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The dashed line joins the two city centres; the true shortest path on the globe is a great-circle arc, and real flight paths also bend around restricted airspace and follow airways.

A long flight over water

This is a long flight, almost entirely over the ocean. The great-circle line leaves Singapore northeast across the South China Sea, passes west of Luzon and through the Luzon Strait area, runs south of Taiwan and close to Japan's Yaeyama Islands, then crosses the Pacific margin south of the main Japanese islands before reaching Tokyo. Nonstop flights connect Changi (SIN) with both Haneda (HND) and Narita (NRT), including overnight departures from Singapore that arrive in Tokyo in the morning.

From occupation to partnership

Japan occupied Singapore from 1942 to 1945, when the island was renamed Syonan-to, and the war remains part of Singapore's history education. After independence, Japanese investment helped Singapore's early industrialisation. In 2002 the two countries signed the Japan–Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement, Japan's first bilateral free trade agreement.

Tourism is strong in both directions: Japan is a favourite holiday destination for Singaporeans, and Singapore is a common regional base for Japanese companies in Southeast Asia. The Singapore vs Japan comparison looks at how the two countries differ.