Questions on Details for 23 Days in Japan
 

Now that you have helped so much with the Itinerary (Tokyo-Takayama-Kanazawa-Nara-Kyoto-Koyasan-Hiroshima-Miyajima-Tokyo), I need to get the devil out of the details. Here is my first set of questions.
1.How to get from Haneda to Niwa hotel, Tokyo (5 blocks from Suidobashi station, east exit, by
university)? According to limo bus schedule closest bus stop is Dome, first one leaves leaves 10:20
am. We arrive at 5 am. What other ways besides cab. I hear it may cost $200?
2. Do different ATM machines have different charges for withdrawals, different daily limits?
3 Can you just show up and get on the train you want or do you need to reserve a seat in advance in
order to insure passage?
4. Can you reserve seats for upcoming train without activating (beginning the use of) the JR pass until a
few days later?
5. Best/cheapest way to make phone calls aside from Skype?
6. Better to see Kabuki in Tokyo or Kyoto? need advanced reservations?
Thank you and hi to old friends.

1) Rail option to Suidobashi: http://tinyurl.com/jr3x6mu
Involves a couple of transfers.

The $200 fare you heard might be in the ballpark from Narita Airport. The Tokyo Dome Hotel gives: Approx. ￥9,000. Check at your hotel's website to see if they have a quote. But, it is going to be under $100.

2. I have not been charged by the Japanese banks for ATM withdrawals. The only charge I've had, and the limit, came from my credit union. IIRC, the same applied when using a Citi (American) bank ATM at the airport.

3. Just show up, most of the time. There are exceptions like Narita Express and on a Tohoku shinkensen, maybe a few others. I don't think there are any all-reserved trains on your itin - and depending on season you can probably get a reserved seat at the last minute anyway (exceptions being going to Takayama during the festival).

4. Am almost certain, yes. You can pay for the reserved seat. Might be able to get a refund when you get your JR Pass. That's the worst case, paying the few hundred yen for the seat. But, probably can do the exchange today have the pass activated for next week and at the same time get a free reserved seat on a train after the activation date.

3. My reply as for the JR part of your itinerary. For Koyasan you would use Nankai, not JR. Nankai has ordinary/local trains without reserved seats, but their limited express Koya trains have all-reserved seating.

Re 6. Kabuki - I have only seen it at Kabuki-za in Tokyo. If you just want to see one act usually standing room only you have to queue. If you want a ticket for the afternoon or evening performance you need to go online the day it goes on sale....at least that has been my experience, they sell out immediately....

http://www.kabuki-bito.jp/eng/conten.../kabukiza.html

Following up on the Haneda/Suidobashi connection you may want to split the difference, especially if you have luggage. You could always arrange forwarding from airport to hotel but the monorail does have racks and space for luggage.
Get off at Hamamatsucho and taxi from there to hotel.Tokyo taxi fare finder estimates it to be 3,283 yen and 22 minutes, saves you from transfer during the start of rush hour.
Also plan where and when you activate your pass.
On recent trip while walking to the monorail at Haneda I passed the JR office with a line of people out the door waiting for rail pass service.
We activated ours at Tokyo station getting to the front of the window ten minutes before opening, by the time they opened there were about twenty people behind us, just a thought.
Great looking itinerary, have fun!

4. Can you reserve seats for upcoming train without activating (beginning the use of) the JR pass until a few days later?

Let me confirm I'm understanding correctly. E.g. Arrive in Japan 10th of month. Want to activate the pass to start on 15th and also make a seat reservation for a journey using the pass on the 15th or 16th or whatever.

If that's it, then yes, I'm pretty sure you can. You can exchange your voucher on landing or at any JR station and simply tell them the date you want it to start. And they will make advance seat reservations for you at the time, though if the airport ticket office is busy, you may have to wait or find a less busy JR office.

Davey, We arrive in Tokyo on the 4th. We travel to Takayama for the festival on the 8th. I want to make sure we have seats on the 12:33 train through Nagoya. We bought an exchange voucher for a 21 day JR Pass. We will need the pass for local travel around Tokyo I imagine. I'm thinking we should pay out of pocket for the first two days in Tokyo. On the third day initiate the pass, then the 21 day pass will get us through the rest of the trip, including the costly trip Hiroshima-Tokyo. So we want to reserve seats Tokyo to Takayama before beginning the use of the pass. Is this possible? Can this be done at Haneda Airport? or only train station? Is English spoken?
Are taxis available on the spot at 6 am at Haneda?
I've noted all other replies so far.

See my trip report. Very similar itinerary but shorter trip.
2. We did two ATMs withdrawals at 7 Elevens for $500 each time. One was free, one charged $11.50. No fees on our bank end.
7. For $5 my husband and I added unlimited texts/calls/data to our Sprint plan.

2. It may depend on your bank, not the ATM machine. Call your bank to ask what it charges and what to watch for to know if the specific ATM machine will add a charge.

6. Is kabuki an option for you in both cities? (It wasn’t when I visited. Like Mara, I visited in Tokyo. IIRC, the only option when I went was to stand in line.)
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2090.html

Robbie
My understanding is that yes it can be done, since you can definitely exchange the voucher for the pass on arrival in Japan, but can specify the activation date to be later, it doesn't have to be for the day you make the exchange.
And I'm pretty sure they will then make reservations for you, provided of course that those are within the dates of validity for the pass they just provided you.

>>Is this possible? Can this be done at Haneda Airport? or only train station? Is English spoken?

The JR EAST Travel Service Center at Haneda Airport doesn't open until 7:45.

2. Daily limits at atm machines in Japan are somewhere in the 2000.00 US per day so your worry would be how much your US bank allows for your daily total. My US bank only allows me 500 US per day. The easiest places for my to withdraw money while in Japan are at the 7/11 stores of the local post office.

4. You have to activate your JR Pass at a JR Service Center. Yes they speak minimal English there and have signs in English telling you what to do. Don't worry too much its really easy and they do thousands a year so really just a formality. Yes after you activate your pass you CAN make train reservations for your onward travel. This site below has the list of places you can activate your JR Pass throughout all of Japan if you don't have time to do it at Haneda. The Haneda office opens at 7:45.

http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/exchange.html

Yes taxis are available on the spot at 6:00 am at Haneda. All I have taken from there also take credit cards.

5. Having your own call plan might be best but as mentioned before on various threads I rent a phone for Linda via Rentaphone Japan. They will also let you use their minutes available for a very cheap rate. Check the site for details

http://www.rentafonejapan.com/index.html

Aloha!

Great info. On to my next set of questions.
6. Do we need to bring pajamas or bathrobe? Only 2 hotels mention providing bathrobes on their websites
7. I don't think I need to bring a converter. The only electric items are chargers for our IPads and they are 2 pronged like Japan. Or do I still need something due to voltage differences?
8. How cold might it get at night in Koyasan? We're staying at Onsen Fukuchiin, part of/adjacent to a monastery. Are the rooms heated? We'll be there Oct. 20-22.
9. Is it proper for men to wear Bermuda shorts during the day for touring?
10. What is the one thing you wish you had packed and the one thing you wished you'd left home (children is not an acceptable answer)?

You can get much of this information through a google search or in a decent guidebook -- is there some particular reason why you are asking us to find information that you can easily find on your own? Sorry, but I must admit that I'm running out of patience....

6. Bring your own pj's. It will be next to your skin and you'd want to wrap in your own soft and familiar garment to sleep well.

My apologies for that last remark -- you are, of course, free to ask anything you want.

6. Every Japan hotel or ryokan I have ever stayed in always has sleeping attire. I am just too big to wear the small sizes so I bring my own :)
7. No converter needed everything is two prong and 100 volts compared to our 110.
8. If it is very cold they will have a heater and give you extra blankets. Weather at your time of stay should be lovely.
9. I do.
10. I travel too often to over pack, we know what works well for us but for me but most times I wish I had left my inhibitions at home :)

Enjoy your trip this is gonna be fun.

Aloha!

Don't laugh. DH & I are technologically impaired seniors. We will rent a MiFI for the 25 day trip so we can have GPS on the fly. Verizon says I can get international calling for $40 (with 100 mg data) or $85 (with 250 mg of data). I have no idea how much data I might use. Do I still need a SIM card installed?

How many milligrams of data do you normally use? ;)

I hesitate to wade into this, but since no one has replied to you yet, here are my suggestions.

1) Have you have a few vendors in mind where you may rent a MIFI from?
Below are info I posted to Amy_torres' thread in July in response to data/mifi when she was preparing her trip:
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia/japan-wifi.cfm
and
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...ta-options.cfm

2) Assume you'll have a MIFI, then you do not need data plan from Verizon. You'll just connect your smart phone to your MIFI hotspot to get on internet. For a trip of 23 days, if you need internet for maps and train schedule daily, 250 megabytes of data will not be enough, you will need gigabytes of data.

Do you use Skype? If you do, then use Skype to make phone calls while your smartphone is connected to MIFI. However, it probably is a good idea to sign up for the $40 Verizon plan, so that you'll have phone call and internet accessibility for the short period after you touch down in Japan and before you have a working WIFI in your hand.
If you don't use Skype, then after you have a working MIFI, use Verizon for emergency phone call only.