tcreath

My husband and I are departing for Japan in a few weeks. This is our first trip to Japan and we are very excited. Our plan is to spend 2 nights in Tokyo, 4 nights in Kyoto and 1 night in Nagoya. We are taking the train from Tokyo to Kyoto and would like to stop and get some pictures of Mt. Fuji, as it appears to be on the way.

I am curious as to whether the train stations at Odawara has luggage lockers that we could utilize? Is the town of Odawara a nice place to spend a few hours and perhaps have lunch? It is my understanding that if we did this, we would not be able to take the Shinkansen train; is this correct?

Thanks for your help!
Tracy

mrwunrfl

If the weather cooperates you would be able to see Fuji-san from the right side of the train on the way to Kyoto.

I only used the train station at Odawara, but I do know that there is a castle there. No views of Fuji-san from there, I am just about certain.

It would take several hours, roudntrip, to go to Fuji-san, take in the view, and return. You could take a bus across Lake Ashi, then a cable car, an incline train, and local train, then bus to get back to Odawara.

Search the web for the Hakone Free Pass and you will find info about how to get around. First, though, you might read this:
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/pdf/pg-307.pdf

I think you can also get a view of Fuji-san from Yokohama, from a tower there and/or from a harbor cruise.

The shinkansen does stop at Odawara. Mostly, these are the slower Kodama trains. It is ok to use the Kodama from Tokyo to Odawara, but it takes a very long time to get from there to Nagoya where you would want to switch trains to get a Hikair train to Kyoto. The Kodama shinkansen is a local train, making lots of stops.

Better, would be to check the schedule and get a Hikari train from Odawara (they are not very frequent, but available) to Kyoto. I think that all of the Hikari (faster shinkansen) go to Kyoto but even with a connection it would be better than a Kodama.

The fastest shinkansen, the Nozomi, doesn't stop at Odawara and those trains are not available with the JR Pass.

W9London

I don't think Odawara has much in terms of tourist attractions, aside from being the "base camp" of sort for Hakone. Another drawback is that the number of Hikari trains that stop at Odawara seems to be rather limited. (And believe me, you don't want to travel all the way on local Kodama trains...)

My recollection is that the better view of Mt Fuji comes after you pass the mountain to the Shizuoka side. Make sure you get the seat on the right side of the aisle when travelling westbound.

mrwunrfl

<i>You could take a bus across Lake Ashi&quot;</i>

No, it is not an amphibious bus, that was written in error. You'd take a bus to the lake, then a boat across, etc.

Why Nagoya?

caldnj

In September 2003 my wife and I visited Japan. From Odawara we took a couple of small local trains into Hakone Nationl Park, where we got excellent views and photos of Mount Fuji. For details and photos see the &quot;Japan&quot; section of Our Travel Journals website: www.evcal.org .

tcreath

Thank you all so much for your help. We will definitely look at the websites provided (thank you!) and decide if its worthwhile given our timeframe.

We are flying out of Nagoya. We are using FF miles and there were no Osaka flights available so we booked a flight from Nagoya instead.

Thanks again!
Tracy