Japan

[sjc]

Just now, welshbairn said:

I was planning a couple of days around Tokyo at the start and then at the end, with a week's bombing about on the bullet trains inbetween.

Make sure the bullet train is part of the railcard. Some only cover the JR lines plus a ticket doesn't necessarily guarantee you a seat on the bullet train......in holiday/busy season its not unheard of to have to stand from Osaka to Hiroshima!

[S7C]

The 7 day JR pass covers the Shinkansen but not the Nozomi or Mizuho trains. You're good on any of the Sakura, Hikari, Kodoma or Tsubame. They'll keep you right when you make seat reservations in the office.

I did it in 10 days my first visit (in October as well - the weather was amazing the entire trip although I don't think that's normal). 4 nights Tokyo at the start, 3 Kyoto, 1 Hiroshima and 2 Osaka. Got a decent feel for the country so I wouldn't say it's too short. A couple of extra days would give you more flexibility obviously.

EDIT: Just realised I pretty much posted this already a few times. Oh well.

Edited December 27, 2017 by S7C

[sjc]

33 minutes ago, S7C said:

The 7 day JR pass covers the Shinkansen but not the Nozomi or Mizuho trains. You're good on any of the Sakura, Hikari, Kodoma or Tsubame. They'll keep you right when you make seat reservations in the office.

I did it in 10 days my first visit (in October as well - the weather was amazing the entire trip although I don't think that's normal). 4 nights Tokyo at the start, 3 Kyoto, 1 Hiroshima and 2 Osaka. Got a decent feel for the country so I wouldn't say it's too short. A couple of extra days would give you more flexibility obviously.

EDIT: Just realised I pretty much posted this already a few times. Oh well.

You may have got a decent feel for the popular tourist destinations, but that's like saying you spent 4 nights in London, 3 in Edinburgh, 2 in Manchester and 1 in Birmingham and claiming to have a feel for the UK! I've lived here in Japan for nearly 2 years and barely scratched the surface of the place. 

[S7C]

1 hour ago, sjc said:

You may have got a decent feel for the popular tourist destinations, but that's like saying you spent 4 nights in London, 3 in Edinburgh, 2 in Manchester and 1 in Birmingham and claiming to have a feel for the UK! I've lived here in Japan for nearly 2 years and barely scratched the surface of the place. 

Of course. I think that goes without saying.

As good a feel as you can get on a short trip 

[welshbairn]

8 hours ago, S7C said:

They'll keep you right when you make seat reservations in the office.

 

Cheers for the info. What office do you mean?

Edited December 27, 2017 by welshbairn

[Dindeleux]

Did anyone see the story about the flight from LAX to Japan that had to be turned back halfway there because someone had managed to get on the wrong flight?

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/ktla.com/2017/12/26/tokyo-bound-plane-heads-back-to-lax-after-airline-thought-unauthorized-person-boarded-flight-police/amp/

[welshbairn]

1 minute ago, McQuade said:

Go on the first class on the fastest bullet train, we had a carriage to ourselves , its the smoothness rather than the speed that gets you, as for Tokyo , for the night time neon buzz go to anywhere between Shybua and Shinjuku station to have your head blown, especially  Shiybua crossing or inside Shinjuku station.

Went on the fast train from Seville to Cordoba a couple of months ago and I agree, it's the smoothness. Noticed that first class for the weekly pass isn't much more, might splurge. The pass pays for itself with a return from Tokyo to Hiroshima, doubt I'll pay extra to go 20kmh or so faster, I'd probably not notice.

[S7C]

8 hours ago, welshbairn said:

Cheers for the info. What office do you mean?

You need to collect your JR pass in an office at one of the Shinkansen stations in Tokyo. There they can make a train reservation for you and they'll be able to tell you which ones you can take and which are ineligible.

[Mr Gandosaur]

In Tokyo just now having spent the last 8 days in Osaka and then Kyoto. Got the Shinkansen up here from Kyoto which was a pleasant journey with stunning views of Fuji. 

First time in Japan and it really is as amazing as everyone makes out. Tokyo is on a different planet to anywhere I've been. 

[welshbairn]

I've always organised my own trips before but am tempted by this. Will need some luck with the bookies though.

https://www.barrheadtravel.co.uk/holidays/worldwide-holidays/japan/tours-of-japan/tokyohakonekyotohiroshimaosaka

[welshbairn]

Using the excuse of a decent win on the horses today to book my flight, thanks to @diamond_for_life . Inverness via Heathrow with BA and JAL for £605, the Inverness leg was pretty well thrown in free I think. I was flitting back and to the BA website while checking other options and the price went up about £30. Cleared my cookies and it went back to the original offer. Some bird from Barrhead phoned up after I asked for more details, and it was clear it would be far cheaper to sort it out on my own, especially with single room surcharges.

P.S. I did find a cheaper way to go on Skyscanner, from London and changing in Istanbul and Beijing for about £400, but with about 35 hours travel time, I can't be arsed. The BA/JAL deal is under 15 hours both ways.

Edited December 30, 2017 by welshbairn

[welshbairn]

On 26/12/2017 at 13:48, sjc said:

It's a very long way to come for just a week. The jet lag could f**k you.

Just noticed that North to South is the same as Inverness to Madrid. Thought it was a wee island off China. Going for 12 days and will be more selective about where I go.

[Mr Gandosaur]

Was surprised at how quiet Tokyo was for NYE. A few temples were open and folk let off some balloons but that was about it. Think there was maybe a countdown at Shibuya crossing but really struggled to find stuff. 

Did see an excellent fireworks display at the Rainbow Bridge on Saturday which would have seemed a bit more apt on Sunday. 

I did thoroughly enjoy Christmas in Kyoto though. Went for Christmas dinner at the Hyatt Regency. Around 4500 yen for 5 courses and the quality and service was excellent. Was an absolute bargain. Then got hammered in a wee local pub beside Pontocho alley and somehow managed to win about 5000 yen out a Japanese puggy without having a clue what was going on. 

[Fullerene]

On ‎31‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 23:54, welshbairn said:

Just noticed that North to South is the same as Inverness to Madrid. Thought it was a wee island off China. Going for 12 days and will be more selective about where I go.

Very useful if you can get an English language train timetable.  I went to Japan a long time ago.
Sometimes on the train, I was not sure where I was - the station names were in Kanji.
However, if the timetable says a train will be somewhere at 10:37am and that is the time - then that is where you are.
In Japan, a train that is 1 minute late - is seriously late.

Once at Tokyo station, I went to Platform 4 to get a bullet train to Hiroshima at 08:04am.
At 08:00am, sure enough, there was a bullet train arriving at Platform 4.
That was NOT my train.
That train left and my train arrived at 08:04am.

[Tight minge]

Very useful if you can get an English language train timetable.  I went to Japan a long time ago.

Hyperdia app and most station signs are in english as well as Japanese

[sjc]

23 hours ago, Mr Gandosaur said:

Was surprised at how quiet Tokyo was for NYE. A few temples were open and folk let off some balloons but that was about it. Think there was maybe a countdown at Shibuya crossing but really struggled to find stuff. 

Did see an excellent fireworks display at the Rainbow Bridge on Saturday which would have seemed a bit more apt on Sunday. 

I did thoroughly enjoy Christmas in Kyoto though. Went for Christmas dinner at the Hyatt Regency. Around 4500 yen for 5 courses and the quality and service was excellent. Was an absolute bargain. Then got hammered in a wee local pub beside Pontocho alley and somehow managed to win about 5000 yen out a Japanese puggy without having a clue what was going on. 

 

The Japanese tend to celebrate new years day as opposed to NYE.

[Mr Gandosaur]

16 hours ago, sjc said:

 

The Japanese tend to celebrate new years day as opposed to NYE.

Had to fly back to Hong Kong early on the 1st so that's a pity. Always next year I suppose. 

[sjc]

36 minutes ago, Mr Gandosaur said:

Had to fly back to Hong Kong early on the 1st so that's a pity. Always next year I suppose. 

Everything tends to be shut as its a National holiday. Families usually get together at home and eat traditional new year dishes then maybe visit a temple......that's about it! You'd be better coming across to see the cherry blossom in spring. That's worth seeing, it's beautiful.

[LongTimeLurker]

On 2017/12/26 at 13:30, Hampden Diehard said:

Hokkaido now has the bullet train so if you did want to trek up there it's just over 4 hours from Tokyo.

Only to Hakodate at the southern end and after that you still need to take JR Hokkaido local express trains that are quite slow by Japanese standards to get to Sapporo and beyond where the skiing is likely to be, so add at least another 3 or so to that. I'd look into whether you can get a flight to Sapporo linked into the initial flight to Japan.  Not sure Hiroshima is worth a visit compared to some of the other possibilities south from Tokyo when you could do the likes of Kyoto and Nara instead. Beyond being hit by the atom bomb it's nothing out of the ordinary as middling sized Japanese cities go given it's long since been rebuilt.

[welshbairn]

2 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Only to Hakodate at the southern end and after that you still need to take JR Hokkaido local express trains that are quite slow by Japanese standards to get to Sapporo and beyond where the skiing is likely to be, so add at least another 3 or so to that. I'd look into whether you can get a flight to Sapporo linked into the initial flight to Japan.  Not sure Hiroshima is worth a visit compared to some of the other possibilities south from Tokyo when you could do the likes of Kyoto and Nara instead. Beyond being hit by the atom bomb it's nothing out of the ordinary as middling sized Japanese cities go given it's long since been rebuilt.

Aye, my nephew got the Sapporo flight thrown in. Thinking of heading straight down to Nagasaki and meandering back up to Tokyo during my 7 day rail pass, and forgetting about Hokkaido. Got till October to think about it. Do they have any decent beach resorts for a couple of day's chilling out?