Hey everyone, I’ve been accepted to Doshisha’s international student program. I leave in 2 weeks.
I have a lot of anxiety and I’ve never been to another country before so I wanted to try and make a schedule for what to expect once I touch down.
I fly to Haneda airport and have a five hour layover there, and then I get to KIX around 9:30 PM. My question is: what will the order of things be?
Firstly, I’m not sure what customs is like. I guess they just check my bags beforehand and I bring my CoE + student visa + other documents to the airport and get in an international travel line? This happens before I fly to Haneda, right?
Do I get customs/residency card/etc sorted at Haneda? Or do I get it done at KIX because it’s just a layover? What do they do? Is five hours at Haneda enough time to sign up for a Japanese sim card (which I figure I’ll need, since ill be at Doshisha for five months.) What happens and when? I want to be prepared.
I stay at the hotel KIX is connected to and leave for Doshisha on the morning of the 14th. Maybe immigrations isn’t even open then and I have to get my residency card/god knows what else in the morning?
Let me know your experiences, especially post-pandemic. It’d be a huge help.
4 comments
You should be asking your representative at Doshisha these kind of questions.
residency card you have like a month to get it, and it’s based on where you live so get it at doshisha. Customs check your bags, visa, negative test result certificate or vaccine (only if you’re triple vaccined). I’d just sign up for sim at doshisha
If your current phone supports it, you can get a temporary eSIM before you leave. That way you’ll have data to figure out where you are in case you get lost. 99% chance you will get lost since it’s your first time there.
Haneda airport has a pretty good guide:
https://tokyo-haneda.com/en/flight/int/arr_step.html