someone help me out here.

Don, help with your surfboard or the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route?

http://www.alpen-route.com/english/index.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7550.html

Mara, sounds like a great time. I am still planning on doing the TKAR someday soon in the late spring like you. The Comfort Inn Toyama is a two minute walk across the street from the JR Toyama Station and is clean,cheap and a great place to stay for a night or two. Free breakfast in the lobby and free internet connection in your room with a handy coin laundromat on the 2nd floor.
http://www.comfortinn.com/hotel-toyama-japan-JP054

Tickets for the "route" are easy to obtain from the ticket office at the Dentetsu Toyama Station which is connected to the JR station(opposite end) so all right there.

Aloha!

ht - I'll be coming from Kanazawa - it looks to be a 40 minute trip on the limited express to Toyama.....I'll have 3 nights in Kanazawa, the longest single stay of my trip - I will be in 7 places in 12 nights...a record for me. ;-)

But I might look into your suggestion....thanks!

Just an interesting side note that I meant to add to my post the other day on this 'cherry blossom' thread. I have a girl in my class this year whose first name is Sakura. I reckon this has to be an omen for me, lol. So I'm expecting and hoping to be swamped with cherry blossoms.

ht, you know me too well. sorry can't make dinner this weekend, or next weekend, as i'm on the road promoting economic development in asia.

right now, in the lounge of the cosmo hotel in wan chai. too cheap to pay for internet in the room.

anyway, lets do dinner when you get back from your sakura adventure.

don, i bet you look good in the tunnel.

Hey Ken! Just so happens I'll be looking for a place to stay in the Wan Chai/Causeway Bay area in Dec. How far is the Cosmopolitan from the MTR? Is the surf up in Vic Harbour? Should I tell Lucy that Botswana is landlocked?

<b>promoting economic development in asia</b> lol
dim sum sounds real good right now....

don, the cosmopolitan is different from the cosmo. i think the cosmo is the little sister of the cosmopolitan. its just up the street.

the causeway bay mtr station is nearer than the wan chai station. still a 10 minute walk. there is nothing around the hotel at night. so, bring a good book.

ht, had dim sum at maxim @ central. it was ok, but not worth the 45min. wait.( imho)

I know I have mentioned it on several threads before this but here is the new March 3rd Japanese Met Agency sakura forecast moving up their dates a few days as I said they would have to do........They just should have come to Fodors.com first and asked us here

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2011.html

Aloha!

You are so in for it, Don!

HT, before Kakunodate I'll be visiting Tsurunoyu. I'll be coming from Sendai and am wondering how much time I should allow to comfortable get to Tsurunoyu.

I'd like to get there in a relaxed way and make the most of the facilities but I'm tempted to try to see Hiraizumi on the way. Would this be feasible or insane?

Any tips appreciated

eigasuki,
It takes a while to get to Tsurunoyu. If you read my trip report on Tsurunoyu you would know that you must take the bus from the Tazawako train station then meet up with another shuttle bus that will take you deep into the valley that Tsurunoyu is in. There are only a couple of times a day when the shuttle runs so you must be there at the bus stops <b>on time</b> at the specified times. This fall we rented a car in Kakunodate and drove the whole Tazawa-ko area in peak foliage, everything was just so beautiful! If you are driving, you should be alright to include a stop at Hiraizumi but if you are catching the trains it would be too much imho. IIRC you have to take the shinkansen to the stop past where Hiraizumi is then take the local JR train to Ichinoseki which is the stop for Hiraizumi. Coming out you would do the reverse and it would be too much stress and transfers for me to do especially with Tsurunoyu waiting at the end.

You are in for a treat at Tsurunoyu, <i>throw your inhibitions to the wind</i> and enjoy yourself. I envy you. Be ready for almost no English, be patient and go with the flow. BTW, there still may be snow on the ground and around the rotenburo which only enhances the scenery there. I love to stand in the rotenburo and think back about how the place looked 400 years ago and let your mind drift to that time. It's not hard to do as you will see, the place looks the same as it did back then....

What are your dates in the area?

My instructions for Tsurunoyu say that the shuttle picks you up whatever time you tell them (but that depends on bus times - I believe they're hourly)

Nevertheless, it seems that train times to/from Hiraizumi don't even come close to fitting in with my plans. I'd already checked out the idea and discarded it, but somehow now that I do my final check, I'm going back to all the "Why dn't I... ?" scenarios I had considered and discarded earlier! So much to see. I hadn't considered hiring a car and don't think I would just to see Hiraizumi. I don't want to see it so badly that it's a priority in my planning.

I'll be there on the 18th, and then Kakunodate next, so maybe a bit too early for best sakura but that can't really be helped - Everything's booked now and some prepaid, and it's too much hassle to move everything along for what it still just a prediction.

Another question; which is more reliable, Hyperdia or the classic version? I had a contradition for the trip from Kakunodate to Morioka ]. One version says there are no trains from Kakunodate to Morioka after 3 pm. The JR site says that the Hayate only runs after that time "in peak periods". There must also be local trains but they don't show. How best to find an accurate result for the journey?

Thanks again, fodorites.

The 19th in Kakunodate is when I would have planned to be there this year if I were going there again this year(I mentioned also earlier up-thread). In my predictions that <b>is</b> the target day. I think(hope) you will find that the upcoming Japanese Met Agency's blossom update next week will have the Aomori area's prediction dates moving more towards your dates(I hope).

Hyperdia is good. You have to fine tune and use the search details buttons if looking just for the local JR train routes. I see one Hayate shinkansen per hour or so from Kakunodate to Morioka after 15:00. During the peak periods they will put on another Hayate in peak hours as you will see when you get to Kakunodate. Be ready for the crowds!

You wouldn't want to do the local train from Kakunodate anyways as it takes too long and stops at every little town along the way and goes too slow. I hope you have your Kakunodate reservations already in hand.

Aloha!

kitanomaru park and sumida river are good sights for sakura-viewing too. if you can manage to take the cruise along sumida, that would be a nice and relaxing viewing.

Don't be surprised if cherry blossom predictions fluctuate a lot over the next couple of weeks. We followed the predictions carefully--because of a warm winter spell they predicted the blossoms would be done before we got there. Then there was a cold snap and they predicted that the blossoms would be barely opening by the time we left.

It turned out that we were there at the height of their bloom in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya, and Takayama. It was fabulous, as was watching the Japanese citizens really getting into the season.

eigaisuki,
Have you looked at this site for the Akita Komachi shinkansen schedule? Lots of trains thru Kakunodate

http://jreast-shinkansen-reservation...a_d/index.html

These are for dates after 3/15

Hope the weather in the next two weeks holds in Japan with no major storms

Aloha!

Thanks, HT. What had stressed me was the little stars at the top saying only peak periods. But surely it will be a peak period.

At this stage I've decided to stop checking all the small details and forecasts and just go with the flow. Only two weeks to go till I leave.

Now to cull "to-be-packed" pile. I'll be doing takkyubin but still determned to travel light.

A bit late, but I am off in two weeks' time, spending Easter in Hiroshima and Miyajima, and hopefully catching Hanami there. Any good locations anyone can suggest for viewing the cherry blossoms in those places?