Hello from Nagano Japan!

[Laborous]

Welcome to the forum from the beautiful woods of Maine!

 

[msinger]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[NaganoGuy]

Thank you all for the warm welcome!
So much to ask, but slowly going thru other chats and searching before asking.
I did pick up a back pack for around $120.00. Two main sections with an extra waist pouch! Tons of storage for misc and drinks. Been out twice with it so far, works well! Picked up a portable collapsable seat for $30. lol

 

[Rattydude77]

Welcome to the forum from liverpool NY

 

[Aerial-Pixel]

This week I received my 1st drone! Mavic Air 2 Fly More Combo. I quickly picked up a hard case that holds everything (So far) but still need to order a landing pad, PGY prop holder and possibly looking for a good backpack to hold more stuff! lol, starting new hobbies is always a little rough in the beginning.

Hoping to connect with other drone flyers in Japan for some more local info. I have lots of questions, but I will be searching befor asking!

Cheers and safe flying!

Welcome to Mavic Pilots from Dayton Ohio USA! Enjoy your new Mavic Air 2, I absolutely love mine! Fly safe and have fun!

 

[keio]

Welcome to the forum. You are lucky not to live near Tokyo or Osaka. I have been there and there are very few drone friendly locales In those areas.

Japan is a nightmare for drone pilots (living here since 2010). Tokyo is simply a no-go, minus few exceptions (drone schools/fields, generally under a hangar, fields cost something like 30-60 bucks for 3-4 hours and are pretty far from center : Saitama/Chiba most of time). All zones which were 'friendly' have now drone ban. Laws are super hard and thanks to the government, prefectures outside the big cities were given green light to do whatever they want = drone ban mostly everywhere. Don't think about getting in the fields, mountains, beach, as even if not red no-fly-zone, they're submitted to local laws or respective ministry = not without authorization. Ah, and as for private places like for ex. a field, the japanese law says that the owner also owns the sky up to 300m above his property, lol. I went 10 days in Hokkaido, just came back 2 days ago. I thought yeah, big north, nobody, wide space, freedom and finally getting my MA2 in the air. Guess what ? See below 'a part' of my little collection from that trip. ;-)


Basically, what's happening in Japan is a ninja drone ban everywhere : laws are already super heavy, but by giving all power to the prefectures, knowing the japanese mentality (better ban it, so there will be no accidents) they simply achieved it to make it as good as impossible to fly anywhere outside a drone school (hangar) and without authorization which is also submitted to tons of restrictions and delays (4 weeks to officially get an answer, but considering i wrote an email only asking for clarifications and not permission beginning July and still didn't receive any answer, i let you guys imagine how motivated they are...). If you want to fly 'by the book', good luck. I prepared before going to Hokkaido each zone i wanted to fly, both checking dji-fly map & official JCAB map, zones were white, good to go, and except a few places, i didn't find any notifications about drones on the respective places websites. But you can see above... I have my drone since July 3rd, and got it one day in the air in Tokyo (Saitama) thanks to SpinRush which knew a place, and twice in Hokkaido : once in the garden of the lodge where we stayed because the guy was cool and also a drone pilot, second time a rogue flight in the mountain to film the mountains and the coast, but emergency landing because a car from environment ministry (!!!) rushed in (false alarm though, but unfortunate timing). I spent litteraly weeks searching, but there is simply no way, all spots which were before some sort of drone oasis are now banned. From what i could find out, some parts of Kyushu and Okinawa are still drone-friendly, but well, far and 'internet', as Hokkaido was supposed too being drone friendly. i became defiant about internet informations, even from Japanese, as they're most of the time inaccurate because lack of knowledge or too lazy to research.

 

[SpitFire]

Japan is a nightmare for drone pilots (living here since 2010). Tokyo is simply a no-go, minus few exceptions (drone schools/fields, generally under a hangar, fields cost something like 30-60 bucks for 3-4 hours and are pretty far from center : Saitama/Chiba most of time). All zones which were 'friendly' have now drone ban. Laws are super hard and thanks to the government, prefectures outside the big cities were given green light to do whatever they want = drone ban mostly everywhere. Don't think about getting in the fields, mountains, beach, as even if not red no-fly-zone, they're submitted to local laws or respective ministry = not without authorization. Ah, and as for private places like for ex. a field, the japanese law says that the owner also owns the sky up to 300m above his property, lol. I went 10 days in Hokkaido, just came back 2 days ago. I thought yeah, big north, nobody, wide space, freedom and finally getting my MA2 in the air. Guess what ? See below 'a part' of my little collection from that trip. ;-)

View attachment 109404View attachment 109405View attachment 109406View attachment 109407View attachment 109408
Basically, what's happening in Japan is a ninja drone ban everywhere : laws are already super heavy, but by giving all power to the prefectures, knowing the japanese mentality (better ban it, so there will be no accidents) they simply achieved it to make it as good as impossible to fly anywhere outside a drone school (hangar) and without authorization which is also submitted to tons of restrictions and delays (4 weeks to officially get an answer, but considering i wrote an email only asking for clarifications and not permission beginning July and still didn't receive any answer, i let you guys imagine how motivated they are...). If you want to fly 'by the book', good luck. I prepared before going to Hokkaido each zone i wanted to fly, both checking dji-fly map & official JCAB map, zones were white, good to go, and except a few places, i didn't find any notifications about drones on the respective places websites. But you can see above... I have my drone since July 3rd, and got it one day in the air in Tokyo (Saitama) thanks to SpinRush which knew a place, and twice in Hokkaido : once in the garden of the lodge where we stayed because the guy was cool and also a drone pilot, second time a rogue flight in the mountain to film the mountains and the coast, but emergency landing because a car from environment ministry (!!!) rushed in (false alarm though, but unfortunate timing). I spent litteraly weeks searching, but there is simply no way, all spots which were before some sort of drone oasis are now banned. From what i could find out, some parts of Kyushu and Okinawa are still drone-friendly, but well, far and 'internet', as Hokkaido was supposed too being drone friendly. i became defiant about internet informations, even from Japanese, as they're most of the time inaccurate because lack of knowledge or too lazy to research.

Wow: I am not going to complain about our drone laws. Thanks for sharing.

 

[keio]

Wow: I am not going to complain about our drone laws. Thanks for sharing.

Here if you want to get a view on exact official rules : https://www.mlit.go.jp/en/koku/uas.html
Sadly, as explained, they are not the only ones. By watching the picture and explanations, you might think "ok, if i'm under 150m height, out of a city, more than 9km from an airport in a non-red zone, i' should be fine" but that's the trick : here come the "other" unofficial rules, local restrictions, privacy right, property right, and all the "other stuff". Basically, it's nearly impossible to fly anywhere if you want to go by the book, except if you know somebody willing to let you fly over his land, or if you pay to access the ridiculous little fields available, or if you apply (and get it !) for permission, which is a difficult and long process : only japanese form, needs to justify enough flight time experience prior to application and say when/where/what/how you want to fly and then wait for the holy Ministry of Land Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to answer you, usually 3 to 4 weeks (or never, lol).

 

[mrjohnc1]

Welcome!

 

[DaveS]

Welcome to forum. It is a great place for learning with really good people.

I was in Nagano and Jigokudani (Snow Monkeys) Feb. 2014 during Japan's epic, record breaking snow storm. I was stranded on the bullet train 14 hours but finally made it there from Tokyo Station. The snow monkey park was closed but I stepped over the rope and hiked an hour in the forest in the deep snow and I had the monkeys all to myself for 2 hours until my fingers froze over. Photos can be viewed at daledavisphotography.smugmug.com

Dale, your Snow Monkeys photos are amazing! I take it they are not aggressive, even with a baby-on-board.

 

[Dale D]

Dale, your Snow Monkeys photos are amazing! I take it they are not aggressive, even with a baby-on-board.

Hi DaveS:-

The snow monkeys are totally tame. One of them crawled over me as I sat in the snow as shown in my photo collection of that trip.

They are rhesus monkeys. They come down from the mountain tops in the most severe cold to enjoy being fed grains by a caretaker during the winter, and they hang around in the warm springs. The images of them with frozen beards is classic. I was the ONLY person there that day- it is usually mobbed with hundreds of photographers. I sneaked in under the "No Entry" chain. (shown in the pictures on my web site).
www.daledavisphotography.smugmug.com

 

[Steel63]

Greetings from Florida

 

[PeterX]

"Konnichiwa" from ?? and ?? toyou in ??... and welcome aboard. You can find or leave tip´n´tricks in this forum.
"Jamatta"

 

[DBT_Drone]

Welcome!!!! I look forward to some amazing footage from your area in Japan!!!

 

[Dale D]

Japan is such a beautiful country- looking forward to some nice footage from your area.

Dale

 

[Thomas B]

Welcome to the forum from the deserts of Arizona! Enjoy.

 

[sirpent0r]

This week I received my 1st drone! Mavic Air 2 Fly More Combo. I quickly picked up a hard case that holds everything (So far) but still need to order a landing pad, PGY prop holder and possibly looking for a good backpack to hold more stuff! lol, starting new hobbies is always a little rough in the beginning.

Hoping to connect with other drone flyers in Japan for some more local info. I have lots of questions, but I will be searching befor asking!

Cheers and safe flying!

Hi,

I was in Nagano for a couple days a couple weeks ago and brought my Air 2s, but alas it rained almost the entire time so I didn't get any flying in. Planning a trip back soon I hope! Can't fly in Tokyo so I'm always looking to get out to more rural areas and explore.

good luck
-rob