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Reference — for your bookmarks

Japan drone links: the sites you open every flight

Registration, maps, weather, the law. The pages you open before a flight, on the day, and when you are not sure, grouped by when you need them. Bookmark this and start here each time.

How to use this page

The groups run before you fly → on the day → when in doubt. If this is your first flight in Japan, readHow to fly a drone in Japanfirst, and on the day keep thepre-flight checklistbeside this page. Each link says whether an English version exists; where we are not certain, it says Japanese only.

Registration and permits — before you fly

Checking the location — before you fly

  • GSI Maps ↗Geospatial Information Authority of Japan

    Densely Inhabited District (DID) boundaries, elevation, terrain

    Turn on the DID layer (人口集中地区) to see the boundary. In and around cities the line is close, so check the map rather than guessing.

    English: Japanese only. The map itself needs no reading; the DID layer is the one labeled 人口集中地区.

    https://maps.gsi.go.jp/

Weather and wind — on the day

  • Japan Meteorological Agency ↗JMA

    Warnings and advisories, radar, current wind

    The official source. If a strong-wind or thunderstorm advisory is up, the flight does not happen.

    English: English version available.

    https://www.jma.go.jp/

  • Windy ↗Windyty SE

    Wind forecast by altitude, gusts

    Calm on the ground does not mean calm at 100 m. Switch the altitude layer and look.

    English: English (and most other languages).

    https://www.windy.com/

The law itself — when in doubt

  • e-Gov Law Search ↗Digital Agency

    The text of the Civil Aeronautics Act and its enforcement regulations

    Explainers go out of date; the statute does not. Search for 航空法 and read around Article 132-86.

    English: Japanese only. The Japanese Law Translation database (japaneselawtranslation.go.jp) carries an unofficial English translation of the Act.

    https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/

  • National Police Agency ↗NPA

    The Act on Prohibition of Flights over Key Facilities (the Diet, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Imperial Palace, nuclear sites, US bases)

    A separate law from the Civil Aeronautics Act, and it applies regardless of aircraft weight. The list of covered facilities is reached from here.

    English: Japanese only.

    https://www.npa.go.jp/

  • Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications ↗MIC

    Radio rules, the conformity mark (giteki), radio station licenses

    Some equipment, such as 5.7 GHz FPV, needs a license. Equipment without the Japanese conformity mark may not be used.

    English: Japanese only for the radio pages.

    https://www.soumu.go.jp/

After the flight — the record

A flight log is mandatory for specified flights, and “when, where, how high” is worth keeping for every flight. Airffic World puts a registered aircraft’s position and altitude on a map and keeps the history.Register the aircraft from the home page— it is free.

Change log

Government sites move when ministries reorganize or laws change. If you find a dead link, write toinfo@airfficworld.comand we will fix it and date the fix here.

  • 2026-09-22 — First English edition. Nine sites in four groups, each with a note on English availability.

Related

Put the flight on the map

Once the aircraft is registered, add its registration ID on Airffic World. Position and altitude appear on the live map while it flies, and the history stays.

Register an aircraft →