so anyway flying back from osaka and customs at narita wanted to inspect the bag with all my drone stuff. they were pretty thorough, asked about the batteries and made me take everything out. ended up being totally fine, they just wanted to see the lipo labels and confirm it was all within the airline limits. but man those twenty minutes were stressful. i had my mini 3 and two extra batts which is within most airline rules but i always feel like im about to get something confiscated even when i know im following the rules.

flying in japan itself was great btw, lots of restrictions especially around tokyo but there are open areas if you do your homework. used the dji fly safe map plus some local app my airbnb host recommended. got some insane shots of the countryside

always carry printed copies of the battery specs and your registration docs if the country requires it. digital on your phone is fine until your battery dies or you lose signal at some random checkpoint. learned that lesson in turkey

japan is on my list but the airspace rules look insane to navigate honestly. did you need any kind of permit or just the fly safe check was enough for the rural stuff? i keep hearing you need to register with the MLIT which sounds like a whole thing