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Dropzone Database: Asia: Japan : Tokyo Skydiving Club DZ : Reviews

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has contributed 5 reviews

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(Review ID:5177)

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful: Unbelievable Place to Jump Rated by: aahmadian on 2009-06-16 (user profile) (user reviews) Review of: Tokyo Skydiving Club DZ   Pros: Friendliness, professionalism, and location Cons: No food

Professionalism   Vibe   Aircraft   Facilities   Services   Location

On May 23, 2009, I had the great opportunity to skydive Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo Skydiving Club (TSC), though a small dropzone, is an unbelievable place to go skydiving. First off, it is easily accessible from anywhere in Tokyo. Their website gives you detailed information on their location and on how to get there. Whether by train or bus, it's fairly easy to find your way there, and the individuals working at the dropzone will usually have no problem picking you up from the bus station and/or train station.

Nevertheless, before you can have the opportunity to jump there, you need to notify the drop zone that you have the intention of jumping. You need to do this at least one week in advance since it takes about 7 days to get permission from the government to skydive in Japan; and permission is usually granted with ease. Furthermore, you need to pay for insurance and membership fees: "Temporary" membership and insurance fees cost roughly a total of 6,500 yen and will be valid for one month. Though it might seem complicated, time consuming, and costly to go through this process, it will ultimately be worth it. From the moment you begin your ascent in the airplane, you immediately become stunned by the stellar views of Japan. From the bustling cities below, which are surrounded by beautiful rice paddies and rivers, to an epic view of Mt. Fuji in the distance, every second of freefall will be memorable and enjoyable.

Specifically, the information the drop zone will require from you consists of:
Name: specify first and last name
Nationality:
Address: In Japan, if you have
Phone number: In Japan, if you have
Date of birth: DD/MM/YY
Sex: M or F
Height:
Weight:
License number and organization:
Total number of jumps:
Date and place of your last jump:
Equipment: *AAD required
Date of your reserve repacked:
Date of your visit:

The Prices are:
Jump ticket = JPY6,000 (from 12,500 feet)
Tandem jump with no camera : JPY30,000
Tandem jump with camera by tandem master : JPY38,000
(movie in DVD)
Tandem jump with air cameraman : JPY46,000
(movie and still photo in DVDs)
Video and Photo to hire out an Air Cameraman: JPY10,000

The drop zone opens at 8:30 am and closes roughly at around sunset (depending on how many people are jumping that day). The people at TSC are extremely friendly and professional. From the moment I arrived, I was greeted with open arms and treated very hospitably. TSC walked me through all the paper work that needed filling out and showed me many aerial views of the dropzone so that I could become comfortable with knowing the terrain and in learning the landing patterns. Furthermore, all the other fun jumpers at the dropzone were very helpful, engaging and friendly. After my first jump, the manifest would hook me up with other jumpers so I could experience jumping with others. Though some of the other jumpers didn’t speak any English, there were many people at the dropzone, including people working the manifest and facilities, that could speak perfect English. Thus, I never faced any communication problem, and anything that needed translating was done immediately and for my convenience. In addition, TSC has a covered packing area where you can also hire out a packer for the day. The service the dropzone provides is amazing. At the end of the day, I was also given a ride from the dropzone to the train station so that I wouldn’t have to do any walking or waiting.

The plane TSC used was a grand caravan (C-208B), which could hold a maximum of 19 jumpers. Though there were no seats on the airplane, everyone was comfortably organized on the floor. You sat front to back, with the front guy sitting against the back guy’s legs. In addition, everyone was strapped down by seat belts. Also, you need to be careful you understand the lighting sequence at the door. Instead of the conventional red light/green light system, the plane has a system of 3 lights that tell you how much more time you have before you can exit the plane. No worries though—the people at TSC will explain to you everything you need to know regarding this system.

In regards to their other facilities, TSC has a bathroom and numerous vending machines. The vending machines, unfortunately, only provide an assortment of drinks; therefore, you need to make sure to bring food with you. If you don’t bring food, then you’ll have to drive off the dropzone and find food elsewhere. When I went to TSC, I forgot to bring food, but the individuals at TSC were very friendly and drove me into town to pick up some goodies. As mentioned before, the people at TSC will do everything in their power to make your experience enjoyable and to cater to all your needs. I highly recommend this dropzone to anybody who has the great fortune of visiting Tokyo, Japan. Finally, I did not stay at the dropzone overnight, but supposedly they have a very nice bunk house with showers that can accommodate you if you decide to stay the night.


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(Review ID:4901)

6 of 14 people found the following review helpful: Nice place to return Rated by: Stiletto5 on 2008-11-29 (user profile) (user reviews) Review of: Tokyo Skydiving Club DZ   Pros: Nice&helpful people Cons: high ticket prices + insurance

Professionalism   Vibe   Aircraft   Facilities   Services   Location

I travel to Japan once a year. After the wheather was bad last year I made another atempt this autumn. You have to write them an e-Mail latest one week in advance with all your details allowing them to register you (requirement by the government). Besides that you need an insurance which is payable in advance (5000,- Yen incl. club membership.

Aikiko was very helpful answering all my questions, doing the formalities and sending me a good description of how to get there. If you take a bus from Okegawa Station, it may take about 1.5 hours from central Tokyo to get there. After getting off the bus, you can call them to pick you up. Otherwise it is a 20 minutes walk.

Seemingly I was very unlucky that the government (first time for them) refused to approve my application after there was a bad (non fatal) landing accident a week before (low turn). Still I could not consider anything better to do and spent the day at the dropzone watching them. The insurance was paid back and they gave me a free ride on the co-pilot's seat.

If you go there make sure you get a good instruction about the signals in the plane - pretty confusingly flashing a lot. On the loads that I watched a second run was done to get all out. This time consuming and thus expensive practice is not common on most dopzones I visited.

People are very friendly and it is easy to get into contact.

Don't forget to have some food with you. There was no restaurant or snack bar. Luckily I had a Noodle cup with me and there were vending machines (as everywhere in Japan) for drinks.

There is rental gear (for e.g. Sabre 170 and 190). One of the previous reviews says that there are seats in the Caravan. They weren't anymore when I was there, but he was right regardin the white gloves.

I was offered to stay overnight in their house near the dropzone and I would have done, if I had a chance to do one jump.

Next time I am in Japan I will definitely give it another try. Looking forward to see Mt. Fuji in freefall.

Markus Bartels

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(Review ID:2616)

23 of 30 people found the following review helpful: Must visit place when you are in Japan Rated by: beuf on 2005-09-25 (user profile) (user reviews) Review of: Tokyo Skydiving Club DZ   Pros: Very helpfull and friendly people. Made friends in a weekend! Cons: Takes a long walk from the bus stop, jump prices

Professionalism   Vibe   Aircraft   Facilities   Services   Location

I started skydiving seven years ago but only two years back I really was infected with the virus. Since then I visited about 8 different dropzones in Europe. For work I had to visit Tokyo, and this is my third visit. Previous times were to busy to think of jumping. I did sent a mail but didn't get any reply. This time I have some more time and I called with some help from the hotel lobby. After contacting the right person, it only took a week for the permit to be arranged and I visited the dropzone the next weekend.

As a dutch person taking a bus was somewhat difficult but for less then 20euro's I was able to take a taxi. Leaving from Okegawa station taking a bus is easy. After crossing the bridge over the river just take the first stop. Then it is a 20 minutes walk to the DZ (they also have a clubhouse which is closer to the bus stop, if you can be there at 7:45 probably someone can take you to the DZ which is about 1km away).

When I stepped out of the taxi a loud welcome was shouted. This proved to be an oasis for english speaking people in Japan. I am used to 80% only speaking Japanese, here it is 80% speaking english. I was not only welcomed in words, also the people were really friendly and helpfull. I didn't bring all of my gear with me (I was not sure how much I could take with me) so I rented gear locally (about 17 euro/jump). A few Sabre 170's were avaible, almost I could jump a Sabre 2 but the repack was 4 days overdue :(.

My skydiving level is not such that I can play around with the realy experienced people, it is just above a graduated AFF student. But this proved to be no problem. The first day I made two solo jumps, just enjoying the views. But I felt so much at home that I came back the second day. This time arranging a 3-way with a very experienced and another less-experienced skydiver was done in an eyeblink. This was one of the most fun jumps I have ever made! To bad that there were so many people and tandems wanting to jump that at 13:00 the manifest was full for the rest of the day. But I already was asked to join the BBQ later that day so I stayed to enjoy the atmosphere. Together with some other jumpers that were also 'grounded' I went for some icescream at a pet-farm nearby.

After the BBQ I still didn't wan't to leave, but I could get a lift back to the station so I had to go. Next time I will take a sleeping bag with me so I can stay at the bunkhouse! I planned to go back the next weekend, however weather wasn't that great due to a typhoon (the one day it was good I couldn't visit). Hopefully next friday I have some time again... And if I ever visit Tokyo again, I will for sure drop by if I can make the time!

I put some pictures with comments on the web: http://beuf.is-a-geek.org/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Tokyo-Skydiving

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(Review ID:2035)

12 of 21 people found the following review helpful: Great place! Rated by: jallen on 2005-01-14 (user profile) (user reviews) Review of: Tokyo Skydiving Club DZ   Pros: Scenery, Caravan, People...and it's Japan! Cons: Little $$ and its the only DZ in Japan

Professionalism   Vibe   Aircraft   Facilities   Services   Location

There are some awesome skydivers here. This is where the national teams are when they aren't in Florida. There are also usually some foreigners kicking around. No worries about finding someone to jump with and many of them speak good Enlgish, despite the fact they will tell you otherwise.

It takes about 25-30 minutes to get their Caravan to 13,000ft. Pilots in full uniform and white gloves is something you'll not experience often. It's expensive too jump but it’s all relative if you’re making a Japanese salary. There’s some amazingly trippy scenery with Fuji-san and the Japanese Alps in the background and Tokyo almost directly below.

If you’re a foreigner who has lived in Japan, you'll probably understand some of the differences you'll see at this DZ as oppposed to others in the West. It’s all part of the experience and that’s what makes Japan a cool place. If you’re just visiting, respect their culture.

The bunkhouse is nice and the people are cool but I'd suggest hitting up areas of Tokyo (i.e Roppongi, Shinjuku or Shibuya) for nightime fun.

Tanoshinde!

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(Review ID:368)

19 of 26 people found the following review helpful: Rated by: jeremyneas on 2002-02-28 (user profile) (user reviews) Review of: Tokyo Skydiving Club DZ

Very hospitable DZ. They roll it out in the morning and it disappears at night. Be prepared for a Caravan with no door or seatbelts, they put around 10 in it. The jump tickets are around $65 but that fluxes. If you happen to catch it there on a clear day (Tokyo remains smoggy about 300+ days a year), skydiving with Mt. Fugi in the backround is good picture time. Directions are a bit difficult, but if your there for a vacation, it might be worth the experience. Landing off airport isn't as bad as you think, the DZ is located in a river basin, so your not dodging buildings on the way down. Be prepared for outdoor packing, and a 20 klick drive to the nearest McDonalds (unless you like Japanese food, there is a little place on the airport). Also, be ready for stank port-a-potties for bathrooms, there is a moto track next door to the dz (don't land there), and the bathrooms get dirty fast. The bunkhouse is really cool. It is a couple clicks from the staging point, and there is a gear store, rigging loft (reasonabily priced, as apposed to jump ticket prices). There is also a bunk house where Traditional Japanese, and Traditional Skydiver mesh, while there is no furnature, and slippers for the toliet, there is a fridge full of beer, and skydiving movies playing all night long. Japan is NTSC, but some shoot PAL, i believe they have playback options for both. Check out Skydiving Japan also, they operate out of the same airport. --GQ

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