Japan, the long way
14 TO 24 MARCH 2026
We went the wrong way round on purpose. Phoenix to Doha is sixteen hours and it lands you at four in the morning, but it puts you in Tokyo in daylight with a whole day still in front of you, and the five hours in between are the only part of a long-haul I have ever looked forward to.
This is all of it. The flights with the hours drawn at the size they actually felt, the lounge, the room, the ramen I got up at seven for, and what I would pack differently.
Days11
Legs7
Places7
In transit53h
Distance42,800 km
Moments42
Dark is night, worked out from where she actually was. Each mark is a moment.
Contents
| Detail | What | From | To | Duration | Detail | Moments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | QR 740Flight | PHX 06:10 | DOH 08:20+1 | 16h 10m | 12 | |
| 02 | Five hours in DohaLayover | Al Mourjan | · | 5h | 5 | |
| 03 | QR 812Flight | DOH 13:20 | NRT 04:50+1 | 9h 30m | 5 | |
| 04 | Narita ExpressTrain | NRT 04:50 | Shinjuku 06:10 | 1h 20m | 2 | |
| 05 | Park Hyatt TokyoStay | Park Hyatt | · | 4 nights | 5 | |
| 06 | Sugamo, for the ramenWalk | Shinjuku 06:10 | Tsuta 13:10 | 7h | 6 | |
| 07 | The rest of TokyoStay | Park Hyatt | · | 4 nights | 2 | |
| 08 | Narita ExpressTrain | Shinjuku 06:10 | NRT 07:30 | 1h 20m | not written yet | |
| 09 | QR 813Flight | NRT 07:30 | DOH 12:30 | 11h | 2 | |
| 10 | Two hours in DohaLayover | Hamad | · | 2h | not written yet | |
| 11 | QR 739Flight | DOH 14:30 | PHX 20:50 | 16h 20m | 3 |
That is the whole trip.