Drones in Japan

peraltron · Feb 27, 2017

Hey guys,

I'm planning to go to Japan for 3 weeks and I would like to do some aerial footage. I'll be staying around Tokyo and Osaka. Has anybody had issues with authority??? Or any issues with neighbours?? I don't want to cause trouble!

Thanks in advance

ElGuapo · Feb 27, 2017

I'm interested to find out as well. Planning to go to Japan around July or early August, would be nice to bring the Mavic.

BD0G · Feb 27, 2017

I read in another post where the person claimed that all of Tokyo was a no fly zone due to population density.

halley · Feb 27, 2017

Many places in Japan are NFZ due to population density. All of Tokyo is an NFZ due to a specific regional law.

Japan's Drone Restrictions

BD0G · Feb 27, 2017

I gotta say that being able to fly Tokyo would be an amazing experience though, but I would not want to be detained on my vacation due to breaking thier no fly law. Risk Versus Reward just does not make it a sound choice

halley · Feb 27, 2017

BD0G said:
I would not want to be detained on my vacation

Yeah, although Japan police take a very quiet low-key approach, waiting until they have overwhelming evidence to ensure a conviction, the laws are quite strong. Police can hold you without charge for 23 days, you're presumed guilty until proven innocent, there is no bail, and your embassy can't help very much at all.

Oh, and don't even think of bringing marijuana.

BD0G · Feb 27, 2017

23 days held, no bail and guilty until proven innocent! Well that definitely a deal breaker for me.

Here we get a stern talking to and perhaps a fine if someone really wants to harsh your day.

ElGuapo · Feb 27, 2017

I just found this one the net, although this is a year old it is consistent with the previous' posts.

Japanese police plan to battle drones with even bigger drones, equipped with nets

BD0G · Feb 27, 2017

Drones with nets! Someone has watched "spiderman" way too many times.

tokorobam · Jul 22, 2017

Tokyo is a vast area ranging from urban concentration and suburban sprawl, to farms, mountains, lakes, and open fields. I believe that the restricted areas are focused on the urban and suburban areas. There is an official DJI store in Shinjuku. They would know more.

halley · Jul 22, 2017

tokorobam said:
Tokyo is a vast area ranging from urban concentration and suburban sprawl, to farms, mountains, lakes, and open fields. I believe that the restricted areas are focused on the urban and suburban areas. There is an official DJI store in Shinjuku. They would know more.

As far as I have seen written, "Unmanned aircraft weighing more than 200 grams can not be flown in designated built-up areas, a law that covers all drone flights over Tokyo’s 23 special wards." They specifically banned drones in all municipal parks and gardens after some guy decided to fly near government officials with a little bit of nuclear material. There's a lot of Japan that is not Tokyo-- just do a little drive or train ride out of the city.

Per the Ministry of Land's data, all the red area is NO FLY.

地理院地図

tokorobam · Jul 25, 2017

halley said:
the red

What's interesting about the Japan MoL map is how it jibes (or not) with the regulations:

(i) Airspace around airports and above certain heights above ground level.
(ii) Above densely populated areas (4,000 people per square kilometer or more).

The green zone the MoL Map corresponds with (i). However, the red zone does not fully sync with (ii) since the map covers Tokyo, Kanagawa, and Saitama the latter two below the 4000 per SQKM.

1 Tokyo 5,751人/km2 95.19
3 Kanagawa 3,639人/km2 76.48
4 Saitama 1,858人/km2