Japan by the BookWhat to book, what it costs — with the source
Checked 20 August 2026

What You Actually Have to Book in Japan — and When Bookings Open

We checked ten of the attractions that “book in advance” lists always name, against what each operator actually publishes. Most of them will let you walk in. The ones that will not are fewer than you have been told — and two official pages contradict themselves.

Which ones actually refuse walk-ins

We are not going to give you a tidy number here, because the operators do not give one. This is what each of them actually publishes.

PlaceWhat the operator says
Ghibli Museum, Mitaka “All admission to the Ghibli Museum is by advance reservation only.” and “No reservation or ticket purchase can be made at the Museum.” Tickets are valid only for the date and time printed on them.
Ghibli Park (Aichi) “Advanced reservations are required.” But not for everything: the same page carries a notice about same-day tickets for three buildings in Valley of the Witches. The notice body was not readable to us, so treat park entry and building entry as separate questions.
Katsura Imperial Villa (Kyoto) Unresolved. The page says “it is necessary to apply for the tour in advance” — and then offers two routes, “Online Application” and “Walk-in Registration”. We could not tell you which governs. Shugakuin and Sento are administered alongside it; we only checked this wording for Katsura.
teamLab Planets TOKYO “Tickets are not sold on-site.” But see the note below.
If you are visiting Katsura and you speak English

The villa reserves five slots a day as English guided tours for foreign visitors only: 9:20, 11:20, 13:20, 15:20 and 16:20. That is a narrow set of times, and it is not something the guides mention.

Why teamLab Planets has an asterisk

Its FAQ says tickets are not sold on-site. Elsewhere on the same page, the parking section refers to “tickets purchased from the facility’s vending machine”. We cannot reconcile those two — the parking note does not say the machine still sells tickets, so it may be describing past purchases. Either way, the page does not settle whether you can buy on the day. Book ahead and the question never comes up.

When bookings actually open

This is the part that surprises people. The windows are short, and three of them open on a fixed day at a fixed hour — which means being awake for it. Read the middle column carefully: some of these are the schedule for one particular booking route, not a rule for the venue as a whole.

PlaceWhen it opens
Ghibli Museum From overseas the museum names two routes. Route one is LAWSON TICKET online, and that route opens on the 10th of each month at 10:00 JST for the following month — the museum’s own example is that 1–28 February goes on sale 10 January. Route two is a special bus tour by Sunrise Tours (JTB), for which no window is given — and note that it is a multi-destination tour with the museum among the stops, not a second way to buy a museum ticket on its own. Buying to resell is not permitted.
Ghibli Park October 2026 went on sale 10 August 2026, 14:00 JST — two months ahead
Imperial Palace, Tokyo 05:00 JST on the 1st of the previous month, closing four days before your visit
teamLab Planets November tickets “available starting late-August” — roughly two to three months
SHIBUYA SKY The page says “sold up to two weeks ahead” — far shorter than anything else here. It does not spell out which ticket types that covers, and the child ticket is counter-only, so it has no advance window at all.
Two things we are not going to claim

Ghibli Park published one sale date, for October. It reads like a monthly pattern, but the operator does not say “every month”, so neither will we. teamLab Planets says “late-August” with no date and no hour.

And nobody publishes how fast anything sells out. Opening day and sell-out day are different questions, and only the first one has an official answer.

SHIBUYA SKY has two catches nobody mentions

1 — Child tickets cannot be booked online at all

The child ticket is sold at the same-day counter only. There is no way to buy one online.

Check which ticket you actually need first, because the bands are not what you would guess: adult is 12 and over, the child ticket covers 12-year-olds still in primary school, and preschool children aged 6 are free. Read those first two again: taken literally, a 12-year-old in primary school falls into both bands, and the page does not say which one wins. If you are travelling with a 12-year-old, ask before you book. (The page also gives the preschool fare as free without saying whether that means no ticket at all.)

2 — If it is sold out online, the counter is sold out too

For adults, the operator states plainly that when the website sells out, the counter sells out with it. Queuing does not get you in. (Whether that is one shared pool or two that close together, the operator does not say — and neither will we.)

The counter also costs 300 yen more than booking online. One caveat on the times: the operator’s counter prices are written as “until 15:00” and “from 15:00”, which overlap at exactly 15:00, while the online prices use “until 14:59”. If you are entering at 15:00 sharp, ask.

The six that every guide tells you to book — and you can walk into

Each of these appears on “must book in advance” lists constantly. Here is what the operator actually publishes.

PlaceWhat the operator actually says
Imperial Palace, Tokyo Numbered tickets are handed out at Kikyo-mon Gate at 09:00 and 12:30, first come first served, 300 tickets. Bring valid ID — not a copy.
Kyoto Imperial Palace “The Kyoto Imperial Palace is open to all visitors. No advance application is necessary.” (This is the one people confuse with the Kyoto villas, which do need applying for.)
teamLab Borderless “They can also be purchased on site, but at different prices.” The price list adds “+200 yen if purchased on site”. Tickets are date and time-specific and may sell out.
SHIBUYA SKY There is a same-day counter — with the two catches above.
Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo “Tickets are also available at our ticket office onsite, however, pre-booking is recommended as your preferred admission date and time may be sold out.”
Toyosu Market tuna auction The viewing corridor takes no reservation and opens to general visitors from 05:00. Some areas do need applying for.

Notice the shape of it. “Book in advance” and “you cannot get in without booking” are different claims, and the second one is much rarer than the internet suggests — rare enough that we could only firmly establish it for the Ghibli Museum. What is true is that walking up costs you either money, time, or the time slot you wanted — not usually the visit itself.

What we could not find out

Sources

Checked 19–20 August 2026. Where an operator publishes in Japanese and English, we read the Japanese and say so.

This page has a shelf life

Opening windows and same-day policies change, and several of the sale dates above are announcements for one particular month rather than published rules. We re-check this page quarterly. The date at the top is the last time we did.