European Mavic Mini in Japan

[dedero]

Hey there!

First a small introduction: I just registered in the forum because I will be in the "intelligent" drones world very soon and I was reading quite a lot the forum until I decided to register in order to ask you some advice in the following:

I'll be a very soon owner of a Mavic Mini and I'm planning holidays in Japan within the next months. The thing is that the japanese version is only 199g and the rest of the world 249g due to the battery reduction so I'm considering trying to get one japanese version (not yet how though) so I won't have any problems in there but I would like to get it before flying so I can get some experience on it so I can get the best of it during my trip.

Does any of you have experience taking a 249g to Japan with a 1100 mAh battery?, the thing is as the non-japanese version shows in the side the "249g" and I might have some issues in Japan with the lighter 1100mAh battery until they really weight the drone and realize that the actual weight is under 200g as stated by law..

Any hint/experience will be appreciated!

Thanks and cheers,
Bruno

 

[old man mavic]

depending on how things go at customs you could have issues getting it through ,the Japan version does have as you say a different battery it is 50g lighter but has a reduced capacity and flight time one thing you could do is only take the drone and controller without any batteries ,and then purchase some in japan,so you would be complying with their rules on weight,if you were stopped at customs, then telling them you intend to get batteries in japan to use the drone ,might be enough for them to let you keep it with you ,also check up what rules for flying in japan are required before you go there

 

[Mrmund]

depending on how things go at customs you could have issues getting it through ,the Japan version does have as you say a different battery it is 50g lighter but has a reduced capacity and flight time one thing you could do is only take the drone and controller without any batteries ,and then purchase some in japan,so you would be complying with their rules on weight,if you were stopped at customs, then telling them you intend to get batteries in japan to use the drone ,might be enough for them to let you keep it with you ,also check up what rules for flying in japan are required before you go there

Do Japanese batteries work in the 249 gram version?

 

[dedero]

Do Japanese batteries work in the 249 gram version?

Yes, the only difference is the cells reduction to decrease the weight

 

[keio]

Ya, JP batteries work in EU/US MM version and vice-versa, but is not adviced from DJI for insurance/safety/legal reasons. The 199g is not really that interesting in Japan anyway, as we are nevertheless submitted to the same "zone" laws. The only difference with the 199g MM is that u can fly a bit higher that's it. And from my own experience, i just noticed that even more rural areas as Tokyo where i live, have now drone ban INCLUDING specifically the MM in their area, as for example Kawaguchiko, the lake area near Mt Fuji :

*About unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) flight

Since there are unspecified number of users in the city park, it is prohibited regardless of the flight area and the form of the aircraft (including less than 200g). Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Fujikawaguchiko Town City Park

(Source)