Thanks guys. Yeah I was talking about inter city connections. I will have to go from Tokyo to Takayama, from Takayama to Kyoto and from Kyoto back to Tokyo. Might just stop by Tokyo Main Station on my first day and try to sort transportation out.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Japan Travel |OT| One does simply not visit just once
- Thread starter hwalker84
- Start date
Thanks guys. Yeah I was talking about inter city connections. I will have to go from Tokyo to Takayama, from Takayama to Kyoto and from Kyoto back to Tokyo. Might just stop by Tokyo Main Station on my first day and try to sort transportation out.
GunslingerVit
Banned
Tokyo does not have 'a main station', but several main hubs. Every major train station will work for you, e.g. Shinjuku, Ueno, Tokyo, Ikebukuro etc. Depends on where your flight arrives. So, no worries about that.
If you manage to get tickets for the 'gurîn-sha' (Green Car), the Japanese first class, seats shouldn't be any problem. Same as everywhere (especially Germany
).
Have a good trip, Japan is a very pleasant and interesting country!
If you manage to get tickets for the 'gurîn-sha' (Green Car), the Japanese first class, seats shouldn't be any problem. Same as everywhere (especially Germany
).Have a good trip, Japan is a very pleasant and interesting country!
Lavalamp1138
Member
I'm doing a summer program for five weeks from late May to late June. I considered Kansai but the flights available involve longer connections and the total travel times don't go below 20 hours, whereas flying to Nagoya is one quick connection and about 16 hours.
No. Summer feel came early in Japan this year so I'd think it is safe to say that all the Sakura will definitely be gone by then. Many of them have started growing green leaves and dropping the petals now.
Fritz said:
Did you ordered and received your JR Pass so you can save money? Unless you are fluent at Japanese and you know what you are doing, I advise you to prepare your trips before going in order to save money and stress, unless money is not issue for you and you want take the most expensive (and fastest) Shinkansen which isn't available to use via the JR Pass. Also, you should pre-book to prevent having no seat available; I've seen people stuck without a seat on the Shinkasen and, like any other train, it isn't nice.
Probably not, most of the yoshino I see have had leaves for the past 4-5 days, probably due to all the rain. But some of the prettier varieties might be in bloom then.
Don't forget to use hyperdia!
So I've for a 7 day JRPASS, but I'll still need to go to the station a few days before traveling out of Tokyo in golden week to Guarantee getting a seat on a Shinkansen? Where abouts,just the regular ticket office of the station, or is there a special skinkansen ticket office?
Valkyr Junkie
Member
Yes, getting tickets as soon as possible would be wise. Any JR ticket office at a station, however the larger stations will have an office for booking trips that day, versus ahead of time from what I recall.
BronsonLee
Member
3 weeks before my trip.
I am doomed.
Ooh, though a real quick question; where are the good arcades in Osaka? If there's any bonus thing I'd like to do, it'd be to play P4A2, Guilty Gear Xrd, and Ultra SFIC, I suppose
I am doomed.
Ooh, though a real quick question; where are the good arcades in Osaka? If there's any bonus thing I'd like to do, it'd be to play P4A2, Guilty Gear Xrd, and Ultra SFIC, I suppose
Well I only went to look so i didn't really take the process in. Played SMK and finally witnessed what I had been missing with my 50Hz copy.
Leaving today.
distantmantra
Member
Yep. Right in Den Den/Namba. The apartment we rented this weekend is right there.
Yodobashi have, in fact as I remember a friend bought a camera 2 years ago and they put the tax stuff in the same counter.
3 weeks before my trip.
I am doomed.
Ooh, though a real quick question; where are the good arcades in Osaka? If there's any bonus thing I'd like to do, it'd be to play P4A2, Guilty Gear Xrd, and Ultra SFIC, I suppose
I couldn't find a good arcade that carried all that, although I didn't look extremely hard in Osaka because I has my fill in Kyoto at a-cho! A-cho will have you covered for all those.
Side note: make sure you go to Space Station in Osaka. A bar with TVs everywhere. All drinks around 500y. Cartridges everywhere. EVERYWHERE. You can play anything ... snes, nes, genesis, ps2,3, 64, Wii, cube. It's pretty awesome and the bar owner is a very friendly guy. It's in...I can't remember. Hehe. Near まんだらけ though, it has an arcade staircase with LEDs.
BronsonLee
Member
Nice! Thank you sir. May do 2 days in Kyoto then just for that...
And I follow the bar's owner on Twitter, so I think he can get me directions! Can't waaaaait to go there. I wanna try the Oculus!
So as I mentioned my Dad and brother will be visiting me during Golden Week. I have bought all our Shinkansen reserved seats in advance. I'm wondering how busy it will be catching a train from Osaka to Nara (and vice-versa) during Golden Week. Will we have to wait a lot, or will we be able to go to the station and get on a train pretty fast? It looks like there are trains leaving from Osaka to Nara quite frequently, but just wondering.
Back from yodabashi with 2 x 16GB iPad mini retinas, tax free £450. The equivalent in the UK would have been £640. Don't know if that is cheaper pricing by apple in Japan, exchange rate, or a bit of both.
How does the tax free thing work though? Sales guy at yodabashi stuck a form in my passport and said I need to show it at the airport. But do I need to show the items too? Was going to put them in checked luggage.
Also picked up a couple of 64GB vita memory cards. Took some willpower to resist the green and white vita 2000.
How does the tax free thing work though? Sales guy at yodabashi stuck a form in my passport and said I need to show it at the airport. But do I need to show the items too? Was going to put them in checked luggage.
Also picked up a couple of 64GB vita memory cards. Took some willpower to resist the green and white vita 2000.
No, JR Pass. I did the math and it's not paying off.
I will catch a train to Takayama on the 24th.
To Osaka on the 28th.
And back to Tokyo on May 2nd.
Any of these dates really tricky regarding reservations. I know it's golden week but I can't tell which the busiest travel dates and times are.
Boom Boom Pow
Banned
So im planning on being in Japan from APril 30th til May 7th. that's golden week huh? I was also planning on picking up my JR pass when I'm in japan (the sanyo west pass. i know you can buy it in country).
Flying into Osaka. Between Osaka and Hiroshima, any recommend places you guys recommend to go see/do for either golden weeek or just cuz? Alraedy been to Kyoto.
I'm looking at Hiroshima and Nara, but would like to have random places I can stop off for a few hours, then continue on after that.
Flying into Osaka. Between Osaka and Hiroshima, any recommend places you guys recommend to go see/do for either golden weeek or just cuz? Alraedy been to Kyoto.
I'm looking at Hiroshima and Nara, but would like to have random places I can stop off for a few hours, then continue on after that.
Ha, yeah, I have traveled a lot during Golden Week and New Year in Japan, and honestly don't mind that much. My main thing is that I have bought Shinkansen tickets from Shin-Osaka to Fukuyama that leave at 7pm, but first I have to catch a train from Nara to Shin-Osaka. I obviously want to make sure that I get on my Shinkansen at Shin-Osaka, but have no clue if I can get on a train from Nara to Shin-Osaka that easily during Golden Week. I don't mind being jam-packed onto a train at all.
If you did the maths then fair enough, all is good.
Do your best to book EARLY for as you said, Golden Week will be stupidly busy for Japanese as many WILL be using the Shinkasen. The longer you wait, the less chance you get to get a seat.
Never found the one in Akiba but did in Osaka and fell head over heels in love with the store going around and seeing all the retro games they had.
Not with those prices.
Or these.
distantmantra
Member
Got to Tokyo this afternoon. Saw Fuji from the Shinkansen, which was new. Too cloudy every time in the past.
Great night in Shimokitazawa of clothes shopping and then craft beers at Ushitora. Walked back to Sangenjaya for some spicy yuzu ramen at Afuri before back at the apartment.
Great night in Shimokitazawa of clothes shopping and then craft beers at Ushitora. Walked back to Sangenjaya for some spicy yuzu ramen at Afuri before back at the apartment.
Which hostel?
I was staying at Piece hostel in Kyoto , it was my fave hostel. Actually all of my hostels were great, but I really dig piece hostel design
RapidCancel
Member
Right before you go through passport control at the airport, there's a little booth to go (I think called customs) and show them the stubs, all they do is rip it out. They never asked to see my items and it honestly seemed like they really didn't care. They just took a quick glance and pulled out what they needed.
MikeHattsu
Member
Khaosan Kyoto Guest House.
Visited Nipponbashi today:
Among other things I checked out the Namco arcade which had a Tekken museum:
And an Idolmaster store:
On my trip I only used them to check the shinkansen schedule and the airport express.
I miss it so much, my best trip
Hopefully I could go back there soon
Yep, that's exactly what they did with mine... They were like "What is this?! *RIP*".
cheers guys, wife was worried she wouldn't be able to pack them.
Also just found out that although we are going to odaiba to the gundam museum, my wife hasn't actually booked any tickets - she figured just having a look at the big gundam outside is enough
Are tickets on the day generally available? I'm not a huge gundam fan, prefer patlabor, but you can't go wrong with giant robots.
distantmantra
Member
You are fine just showing up during the week for Gundam Front. Weekends are another story, and there is a big 15k run on Odaiba this Saturday so avoid.
Speaking of Patlabor, I'm gonna go see the first live-action movie sometime this week in Shinjuku.
Speaking of Patlabor, I'm gonna go see the first live-action movie sometime this week in Shinjuku.
RapidCancel
Member
cheers guys, wife was worried she wouldn't be able to pack them.
Also just found out that although we are going to odaiba to the gundam museum, my wife hasn't actually booked any tickets - she figured just having a look at the big gundam outside is enough
Are tickets on the day generally available? I'm not a huge gundam fan, prefer patlabor, but you can't go wrong with giant robots.
The very first time, I put my items as a carry on since I thought they were going to check it, little did I know, not one care was given.
You can also purchase tickets through a 7-11, we did a day or two before we actually went. Also, there's a store in front of the 1:1 scale Gundam in a little trailer that pretty much sells what they sell at the gift shop. From my memory, they were also the same prices, but I could be off.
Leaving tomorrow for Japan! Most of my stuff is packed and ready to go.
We'll arrive in Haneda around 11pm late at night, and since public transportation will almost stop running once we get through immigration and take our bags we'll just crash at the arrival hall airport. Has anyone done this before? Any tips?
We'll arrive in Haneda around 11pm late at night, and since public transportation will almost stop running once we get through immigration and take our bags we'll just crash at the arrival hall airport. Has anyone done this before? Any tips?
I've never tried it, but depending on where you are staying you should be able to make it out of immigration, especially at that hour, quick and get to where you are going. I believe the last monorail leaves the airport at 7 after midnight.
Ah, right. However I can only check in at the hostel the next day at 3pm I believe. Haha... oh well
distantmantra
Member
Went to Tanakaya in Mejiro today. Cheap Cantillon bottles and stemware and lots of good Japanese craft beer. Amazing store.
Lee Chaolan
Member
Yay Tekken and Idolm@ster!
RapidCancel
Member
To everyone still in Japan have a great time
Enjoy!
Working on getting mine up and will link whenever that happens (I'm a bum).
Also, maybe we could update the OP with some solid information. Some simple stuff like arrivals and departures, trains, etc. I started working on something for an OT a while back, but I got too caught up with other things to finish it. I'll shoot you a PM in case you want to add it.
Shoot me a PM.
BronsonLee
Member
Me too! I'm in Osaka that week too. Come hang out!
I'm gonna do the 2 Day Osaka Amazing Pass and just do the tourist/photo gimmick. So many free admissions from it! Even Spa World for 900 yen!