Can anyone travel to Japan during this time?

As far as I know about ANA/JAL, they serve alcohol and meals just as usual on transpacific flights.

That's good to know. Might be worth paying more to fly JAL now, as I hear the JAL Sakura lounge is a phenomenal place to get trashed before the flight. I've been paying the $45 to use the priority lounge here when I fly out, which comes with cheap beer and cheaper white and red wines, but it's unlimited cheap beer and wine and what I normally consume before boarding used to cost me $250+ sitting at the bar in the International Terminal wing.
 
That's good to know. Might be worth paying more to fly JAL now, as I hear the JAL Sakura lounge is a phenomenal place to get trashed before the flight. I've been paying the $45 to use the priority lounge here when I fly out, which comes with cheap beer and cheaper white and red wines, but it's unlimited cheap beer and wine and what I normally consume before boarding used to cost me $250+ sitting at the bar in the International Terminal wing.

the ana lounge at narita has unlimited nama beer and sake, plus a ramen counter. I almost missed my flight last time i used it.

edit: couldve been haneda, or maybe they both have the same. The ‘before-times’ seem long ago now.
 
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That's good to know. Might be worth paying more to fly JAL now, as I hear the JAL Sakura lounge is a phenomenal place to get trashed before the flight. I've been paying the $45 to use the priority lounge here when I fly out, which comes with cheap beer and cheaper white and red wines, but it's unlimited cheap beer and wine and what I normally consume before boarding used to cost me $250+ sitting at the bar in the International Terminal wing.
The Sakura lounge in Narita is hella nice. Plus free drinks and hot food.
 
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the ana lounge at narita has unlimited nama beer and sake, plus a ramen counter. I almost missed my flight last time i used it.

edit: couldve been haneda, or maybe they both have the same. The ‘before-times’ seem long ago now.

Very sad that most of us probably view pre-2020 like some dystopian Steven King novel. And I can't remember when and why I decided that I hated Narita. Probably about four or five years ago. I think it was a combination of the hordes of Chinese tourists and lack of any vendors selling canned beer in the international terminal going home. And of course that's because I'm too cheap to spring for JAL/ANA and the lounge access and used to fly Delta Economy Plus. But who knows...I'll be traveling with the family next time and the other half is a member of all those pretentious JAL/ANA priority member and platinum credit card clubs so hopefully I can weasel my way into a lounge.

I actually find that I barely miss less flights when I use a lounge. At least in a lounge I can discipline myself and focus my efforts on getting proper shitfaced in a timely manner, keeping an eye on my watch and using my last 15 minutes to pound a couple last cans of beer and a few white wines. Left to my own devices in the terminal I end up going all over the place. The last time I was leaving Japan through Haneda, last March just before lockdown, I spent most of my last hour chugging beers at that shitty wannabe-Euro bar counter next to that shitty udon stand upstairs, and planned to stop at the conbini down on the terminal floor to grab a few road can beers only to find that they were fucking closed (due to lockdown, maybe) so I made an emergency spring back upstairs to order a whole bunch of drinks at some random bar counter and didn't realize how bad I'd fucked up till I heard them calling my name on the intercom speakers. Needless to say, the other half was not pleased.

But again, those were the "before times." Whenever it is I find myself at an airport in Japan again, I'll just be happy to be there.
 
the ana lounge at narita has unlimited nama beer and sake, plus a ramen counter. I almost missed my flight last time i used it.

edit: couldve been haneda, or maybe they both have the same. The ‘before-times’ seem long ago now.

I stopped reading at unlimited nama and booked a flight thinking it was 生放題 or something...
 
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So, this just showed up in my FB feed.

Japan to introduce 'vaccine passports' for international travel

I didn't hear any mention of this while the other half was watching the Japanese news tonight and she would've brought it up if there was. Anyone know if this is an actual, SERIOUS plan...or is this just another example of the rest of the industrialized world doing something and Japan getting wind of it a day late, dollar short and just paying lip service to not look like backwards jackasses?

In any event, what I did see tonight was that both Tokyo and Osaka are clocking 1000+ new daily infections now. Granted, I've become an OCD hypochondriac neurotic germophobe in my older years and tenfold since COVID but I think I'm going to wait at least another six months and until after my next couple of experimental Pfizer variant "booster" shots before I think about jumping on a plane and going somewhere again.
 
Anyone know if this is an actual, SERIOUS plan...or is this just another example of the rest of the industrialized world doing something and Japan getting wind of it a day late, dollar short and just paying lip service to not look like backwards jackasses?
It's serious, they've been talking about it for ages. The delay in adoption was because they were concerned that it would be seen as discriminating against people who won't or can't get vaccinated. They won't be using it for domestic travel at all.