New carry-on luggage restrictions for flights in Japan
If you’re going to by traveling around in Japan, be aware of the new carry-on luggage restrictions for domestic flights:
Under the new restrictions, the dimensions for carry-on baggage on aircraft with 100 or more passenger seats can not exceed 55 centimeters in width, 40 centimeters in height and 25 centimeters in depth and the total of the lengths of the three sides cannot exceed 115 centimeters. On aircraft with up to 99 passenger seats, the dimensions cannot measure more than 45 centimeters in width, 35 centimeters in height and 20 centimeters in depth and the total of the three sides must be 100 centimeters or less. A surcharge of 10,000 yen each way will be applied for any oversized items on flights.
According to this news report, many musical instrument carrying cases to do not fit within the new size restrictions:
Takeshi Shinohara, a representative of the Musicians’ Unions of Japan, said the new rule will pose a problem for travelers seeking to carry on a violin or viola.
Previous limits weren’t strictly enforced, and employees at the gates and cabin crew members were allowed some discretion.
In most cases, violins were allowed to be carried on, Shinohara said.
If the unified rule is strictly applied, violins or violas will have to be checked in or not taken, unless the fee is paid.
“We don’t feel comfortable checking instruments into the cargo hold,” Shinohara said, noting musicians worry their instruments could be damaged.
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