so im heading to japan for 3 weeks in april and obviously the mavic is coming with me. ive been doing some reading on their drone laws and honestly its a bit overwhelming. from what i understand you need to register the drone with the MLIT before you fly and there are like entire categories of airspace that are just off limits without a permit which makes sense but also... tokyo is basically one giant no fly zone near the airports.

has anyone actually navigated the permit process over there or do most people just stick to rural areas and not bother? i really want to get some shots around kyoto and maybe out near fuji but im not trying to get my drone confiscated on day one of the trip

yeah did this last year. the registration thing is actually pretty straightforward, you do it all online through the MLIT portal and as long as your drone is on their approved list it doesnt take long. the tricky part is the no fly zones — dronebird app is what most people use over there, its basically the japanese equivalent of airmap and it shows you all the restricted areas in real time. fuji is doable if you stay in the right spots, just avoid anywhere near the visitor centers during peak hours because there are rangers around. kyoto is harder, a lot of the temple areas are private land and they really dont want drones around. i got some decent shots from the hills outside the city though

not been to japan but went to south korea last year and had similar issues figuring out the rules. ended up just not flying in seoul at all and saved it for the countryside which honestly produced better footage anyway. sometimes the restricted places force you to find cooler spots you wouldnt have thought of. good luck tho the fuji shots i've seen from people look insane