Philip

Thanks, y’all helped so much before the tsunami planning our first trip to Japan. I need to ask some more questions about our 10 day November trip. Wife won’t go and will be traveling with grown daughter. I lean towards simplicity when making these decisions.

Before depart US, purchase 7 day JR green pass, get few thousand $ cash, call credit card folks and let them know out of country and to get higher daily withdrawal limits.

Summary of our trip….
11/12 Saturday depart LAX Singapore Air A380
11/13 Sunday Airport Limousine to Tokyo American Club (pvt club Azabudai)
11/14 day city tour with Junko Matsuda as guide
11/15 Nikko day trip
11/16 takuhaibin luggage to Hakone; AM train to Hakone The Fujiya Hotel (their special $133 rate)
11/17 PM train to Kanazawa (they have dropped their rates to $197/nt for superior room ~ non cancelable)
11/18 Kanazawa
11/19 takuhaibin luggage to Kyoto; AM train to Kyoto Hotel Mume; Wind room
11/20 Sunday Kyoto
11/21 Kyoto
11/22 takuhaibin luggage to Narita; Shinkasen to Shinagawa then Narita Express to Narita Airport depart back to LAX @ 6:50pm

I am having a terrible time understanding train system and couple of other questions. Can you help with:

1. Should we take JR to Nikko or is it easier to purchase one of the all inclusive day excursions? Am leaning to package tour.
2. It does not look like we can take JR from Tokyo to Hakone. Should we consider renting a car for the entire road trip from Tokyo to Hakone to Kanazawa to Kyoto to Narita? If so, any recommendations? Otherwise, can you tell me which trains to which stations (or best website to use to check)? Do we take a cab from train station in Hakone to hotel?
3. If we are taking trains, does it still make sense for us to purchase JR pass before departing US?
4. How do we get from Hakone to Kanazawa? Bus, train (assuming not renting car)? Are there package tours for Hakone to see lake, MF, etc.?
5. Is there a JR train from Kanazawa to Kyoto? Otherwise, recommendations on which train, bus, etc.
6. Takuhaibin luggage seems to be very popular. If we buy green JR ticket, do we still need to ship bags early? Your thoughts!
7. It looks like our departure back to US coincides with Japan’s Thanksgiving holidays. Any problems at all that we should factor in in getting from Kyoto to Narita during holiday period? Will everything be busier or less busy?
8. Skype ~ any different operational questions we should know about with iPad products (we will have the old and new versions).

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. We are excited about our first trip to Japan. Daughter lived in Europe and we have traveled there many times but Japan is different and to me, is more challenging.

thursdaysd

This is the site for sorting out trains: http://www.hyperdia.com

You need to price your trains (make sure you use total price - fare plus seat fee) and then compare to the cost of a pass - for me the pass didn't make sense. A quick check of Lonely Planet suggest Odawara is the JR station for Hakone, and you can indeed take a JR train from there to Kanazawa, and from Kanazawa to Kyoto. the Hyperdia site lets you specify JR trains only when you do a search.

I think there is a special combo ticket for visiting Hakone - check your guidebook (you do have a guidebook, right?)

Why are you taking thousands of $? While not all ATMs will work, enough will, including one(s) in the arrivals hall in Tokyo. And please don't use your credit card in an ATM!

lcuy

I would buy a 7 day rail pass and activate it on the day you go to Hakone. There are lots and lots of trains to the Hakone region. Once you get there you buy an all inclusive ticket for the various forms of transportation that do the circuit in Hakone. No need to rent a car. The voucher for the railpass MUST be purchased before you enter Japan.

There are JR trains everywhere you are going.

Sending your luggage ahead with the takuhaibin services is popular, but I find it a lot easier to just pack lightly and take my stuff with me. The only day I might consider it with your itinerary is the last day, Kyoto to NRT.

hawaiiantraveler

A few of your questions were already answered on your previous post. See for details:
http://tinyurl.com/3kbbmld

I'll try answering your questions again.

1. If you already have a 7 day JR green pass then utilize it to get to and from Nikko. Take the JR Tohoku Shinkansen (from Tokyo or Ueno Station) to Utsunomiya Station and transfer to the JR Nikko Line. With a good connection at Utsunomiya, the one way trip takes about 100 minutes.

2. No you should not consider renting a car anywhere on this trip to Japan. Costs and traffic are too prohibitive. Long distance taxis are also expensive. It would cost you over 220.00 for a taxi from NRT to Tokyo as example.
The main JR train station for the Hakone region is Odawara. You would catch the train at Tokyo station and get off at Odawara station. Check www.hyperdia.com for time schedules. Once at Odawara you would have to take a taxi to your ryokan or utilize the Hakone transport system run by the Odyaku Comapany which consists of a well organized system of trains, buses and ropeways. See here for details on Hakone and its transport systems. Since you will only be there a day the taxi may be your best bet.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5206.html

3. Definitely yes!

4. By JR train.

Check timetables at the hyperdia link above for trains from Odawara to Kanazawa stations. Click off the Nozomi and airport options on the search detail options.

5. Yes there is. Again check the hyperdia site for times/schedules for the trains from Kanazawa to Kyoto stations.

6. Depends on how much luggage you have and how you handle them. No one is there to help you with you luggage so you have to load and unload from the train yourselves along with wheeling them througout the station. We can handle a 26" and 22" rolling suitcases each between my wife and I. We travel in the green cars and put one suitcase overhead and one in the back of the cars. See here for pictures:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2274.html
If I don't feel like hassling with the luggage then I send it ahead via the takkuhaibin service. Keep in mind that you must do this at least one day ahead in the Tokyo/Kyoto areas and they recommend sending your luggage two days before you depart to Narita but from Kyoto you could get away with one day probably....
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2278.html

7. No problems.

8. I don't do Skype so maybe someone will chime in.

Aloha!

DonTopaz

lcuy and hawaiiantraveler are on the mark with their answers. Even with green cars, I like to use takkyubin as much as possible to forward my luggage if I have a large suitcase; it just makes life easier. The key is to also have a smaller bag that carries all you need for the overnight while your big bag is en route.

The one exception for baggage forwarding would be on my way back to the airport (in your case, from Kyoto). If it were me, I'd take my bags with me from Kyoto to Narita, using my small suitcase as a carry-on rather than an overnight bag. Plus, especially with the green car, you will have no worries with a suitcase on the trip Kyoto -> Shinagawa -> Narita (escalators available in all stations).

Don
owner ... Don Topaz Travel

Mara

You can use japan-guide.com to answer a lot of your how to travel questions.

Also you say "Before depart US.....,get few thousand $ cash..."
I don't understand that - are you talking about US$ or ¥ - you are better off just using your ATM/Debit card in Japan at Post Offices or 7 Elevens. Usually the exchange rate is much better that way.....

I use skype but on my mini laptop, no Ipad, without any problems - would you would need to find a wifi connection - other than that I don't know of any problem.

aprillilacs

Philip, you've received some very good answers--read them carefully (especially note the point that you MUST buy the voucher for your JR Pass before you leave the United States; you can exchange your voucher for the actual pass at any number of train stations (including at the airport if you want to take the time). The instructions are clearly printed with your voucher.

If you have a 7-day pass (it's for 7 consecutive days) it looks like it would make sense not to use the pass for Nikko (even though JR provides good service to Nikko, as HT says), activate it when you leave Tokyo for Hakone, and then be able to use it for the more expensive trip from Kyoto to Narita on your final day. That's if I'm counting your trip days right.

Hyperdia is a great site for finding train details though all that detail is sometimes confusing (to me anyway). We found the JR agents at Tokyo Station to be absolutely wonderful. We went to them with a list of our travel dates and the general times we wanted to leave a place (or arrive at our destination), and they routed on the best trains, made seat reservations for us, and printed all our tickets in English. Amazingly helpful. I was a little concerned about some of our connections--e.g., would we really be able to get from Nikko to Enoshima in one day...and from Enoshima to Kanazawa? It was a breeze. No worries!

We didn't use the luggage transfer--just had a small roller bag each and a shoulder bag. No problems getting them on the trains and storing them near our seats (and we weren't in the green cars). Unless you are bringing a lot more (unnecessary) stuff with you, consider doing the same.

The ATMs at the ubiquitous 7-Elevens (they'll be everywhere you are traveling to) were our main source for cash. We used the post office once. Absolutely no problems getting cash.

We were in Japan for 5 weeks in May and June (click on my name for my trip reports on Tokyo, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Nikko). Wish I were going back in November (we'll be in Vietnam and Cambodia instead, so not too sad).

Have a great trip.

kja

You've gotten some great info here!

I loved Kanazawa, but would not have made time to visit it with anything less than 4 days for Kyoto. I know timing visits is a very personal choice and reflects complicated decisions about one's priorities. I also noted that you said your hotel in Kanazawa is nonrefundable. I would urge you not to let a sunk cost dictate your experience.

Whatever you chose, you'll see some wonderful things. Enjoy!

someotherguy

Beware that due to power shortages, the NEX is on a very reduced schedule. Here's the schedule from when I was there a couple of weeks ago, Notice there's a 3 hour gap in the middle of the day, which coincides with when you'd want to get to the airport for several of the flights to the USA. I ended up using the Keisei service from Ueno, which is not covered by a JR pass.

To Narita Airport
Arrival times at Narita Airport T1
07:18 NEX 1 from Takao / Ofuna
07:56 NEX 5 from Takao / Ofuna
08:10 NEX 7 from Omiya / Ofuna
08:36 NEX 9 from Shinjuku / Ofuna
09:01 NEX11 from Ofuna
09:28 NEX13 from Shinjuku
09:58 NEX15 from Ofuna
10:58 NEX17 from Omiya / Ofuna
13:58 NEX27 from Ikebukuro / Ofuna
14:57 NEX31 from Ikebukuro / Ofuna
15:57 NEX35 from Ikebukuro / Ofuna

Philip

Thanks for quality responses.

Will definitely get green car JR 7 day pass before depart USA (thanks Icuy, hawaiiantraveler) . Will take less cash (probably $1,500)(thanks thursdaysd, Mara)(issue with me since was caught in Europe once with ATM machines not accepting my card). The Tokyo American Club has a Citibank ATM which apparently works with USA issued cards. Will get cash at NRT upon arrival. Couple comments..........

Have modified Itinerary by:
11/15 settled on JTB Sunrise Nikko World Heritage 1 Day Tour (Tour No. F300)(5% discount going through the Club where staying)

11/17 DELETED Kanazawa altogether. Staying in Hakone one more night. More chance for some clearer weather.

1/18 ADDED one more night in Kyoto at Hotel Mume. Unfortunately, the Wind room not available so had to reserve their suite at much more money. Will now be in Kyoto 4 nights. (thanks kja)

11/22 Still up in air about shipping or carrying luggage - particularily from Kyoto to NRT (thanks DonTopaz and aprillilacs). No hurry. Thanks someotherguy about schedule. Our flight departs 6:50p. If we want to get there 2 1/2 hours early, say by 4:15ish, is the 13:58 NEX27 from Ikebukuro/Ofuna OK? Don't know how long a trip that is. NOW, I just have to figure out what Ikebukuro/Ofuna is. What if we don't get a good connection at Utsunomiya (thanks hawaiiantraveler). This train situation I am sure will become clear but now still foggy.

We still have to work out FaceTime (Apple) vs. Skype (microsoft) but my daughter is expert here. We could take either or both.

QUESTION......what are the worst faux pas committed by Americans AND what Japanese customs will most catch our attention?

DonTopaz

Philip,

Ikebukuro/Ofuna is where the train to NRT originates, but that's not where you would pick it up. To reach NRT by 4.15, you should do this: Take the Hikari #470 Shinkansen from Kyoto to Shinagawa, which departs at 11.56am and arrives at 2.33pm. At Shinagawa, change to the Narita Express #35, which departs at 2.50pm and arrives at NRT at 3.57pm. Don't worry about having only 17 minutes to change trains at Shinagawa -- that will be enough time.

As for "the worst faux pas committed by Americans" -- my imagination isn't fertile enough to think of that. In general, Japanese do not expect Westerners to understand or follow Japanese customs such as bowing, etc. The best way I know to gain respect is to always be polite, use 'Please' and 'Thank You' as much as possible, and learn 3 or 4 polite expressions in Japanese.

Don
Owner ... Don Topaz Travel

kja

Sounds like you've honed your plans nicely!

DonTopaz'a advice to just be polite is right on. If you want to know a bit more about the specifics, I thought the JapanGuide had good information on etiquette:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e622.html

lcuy

Worst Faux Pas? I'd say wearing your shoes into your hotel, onto tatami mats,or wearing regular slippers into the toilet room when they have toilet slippers (or the reverse...wearing the toilet slipper back into your room). Blowing your nose in public is considered quite gross, as it going into a furo without scrubbing yourself clean first. Most Japanese do not wander around while eating, eg. you consume soda or snacks by the vending machine then walk away.

tower

Faux Pas....funny, but I used my old 1945-issue US Army occupation booklet. All suggestion were right on the mark when I was last in Japan in '07...Lucy, kja and "Billerica Mogul Don" hit it perfectly.

stu tower
(Phil, you and daughter are in for a great experience! I would suggest the Miho Museum, an hour train-and-bus ride from Kyoto...unique setting, architect I.M. Pei..worth seeing if you can)

tower

here's the Miho just to give you a preview should you decide.
stu

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuartto...hoMuseumIMPei#

DonTopaz

Thanks for the info on the Miho, Stu -- looks like a great place to visit.

tower

don...it's an eye-popper...just the setting alone without even one museum piece. When are you getting a furlough from Billerica and coming to California?
stu

hawaiiantraveler

AND what Japanese customs will most catch our attention?

If you are keen to what is happening around oneself you will see as we have observed and learned their habits....customs....to bow to every person who passes by, to apologize and thank frequently, to be meticulous about one's appearance and careful not to touch others....their respect of authority and people who won't cross the do not cross sign to get that perfect photo. What they have taught me is how people should respect and behave towards one another.

A land where a grown man in a blue suit reads a manga comic magazine on the train in the morning then plays in the pachinko parlors or is drinking and eating with friends in an izakaya(bar) at night is simply amazing to me.

Everything everywhere so clean and efficient yet their is rust to be seen....beauty, fastidiousness and silliness, efficiency and laughter all describe the soul and vibe you will feel.


There is a rhythm there in Japan as in every country. You have to get into the rhythm of Japan but be careful.....once you do you will find it hard to get out of you.....after 12 trips I still can't.

Aloha!