heading to tokyo and kyoto in march, been going back and forth on whether to even pack the drone. from what ive read japan has gotten pretty strict and you need to register the aircraft with MLIT now and there are densely populated area restrictions that basically cover all of the cities. im not trying to get detained or have my gear taken at customs so leaning toward just leaving it home but also the shots around mount fuji and some of the rural areas look absolutely insane and i feel like id regret it

has anyone actually done this recently and navigated the process? is it doable for a 2 week trip or is the paperwork headache not worth it for casual use

I did it last spring. The MLIT registration is actually pretty straightforward online and takes like 20-30 minutes if your Japanese isnt great you can mostly get through it with a translator. The hard part is finding spots where you can legally fly because yeah densely populated zones are basically off limits and that covers most of the places tourists want to shoot. Fuji area has specific designated flying spots and they are genuinely worth it, got some of my best footage ever. Just do the registration before you leave, you cant really do it on arrival

honestly i just left mine at home when i went. didnt want the stress of worrying about it the whole trip, Japan is strict enough with general rules that i wasnt gonna risk it. probably different if you have more time to prep but for a vacation i just used my phone for video and it was fine