Reply To: Japan during pandemic

[JosephH]

I’m going on the family visit visa, expecting to pick it up in 2 days time. The process was a little annoying (seems to require two visits to the consulate, one to apply and one to collect) but overall fairly straightforward and not too expensive (£20, excluding the travel to the consulate!). The hardest part was probably getting the Japanese family tree, though it seems they’d have accepted a marriage certificate instead. I don’t have anything to compare it too though, I think it’s 15+ years since I last had to do a visa application and I think it was all dealt with by my employer back then.

I’m noting the same thing about hotels – I saw some at £40/night that I’m pretty sure I’ve paid >£100/night for before. As John says, the weaker Yen is certainly helping too, but it’s more than just that.