No I am not a tour guide, but I have been fortunate enough to visit Japan 5 times over the past five years.  
The Kyokushin karate youth international championships is a must attend event for all aspiring International and future World champions. Instructors and or students are welcome to follow these guidelines when planning and preparing to take students to attend and participate in these events held annually in the land of the rising sun…

Booking a flight to anywhere in the world has become well as easy as 4, 5, 6… Log onto the website of the air courier of your choice, check flight availability have your credit card at hand and whalla…
My experience however has taught me that making use of a travel agency has a few advantages. Yes they make some sort of commission, how else do they pay staff, but using travel agencies as far as I’m concerned is a far better bet than making flight bookings yourself. Why? Well traveling to Japan from anywhere in the country except for Gautengers means having to take a minimum of 3 flights to get to your ultimate destination, Tokyo. Most International flights depart from JNB so it really doesn’t matter how you get to Jo’burg, but take off really starts from here. A travel agent will know exactly how much time to allow between flights, how to connect your flights and and and… Don’t tell them I said so, but if you’re really lucky they might negotiate that you pay your tickets off over a short period of time. Can be a big bonus if you running around with fundraising and are awaiting outstanding monies from students and parents in your group. In most cases you would have to pay a cancellation fee which makes up 10% to 20% of your total fare, this to reserve your seat.  This money will be lost to you should you cancel for whatever reason. Another great thing about travel agents is that they have the power to negotiate cheaper tickets or should I say they will try to negotiate cheaper tickets, in short then they are connected.

South African Kyokushin Karate groups have comfortably flown to Japan using either;
Cathy Pacific = JNB via Hong Kong to Narita or Haneda, this is in Tokyo and your final destination, 
Emirates = JNB via Dubai to Kansai in Osaka add one more flight via Japan Airlines from Osaka to Narita or Haneda
Singapore Airlines = JNB via Singapore then on to Haneda or Narita. 
The flights from JNB to any of the first ports are long and normally take from between eight to ten hrs. Don’t worry about it, the air hostesses are always friendly, helpful and carry a permanent smile on their faces. Then there’s on board entertainment, which is really cool, you have your own mini tv screen and can watch anything from movies to sitcoms and music videos, or listen to thousands of music tracks. Some planes have mini golf courses or you can hire a boat and go fishing on board ha ha…sorry I could not resist, but you had to see the look on your face just now…
I prefer not to sleep the night before I depart, excitement yah that has something to do with it but it’s my way of preparing for the 7 hour time difference between the folks at home and you in Tokyo…Jumping the gun a bit, but when you arrive in Tokyo no matter what the time there, the clock in your head will tell you its 7 hours earlier. And you will find yourself going to bed round about the time the whole of Japan wakes up and heads off to work and school…So by not sleeping the night before I depart me kinda get me self in sync with the Japanese. I sleep throughout my first flight, 8 or 10 hrs, does not matter what the time is when in transit in Dubai, Singapore or Hong Kong the important thing is that when I arrive at say 6h00 am in Tokyo my body and mind should tell me its 06h00 am and not 7 hours earlier as it would be 11h00 pm at home…
Anyway flying Cathy Pacific via Hong Kong means you get to see n bit of Hong Kong for free, no visa required but also depends on how long you’re going to be in transit. It is entirely up to you anyway, tell your travel agent how long you want to be in transit for. 
The same applies when traveling Singapore airlines via Singapore; here also South Africans do not need a visa to enter the country. I was in transit for more than 17 hours on Changi airport in Singapore. Was I bored? Not a chance, they offer a free bus tour from the airport through the streets of Singapore it really is a worth while experience (think the bus departs from the airport at 10 am if memory serves me correct). That alone makes up for a lot of your time stuck in transit and on the airport itself you will find a movie theater, not that big, but free movies, free pc and internet usage, restaurants and more. Well think I’m beginning to sound like I’m advertising on behalf of these airlines and destinations so enough said. 
Entering Dubai requires a visa, so sorry not much to say about the place it self, but what a big and busy airport. Don’t be alarmed, but be prepared to see people from all walks of life on this 3 story airport. You can expect to be in transit here for a maximum of four hours, but with so much to see and do, who cares and please try not to ‘skinner’ about anyone in Afrikaans, you will find lots of South Africans and even ex South Africans in transit here not to mention the Dutch. Had an interesting conversation in Afrikaans to a couple from Holland they overheard my students communicating in Afrikaans and introduced themselves, thought it was cool that we understood what the other was saying.