Getting down to details and welcome advice: Tokyo
 

All my trips to Asia have been so successful in large part because of the advice I’ve received from Fodorites. Late next month, my two part trip (to Borneo and Tokyo) begins and I am starting to pin down the details. I am hoping to get feedback on the Tokyo portion so here goes (recent trip reports have been SO helpful).

We arrive at Narita (after an overnight in SIN following 12 days in Borneo) at 2pm on Thursday. The only things scheduled are a Giants baseball game at 6pm on Friday at the Tokyo Dome, and an overnight to Hakone (leave Monday morning, return Tuesday afternoon). We depart Tokyo from Narita early Wednesday morning.

I’d like to include the following in our sightseeing/shopping. I am organizing it by area (and in rough rank of interest within each area), the Japan Guide was very useful.

Central Tokyo: Tuna auction and fish market, stroll around Ginza, maid café and Mandarake in Akiba, stroll Imperial Gardens; currency and kite museums in Marunouchi

Northern Tokyo: Asakusa (Sensoji temple and shopping streets), Edo Museum, Kappabashi street, Ameyako street, stroll around Yanaka, Ueno Park

Western Tokyo: Sunday in Harajuku (see cosplay), Shibuya crossing, Meiji shrine, Odakuju to browse the food area

In any one these areas, an observation tower and a boat ride somewhere.

We are staying at the Shangri-la (in Marunouchi). With this wish list (and 3 full days and nights and two (late) afternoon/evenings (Thursday and Tuesday), I have the following questions:

1) With the few constraints (Tokyo Dome on late afternoon Friday, no tuna auction on Sunday but must do Harajuku on Sunday), how would you organize the sightseeing? I don’t know if it would be better to do certain areas on certain days and/or if I will need to return to one general area to see everything and other areas need only half a day.
2) Does it make sense to use the hop-on/hop-off bus for certain parts or stick with the subway?
3) I would like to have a Tokyo free guide one day. Which things would be most useful to have a guide for?
4) Restaurant recommendations (especially for dinner) within walking distance of the hotel or other places in specific areas for lunch?
5) Am I missing anything?

Thanks in advance.

"a boat ride somewhere" - you might consider the Sumida River cruise, beginning in Asakusa and ending at either Hama Rikyu or Odaiba.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3042.html

We took the boat from HamaRikyu gardens to Asakusa, I enjoyed it ( and was really glad of the sit down by then) we also went up in an observation tower in Asakusa which gave a view of the approach to Senso Ji temple.
I would arrange your Tokyo free guide ASAP as they are volunteers and they are not always available. When we had ours she took us to Fish market, Asakusa and Yanaka.
I think your Sunday sounds great ( we did the same) but I would start with the Mejii shrine. We saw a number of weddings there and it was lovely and it really wasn't too crowded ( we went in the a.m)

As an aside, did you book Ryokan Ginyu in the end?

OK - - boat ride from HamaRikyu to Asakusa it is!
Yes, ryokan Ginyu on Monday night, very excited we got the last room for that date.

You can easily walk from the fish market to the gardens , stroll through there ( maybe take tea at the lovely cafe on the lake) and then walk over to the boat ticket office. We did this with our Tokyo free guide and I'm glad we did.

Regarding Harajuku, I know one of the attractions of going on Sunday is to see lots of people who love to dress up, but keep in mind that many of them are teens/ young adults and they won't be up and ready early -- so don't schedule morning visit there if you hope to see lots of cosplay kids!

Yup, my four adult children all went through the sleep late teen stage! Some of the people watching I'd like to do is inspired by A Take for the Time Being which I read last year.

Warm greetings to FromDC from 'on the road' and congratulations on forthcoming holiday. Concluded a Tokyo business trip earlier this month and she was particularly special, with weekend sakura viewing with family and long-time Japanese friends.

Do wish to commend you on your choice of the Shangri-La, Tokyo property. Mind you, have yet to stay with her for work/holiday, but recently enjoyed another memorable business dinner at her Nadaman restaurant. And, over the past few years of Tokyo business trips, have savoured the occasional after-work libation with colleagues at her Lobby Lounge. Over time, have had the privilege of staying at Shangri-La properties for work in Bangkok, Hong Kong and Shanghai; have never been disappointed. Suspect you are in for some special evenings; well done.

You mentioned Tokyo dinner recommendations. Noticing that the beloved Oriental, Bangkok is listed on your profile page of favourites, will give high praise for recent dining experiences at the Oriental's Tokyo property - which is where I stayed during the recent business trip. My profile page review of the MO Tokyo just touches on her refinement. Should you be 'a fan' of the Mandarin Oriental Group (such as yours truly and yes, there are some current and ongoing business reasons involved), you could very well end up enjoying some evenings dining at the MO. And, she's not too terribly far from your Shangri-La lodging. Enjoy.

Savour your planning, FromDC; very happy for you. Should you ever desire recommendations for our fine home of Singapore (and even a certain Singaporean airline), honoured to assist. Friday flying day for me, so early and warm weekend wishes to you and all,

macintosh (robert)


... Singapore Girl, You're a Great Way to Fly ...

Thank you Robert, we will try to get to the MO at least for a drink. This will be our first stay at a Shangril-la hotel, we are looking forward to it. I wish we had more time during our layover in SIN - - hopefully next trip.

The Shangri-La Tokyo is one of my "go to" hotels. I hope you reserved through a Virtuoso agent - you get best available rate plus great benefits; same price more stuff. The Horizon Club is very nice and worth the bit extra to pay if you don't get upgraded. Before Harajuku, stop by at the Nezu Museum for its architecture and gardens (plus exhibits).

Thanks for the suggestion, Kim, will put that one the list for Sunday.
We use AMex Platinum for the Shangrila, similar benefits etc. Hoping to find some reasonably priced restaurants in the area.

And for anyone who may have the answer to this, what would the drill be for sending 2 pieces of luggage to Narita from our hotel in Tokyo two days before our flight? Does it take long to retrieve them at the airport before checkin? we might be on a tight schedule if we decide to go to Narita straight from Hakone for a late morning flight, leaving from Terminal 1. Thanks.

You would ask your hotel to send the bags no problem. Takes about 2 minutes to get them from the baggage delivery collection booth at the end of the check in counters. Train or car allow at least 3 hours to get from Hakone Yumoto to Narita Airport. If your flight is at 11:00 leave at 6:00 - I've had people do it but it's tight. Train is at least 2 changes even if you get a car to Odawara. Car is comfortable but there is traffic.

Restaurants are all over the place around the Shangri-La. Tokyo Station has many. There is a list of recommendations the hotel provides which is good, but really you won't be want for choice. There is no shortage of dining for every price range.

Thank you, Kim.
I just looked at Hyperida and the very early trains would involve 2 or 3 transfers from odawara and take 2 1/2 hours from Odawara to get us to Narita before 9am. There is a 7:15 train from Odawara with only a 9 minute transfer time at Shinagawa to get us to Terminal 1 at 9am, which is the latest I feel comfortable arriving there for an 11am flight. I hadn't thought about a car and of course have no idea what the traffic is like between Hakone and narita in the early morning. But if it is a 3+ hour car ride that would also be pretty stressful. Unless I am missing something, I'm not sure going from Hakone to Narita for an 11am flight is a good idea. Any more thoughts???

A 9-minute transfer from the Shinkansen to the NEx at Shinagawa is certainly doable, but I'm not sure that I'd recommend it for those relatively new to Japan rail use. Once the train arrives, you'll need to take the escalator up to the main level; walk to the exit and feed your used ticket through the turnstile; walk from the Shinkansen side of Shinagawa station to the regular-train side (a decent distance); find the right track for the NEx (this side of Shinagawa has about 20 tracks); then finally take the escalator or stairs down to the track and find your assigned car. Standard procedure if you're familiar with it, but ample opportunity for a Newbie to go astray and miss the train.

Yup, too much stress for this newbie who is always very tense on big travel days anyway. I am surprised that there isn't a better connection earlier in the morning but I guess the demand isn't there.
How far in advance do people normally buy tickets for the trains? I'm not sure I've seen much discussion about it. We arrive in Tokyo on a Thursday and will travel to Hakone on Monday morning.

From DC, we did this journey on a Monday also I think we got the 7am "romance train" to Yumoto - we then switched trains to the little train that takes you up the mountain, I also think it was here we gave our overnight luggage to be taken to The Ryokan (700 yen) ( we walked across the platform to the next train! It was super easy. I will have to look at my ticks to remember the names ( I'll email Filmwill too as he was the one who sorted it for us) honestly it was SO easy.
I should say the above is to GO to Hakone, I know you asked me these details in another thread. :)

I'll try and dig out better details when I get home from work tonight.

Thanks Nicky. We are definitely going to Hakone Ginyu, I was hoping we could add the second night but now I don't think it is possible (as above to get to NRT by 9am would involve either too many transfers or too short a transfer time for comfort). I think I figured out which train station to go to for the ryokan but it isn't clear how to get there from the station. Thanks!

Ok it's about a 3 minute walk from the station to the Ryokan, print the map off the Ryokan collection website, it's a very very easy walk?

terrific, nice when something is easy

You walk down the hill from the station ( there is a very cute bar/ restuarant near the top of this hill that does ice cold Sapporos and tasty Ramen noodles.....)
Anyway, walk down the hill, turn right ( sharp right) , cross over the road and walk for a few minutes max, it's on the left.

Re your question ref getting tickets, I had the hotel buy mine for the Tokyo- Hakone - Kyoto journey on the Saturday and we left on the Monday. Well worth getting your hotel to do it. I did have to pay slightly extra as they had to go to the station to get them as it was a Saturday. If I had got my finger out and got them to sort on the Friday I wouldn't have had to pay extra ( but honestly it was only about $10 extra)

I am SO envious of your trip, we had the best time.

Thanks for the detail on the walk and the tip about the tickets. I will likely ask the hotel to get the tickets for us - - the even have a service where they meet you at the station and escort you to the hotel (and vice versa) so the initial shock of getting into Tokyo should be eased somewhat.

I am a little disappointed that we won't have any Fodorite meetings in Japan, I know that really added to everyone's enjoyment this past fall…perhaps some other time.

We did get a free guide set up, he sent us a nice email. Thanks for your encouragement on that front.

GREAT news ref the guide.
The concierges at the hotels in Japan really are fantastic, we used them loads more than normal and it made things so easy!!
You know I seem to think they actually pre booked some trains for us in advance of us arriving in Japan... I just remembered Fimwill sorted it all and I just sent them my CC details.
That said they did book whilst we were there.
Why don't you email the concierge if you know which ones you want, so at least you know the are sorted?

From Hakone Ginyu it looks like the rail station you would use is the Tozan Railway's Miyanoshita station. Take that or a taxi to get to Odawara station and then JR to NRT.

Here is a hyperdia query for Odawara to NRT with that excludes private railways. http://tinyurl.com/k9hjff3

Route1 shows your 9-minute connection at Shinagawa.

<b>Route2</b> shows a 23-minute connection at Tokyo station. That sounds very doable but I am not very familiar with JR Tokyo station.

Here is a query for Miyanoshita to Odawara: http://tinyurl.com/lzsyojj Route1 gives you 23 minutes at Odawara before the JR train departs.

I have always found Tokyo station large but fairly easy to navigate. You will just be changing tracks. Shinjuku on the other hand has always been somewhat confusing for me. Have only been through Shinagawa a few times but seem to recall it was fairly easy.

Thank you very much. I don't know why route 2 didn't come up for me when I put in the query yesterday. I've seen a map of Tokyo Station, and we would have to go from one side of the station to the other. So does the 23 minute connection time seem OK for this? I'm assuming trains are always on time :)

Well, Hyperdia isn't perfect. Which explains why the very best connection didn't show up: the one where you take that earlier train that leaves Odawara at 7:02, but then get off at Shinagawa instead of Tokyo. Arrive Shinagawa at 7:30, connect to the NEx that departs at 7:51, arriving NRT at 9:01. (You can verify that the 7:02 Kodama from Odawara stops at Shinagawa by clicking "Train Timetable" just below "Shinkansen Kodama 700".)

A 21-minute connection at Shinagawa is much better than a 23-minute connection at Tokyo.

BTW, nice work, mrwunrful.

:) Good one, Don. I was just looking at the individual train timetables. There is an earlier Kodama from Odawara to Tokyo 6:44 -> 7:20 that would then make it a 40-min transfer at Tokyo.

Here are the timetables that Don T referred to that you can use to piece together and make the easier transfer at Shinagawa:

Odawara -> Shinagawa http://tinyurl.com/nxhjtdt
Shinagawa -> NRT http://tinyurl.com/mrf3oep

Note that the travel dates are May/2014/28 though the schedule for your date won't vary much, if at all.

Thank you! ! This means plenty of layover time if I take the 6:44 from Odawara (we'd do a taxi there). I looked on the Shinagawa station map, it seems like the platforms are pretty close. So it looks like a "go" if there is a room available for a second night. BTW, I tried again, just putting in ODAWARA and SINAGAWA for my date in June and the routes came up.

I might start a new thread for this questions if I don't get any responses, but I was wondering if there are any good walking food tours (evening) like the ones we enjoyed in Bangkok and Istanbul. I did a search on the forum and on google but didn't come up with anything appealing.