The hottest ticket in Tokyo right now is its newest attraction, and the world’s tallest tower: the Tokyo SkyTree.

Intended to be the new location from which major television stations will broadcast their television signals over the air (switched from Tokyo Tower), the Tokyo SkyTree was built in a total of four years. Construction started in 2008 (go figure, the last time I was in Japan). Three years later, it would become the world’s tallest freestanding tower at a staggering height of 2,080 feet (634 meters).

Tokyo SkyTree opened to the public on May 22, but a reservation system was in place for people to visit it. Now, millions of people have already visited the SkyTree, making it a must see destination for your next Japan vacation.

The Tokyo SkyTree is located in the Sumida Ward of Tokyo, near the Asakusa area where you can find the popular Senso-ji buddhist temple. The closest station to the SkyTree is, appropriately, Tokyo SkyTree station. It is just one station away from Asakusa station on the private Tobu railway. The fare is just 140 yen, a fare easily paid with a prepaid PASMO or Suica card. The alternative station to access the SkyTree is Oshiage station, a station on the Asakusa and Hanzomon subway lines. You could step off of the plane at either Narita or Haneda airport and potentially take a direct train to Oshiage if you wanted to.

The easiest way for foreigners to access the Tokyo SkyTree’s observation decks is with a same-day ticket. The tower is open from 8 AM to 10 PM every day. Admission costs 2,000 yen for adults to the first observation deck, and 3,000 yen for adults to the first and second observation decks. If you purchase tickets for a specific time, a 500 yen surcharge is added.

More details about the Tokyo SkyTree can be found here: http://www.tokyo-skytree.jp/en/

It’ll be quite a view of Tokyo from the country’s newest tourist jewel. It will be on my list of places on my next Tokyo visit. But then again, with the strength of the yen it’ll be quite a dent in your wallet (USD $25 for the first deck, as of Aug 9 2012). So if you really want to save your money when viewing observation decks in Tokyo, there are a few alternatives.

TOKYO TOWER: The old standby offers cheaper access to their observation decks: 820 yen to the main observatory and 1,420 yen to both observatories. http://www.tokyotower.co.jp/english/

MORI TOWER AT ROPPONGI HILLS: This busines tower offers an observatory on its top decks: 1,500 yen to the observatory and an additional 300 yen to the open-air sky deck, which is open weather-permitting. http://www.roppongihills.com/tcv/en/

TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS: West of Shinjuku Station, one or both of the two government building towers is open to the public on a daily basis. What’s more: It’s FREE. http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/TMG/observat.htm

Enjoy the view of Tokyo from up high!

Hello everyone! Here is my quick tip of the day for travel to Japan.

I’ve been to a few anime-themed conventions in my time, and at two of these I have gone to whatever panel is dedicated to people interested in visiting Japan. For some reason or another, at least HALF of the one-hour panels were spent on discussing passports and immigration. By the time the panels were ready to get deep down into Japan travel, time ran out.

If you plan on visiting Japan in the future, now is the time to take your first step. Whether you’re planning on going in two months, two years, not sure, not at all….. GET A PASSPORT. There’s no need to discuss it… Passports are good for a very long time and it’s best to start the process NOW to obtain one. It’ll be one less step to worry about in the long run!

The end. 🙂

A new version of the Japan Rail Pass restricted to the western part of Japan will go on sale this month, offered by Japan Railways to foreign visitors of Japan: The “San’yo-Shikoku-Kyushu Rail Pass”.

This new rail pass permits unlimited travel on main JR lines west of Osaka, all JR lines in Shikoku, and depending on what pass is purchased, all or part of Kyushu.

It is available as a 5 day consecutive pass for standard class travel, so if you want to travel in First Class (Green Car) then you would have to pay the appropriate surcharges.

The validity is as follows for the full version of the pass:

1) San’yo and Kyushu Shinkansen line between Shin-Osaka and the end of the line, Kagoshima-Chuo. You can use any bullet train: Nozomi, Mizuho, Sakura, Hikari, Tsubame or Kodama.

2) The main JR conventional rail line that runs along the San’yo Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka into Kyushu, mainly referred to as the San’yo Line.

3) In the Kansai area: The JR Osaka Loop Line, Yumesaki Line spur to Sakurajima, JR Tozai Line from Kyobashi to Amagasaki, JR Hanwa Line from Tennoji to Hineno and Kansai Airport (where the Haruka service runs) and spur to Higashi-Hagoromo.

4) The JR Seto-Ohashi Line from Okayama south to the island of Shikoku.

5) All JR Trains in Shikoku.

6) All JR Trains in Kyushu.

7) JR’s ferry service to Miyajima island.

So as you can see, this pass packs a punch. It costs 25,000 yen for 5 consecutive days and you can make unlimited seat reservations within the area covered by the pass.

Another version of this pass covers just the northern part of Kyushu, and costs 22,000 yen for 5 consecutive days. You can use JR lines in Kyushu as far south as Kumamoto and Oita.

If you plan to travel extensively in western Japan, then this new rail pass will prove worthy. For example if you were to travel from Shin-Osaka into almost anywhere in Kyushu and back, then this rail pass is completely justified as it will work out to be a cheaper trip.  Even a round-trip between Osaka and the historical city of Matsuyama in Shikoku would end up cheaper with the rail pass. As I have mentioned before, your goal would be to research the trains you’d want to take in advance (using an engine such as Hyperdia) and see if the cost of the trains you want to use would be more than the cost of the pass, in which case the pass is the way to go.

The advantages of this new rail pass is that you’d have access to all trains on the Shinkansen between Osaka and Kagoshima, including the Nozomi and Mizuho trains that are barred from use with the regular Japan Rail Pass. You also have the option of purchasing the rail pass while you are in Japan, in addition to purchasing an exchange order before entering the country.

Of course, the disadvantage is that the rail pass is not valid EAST of Osaka, i.e. the heavily-trafficked Tokaido Shinkansen that runs into Tokyo… in this case you will want to consider getting the regular Japan Rail Pass anyway. Another important thing you should note is that the rail pass is NOT valid for trains between Osaka and Kyoto, so you will have to pay separate fares to travel to Kyoto, either with JR or a private railway such as Hankyu or Keihan.

I would recommend this rail pass if you happen to land somewhere in western Japan and plan on doing extensive train travel within those specific regions.

Thanks for reading!

The most up-to-date version of this article (from March 2016) can be found here.

Well, we’re just a short time away from the point where the national Japan Railway timetables will go under their annual revisions. With that in mind, it’s time to revisit the Overnight by Train in Japan post that I wrote in October 2010 and share some more opinions and suggestions when it comes to using the national Japan Rail Pass for overnight travel.

Overnight trains were once a staple of the country. Many stories have been told – real and fiction – about traveling life on these trains. Regular services peaked in the 1970′s, but then came the bullet trains – then cheap overnight highway buses – then aging train equipment – that sapped most life out of these so-called “Blue Trains” (nicknamed for their color).

My original article listed the overnight trains that were remaining in the country… but as of the upcoming March 2012 timetable revision, Japan will be losing two more trains in regular service: The Nihonkai, which runs from Osaka and Kyoto along the northern coast to Aomori, and the Kitaguni which runs from Osaka and Kyoto to Niigata. These trains will be scaled back to seasonal service, meaning that it will only run during high peak travel periods, such as Golden Week or the summer months.

This will leave Japan with the following overnight trains in regular service:

From Tokyo, the Akebono, which runs north to Akita and Aomori, the Hokutosei, which runs north to Sapporo in Hokkaido, and the Cassiopeia, a deluxe sleeper train that also runs to Sapporo. Going west from Tokyo are two trains coupled together: the Sunrise Seto and Sunrise Izumo. Both arrive at Himeji and Okayama during the early morning hours. At Okayama, the Izumo goes to Kurashiki and terminates at the city of Izumo, home to Japan’s oldest Shinto shrine, while the Seto crosses to the island of Shikoku, terminating at the port town of Takamatsu.

From Osaka and Kyoto there will now be only one overnight train, the Twilight Express, running from Osaka to Sapporo. At 21 hours it is Japan’s longest train journey.

Another express train, the Hamanasu, continues to run between Aomori and Sapporo during the overnight hours.

More details about the accomodations and fares available on the overnight trains can be found in my original post. As reservations are required for many of these services, you may find yourself out of luck when you want to book one of them. After all, you can’t make reservations for any of these overnight trains until you arrive in Japan and can make the reservation at the “Midori-no-Madoguchi” – the JR ticket reservation counters.

I once again propose an alternative travel option for these overnight journeys, and it will work if you have a Japan Rail Pass. The idea? Split up your long overnight journey into an evening segment and a morning segment, stopping at an intermediate city to rest… preferably at a cheap business hotel near the station where you get off. You’ll get your own bed, your own toilet, and your own shower. And you probably won’t have to pay the higher room charges you might encounter at good hotels in your origin or destination city. Do this split journey a few times and the savings in your wallet might add up… not to mention you’ll be visiting a Japanese city you’d never think to visit in the first place. Who knows, you might even get to try something – food for example – that’s unique to that particular region or city. And remember, as long as your rail pass covers the day of travel AND the following day, your rail fare will be fully covered.

For these examples I will once again use the reputable Toyoko Inn hotel chain, which is continuing to open new hotels all the time in Japan. They have 24-hour reception, online booking in English, and check-in times are between 16:00 and 24:00, so you can arrive during the late hours. Keep in mind, Toyoko Inn reservations are cancelled and a cancellation charge is applied if you do not arrive by your scheduled time and do not contact the hotel.

Okay, let’s start brainstorming and see what we can do 🙂

TOKYO to KYOTO

The essential trip that a foreigner must take when visiting Japan for the first time. Let’s use the Japan Rail Pass and leave Tokyo at 9:30 PM on one of the final Hikari train services of the day. This train stops at Hamamatsu at 10:48, where we could go off and rest at the Toyoko Inn there (3,980 yen single; 3,490 yen p/p double occupancy)… or perhaps we could exit at Toyohashi at 11:01 and stay at the Toyoko Inn there (4,980 yen single; 3,490 yen p/p double occupancy)… Say, why don’t we just go all the way to Nagoya and stay at the Toyoko Inn that is closest to the bullet train exit? (6,730 yen single; 4,240 yen p/p double occupancy) In the morning we can leave at our leisure… if we choose to take one of the first bullet trains of the day, we could get into Kyoto before the first trains of the day from Tokyo pull in! Leave Hamamatsu at 6:32 or Toyohashi at 6:45 and we can get to Kyoto at 7:58 in the morning… or we could leave Nagoya at 6:35 and reach Kyoto in just 45 minutes!

TOKYO to TAKAMATSU (and Shikoku)

The port city of Takamatsu is one of the major cities on the Japanese island of Shikoku. Previously only accessible by ferry, Shikoku was connected to the Japanese mainland in 1988 with a series of bridges known collectively as the Great Seto Bridge. Two more bridges connecting Honshu and Shikoku would open in the late 1990’s, but the Seto Ohashi bridge is the only one able to accomodate both vehicular and railroad traffic.

JR’s “Sunrise Seto” overnight train connects Tokyo and Shikoku on a daily basis, running via Okayama over the Great Seto Bridge to Takamatsu. If you find it hard to secure an accomodation on this train and pay the hefty surcharge for a room or a bunk, why not split up the trip? Here is the overnight suggestion: Leave Tokyo at 6:30 PM on a Hikari service to Shin-Osaka. Upon arrival, transfer to the Kodama departing at 9:33 PM. The Kodama will take you to Himeji, Aioi and Okayama, all of which have Toyoko Inn hotels. The one in Himeji charges 5230 yen for a single and 3990 yen p/p double occupancy. The Aioi Toyoko Inn charges 5230 yen for a single and 3740 yen p/p double occupancy. There are three Toyoko Inns in Okayama, two of which are in close proximity to the station: The Nishi-guchi Hiroba (5230 yen single, 3740 yen p/p double occupancy) and the Higashi-guchi (5230 yen single, 3365 yen p/p double occupancy).

On the next morning, take the “Marine Liner” rapid train service to reach Takamatsu, or if you are heading to another destination on Shikoku then take one of the Limited Express trains in that direction. The first two Marine Liner trains for Takamatsu at 5:28 and 6:01, arriving Takamatsu at 6:32 and 6:56 respectively – before the 7:27 arrival of the Sunrise Seto. For a more comparable arrival time compared with the overnight train, the 6:37 Marine Liner departure from Okayama arrives in Takamatsu at 7:34. Marine Liner trains depart on a regular basis to Takamatsu so you can rest a little more on the overnight leg if you wanted to.

From Himeji, a “Sakura” train departs from Himeji at 7:20, arriving in Okayama at 7:41 – this allows you to connect to the 7:55 Marine Liner, arriving Takamatsu at 8:50. From Aioi, you can take the 7:20 “Kodama” arriving in Okayama at 7:37.  If you wake up early enough, you also have the option of taking a local train service from Himeji or Aioi into Okayama, but you’ll want to check websites such as Hyperdia for potential connections.

TOKYO to FUKUOKA (and Kyushu)

Using the above stopovers, you can also go further west into the Chugoku region of Honshu, and end up on the southern island of Kyushu. Using Okayama as a stopover point, you can catch the “Hikari” or “Sakura” to bring you to stops such as Hiroshima, Fukuoka (Hakata station), Kumamoto and Kagoshima. From Okayama the first departure to Hiroshima is a Kodama leaving at 6:10 and arriving at 7:11. The first “Sakura” service leaves Himeji at 6:54 and Okayama at 7:16, arriving Hiroshima at 7:56, Fukuoka at 9:13, Kumamoto at 9:50 and Kagoshima-Chuo at 10:49. From Aioi you can take a local train to Okayama to take this first Sakura service if it’s available, or you can leave on a Kodama at 7:20 and go one stop to Okayama to connect with the following “Sakura” service, or you can go the opposite direction to Himeji on a 6:20 Kodama service to pick up the 6:54 “Sakura” departure listed above.

TOKYO to SAPPORO (and Hokkaido)

No doubt this is a great – and extremely popular – overnight route of choice. This is a route that can be done for no extra yen, thanks to the overnight Hamanasu service that runs from Aomori, at the tip of Honshu, to Sapporo. To get to the Hamanasu, you’ll need to take a late bullet train north from Tokyo: the 6:56 PM “Hayate” to the end of the line at Shin-Aomori station. Once there, a local train will shuttle you to the main Aomori train station where you can immediately connect to the “Hamanasu” train (connection time only three minutes). You will be in Sapporo just after 6 AM the next morning.

If you want to overnight in your own room with a bed and shower – or if you can’t get Hamanasu tickets – there’s a Toyoko Inn next to Aomori station where you can stay the night (5480 yen single, 3740 yen p/p double occupancy). The first train from Aomori to Hokkaido leaves at 8:24 in the morning – with a connection in Hakodate to another train, you’ll be in Sapporo by 2 PM.

If you leave earlier from Tokyo on the other hand, you can spend the evening in Hakodate, Hokkaido: The 3:56 PM “Hayate” from Tokyo gets you in to Shin-Aomori by 7:28 PM, from which you can connect to a limited express train arriving in Hakodate at 9:41 PM. Stay at the Toyoko Inn there (4980 yen single, 3240 yen p/p double occupancy), and then depart on the first Sapporo-bound train leaving at 7:04 AM, arriving in Sapporo at 10:18 AM. As of this writing, taking the 3:56 PM “Hayate” service from Tokyo will allow you to ride the latest bullet train, the E5.

OSAKA to SAPPORO

This journey is long – but easily done with the bullet train services, thereby saving you thousands of yen that the Twilight Express would normally charge. You could stay at the Toyoko Inn in Hakodate or Aomori (listed above), or any other stop along the route of the bullet train if the price is right.

You can travel from Osaka to Sapporo at a pace that is relatively comparable to the Twilight Express if you leave from Shin-Osaka at 12:40 PM (or Kyoto at 12:56 PM) on a “Hikari” service. This will arrive in Tokyo at 3:40 PM, giving you 16 minutes to connect to the “Hayate” train service as described above. If you want an extra cushion you can leave 30 minutes earlier, giving you about 45 minutes to mull about Tokyo station.

Here’s an interesting itinerary suggestion: What if you wanted to follow the route of the Twilight Express as closely as possible and enjoy all that a view of the Sea of Japan has to offer? Let’s see what I can figure out here (and prove in the process how much of a geek I really am).

Alas, it will sadly take you up to a day and a half to do this course, and therefore you’ll need to sacrifice time… but on the other hand this first itinerary comes at little to NO cost.

Thunderbird #3, depart Osaka 7:41 AM (Shin-Osaka 7:45, Kyoto 8:11), arrive Kanazawa 10:25 AM
Hokuetsu #3, depart Kanazawa 10:34 AM, arrive Niigata 2:19 PM
72-minute layover
Inaho #7, depart Niigata 3:31 PM, arrive Akita 7:15 PM
Tsugaru #7, depart Akita 7:26 PM, arrive Aomori 10:08 PM

Upon arriving in Aomori you have the option of taking the “Hamanasu” to Sapporo, departing 10:42 PM and arriving 6:07 AM, or you can stay overnight in Aomori and leave for Hokkaido the next day at 8:24 AM, arriving in Sapporo by 2 PM.

If you want a shorter journey but an earlier arrival in Sapporo then you’ll have to sacrifice a good part of the journey along the coast – in this case you will want to break off the route on the spur that goes to Echigo-Yuzawa, connecting there to the bullet train. Note that since a section of this journey is NOT over JR tracks, you will need to pay an extra surcharge of between 2,080 and 3,580 per person depending on the class of travel.

Thunderbird #9, depart Osaka 9:12 AM (Shin-Osaka 9:16, Kyoto 9:40), arrive Kanazawa 12:01 PM
Hakutaka #13, depart Kanazawa 12:07 PM, arrive Echigo-Yuzawa 2:51 PM (extra surcharge required)
Toki #328 (bullet train), depart Echigo-Yuzawa 2:59 PM, arrive Omiya 3:54 PM
27-minute layover
Hayate #33 (bullet train), depart Omiya 4:22 PM, arrive Shin-Aomori 7:28 PM
Super Hokuto #33, depart Shin-Aomori 7:38 PM, arrive Hakodate 9:41 PM

Here you can stay in Hakodate and then continue on to Sapporo as described above, arriving at 10:18 AM.

Want a third leisurely way to travel? Take a detour through the mountains of Central Japan using the “Wide View Shinano”, which runs one daily service out of Kansai in the morning, and pay NO train surcharges:

Wide View Shinano #9, depart Osaka 8:58 AM (Shin-Osaka 9:02, Kyoto 9:25, Nagoya 11:00), arrive Nagano 1:53 PM
33-minute layover
Asama #530 (bullet train), depart Nagano 2:26 PM, arrive Omiya 3:46 PM
36-minute layover
Hayate #33 (bullet train), depart Omiya 4:22 PM, arrive Shin-Aomori 7:28 PM
Super Hokuto #33, depart Shin-Aomori 7:38 PM, arrive Hakodate 9:41 PM

Here you can stay in Hakodate and then continue on to Sapporo as described above, arriving at 10:18 AM.

For the above itinerary you can cut some time by taking the bullet train from Shin-Osaka or Kyoto to Nagoya to connect to the Wide View Shinano – Hikari #462 leaves Shin-Osaka at 9:40 AM and Kyoto at 9:56 AM, arriving in Nagoya at 10:33 AM.

Wishful thinking? Of course! If you don’t have time, use the first option of taking an afternoon bullet train departure and going via Tokyo. If you have time on your hands and want to see more of Japan at a leisurely pace, then one of the above options is for you.

Thanks for reading – now do your homework, and whatever you decide, ENJOY JAPAN!

And always remember one thing…. everything that I write is pursuant to the good ol’ DISCLAIMER which you can read by clicking on the link at the top of the page.

Welcome once again to another (far and few in between!) installment of Jose’s Japan Tips.

For this segment I will give you some tips and suggestions about travel to and from Hakone. I visited Hakone on my first trip in 2004 and did the traditional one-day “circuit” that I will describe in just a moment. Lately, the transportation system in the Hakone region has become more tourist-friendly, helping to make a potential trip – be it for a few hours or a few days – very enjoyable.

Hakone is one of Japan’s most popular tourist destinations – maybe even THE most popular. Hot springs abound, natural beauty, and of course a mountain named “Fuji” majestically lurks as a symbol of the region and the country.

How you want to enjoy yourself depends on your time available, and more importantly, how much money you would be willing to spend.

The traditional round-trip course to sample the beauty of this region is defined as follows: From the area’s major train station of Hakone Yumoto, a switchback train ride up the mountain to Gora, a cable car ride further up the mountains to Souzan, several aerial tramways to Owakudani and Togendai, a boat across Lake Ashi, and finally a bus back to Hakone Yumoto train station.

An inexpensive way of traveling around the Hakone region on your own is to purchase a Hakone Free Pass. Available in two or three-day versions, the pass gives you unlimited travel on these transit systems and many more buses that scour through the Hakone region and discounts on attractions and meals.

The Hakone Free Pass is available from Tokyo, costing 5,000 yen for 2 days or 5,500 yen for 3 days to travel from Shinjuku Station on the Odakyu Railway. This free ticket includes one round-trip between Shinjuku Station and Odawara station on regular Odakyu trains, and unlimited travel within most of the Hakone region for the term of the pass. Note that I say REGULAR trains, because if you take regular trains from Shinjuku it could take you as much as two hours to reach Hakone-Yumoto train station… so for a day trip an average of 4 hours or so can easily be eaten up on the train. On the other hand, if you pay a supplement you can travel on the Odakyu limited express train, the iconicly dubbed “Romance Car”. These trains offer more comfortable seats and in just about all cases you can stay on the train all the way to its destination. This will shave about 20 or 30 minutes off of the trip from Shinjuku, and the surcharge is 870 yen each way. So if you were to use a Romance Car both ways, your total cost would be 6,740 yen and 7,240 yen respectively.

On the other hand, Hakone Free Pass tickets also exist from Odawara station, which not only is a stop on Odakyu Railway but also a gateway station on the iconic bullet train. A Hakone Free Pass from Odawara station is 3,900 yen for 2 days and 4,400 yen for 3 days. With this particular Free Pass your travel would have to originate from Odawara station, but you would still get the unlimited travel privileges and discounts in the region. This Odawara starting option is great for holders of the Japan Rail Pass, who can whisk themselves directly to Odawara on a bullet train instead of having to take slower Odakyu trains.

Hakone has an extensive bus network, and nearly all of its bus routes are now letter coded for the benefit of tourists. This color coding can be seen by visiting the Hakone Navi web site and reading the tourist bus map. The bus map easily shows the names of bus stops around the region, and can be beneficial if visiting a hotel or resort as you can get a sense of what bus you should take and where you should get off.

Here are the bus lines that I feel are the most important: First is the H bus, which is a frequent bus that runs from Odawara and Hakone Yumoto to the south part of Lake Ashi making many stops along the way. Once off of the sightseeing boats an H bus can get you back to your starting point. If you are lucky, though, you may be able to pick up the occasional R bus, which is an express bus that travels between the south of Lake Ashi and Hakone-Yumoto/Odawara via the Hakone Toll Road in a faster time than the H bus. Finally, if you want to take in a piece of old history, the K bus uses a third route along the Old Tokaido Road, which was the route that the Japanese used centuries ago to travel between Edo (now Tokyo) and Kyoto.

If you are interested in staying in the Hakone region, perhaps at an onsen hotel, then you will want to check a few web sites and do comparison shopping to find the place that’s best for you. My suggestions: go to Google Maps and search for “Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan”. Then zoom in on the Hakone region and do another search for “Hotel” or “Ryokan”. This will give you a few options. Alternatively you can use Rakuten and Japanican which can usually give you some good deals.

If you are looking for a tour package to visit Hakone, then you may want to consider those offered by JTB, including their flagship one-day tour of Mount Fuji and Hakone. The base tour from Tokyo costs 13,000 yen per person and includes bus transportation to Mount Fuji, sightseeing, lunch, then a trip to Lake Ashi where you can take an aerial tram to Mount Komagatake for more sightseeing before finally heading back to Tokyo by bus. A cheaper option exists at 11,000 yen but the option does not include lunch.

There are several variants of this JTB tour. One option is to “Return by Shinkansen” which increases the cost to 16,000 yen (or 14,000 yen without lunch), but includes return tickets to Tokyo by bullet train. Another option is to “Disband at Odawara” which costs the same as the standard tours, only here you exit the tour at Odawara station and continue on your own; if you have a Japan Rail Pass you can head back to Tokyo on your own, or you can head the other direction and head towards Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka to continue your journey in Japan.

Appealing, though, are packages that include the tour and an overnight stay in the region. For 26,000 yen per person double occupancy you can combine the Mount Fuji-Hakone tour with an overnight stay in a western-style room at Hotel Kowaki-en. For 39,000 yen double occupancy you can stay in a Japanese-style room at Yunohana Onsen. If you want a change of pace, for between 29 and 30,000 yen per person double occupancy you can do the tour and spend a night at an onsen hotel on the Izu peninsula, which has a charm of its own and commands some very scenic views. These Izu hotel options offer a bullet train transfer to Shizuoka at the end of the trip, or a bullet train ride back to Tokyo.

Finally, this particular tour is also included in the longer travel packages offered by JTB. All of the JTB packages can be reviewed on Japanican‘s web site.

That’s about all for now… hopefully I’ll provide some more travel ideas and review some Japan travel deals in my next post. ^_^

I’m pleased to announce that on Sunday November 6 at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time I will be taking to the airwaves on my radio station, Extreme Anime Radio, with what I believe to be my third live Japan Travel Show. If you’ve ever wanted to visit Japan and need some tips on what to do, where to go, where to stay and how to get around, then please tune in. I will be answering questions from people who write on Extreme Anime Radio’s Facebook page, and will also answer questions asked in the station’s Chatroom on Rizon. I might even give away a few prizes to some lucky participants!

Here are the links to the Japan Travel Show. I hope you can join me on Sunday November 6 at 7 PM Eastern!

Japan Travel Show Web Page

Extreme Anime Radio Facebook Page

Extreme Anime Radio Facebook Event Page

Extreme Anime Radio Website

Extreme Anime Radio Tune-In Links (Loudcity)

Extreme Anime Radio Chatroom Access

Greetings to all viewers of my Japan Tips blog. It’s September 2011, about three months or so since my last blog post. Many events have happened personally over the last 3 months which is why I’m tardy in this post. A big thank you to everyone for supporting this blog and a special thank you to those who have kept me informed about the travel situation in Japan.

As I write this blog on September 23, 2011, there are good and bad things about visiting the wonderful country of Japan. The good is that most of Japan is back to normal following the March earthquake and tsunami. Tourism areas – except some directly affected by said disaster – are back to normal. The demand for electricity has passed the summer peak, and train services that had been cutting back and using power saving measures have returned to their regular timetables. All Narita Express and Skyliner trains, for example, have resumed normal service, and in fact as of Today the Tohoku Shinkansen, which suffered significant damage, completes all repairs in a span of 195 days and returns to a regular operating timetable.

Then there is the bad, which some people like myself find hard to fathom. With the way the economy is, the US Dollar is so weak and the Japanese Yen is so strong. The latest check as of this writing was 76.26 yen to the dollar. There appears to be little chance that the yen will reverse course against the dollar in the short term, which leaves serious questions about whether or not a trip to Japan is feasible at this time. If you have lots of money, then it’s a consideration. If not, then you may have to wait for the economy to rebound – or if you really have the passion or desire to go, you will have to search all around the Internet to get the best deals for your trip. You may have to make some sacrifices – for example, spending your entire trip in Tokyo instead of venturing out into other cities for example.

Airfare is perhaps the biggest cost that one will face at the moment, which is why a prospective tourist may want to look into frequent flyer programs and credit cards that come with them. A plus is that some airlines are now offering special perks for using their credit card: for example Delta Air Lines Gold Credit Card holders now have the benefit of priority boarding even if they are sitting in the middle of Economy… which is good if you want to jump on board and snatch that space in the overhead luggage bin before somebody else does.

Here are some of the sample airfares that I have looked up from New York and Los Angeles. From New York the lowest airfare at the moment is offered by Japan Airlines at $1147 + taxes (Approx $1243) for travel by December 15. Interestingly enough the lowest fare I quoted for that round trip was broken down as $477 for the airfare, $670 in fuel surcharges, and the rest in other taxes (PFC’s, etc). After that you’ll be looking to spend at least $1300 to travel to Tokyo by way of Delta Airlines. From Los Angeles Korean Air offers the cheapest round trip fare at $710 + tax for travel through November 15, thereafter going up to $779 for travel through December 8. It’s important to note that these airfares will likely go down a little bit starting in October when lower fuel surcharges go into effect.

Can we find a deal that’s somewhat more reasonable? A search on Kayak gives us a trip to Tokyo on Air China, flying from New York and flying via Beijing. A random query in November offers a round-trip for $927 including taxes on Vayama.com. Note however that this round trip takes an incredible amount of time… you leave New York on Day 1, arrive in Beijing at night on Day 2, then stay overnight in Beijing and then depart for Tokyo on Day 3. A similar situation exists on the return trip. The benefit is, of course, the lower fare… also keep in mind that if you connect in Beijing you do not require some sort of Chinese visa.

In the past we have mentioned that a second option exists for visits to Tokyo – flying to the closer Haneda airport instead of Narita. Air China offers flights to Haneda from Beijing at a reasonable hour compared to nonstops from the US that generally arrive in Haneda very late in the evening.

What about flying into another airport on another airline? China Airlines offers a November trip from New York to Osaka’s Kansai Airport for $1030 including all taxes and fees… this is a service that was initiated a few months ago on China Airlines, which flies three times per week from New York nonstop to Osaka, then on to Taiwan. You can find the same trip for flying in January. You can then use the money saved on something like the Japan Rail Pass to travel to Tokyo or anywhere around Japan.

Now that the airfare is settled, it’s time to look into hotels. With the way the economy is going, what seems to be a budget option may in fact turn out to be a huge expense… a business hotel that runs 7,500 yen per night, for example, will set you back $100. Once again, check carefully. Now is a good time to search for hotels, as Japan is recovering from the March Earthquake and Tsunami and is attempting to lure prospective travelers with interesting deals. You can search through my earlier blog articles for the different types of accomodations that are available.

For Transportation, you will want to make a list of destinations that you would like to visit, then see if purchasing some sort of rail pass or discount ticket will make the cost cheaper for you. The Japan Rail Pass is good for making a lot of train trips in a short amount of time, but if you plan to focus on a specific area of Japan, then something like an all-day city bus or train pass may do the trick. Also, if you have lots of time on your hands, Willer Express offers the Japan Bus Pass, which allows you to take a certain number of long-distance bus journeys at very low rates.

If you do decide to get a Japan Rail Pass, then I continue to offer the suggestion of doing a split overnight trip to your next long-range destination. For a long-distance journey from Tokyo, for example, you can take an evening bullet train and stop at a non-descript city where you are likely to find cheap, no-frills accomodations before continuing to your destination on the first train the next day.

I now offer updated example itineraries of my… er… example.

TOKYO west to KANSAI (i.e. Kyoto, Osaka)
Leave on a Hikari service departing Tokyo at 8:03 PM, arriving in Hamamatsu at 9:38 PM. Stay at the Toyoko Inn in Hamamatsu for as low as 4000 yen for a solo traveller or 3500 yen per person double occupancy. In the morning, leave on the 6:32 AM Kodama service which will get you to Kyoto just before 8 AM, and Shin-Osaka just before 8:15 AM. You can just hop onto almost any car of the Kodama train with your rail pass, as the seats are unreserved except for First Class (Green Class)… if you have a Green Car rail pass, reserving the Green Car for this service is the plan.

TOKYO west to CHUGOKU, KYUSHU and SHIKOKU (i.e. Hiroshima, Fukuoka)
Leave on a Hikari service departing Tokyo at 6:03 PM, and arrive in the city of Aioi (which is not one of the top cities that comes up in tourism books) at 10:07 PM. A new Toyoko Inn just opened near there offering rooms for as low as 4980 yen solo or 3740 yen per person double occupancy. The first bullet train, a Kodama, leaves from Aioi at 6:50 AM; a quick connection at the next station – Okayama – to a Hikari service will bring you onward to Hiroshima and Fukuoka on the island of Kyushu. Change at Fukuyama Station instead and you can pick up the Sakura service that runs further into Kyushu; you can get all the way down to Kagoshima by 11:30 in the morning. A transfer at Okayama will also get you to the trains that run across the Seto Sea to the island of Shikoku.

TOKYO north to HOKKAIDO
Leave on a Hayate service departing Tokyo at 7:56 PM, and arrive at Hachinohe at 10 PM. Stay at Hachinohe’s Toyoko Inn for 4480 yen per solo traveller or 3240 yen per person double occupancy. The next morning take the 7:28 AM all stations Hayate to Shin-Aomori, then connect to the Super Hakucho which will bring you to Hakodate, at the southern part of Hokkaido, by 10:30 AM.

I am more than happy to answer any questions about travel to Japan. Although I haven’t done much actual travel in Japan, I research everything about Japan travel in my spare time and so I will do my best to find the answers to any questions.

Thanks for reading. Ganbare Nippon!