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Comment by crdoconnor | Hacker News Reader

I thought this might be a problem, but I was only asked for a return ticket in one place - Hong Kong.

And what happened?

I was asked for a return ticket in Japan. I had to buy a return ticket in the customs lobby before I was allowed into the country.

Ouch! I take it was much more expensive than usual economy tickets.

What if you planned to buy a train ticket to leave? I don't know about HK but in China it's a mess since it can only be done a few weeks before the travel date and might not even have been possible to do prior to entering the country.

Actually, I didn't have to buy a ticket to leave immediately, I just had to prove I had a return ticket. I just bought the cheapest one close to the date when my tourist visa would expire. I think it was around $600.

There is no train that connects Japan to another country that I know of.

Sorry, I confused your post with crdoconnor's and he had mentioned Hong Kong.

Thanks for the info. Very usefull since I was thinking of going to Japan and had this lingering in the back of my mind.

You can get the boat to South Korea which would be a decent alternative.

I got my laptop out and loaded it up while they started at me impatiently. Eventually I found the email with the e-ticket (without images) and they barely took one glance at it before sending me on my way (I think I was holding the queue up waiting for my laptop to boot).

You can always, always fake one. And put it on your computer. And take your time showing it to them. They'll wave you through eventually.

That was on a flight from malaysia. When I entered HK from China and Macau, they didn't say anything.

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