Hello,

We will be in Japan, for the first time, March 21-20, 2008. After extensive research we have come up with the following itinerary, available for critiquing.

Fri 3/21- arrive at Narita 3:45pm on Japan Airlines. we will exchange money and pick up rail passes before taking limousine bus to Nikko Hotel Tokyo in Odaiba(we'll be there for 5 nights).

Sat 3/22- odaiba area during the day, tokyo tower and roppongi area at night.

Sun 3/23- ginza area, imperial palace during the day, kabukiza theater at night.

Mon 3/24- day trip to hakone/mt fuji

Tue 3/25- asakusa and ueno areas during the day, red sox game at tokyo dome at night.

Wed 3/26- take shinkansen to kobe(2 nights at Maiko Villa Kobe). harborland, meriken park, mosaic during the day, mt rokko, harbor cruise at night.

Thu 3/27- akashi-kaikyo bridge including bridge engineering center and marine promenade then take bus to naruto whirlpools. spend evening at arima onsen and dining on kobe beef.

Fri 3/28- take shinkansen to hiroshima, spend most of the day exploring sights in and around peace park. take late afternoon ferry to miyajima and spend night at Jukieso Ryokan.

Sat 3/29- take shinkansen to kyoto and spend the day exploring the eastern part of the city, kiyomizu-dera, ginkaku-ji, path of philosophy, Honen-in, Nanzen-ji during the day. Gion area at night.
spend night at the Granvia.

Sun 3/30- take shinkansen back to narita for 11:40am flight back to Boston.

I know most people would recommend cancelling the two days in Kobe and spending them in Kyoto but I have many specific things I want to see there including the bridges.
Here are a few random questions:

1. should we make seat reservations for the four train trips the day we exchange our vouchers for the rail passes or should we do it before we leave for the trip?
2. how would we go about taking a bus from kobe to naruto? would it just be a regular city bus or some sort of tour bus? and where would we pick it up?
3. Any recommendations on the best place to have kobe beef while in kobe?
4. my travelling companion does not like fish so we opted out of the meal plan at Jukeiso. are the there dining options on miyajima outside of the ryokan? any with western food options? i am more experimental and will be trying a lot of japanese food but she is not and i must take that into consideration when planning meals. we need a good place for dinner and breakfast.
5. we would like to see some traditional japanese culture in kyoto. unfortunately we will not be there in april when the performances at the gion kaburenjo theater begin, is the gion corner performance a good alternative or does anyone have a better recommendation?
6. we wish to use the takuhaibin service two times during our visit: sending two large pieces of luggage each time, once to kobe, once to narita. what exactly is the process for doing this? are there different companies to use and if so which are the most dependable?

Thank you in advance for any info or suggestions. We are seasoned travelers but this will be our first trip to asia and while we feel confident we would love some advice from the experts on this forum.

Thanks again,

Bill

Don't exchange your voucher for the JR Pass at Narita. Just get on the limo bus into town. You only need a 7-day pass, activated for March 24. So you have a couple of days to get that done, or just do it that day.

1) you can't make seat reservations before you leave. you can get the seat reservations for your entire trip when you get your passes, but it is not absolutely necessary.

2) Am not sure about how you would get to Naruto by bus. You could take the train over the Seto-Ohashi Bridge. Quite a site, and great trip, esp. if you are into bridges. Or maybe that is part of your visit to the bridge center?

4) 3/28 "late afternoon" means you will tell they ryokan that you will be there at 4PM. I don't think there are a whole lot of options for food.

5) yes, the show at Gion Corner is worthwhile.

6) you can arrange shipping via your hotel. You will need the name and address of the destination (in Japanese) and phone.

Bill: You won't be able to get a train from Kyoto to Narita on the day of departure. You will need to stay in Tokyo area or Narita the night before departure. Your plane leaves too early to get from Kyoto to Narita in time. You couldn't make an 11:40 departure even if you flew from KIX to Narita. It's too early.

You'll need to send your luggage to Narita a few days ahead of your departure. Not the day before, but two days before. Otherwise you run risk of not having your luggage there for departure.

Opps, I meant to say even if you flew from Itami airport in Osaka to Narita (not KIX)

You can make it to Narita Airport from Kyoto by 9:30 AM if you take the 5:30 Nozomi to Shin Osaka then a local to Tokyo Station then the Narita Express at 8:35 to Narita. You can't use the JR Pass for Nozomi. You can get there earlier as well if you prefer. Not fun, not cheap, but possible to do.

Thank you for all the suggestions so far. Would it be possible to rent a car and do a bridge loop, starting at Akashi-Kaikyo, going over the Naruto bridge and seeing the whirlpools, then driving over the Seto-Ohashi bridges, then back to Kobe, and do it comfortably in half a day? Though we will not have a car for the rest of the trip I was considering renting one just for Kobe as I have heard most if not all of the signs are in english as well as japanese. Also, are there car rental facilities in downtown Kobe or would we need to rent from KIX?

Thanks

It's possible to rent a car just about anywhere. There are rental offices at larger train stations, as well as neighborhood locations. Hertz is represented quite well in Japan, though there are others. Although signs are in English, navigation is often counterintuitive. You should look into getting an English language navigations system (sometimes available), and if you can't, take a Japanese one and ask the rental agent to program in your destination for you and you'll be able to follow the map. When you need to go back, ask someone else to help you if you aren't shy, or ask the rental agent to pre program your "home" location so you can just hit one button and go there. You will need an international driver's license, available from AAA in the US.

It may or may not be a cost you will be willing to pay. The rental itself starting price is about 8000 yen per day. Gasoline is currently 167/liter for high octane in Kanazawa today, regular unleaded is about 7 yen per liter cheaper (roughly multiply by 4 and drop two places to get a dollars/gallon price...just under $6.00/gallon). Tolls are not inexpensive, with the price finder showing ¥4350 for the 50 minute drive from Kobe IC over only 2 bridges. http://www.jb-honshi.co.jp/use/ratesearch_a.html Unfortunately, I can't find this information in English for you at the moment. I used to have a brochure, but...

I see, your lodging at the Maiko Villa is right next to the bridge. Surely there is a bus that goes on the Akashi- Awaji- Naruto highway. Probably would be a stop at the bridge center. Take it across to Naruto and then you could use your JR Pass to return by rail. Not sure if you'd make it back in time to go up to Arima Onsen on the same day.

You really shouldn't try to get from Kyoto to your morning flight home. And you can't (reasonably) just blow thru Kyoto for a few hours on the 29th and stay in Tokyo that night.

Really need to consider cutting one night in Kobe to spend it in Kyoto or cut out the night on Miyajima. Or just save Kyoto for your next trip.

OR go to Kyoto much earlier and then go back to Tokyo for the game. Next day go back to Kansai area. Last year, I decided at the last minute to go to a baseball game at Tokyo Dome. I was in Nagoya. Got to the game, with much help from a Japanese guy in navigating, and went back to Nagoya that night.

As I research Kyoto further I am finding there is SO much there that we would love to do and see. And some of it (the bamboo forest and fushimi inari)seem to be further out of town. I am considering replacing the second day in Kobe with a second day in Kyoto. If not, we may, as suggested, save Kyoto for another trip.
mrwunrfl: If we do take the bus to Naruto and then take the train back to Kobe, could we do it via the seto-ohashi bridge? If so, what line would we take?
Also, still wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a kobe restaurant where we can try the infamous kobe beef.

thanks again for all the replies and suggestions.

Fushimi Inari is not really outside Kyoto. It is a few stops south of Kyoto Station.

And we went to Arashiyama and the Bamboo forest in one afternoon, got there about 2 pm, went to see the monkeys and then walked through the bamboo forest. We were back in central Kyoto by 6 pm (after catching the train going the wrong way from JR Saga station for three very very long stops that went over river gorges, and having to then turn around and go back towards Kyoto).

I didn't consider either Fushimi Inari or Arashiyama as day trips. Either can be done in a few hrs/half day.

You have to go over the Seto-Ohashi Bridge if you take the train back to Kobe. The trip would take 5 hours, maybe more. Free with your JR Pass.

I took a look at my <i>Japan By Rail</i> book. It mentioned that there is an observation station (the Gold Tower) for the S-O bridge near JR Utazu station. That is the last stop before the train goes over the bridge. The book describes the &quot;ghastly kitsch of the place&quot; and the noise of romantic ballads, then it is almost worth the price of admission. That is 1000 yen which also includes admission to the <b><font color="green">World Toilet Museum</font></b> (the signs, in Japanese, advise the museum visitors to not use them, tho they are plumbed in).

I don't know how you could pass that up. The tower visit is probably worth it to you. Plus you get to see a gold toilet with matching gold toilet room slippers.

You can search for the JR timetable at hyperdia.com . To search for Naruto timetables, use NARUTO(TOKUSHIMA) as your start point or destination. For Kobe use Kobe or Shinkobe.