The Japanese government has launched the Go To Travel Campaign to encourage people to travel around Japan from July 22, 2020 onwards. This is a great opportunity to travel cheaply in Japan! This campaign is not for international travelers but only for residents in Japan. So if you already live in Japan, why not go for a trip around Japan with the Go To Travel Campaign? In this article, we will explain what the Go To Travel Campaign is and how to travel cheap with it!
- What is the Go To Travel Campaign?
- Current situation of Go To Travel Campaign (Updated 2022)
- Pre-Go To Travel Campaign 2022
- How does the Go To Travel Campaign work?
- How to apply for the Go To Travel Campaign
What is the Go To Travel Campaign?
The Go To Campaign consists of 4 different campaigns which will support the industries which have been severely affected by COVID-19 such as travel, food, and entertainment industries, etc. Go To Travel Campaign is one of these campaigns and the government will cover half of the domestic travel costs up to ¥20,000 per person per day (up to ¥10,000 for a day trip) by issuing coupons that are worth 15% of travel costs (up to a total of ¥6,000 per day) and giving 35% off discount on the travel package.
There is no limit on the number of traveling with the campaign, so you can repeatedly travel at half-price in Japan during the campaign.
Current situation of Go To Travel Campaign (Updated 2022)
Go To Travel Campaign has been suspended since March 2021.
Meanwhile, there are alternative campaigns such as the prefectural campaigns which are quite similar to the Go To Travel Campaign. (we will explain it later in this article)
Go To Travel campaign will be resumed as GoTo 2.0 when it’s ready, and the discount rate is likely to change. The discount rate is originally 35 percent of the trip cost (up to 14,000 yen) and comes with local coupons that are 15% worth of the whole travel costs (up to 6,000 yen). ▶See how it works
GoTo 2.0, however, will give a 30% discount (up to 10,000 yen) with 3,000 yen (weekdays) or 1,000 yen (weekends) coupons.
| Discount rate | 30% |
| Maximum discount | – ¥10,000 (overnight stays with transportation) – ¥7,000 (accommodation only) – ¥3,000 (day trip) |
| Coupons | – ¥3,000 (weekdays) – ¥1,000 (weekends) |
At the moment, what we expect for the new Go To Travel campaign is as follows;
- More discounts may be applied on weekdays than on weekends
- It’ll be required the vaccination certificate or certificate of the negative test result to apply for the campaign.
We’ll update the latest information accordingly when the official announcement is made.
Pre-Go To Travel Campaign 2022
From October 11 to the end of December or early January, the government decided to launch a new campaign (全国旅行支援, zenkoku ryoko shien) to encourage people to travel more. During this campaign, you can travel anywhere around Japan with a discount as long as you already got vaccinated three times or get a negative test result on the PCR test.
| Discount rate | 40% |
| Maximum discount | – ¥8,000 (overnight stays with transportation) – ¥5,000 (others) |
| Coupons | ¥3,000 (weekdays) ¥1,000 (weekends) |
| Maximum subsidy | ¥11,000 *for overnight stays with transportation |
Prefectural Discount
The prefectural discount offers to the residents of Japan, giving a discount on travel packages and a coupon ticket for local restaurants. It gives you a maximum of 7,000 yen for both a travel package and a coupon ticket (5,000 yen for accommodation + 2,000 yen for coupons). This discount is valid until September 30th, 2022, and you can use this discount only in the region you live in.
Regions and prefectures that you can currently use Prefectural Discount (as of September 13)
| Region | Prefectures |
| Hokkaido, Tohoku | Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima |
| Kanto | Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi |
| Hokuriku, Chubu | Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Nagano, Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie |
| Kinki | Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara, Wakayama |
| Chugoku, Shikoku | Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kochi |
| Kyushu, Okinawa | Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa |
You can book from the website of Japanese travel agencies such as Jalan and Rakuten Travel etc.
Motto Tokyo
From September 1st, 2022, the Motto Tokyo campaign will resume for Tokyo residents. If you plan for an overnight trip that costs over 6,000 yen, you will get a 5,000 yen discount! For a day trip, if your travel costs over 3,000 yen, you will get a 2,500 yen discount.
The Motto Tokyo campaign will be valid until September 30, 2022.
How does the Go To Travel Campaign work?
It is basically a package deal, and the campaign will cover half of the travel costs up to ¥20,000 per person per day. About 70% of reimbursement is an actual discount on the package and about 30% of it is with coupons that you can use for gift shops, restaurants, amusement parks, and transportation.
Here’s how it works;
- If your travel package costs ¥20,000, you can save half of the cost which is ¥10,000 with the campaign. You will pay ¥13,000 for your trip but you will get coupons with a total value of ¥3,000. With that, you can save ¥10,000 in total.
- If your travel cost is ¥50,000, half of the costs will be ¥25,000, however, the reimbursement is up to ¥20,000 per day. So you will pay ¥36,000 of the total costs and will get coupons with a total value of ¥6,000. With the coupons, eventually, you can save ¥20,000 in total.
How to use Go To Travel Coupons
How to apply for the Go To Travel Campaign
Book a package via travel agencies or book the accommodation directly.
If you book a package via a travel agency, accommodations and transportation (trains, highway fees, airplanes, buses, etc.) will be included but if you book accommodations directly, transportation will be excluded from the discount. But either way, you will get coupons.
The discount is not only valid for the accommodation but also if you book overnight transportation such as a cruise ship, the overnight ferry, or a sleeper train (excluding overnight transportation that only offers seats), you can get a discount for those too. If you want to go on a day trip, the campaign will cover your transportation fee + food or activities.
The website you can book Go To Travel Campaign:
We (Japan Wonder Travel) are not currently operating the service.
The websites you can book Go To Travel Campaign are as follows,
Jalan net(in Japanese)
How to take a PCR test in Japan
Either a vaccination certificate or a certificate of the negative test result will be required if you apply for the Go To Travel Campaign. There’s an English service that allows you to get a test quickly and easily in Tokyo and Osaka. You can choose the test type between swab and saliva. There’s an option to receive the negative result certificate on the same day as you take the test, so if you are in a rush, this will be very useful!
▶ Book PCR test from here
FAQ
If you have any questions about coupons, please read these articles first!
–Everything you need to know about Go To Travel Campaign Coupons (General)
–The best way to use go to Travel Campaign Coupons in the popular destinations
Q. Is the hotel for the quarantine also included for the Go To Travel Campaign?
It can be used for the quarantine hotel if you are a resident visa holder. Basically only the Japan resident can use the Go To Travel Campaign. But not every hotel accepts the quarantine, so please check with the hotel before you make a booking.
If you are an international traveler and look for a quarantine hotel, please check this website for more information (Self-Isolation Japan.com)
Q. How can we get coupons?
Please check this article! (Where can you receive the coupons?)
Q. If I want to stay for a couple of nights at my friend’s house, can I still use the Go To Travel Campaign?
As long as you stay at the hotel on the same day of your arrival, your trip can be applied partly to the Go To Travel Campaign. For example, if you go on a trip for 3 nights 4 days and you stay at the hotel for the first night and stay at your friend’s house for the rest of your trip, it’s considered a 1 night 2 days trip for the Go To Travel Campaign and you will get the discount for it. However, if you only stay at your friend’s house, it is not applicable for the Go To Travel Campaign at all.
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Comments
Great article!
“[…]If you already made a booking for your trip before the campaign started, you can still apply the discount if you went on a trip between July 22nd to August 31st. “ 🤓 I checked the indicated website to apply online and unfortunately it looks like the application deadline for this was 14 September. Does anyone know of this is the case or if there is another way of applying still? Thank you.
Hi Rashomon-san,
Thank you for pointing it out, and that’s correct, the deadline for the application was September 14th.
Sorry we haven’t updated with that information. We updated on the article as well.
I was going to request a motel quote using Go To Travel. However, found the information requested to be intrusive and not required for just my asking for a quote.
Hi Mark,
Thanks for your message. In terms of the price for accomodation: you can check the prices of the hotel online yourself and add our service fee to the amount. However, we cannot only book your accommodation, as a travel agency we need to sell packages (transportation & accommodation + optional activities). If you are looking to only book a motel I recommend you do this yourself (as this is the cheapest way). For the actual booking we need to collect some information such as proof of living in Japan (and being able to make use of the Go To Travel campaign) and keep it on file. That’s why we ask for a copy of your residence card. Hope we could clarify some things for you, otherwise please send us an email or reply here again.