Would appreciate any advice re:
taking the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto for a day trip.
And if you know of any tours we could get for the day after our arrival into Kyoto.

We spent 5 days in Kyoto this year and quite honestly, 2 weeks would not have been enough! If I remember correctly it is about a couple of hours each way on the train so to make it worthwhile you would need to leave as early as possible and return late. We saw the sights by ourselves but I am sure there are lots of tours availble to be booked either from Tokyo or possibly from home. The sights are amzing and in some case so large you could easily spend 2-3 hours in each one. I would suggest you do more research to identify which sites you would like visit ( there are more world heritage sites in Kyoto than anywhere else in the world!)and then plan your tour. Basically, if I were you, I would seriously consider pending longer!

My advice would be about the same as Crellston's and probably everyone else: Kyoto is worth much more than a day trip. There is too much to see. That said if you must do one here are a few things to know

The shinkansen nozomi trip takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes each way and will cost you 13320 yen per person each direction. The first train out is at 6 am and the last train out of Kyoto is 21:34(check schedules when you travel)

There are tours but most are expensive. Kyoto is very easy to navigate via their bus/subway and taxi systems by yourself. Do some research and pick a few places you want to visit. You'll only have hours so you'll have to fore go most options. See here for some ideas

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2158.html

and tours

http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/people/h-s-love/

http://www.zigzagkyoto.jp/

these guys are expensive but I have read good reports about their tours

http://tinyurl.com/56fqt2

Did I mention before,do some research

Aloha!

At that last link that ht gave if you scroll down you will see the Free Plan Kyoto 2 Days ... options.

Japanican is related to JTB and Sunrise Tours. Roundtrip shinkansen tix plus a hotel for as low as 19000 yen if I am reading this correctly. That is a good price. It requires that you travel during certain hours.

JTB used to advertise them as "Shinkansen Tours". I recall that they had just afternoon departures, but now there is an early departure option.

The Sunrise tour with shinkansen and 1 night price is ok, but the schedule is quite bad, arriving in Kyoto between 1 and 3 PM and departing the next day between 12 and 2 PM, giving really very little time for sightseeing.

You can not choose your train times, so you could end up getting into Kyoto at 3 and departing at noon the next day...about 4 hours of sightseeing time if you subtract out getting to the hotel, checking in, then checking out and getting to the station.

Also note that the price is per person, and if you choose a decent hotel option it gets very expensive.

There are join in day tours, but I found them to be pricey with lots of bus time. Better value might be found with a taxi tour where you hire the taxi for the day...but it is expensive. With some preparation to know what you want to see, and a map to route it out, you could do quite well on your own and a taxi as needed between sights. If you really wanted to do a single day trip without an overnight, I'd get first train there and go back to Tokyo without a booking whenever you've had enough. Spending a night would give you 2 full days (provided you did it on your own) and would be worthwhile imo.

KimJapan, you are describing the shinkansen tour that JTB offered in the past and still offers (it is the 19,500 yen option). It is/was an option, though I agree not a great one, for someone who absolutely must go to Kyoto but only has one day.

There is now a second shinkansen tour that they offer, the "Early Rise" one. This looks a lot better. Arrive Kyoto 9:30 to 9:50 and depart next day between 11:50 and 2PM.

The 19,000 yen pp price train/hotel package beats the 26,000 yen pp regular train fare.

This is the option:
http://tinyurl.com/54vyax

Arrive at 9:30 and you could have you stuff in a locker and be on your way sightseeing by 10AM. Check in that evening after the sites close.

Yes, that early option is much better. I didn't see that one. It would give you almost a full day of sightseeing, and a bit the next day even if you were unlucky enough to get the earliest departure.

KimJapan, do you think you could help me find the bus schedule from Kagoshima airport to Kirishima (to Kirishima Jingu and/or Kirishima Iwasaki Hotel)? Am planning to do this on Saturday, Nov 22.

Looking quickly, there is bus service between Kagoshima station and Kirishima Jingu, but no schedule found yet.

From the hotel's website, 14 buses per day from the airport to the hotel, takes 40 minutes. If Kagoshima airport is like other Japanese airports, the buses are timed to coincide with flights. http://kirishima.iwasakihotels.com/other/map.html

That's great, thanks. I asked the lady at the hotel how frequent the bus was. She said an hour but I wasn't sure if she was telling me the duration of the ride or the frequency. Now I believe it was frequency.

Ok, so I found the English version of the hotel's page with the map and access info. Don't know how I missed it.

Good. You know, it did not even occur to me to look for English as typically English versions are usually so lacking in information, when they exist at all.

How many days in Japan this time?

Arriving the 21st and departing the 29th. Too short.

The free seating Nozomi is 12,710 yen each way. Use the first dept. from Shinagawa or Tokyo(origination & no problem getting seats) and the late return and you have a plenty of time to see a few places on your own as it is easy to do on your own once you get the map at Kyoto station and the 500 yen day bus pass. Group tour may take a lot longer than doing on your own. You might go to shrines last as they are open anytime, i.e. Heian Jinja. Kinkakuji/Ryoanji(the zen garden, walk from Kinkakuji) are the furthest out. Taxi is an option if you want to visit many places but 500-600yen entrance fee(at temples only, not at shrines) at each place will add up quickly.
You might even squeeze in the Imperial palace free English guided tour(~1 hr.) if you go there early enough to sign up, if the reservation is already full. http://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/order/index_EN.html

who are you talking to ?

Do you remember the question from the original poster?
If some of you want to side step to a totally different subject, please post your own. It became a PM party.
Also, can others contribute w/ other applicable info. to help the poster?
Or do you guys decide what info. to post??

"Do you remember the question from the original poster?"

Of course I do, I was the second one to answer her question as you can see above.

"If some of you want to side step to a totally different subject, please post your own. It became a PM party."

I didn't know you were a Fodor's editor in charge of threads. I will remember this in the future, sorry. What is a PM party?

"Also, can others contribute w/ other applicable info. to help the poster?"

Of course anyone can and I would think that this is encouraged,but as an editor you would know best.

"Or do you guys decide what info. to post??"

What do you mean by this?

We all help when we and where we can and we also are constantly seeking new information. Sorry if these traits upset you.