Here is the latest from Thomson about our Japan trip. We still really want to go, so fingers crossed.
We have no reason to believe that your trip will be impacted, and – as with all our destinations – we are closely following local and international sources of information on the situation. No governments have proposed restricting travel to Japan as a result of the virus, and the US Department of State as well as the CDC still consider Japan as a category 2, which is the same level as Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, UK, Spain, and many others. There are high numbers of the virus reported for Japan and this includes people quarantined on the cruise ship. On mainland Japan, there are not as many cases.
Our trips are operating normally, and guests are still enjoying their worldwide adventures! Thomson Family Adventures normal booking conditions remain in effect, and should the government declare any changes to the current status, and advise against traveling to Japan, we will, of course be as flexible as possible to ensure they are able to travel at a later time. As we get closer to departure this will become more difficult, but we will do our best. We want our travelers to be and feel safe when traveling. This is our top priority.
On the day to day level, life is proceeding as normal in Japan. In fact, people in Japan are more concerned about the flu, like we are here in the U.S. Many people, particularly in hospitality, are wearing face masks as a precaution, and as a public service, hand-washing stations and disinfectants have been made widely available in many public locations. This is a very common practice all the time in Japan though. Many doctors have suggested that frequent, thorough hand-washing and avoiding touching your mouth and eyes are amongst the best preventive measures.