Japan's two main international air gateways from Britain are Tokyo and Osaka. Four airlines (All Nippon Airways, British Airways, Japan Airlines and Virgin) fly nonstop from London into New Tokyo International airport (better known as Narita), while JAL also fly daily, nonstop to Kansai International airport, built on an artificial island in Osaka Bay, and twice a week to Nagoya airport in Western Honshu. There are plenty of airlines with indirect flights to Narita and Kansai - some also offer connecting services to major regional airports, such as Nagoya and Fukuoka. Direct flights from London take around twelve hours.

There are no direct flights from Ireland - you'll need to stop over in Europe en route, with the cheapest deals usually being via London (Ryan Air fly daily from Dublin to London for IR£50).