JAL's Yokoso fares-Flying into Hokkaido Most people don't realize that Japan's four main islands, superimposed on a map of the United States, would stretch all the way from Maine to Florida. Tokyo is situated rather strategically in about the middle, yet it would still take the better part of a day to travel by train from Tokyo all the way to the town of Kushiro on Hokkaido's eastern coast (14 hours, not including transfers). That's why I've often flown between Kushiro and Tokyo, cutting travel time to a mere 80 minutes. Unfortunately, the regular fare for a flight between the two cities is prohibitive, more than $300. Yet for my present trip to Hokkaido-I'm in northern Japan two weeks updating my Frommer's Japan-I paid only $88. That's even cheaper than the train, which would have cost about $230 (based on an exchange rate of about 120 Yen to $1).I was able to fly cheaply because of a fantastic offer by Japan Airlines called the oneworld Yokoso/Visit Japan Fare, which allows any resident outside Japan to purchase domestic tickets on JAL for only 10,000 Yen a flight (about $83), plus tax. To qualify, you must fly to Japan with Japan Airlines or its Oneworld partner, American Airlines, and you must purchase your domestic tickets for Japan before leaving home. Buying tickets is easy; all you have to do is first buy your international flight and then call JAL and give them your record locator and the flights you desire (note, however, there are some blackout dates in peak season). Your tickets will then be mailed to you and will reach you within 10 business days or sooner. You're allowed up to five domestic tickets, and only the first flight cannot be changed. Subsequent flight times and dates can be changed within the validity of the tickets, which is 2 months from the date of the first domestic flight. But even if you don't fly JAL or American, you can still purchase JAL's Welcome to Japan Fare tickets, which allow you to fly any carrier to Japan. Domestic flights in this case costs 12,000 Yen a piece (about $100), plus tax, and require a minimum of two flights. All Nippon Airways has a similar offer, with its Star Alliance Japan Airpass tickets costing 11,000 Yen if you fly ANA or one of its Star Alliance partners such as United Airlines and 13,000 Yen per ticket if you don't. Flying cheap in Japan opens all kinds of possibilities, changing the way visitors have traditionally seen the country based on limited time and money. After all, JAL serves 42 cities in Japan, while ANA flies to 70-some destinations. You could, for example, spend a few days in Tokyo, fly to Hokkaido, travel by rail pass the length of Japan down to Kyushu, and then fly back to Tokyo for your international flight back home. In the 20-some years I've been traveling in Japan, flying has been an infrequent luxury. Now that it's affordable, I might just start flying all over Japan.
