mrwunrfl

This is going to be my fifth visit to Japan (all for fun) in five years. Part of the trip I will be travelling with my nephew Mike (29 y.o. US Army captain). He wants to visit Hiroshima and is interested in history.

Here is my basic itinerary, so far, and I would appreciate comments, especially advice on finding better rates at the Rihga or Westin hotels. Need help on deciding which room type at the Westin.

We are both baseball fans and will catch the Hiroshima Carp game on the 24th. Was considering going to a Buffaloes- Tigers game but it is at Koshien. My impression is that the Koshien park is a small-time park like the Hiroshima ballpark. Not a big-time park like Tokyo Dome or the Hawks Dome in Fukuoka, nor as I imagine, like the Osaka Dome. Please correct me if I am wrong about Koshien.

May 19-20, fly United Airlines from D.C. to Nagoya via San Francisco

May 20
arrive Nagoya Chubu airport about 4:30 PM
depart Nagoya airport on ANA flight at 7PM to Nagasaki
arrive Nagasaki airport at about 8:30PM
take bus into the city and be at hotel by 10:30PM

May 20-22, Nagasaki, Holiday Inn Hotel
http://www.frommers.com/destinations...ki/H45036.html
9,775 for queen

May 22-23, Nagasaki, Sakamoto-ya Ryokan
http://www.frommers.com/destinations...ki/H45035.html
Y15,000 including dinner and breakfast

May 23, take train to Hakata and rail to Fukuoka to meet my nephew who is arriving from Seoul

May 23-24, Miyajima, Momiji-so Ryokan
http://gambo-ad.com/english/hotel/momiji-so/info.htm
16,000 pp for Kaede room including deluxe dinner and breakfast. I stayed here before, in the Hinoki room, and really enjoyed it. The Momiji room was not available. The Hinoki room was offered but the Kaede room looks larger. The Momiji and Hinoki rooms are described as "deluxe" but the Kaede is not and I am not sure why. Problem with this place is that it is pretty dead at night.

alternate May 23-24, Takeo Onsen, Kagetsu Ryokan
http://japaneseguesthouses.com/db/saga/kagetsu.htm
This is in Saga-ken an hour or so south from Hakata/Fukuoka.

May 24-25 Hiroshima, Rihga Royal Hotel
http://www.frommers.com/destinations...ma/H45184.html
21,500 for superior twin.

May 25-27 Kyoto, Westin Miyako Hotel
http://www.westinmiyako-kyoto.com/english/index_e.html

Beds: 2 Single Beds
Room Features: Deluxe Room, Safe, Heavenly Bed, Preferred Non-Smoking, 2 Phones W/Data Port, Exec Club Deluxe Non, 2Heavenly Semi-Dbl Beds, Ave;35.92M2
Average Daily Rate Per Room: JPY 36,800.00

Beds: 2 Single Beds
Room Features: 2 Phones W/Data Port, Balcony, Safe, City View, Heavenly Bed, Deluxe W/Roof Balcony, 2 Heavenly Semi-Dbl Beds, Grand View, Ave;38.3M2
Average Daily Rate Per Room: JPY 32,600.00

May 27 Mike departs Osaka Kansai airport at 7PM

May 27-30 not sure yet
may visit Shirakawgo, Kiso Valley
maybe Kurashiki, the castle in Matsue

On of my main reasons for considering Kurashiki is to stay here:
http://www.frommers.com/destinations...ki/H45153.html

I am planning to go to the Takayama festival next year and thought I might save a re-visit to Shirakawago for then, but KimJapan just mentioned that the cherry blossoms are at their peak during Golden Week (first week of May). So, I guess that S-go might not be green yet on April 16, 2006.

May 30 fly from Nagoya- SFO- D.C., departing about 3:30PM

With Premier Exec bonus and the Nagoya promo bonus, the trip will earn 42,494 FF miles and 15,877 EQMs.

emd

ooo, sounds good. Alot to chew on there. I'm going to look at all your places you've listed. One thing is that is if you get the executive level club lounge w/that exec room for the first listing at Miyako, I would go for it. The club breakfast is good (both Japanese and western offered, fish dish, egg dish, meat dish, good fruits, good breads and pastries, coffee, tea, several juices, green salads, etc.) and will get you through alot of the day. Also, you get that good computer w/internet access in the "library" down the hall from the club. And if you are aroudn the hotel at 5 to 7 pm, your nephew can get a drink/beer/wine free if he drinks, and you can also get good warn and cold appetizers free in the club (the p.m. appetizers there were better than the appetizer's at Westin Tokyo). And after 7 pm they have out cookies and coffee and tea in the club. It is worth an extra $40 for it IMO. I see the other cheaper room gets a grand view and a roof balcony (maybe it is close to the "observation deck" area on 9th floor, which is kind of a roof balcony area). The room we had had a nice view of the mountains, no balcony, and they considered that a no view room, because it isn't the panoramic city view. I thought it was great. If the club level room is truly on the club levels (floors 9, 10 and maybe 11 in the main bldg) then I'm pretty sure it is renovated. You could call Starwood and ask; I had them call the hotel in japan for me twice on questions like this...and BTW, our beds were two doubles and it was two doubles, like 5-6 inches apart, no table in btwn. but far enough apart to be like two separate beds.

emd

I meant to say our beds were also "two semi doubles" like you have listed.

emd

I am dying to ask. What kinds of things do you have planned for Nagasaki? And what else in Hiroshima besides the Carps and Peace Park?

rhkkmk

looks like a good trip..wow so many miles...you are an expert

KimJapan

The Rihga has standard twin rooms for 17,500. The room is smaller, and the bed is 10 cm narrower but the same length. The Japanese language reservations page lists lots of specials. The "economy stay" is available on the 24th for 16,000 yen twin room.
Bed and Breakfast rate is 18,000 yen for twin with breakfast included for 2. These special rates are available only in Japanese and only online. They are bookable right now, but are limited to 5 rooms per day at that rate.

mrwunrfl

emd, thanks for re-summarizing your experience at the W.Mikayo for me.

There are enough sites to fill a day in Nagasaki. Maybe I will take a day trip to Sasebo or elsewhere, like Shimabara though that may be a bit far. Am hoping to find an onsen closer. Considering that I will have been travelling for over 24 hours when I get to Nagasaki, I probably will be moving slowly that weekend. I do want to spend the first two nights in the same place, in a western hotel. Plus, I want to stay at Sakamoto-ya, so that means three nights in Nagasaki.

The morning of the 24th, we will go up Mt Misen and see a couple of Miyajima sights before heading over to Hiroshima. Check-in at the Rihga and then go to the PP around 1PM and spend the afternoon there and at the museum. Maybe visit Hiroshima-jo. Then we'll have a couple of hours before the ballgame.

Thanks for the info about the Rihga, Kim. The B&B rate sounds good. I may try calling them even though it is an internet-only rate. I would like to get a room with a harbor view. Last time, I had a great view the other way of Hiroshima-jo and the mountains beyond, and there was a small side window that looked down into the stadium which is a short block away.

Kim, I remembered how you found the lower rate for that APA hotel in Kanazawa in Jan. on the Japanese page. I didn't think to look at the Rihga page, but I did check the Nagasaki HI's Japanese page and it seemed to have higher rates than what I got at holiday-inn.com! Used babelfish to do some translating.

Bob, that's 35% of the mileage needed for another fc ticket to Thailand!

KimJapan

In Nagasaki, I can find a double bed non-smoking rate of 6,650 yen. I can find queen executive for 9775 yen, but it's only smoking. Looks like the Japanese and English results are the same but sorted differently. It also doesn't show queen if you ask for only one bed for some reason.

emd

mrw: Where are you getting your info on Koshien being second rate? I am looking at an article I have on Japanese baseball (see:http://www.japanvisitor.com/jc/ballpark.html) and it describes Koshien (on lst page)as, "Without a doubt the finest baseball venue in Japan is the venerated Koshien stadium, home of the Hanishin Tigers- there's no baseball veunue in Japan quiote like it...the atmosphere is electric both inside and out." After seeing the Tiger's fans at two games while I was there, they just blew away the Giants and Buffaloes fans. Personally, I wouldn't pass up the chance to see them play at their home field.

emd

Even Dr. Latham's Baywell site, after an even description of Koshien's pros and cons, calls it, "one of the few must-see ballparks in Japan"

http://www.baywell.ne.jp/users/drlat...ium/tigers.htm

mrwunrfl

Thanks for that, emd. That is what I wanted to know. It was just my impression that it was a second-tier park. Going to a game in Hiroshima is fun. The park is not that big, though, and at a mid-week game it was not quite as well attended as the Hawks game. But, Osaka IS a much bigger city.

mrwunrfl

And we will be going to a weekday game, May 24, 25, or 26. I need to find the game times for those days at Koshien and the 24th in Hiroshima.

We would be going to a Koshien game from Kyoto and returning to Kyoto OR we would be getting to the game from Hiroshima and then going to Kyoto that night.

emd

mrw, don't forget that my game at Osaka Dome btwn. the Tigers and the Buffaloes was a 1 p.m. Tuesday PRESEASON game on a rainy afternoon, and the Tiger's outfield fan section was very very full by second inning! My bet is that there will be ALOT of Tiger's fans out at a May game at Koshien. They call in sick I guess, but they will be there.

emd

The Kurshiki Ryokan looks nice adn very unusual. I considered Kurashiki, as I would like the art/craft warehouse area, but we decided on adding Miyajima in to the Hiroshima stay instead of stopping at Kurshiki on way back to Kyoto. I really wanted to go to the Rural Toy Museum in Kurashiki too. There is a light up festival at night along the more prominent avenues in Kurashiki this spring- I'll check my info to see if will still be going when you would be there.
Kagetsu looks nice too. You have good taste in ryokans.

mrwunrfl

The Tigers are playing in Kurashiki on the 24th. The Tigers game times are 6:00PM and the Carp game is at 6:20PM. Got that info here:
http://www.npb.or.jp/schedule/2005inter.html

emd

I've been unable to get on that npb site. But I guess the japanesebaseball.com schedule is incorrect then as it says the Tigers play at Koshien on the 24,25,26th against the Buffaloes. Bummer, as alot of people rely on that schedule.
So I guess it is Carps for you.

emd

and BTW, I see you dropped possibility of ryokan in Ohara; will you maybe get there for part of a day from Kyoto?

mrwunrfl

I was checking out the ryokan in Ohara again today. Probably will be spending the days in Kyoto, though.

The japanesebaseball.com schedule looks like it was preliminary and not updated. At http://www.japanball.com/pl04_5.htm it says Kurashiki on the 24th (probably like a class A or AA park). When babelfish translates the npb page it says the game location is "Warehouse bed" and the city name Kurashiki means "warehouse village" or something like that. So, I've got two of three sources that agree, one being the NPB.

hyperdia says it is 50 minutes from Kyoto to Koshien. With the game starting at 6PM, it will be over by 8:30 or 9. Be back in Kyoto by 10PM.

I called ANA yesterday and made reservations to fly from Nagoya to Nagasaki and Yonago to Nagoya on their Visit Japan Fare. Both of those flights will cost less than the NGO-NGS one-way and I don't have to decide until the 16th (because I can go into D.C. to the ANA office to get the ticket instead of having them mail it; would get my JR Pass voucher there at the same time). ANA is great.

My current thinking is to spend the night of the 27th (after I leave Mike at the airport) at Arima Onsen and then spending the weekend in/near Matsue before flying from Yonago to catch the flight home from Nagoya on Monday the 30th.

Am making reservations at the Kyoto Gion Hotel. It is an APA hotel, small rooms and inexpensive, with a Starbucks next door.

So, nothing is really definite yet. Was even considering going to the Kanda Matsuri in Tokyo if it was being held on May 21-22 instead of going to Nagasaki.