Going To Japan Need Your Help Please

[Beer Baron]

MOS Burger. they are around. you'll find one in tokyo. there are not heaps, but there is a couple in shinjuku. definitely get the cheeseburger, or the mos cheeseburger. both favourites.

i've stayed in a couple places in osaka over the years. favourite was the hilton. it's a great hotel. it's in umeda which is a good base in osaka. http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/OSAH...Q&WT.srch=1

as for tokyo I also quite like staying in roppongi. I really like the somerset roppongi. it's just down from roppongi crossing, it's appartments though not a real hotel. but the rooms are awesome, views are great and the location is excellent. http://www.somerset.com/en/japan/tokyo/som...t_roppongi.html

and I never book using asiarooms. I have years ago. but they suck. they are fine if everything works perfectly and you don't need any changes etc. but if you need somethnig from them, or the plan deviates, or something goes wrong, then you're fked. their little slave centre/call centre in thailand wont do sht to help you, and their cancellation policies etc are BS. japan hotels online is good.

[Beer Baron]

they do have the somerset on asia rooms though. http://www.asiarooms.com/japan/tokyo/somerset_roppongi.html

and the osaka hilton. http://www.asiarooms.com/japan/osaka/hilton.html

lol, I remember back in 2007 or maybe it was 2006. in november I got a PS3 at the japanese launch in tokyo. the next day I was down in osaka, spent the day shopping, osaka castle etc, then that night went out to watch some street drift and togue etc. got back late to the hotel, GF was asleep I plugged in the PS3 and played it for the first time on the LCD in my hotel room. sat there drinking malts beer and chu-hi till early morning playing ridge racer and resistance on one of the first thousand or so PS3s ever made. that was a nice memory. everywhere I went in japan with that big PS3 box people would say wow! PS3 where did you get it? it was a big deal at the time as they all sold out in minutes and people were queued for kilometers around any shop that had them. when I got it back to aus people were even more shocked.

[afunk]

none taken but yea i should have checked first thanks .

[Munkyb0y]

thanks for the tips

ive booked a room in narita for the first night (the flight gets in fairly late).

next 3 nights in shinjuku

and then i think its off to osaka and kyoto and ???

what other cities should i consider for a well rounded feel of japan?

its 12 nights all up, and i have to end in tokyo for the flight out of narita. we will have a 14 day JR pass, and hope to use it for all our domestic travel.

[Beer Baron]

sadly if you're going a long way you can't use the JR pass for the good bullet trains (ie nozomi 300 and 500 class trains which are the best) and you can't use it for green car unless you buy the green car pass. and yes japanese ticket inspectors are on every train, they wont fine you but they will kick you off or make you pay the fare. and if you are going tokyo to osaka, then you really do want to use the fast nozomi shinkansen as it's one of those must do things. sadly a good ticket can cost up to and over 10,000yen each way depending on where you're!! ouch.

[Munkyb0y]

sadly if you're going a long way you can't use the JR pass for the good bullet trains (ie nozomi 300 and 500 class trains which are the best) and you can't use it for green car unless you buy the green car pass. and yes japanese ticket inspectors are on every train, they wont fine you but they will kick you off or make you pay the fare. and if you are going tokyo to osaka, then you really do want to use the fast nozomi shinkansen as it's one of those must do things. sadly a good ticket can cost up to and over 10,000yen each way depending on where you're!! ouch.

But i can still use the JR pass to get there, right?. But i'll have to settle for a less exctiing/slower train? Please tell me yes, coz those damn passes just cost us $700AUD each. grrrr

Does the JR pass work on other transport aswell, such as buses and ferry? I think i read it does, and then i couldnt find where i saw that lol.

Also, cities. which ones would you squeeze in if you had to choose?

again, thanks for the info.

[Beer Baron]

JR pass only works on JR trains. unfortunately there are lots of other train companies in japan. and within tokyo the best way to get around is subway (of course NOT JR).

yes you can use the JR pass to get from tokyo to osaka, but as you guessed on a slower/less flash train.

personally I bought passes twice but then gave up on them. once I bought one of the 14 day ones. and once one of the flexi pass type ones (you can use 1 day on, one day off). they are only good value if you spend every bloody day travelling somewhere on a train. and do about 10 trips a day and all of those trains have to be JR owned. since I couldn't use them on the nozomi shinkansen which is the way to travel between tokyo-osaka-kyoto-kyushu I thought bugger that. plus in tokyo using the metro is awesome, but again, even if you have a JR pass if doesn't work on the metro so you have to pay again for that. and for example if you go out to fuji speedway, the quickest way out there is not on a JR line. same thing when you go to miyajima, in that case the only train that goes there is NOT JR. so I found even with the bloody million dollar JR pass I was paying for about half the train/metro/shinkansen trips I wanted to take. sure in lots of case I could use a less convenient option, but what's the point of that. $700 buys a lot of train tickets......

as for bus and ferry.... well you only need the bus way out in the burbs and if you don't speak and read japanese it will be hard to use. it's no where near as common as in aus, because in japan there is always a train/metro/mono-rail/light rail etc instead. and I've never been on a ferry in japan. there surely is some, but i've no idea if they are JR or not. personally I would skip the rail pass. you'll be pissed off if you don't use it all of it's days, and end up spending money on metro etc too. better off to have the $700 and money can buy you a ticket on any company train or whatever you like. just my opinion though. if you plan on using exclusively JR trains, and want to spend hours of each day on them then sure it's cheaper.

[Munkyb0y]

oh crap. you're freaking me out man!! i just told the agent to cancel the JR for now... just in time.

so many people told me thats the best way to go. i'm going to have to do the sums and see if it's actually cheaper, or better to just pay for trains as i go. if it comes to around 700 anyway, or cheaper even, might be best.

[Beer Baron]

yeah, please don't take my word as gospel. but I just don't see the value in the pass. you lock yourself in to $700 worth of trains, and if you don't use it, you lose it. pay as you go has served me better as in tokyo I use a lot of metro (not JR). and when going long trips I would want the nozomi shinkansen (over 300km/h in some sections!). and some days you wont be catching any trains, but your pass ticks over another day regardless.

buying tickets is a piece of cake too. you can easily work out the cost, or if you can't be bothered or aren't sure you just buy the cheapest ticket, then use the fare adjustment machine at the other end and pay the difference.

with JR pass you are confined to JR trains. without it you can use metro, JR, mono-rails, light rail, the cool shinkansen, and any day you don't use a train you don't pay any money.

there are trip planning sites where you can enter in some trips and see what type of trains they use and how much it costs etc to get some idea.

[Rezz]

Riding on the 270km/h Hikari isn't that bad... just being able to use high speed rail from Tokyo through to Hakata (Kyushu) and back again would be reason enough to get the JR pass IMO. But that's just me and I'm not doing any currency conversion...

Munkyboy: if you're going to Osaka/Kobe/Kyoto/Nara, get a "Kansai Thru Pass" http://www.surutto.com/conts/ticket/3dayeng/index.html

It's a 2 or 3 day ticket that allows you to use all private (non JR) rail and subways in the Kansai area. It will help out with the problems Beer Baron mentioned about the JR pass. Not sure what the Kanto (Tokyo) pass is called/how much.

[Munkyb0y]

Cheers Rezz

We're going to Osaka and Kyoto, and will probably try to make at least 2 or 3 more cities besides Tokyo. So the JR pass is looking good...or is it?

I will definately look into the Kansai Pass too. But then you'd think a similar pass for Tokyo would be wise. Man, who knew public transport would end up costing twice as much as the flight. lol

Edited May 7, 2009 by Munkyb0y

[joc469]

I absolutely hate using public transport at home, but was surprised at how much I used and how much I spent on train fares when I was over in Japan.

[Rezz]

We're going to Osaka and Kyoto, and will probably try to make at least 2 or 3 more cities besides Tokyo. So the JR pass is looking good...or is it?

Make a definite plan of where you'll be going and do a cost comparison bewteen just the JR pass and how much it'd be if you just bought "Thru Passes" for each region (Kanto, Kansai, Kyushu) and bought the shinkansen tickets as you needed them. But as BB said there'll be days where you don't use passes, only use the subway, change of plans etc... it's hard to say.

[R-PWR]

Man my trip was sweet as, about to leave back for Aus now, I just got a suica card and traveled around tokyo way way cheaper than JR pass and alot more flexibilty. Obviously if you were going to Osaka etc then you benefit from JR rail pass. Man the whole trip 14 days for 2 ppl cost us AUS $2300 man did it really cheaply stayed if 4-5 star hotels for $110 aud a night, thats what happens when you have a bargain hunter wife

[Beer Baron]

yep, I've had a suica card for about 4 years now and it is easy. makes you look like less of a noob too instead of pulling out the giant JR pass and showing it to the card you just use the suica card like everyone else.

[Munkyb0y]

whats a suica card?

is that for the tokyo area?

and DR ENVY, where the hell did you find 4 star hotels for $110 per night!!!???

PM me when you get back.

[pear]

and DR ENVY, where the hell did you find 4 star hotels for $110 per night!!!???

PM me when you get back.

don't PM, post it please!

I've got to find a hotel room for 3 adults & small 2 kids. I'm thinking the cost is going to kill me!

The only 'family' rooms seem to be near Disneyland.

anyone with tips for Family travel / hotels?

[AGE]

I think i'll be staying here when i go back....

http://www.sakura-hotel-hatagaya.com/index.php

Looks ok, and i like to be close to Shinjuku.

And on the JR pass thing, i worked it out and i think got good use out of mine. I bought a 7 day'r, and i traveled from Tokyo to Osaka, then a day trip to Hiroshima, then back to Osaka, and then back to Tokyo.

The JR pass in Tokyo pretty much works only on the Yamanote line....the rest are Tokyo Metro lines.

This website will help....

http://www.tokyometro.jp/global/en/travel/index.html

[Munkyb0y]

yes! i think i'm going to go with the 7 day pass, and have it validated just before i leave tokyo for kyoto. then we can travel around to wherever,and then get back to tokyo and spend some more time there.

so whats the pass to use for tokyo metro? is there a 5 day pass? is the suica card the way to go? does that cover yokahama?

ive looked and confused myself a bit, and now i'm just lazy lol.

[Beer Baron]

I have found a pass that works on trains, subways, vending machines, planes, bars, brothels, ramen, and mos burger. it's called yen. carry lots of it. it's the one pass you need.