Six ways to get to Japan for cherry blossom season – plus Simon Calder’s favourite

Exclusive: The cheapest option to Tokyo is just £688 return, but everything about the journey is unappealing

Distant dream: Cameraman films the Tokyo skyline (Simon Calder)

How can you most easily, affordably and interestingly reach Japan for this spring’s cherry blossom season? I have checked flights for a range of options that leave the UK on 1 April and return two weeks later.

It is not a buyer’s market. Demand is strong, pushing up fares. With Russian airspace closed to Western and Japanese aircraft, journeys are extended – with higher costs for the airlines. But if you are flexible about flights, you can keep the price down.

The nonstop choice

I can guarantee you will not like the price. Flying out on Japan Airlines from London Heathrow to Tokyo Haneda (much the better of the two airports in the Japanese capital), returning on partner airline British Airways, the lowest fare booking direct with BA is £2,396 (or £30 more if you want to check a bag for the return leg).

Absolute cheapest

The fare is fabulous, at just £688 return through the online travel agent Kiwi.com. But everything else about the journey is unappealing. A dawn flight from London Stansted on Ryanair takes you to Bologna, where you hang around for five hours before flying on to Rome with ITA. You’ll have over 20 hours in the Italian capital – which may well suit some travellers – before flying on to Chengdu aboard Sichuan Airlines. The same carrier takes you on to Tokyo Narita, which is many miles from the Japanese capital.

You’ll return from the same airport – but the journey begins by flying southwest to Manila aboard Cebu Pacific. Then it’s an overnight flight on the same airline to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Local airline FlyNas will take you on to Istanbul, where you face a 17-hour wait (again, possibly appealing) before another dawn flight to Stansted. Good luck.

Tip-to-toe open-jaw

If you plan an extensive exploration of Japan, this is the way to go. Book an outbound flight to Nagasaki in the south, and fly home from Sapporo in the north. Through online travel agent BudgetAir.co.uk (actually based in Amsterdam), the fare is £2,498. Outbound is on Japan Airlines from Heathrow with a brief stopover in Tokyo.

Inbound is China Eastern with Shanghai. With a 17-hour connection, and no visa required for the People’s Republic, this provides an excellent window for a glimpse at one of the world’s great cities before a super-fast journey to London Gatwick. Chinese carriers fly over Russia, reducing the flight time compared with British Airways by two-and-a-half-hours.

The Manchester option

Cathay Pacific is an excellent airline, and offers good connections in Hong Kong – where, if time permits, I recommend a stopover. Compared with prevailing prices, the cost of £1,457 does not look unreasonable.

The Istanbul trick

One reason fares are so high is because on 1 April, air passenger duty rises to £106 for flights from the UK to Japan. By booking a separate flight to Istanbul – a huge gateway for Asia – you can reduce APD to just £15. Asiana Airlines via Seoul has a deal for just £743 return through online travel agent Trip.com. Suitable connecting flights on Wizz Air (out from Luton, back to Gatwick) are available for £211 – but be aware that this is a self-transfer and if anything goes awry and you miss the connection, you will have to buy a fresh ticket.

Air and sea

My favourite approach: fly to beautiful Busan in South Korea (or take the train south from Seoul) and then take the slow overnight boat across to Fukuoka. Flights on Chinese carriers to Busan are currently £975 return (out from Gatwick on China Eastern, back to Heathrow on Air China), and the ferry is a gift at around £130 return. Bon voyage.

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