MMoving to Japan

Has anyone here moved to Japan from the US…by boat?

I currently live in the US and am thinking about moving to Japan. I have questions about visas and things like that but my primary concern is how I will even get there.

I have an ear disorder and cannot fly in a plane. That pretty much only leaves traveling by boat.

There does seem to be a cruise line that goes from the Pacific Northwest to Japan, so I don’t think it’s entirely unrealistic.

But I’m curious if anyone here has done that, what it was like, tips, etc.

I tried searching for other posts but couldn’t find them (but maybe I used the wrong search terms). Apologies if this was asked recently.

by nihonnoniji

8 comments

  1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

    —

    **Has anyone here moved to Japan from the US…by boat?**

    I currently live in the US and am thinking about moving to Japan. I have questions about visas and things like that but my primary concern is how I will even get there.

    I have an ear disorder and cannot fly in a plane. That pretty much only leaves traveling by boat.

    There does seem to be a cruise line that goes from the Pacific Northwest to Japan, so I don’t think it’s entirely unrealistic.

    But I’m curious if anyone here has done that, what it was like, tips, etc.

    I tried searching for other posts but couldn’t find them (but maybe I used the wrong search terms). Apologies if this was asked recently.

    *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*

  3. I’m sure you could book passage on a freighter or on a rehoming cruise.

    The international ports probably won’t have the same level of services as the international airports, but you’ll still have to clear customs and immigration.

    For example, Yokohama has this place: https://osanbashi.jp/en/service/

  4. Hopefully you are not susceptible to motion sickness. The travel up Alaska can be pretty rough, especially for repositioning cruises.

  5. Someone with a similar condition asked a question on [the travel StackExchange some years ago](https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/66731/traveling-to-japan-from-the-usa-avoiding-air-travel).

    I do not know [Shane Reustle](https://reustle.org/) personally, but he traveled around the world by train and boat before settling in Japan.

    Finally, once you do get here, be aware that shinkansen create pressure changes as they pass through tunnels. You may want to look into this before riding on them if it is relevant to your condition. I’m not sure if the newer shinkansen models mostly alleviate this or not. Random articles I found:

    * https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jsmeb1993/41/4/41_4_936/_article/-char/en
    * https://trid.trb.org/view/576614

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