the Kaiku line the Towi Oido line and the Towi Asakusa line there are about 20 stations or so on these lines that will get the tapandgo system and it should be at all of the major tourist stops on these lines the major cards that will be accepted with this new payment method are Visa JCB American Express Diner Club Discover and Union Pay with Mastercard also expected to join something to note is that not all trains have this so you still may need an IC card or a train ticket depending on where you’re going so you may be thinking why test this now osaka has also started testing this for their Montreal system and just recently started testing this for their subway system and all of this just in time for the next major change of 2025 all of this is for Expo 2025 now Expo 2025 is a world expo that is being held in Osaka Japan from April 13th 2025 to October 13th 2025 this is a massive expo designed to showcase technology from countries all over the globe and it has one of the most Japanese pieces of technology the legendary Gundam if you want to visit the expo you will be greeted by the Grand Ring which broke the Guinness World Record for the largest wooden structure ever built and it is 65 ft tall or 20 m and has a circumference of 1.2 mi or 2 km the entire thing is made of wood and does not use any nails instead using an ancient Japanese woodbuilding technique the expo is expected to bring in around 30 million people to see it that is a lot of tourism for one area even for a city as big as Osaka which has a population of around 19 million people okay so I’m not going into all of the details of the expo here but I’ll tell you what I’ve heard from the people who have been there i heard the expo was packed during the expo’s opening week with crowds everywhere and lines for everything so if you’re planning on going to Osaka soon keep this in mind though things will calm down as this was during opening week and the expo will be there for 6 months but as summer travel season kicks in I would keep this in mind as you’re planning where to go in Japan especially if you’re going to Osaka because travel accommodations may be hard to get if you don’t book in advance if you want to explore the expo itself and you want to be able to do everything there then you’re going to need at least one day if not two now if you are planning on going to the expo or to Japan for that matter here are some new changes that could affect you in 2025 so Japan has just announced in 2025 that it is introducing a new system the Japan Electronic Travel Authorization System or Jesta i don’t know if anyone actually calls it that this is similar to the ESTA system in the United States what does this all mean this means travelers from countries that usually do not require a visa to enter Japan will now have to obtain online preapproval this will add one additional step to the current process for countries that are visa exempt and that’s basically just to show up this system has not been implemented yet and is expected to be fully implemented by 2030 so even though as of now nothing has changed yet it’s something to keep an eye on should things get implemented more quickly or they start testing the system beforehand speaking of testing new systems the new Japan pre-clarance system has just begun testing in January 2025 with travelers from Taiwan benefiting by being able to complete all of the registered border formalities before boarding their flight this means that all identity checks and verifications will be carried out before they depart their home country this should reduce weight times upon arrival in Japan while as of now this system is only in place for travelers from Taiwan this is expected to be expanded to travelers from other countries as well now along the lines of travel as of March 2025 the Noi Shinkansen also known as the Bullet Train will have fewer non-reserved seats with the areas of the non-reserved seating compartments converted into reserved seating this can make it harder for spontaneous travelers or lastminute planners as there will be less room on the bullet train for non-reserved seating train car 3 on Nosomi trains will be reservation only so only cars one and two will be available for nonreserved seats which is a 30% reduction you can buy your Shinkansen tickets up to 30 days in advance and you can also reschedu your train tickets this did come in handy for me and my group while we were in Japan because we just did not adequately plan for how chaotic rush hour would be so we were able to switch our reserve seats from one train to another train that was about 40 minutes after that even though the availability of the reserve seats was basically limited to just middle seats which was less fun than our original window seats but we still got there anyway so remember those IC cards for payments we were talking about well let’s go back to paying for things in Japan there are two major changes happening in 2025 first Japan is introducing a dual pricing model which starts this year and what that means is that when paying for things as a foreigner you may be paying a higher fee than locals for example at the NCO ski resorts locals will pay $5,000 yen or around $35 for a ski pass while foreigners will pay $6,500 yen or around $45 that’s a $10 difference or roughly 30% increase for foreigners and imagine if your Japan trip was 30% more expensive now not saying that the 30% increase is everywhere or across everything but the dual pricing will differ depending on the purchased item and the location and some major tourist attractions are expected to implement this soon if not already himi Castle the Okinawa theme park and even public transportation in Kyoto amongst other places have already begun talks to implement it this year the second major change that is hitting Japan is the new tax-free rules so prior to this a lot of places would give you the tax-free discount upfront if you show your passport however times are changing and this is the last year of this system starting next year in 2026 Japan will implement a refund on departure system where everyone will pay the consumption tax when you buy the item and you will have to bring your receipt to the airport to reclaim the paid tax upon departure this also means that you cannot ship tax-free goods from within Japan and you will have to take the items out with you when departing starting April 1st 2025 no items shipped back to visitors home countries will be eligible for tax exemption however one glimmer of hope in all of this is that typically the lines for tax-free refunds at the airport can be quite long and with this change they are expecting to get much longer but alongside this change Japan will roll out a new online service to hopefully expedite the refund process and shorten lines at the airport so hopefully that will help also on the topic of payments the hiking price for the famous Mount Fuji is going up from 2,000 yen per climber to 4,000 yen per climber or from roughly around $14 to $28 this is to help protect the mountain and improve infrastructure on the mountain as a result of mass tourism there is also a limit on the amount of climbers per day which as of now is at 4,000 climbers you also cannot exit the fifth station on the Yoshida Trail to hike the mountain between 2:00 p.m and 3:00 a.m if you do not have a reservation at the mountain hut this is to try to ensure that you don’t get stuck on the mountain overnight without a place to stay as for new things to do in Japan at the beginning of 2025 the Team Lab planets location has just completed a major expansion growing to around 1.5 times the original size giving guests more room to explore the immersive and expansive exhibits within there are over 10 brand new artworks and spaces and a new outdoor area in addition to the Team Lab Planets expansion the famous Disney Sea has also just completed an expansion recently adding Fantasy Springs to its park which has the worlds from Frozen Tangled and Peter Pan though getting in here is another story you need a timed slot reservation which you can only apply for once you are inside the park and everyone is trying to get one of these so to get one you will have to line up early and get in the park shortly after opening to have the best chance at getting one of the slots here i unfortunately was not able to get a slot but I did get to see the outside of Fantasy Springs and it does look amazing but all of these things are coming at a cost price increases are expected in Japan as a whole including a possible increase on departure tax which currently is a 1,000 yen fee on anyone leaving the country by plane or ship regardless of nationality and this is known as the international tourist tax with the tourism boom this fee could increase to 3,000 or even 5,000 yen and while this may not be a major increase seeing things like this along with expected increases on the prices of food and travel may make Japan’s days of being extremely affordable to becoming much less so are people still going to flood Japan most likely however this may mean that instead of going home with three extra suitcases worth of things you may only have two that’s it for this video i hope this was helpful if you know of any other changes coming to Japan in the near future let me know in the comments section down below and I will see you guys in the next one [Music]

Japan’s new changes will make you rethink your trip.
There are some BIG changes coming to Japan in 2025 and some of these changes are going to make travelling to Japan much harder. But there is a bright side to all this with some positive changes as well. Come join me as we dive into the upcoming changes in Japan that will affect tourists and travelers from all over the world.

*UPDATE* As of April 1, 2025, the reservation system for Fantasy Springs at Disney Sea has been removed and you can go and wait in line to get into the area.

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Chapters:
0:00 – Intro
0:40 – IC Cards
2:07 – New Tokyo Metro App
3:16 – Tap and Go Train Payments
4:57 – EXPO 2025
6:51 – Japan Electronic Travel Authorization System (JESTA)
7:48 – Japan Pre-Clearance System
8:24 – Shinkansen Changes
9:42 – Dual Pricing Model
10:49 – New Tax Free Rules (Duty Free)
12:07 – Mt. Fuji Price Increase
12:52 – New Attractions
14:03 – Departure Tax Increase
14:32 – Japan will be less affordable

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