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Pollyanna posted:Still tempted to schedule a trip for this April anyway, even though it’s late in the year. How feasible is it to procure things like train cards, lodging, etc. on site? I can speak and read a little so I’m sure I could buy some Suica cards if we need them, but I dunno if I could do something more complicated like renting a hotel or Before golden week? You can find stuff just using expedia or booking.com, the first time I went I didn't really plan much in advance, didn't speak Japanese and still managed to get everywhere. Lots of people do actually speak English too and renting an airbnb is easy enough in most cases. Just do it. Disregarding costs you could theoretically get on a plane tomorrow, book a few nights anywhere and you'll be fine. Train cards are extremely easy to get. From what I gathered nichoume is perfectly open to foreigners, as are most places in Japan. Shibawanko fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Jan 8, 2019 |
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Jan 8, 2019 19:58
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English is a whole lot more common than it used to be, and yeah the AirBnB apocalypse is over and anything listed on there is legal now.
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Jan 8, 2019 20:00
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Early April is rough though. Need to set up early as people go to try to see cherry blossoms and also its when everyone starts school and poo poo so parents come to send kids off etc. so accom can fill up.
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Jan 8, 2019 20:02
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Not a Children posted:My brother and I have booked all our stuff for April pretty easily. Booked all our stuff online well in advance. Can't help ya if you're asking about doing it when you get there. Thaaaaat’s annoying. I wonder why they do that. My plan was to go Tokyo -> Kyoto -> Osaka, so i think need some sort of rail pass, right? I’m not sure which, though. Grand Fromage posted:I never did much advance planning, all I would do is book my hotel rooms and figured out the travel when I got there. I did get a rail pass once but I just picked that up at the JR office in the station, I didn't have to have anything mailed to me. Showed them the email and that was it. It was a regional pass for Kansai-Hiroshima area though, not the national one. I wonder - if we might not be planning on using the rail much within a certain city (i.e. Kyoto), is it maybe more worthwhile to get rail passes for Tokyo abs Osaka instead of the national pass? Or does that not make sense? Shibawanko posted:Before golden week? You can find stuff just using expedia or booking.com, the first time I went I didn't really plan much in advance, didn't speak Japanese and still managed to get everywhere. Lots of people do actually speak English too and renting an airbnb is easy enough in most cases. Just do it. I’m not worried about getting places, that’ll be fine. Getting affairs in order will be the hard part, since I’m not expecting to mingle with the locals. quote:Disregarding costs you could theoretically get on a plane tomorrow, book a few nights anywhere and you'll be fine. Train cards are extremely easy to get. From what I gathered nichoume is perfectly open to foreigners, as are most places in Japan. I get the sense that the local Japanese keep foreigners at an arm’s length, where the former are wary of the latter. Just based on chatter I’ve seen in these threads and heard from expats. I know it obviously differs from person to person, and Nichoume is an outlier anyway, but as someone who’s baseline of interaction is fuckin’ Boston, it’s a little weird to be in a homogenous society anyway. Eh, we’ll see what happens. Edit: I guess I just don’t feel very comfortable going somewhere where the social baseline is “who the gently caress are you”. I get enough of that in the US. LimburgLimbo posted:Early April is rough though. Need to set up early as people go to try to see cherry blossoms and also its when everyone starts school and poo poo so parents come to send kids off etc. so accom can fill up. Yeah, I was hoping to hit at least a little of that, but I’m not sure how much it’ll gently caress us over. Pollyanna fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Jan 8, 2019 |
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Jan 8, 2019 22:20
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If you’re only going to use the shinkansen once or twice, it’s a better use of money to either buy the ticket outright or get a regional pass. I know that you can buy the regional passes (for JR West) in country.
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Jan 8, 2019 22:30
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Pollyanna posted:Thaaaaat’s annoying. I wonder why they do that. My plan was to go Tokyo -> Kyoto -> Osaka, so i think need some sort of rail pass, right? I’m not sure which, though. We're doing a similar trip. We're getting a normal JR pass (Literally the "JAPAN RAIL PASS") -- they're only available to tourists and let you ride most lines. You can get them in 7, 14, or 21 day lengths. If you want to save some money, I think you could get away with using a less robust train pass, but I don't really know the details on that.
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Jan 8, 2019 22:37
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Pollyanna posted:Thaaaaat’s annoying. I wonder why they do that. My plan was to go Tokyo -> Kyoto -> Osaka, so i think need some sort of rail pass, right? I’m not sure which, though. I don't think it would be worthwhile to bother with a pass for that trip. You would at least need to be doing shinkansen Tokyo to Kyoto and back for it to make sense. If you're flying into Tokyo and out of Kansai you aren't going to use it enough, and you can't get a single regional pass for both areas. You can go to Hyperdia and price out the train trips and compare that with the pass cost, but it sounds like you're better off just getting normal tickets. Pick up a IC card in Tokyo, I think theirs is the Suica, and use that for your subway/local rail trips. It's valid in Kyoto and Osaka too. E: As for your impression of Japanese culture as standoffish, I suspect you're overblowing it and that's also largely a Tokyo thing. People in Tokyo are sort of dicks and generally not going to just talk to you randomly, but everywhere else I've been in Japan is a lot friendlier. Kyoto gets so many tourists they are sort of Tokyo-ish. Osaka and Nara are easy places to meet people, as are all of the other smaller towns I've gone to. Grand Fromage fucked around with this message at 23:27 on Jan 8, 2019 |
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Jan 8, 2019 23:23
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i agree with the above post
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Jan 8, 2019 23:30
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Martytoof posted:May basho goon meet? I'm game. I'll be there May 14-27.
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Jan 8, 2019 23:31
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Grand Fromage posted:I don't think it would be worthwhile to bother with a pass for that trip. You would at least need to be doing shinkansen Tokyo to Kyoto and back for it to make sense. If you're flying into Tokyo and out of Kansai you aren't going to use it enough, and you can't get a single regional pass for both areas. Hell, if all we need are Suica cards, that works too. I dunno how flights would work if we went fly in Tokyo -> fly out Osaka, I would have expected needing to train our way back to Tokyo before leaving. quote:E: As for your impression of Japanese culture as standoffish, I suspect you're overblowing it and that's also largely a Tokyo thing. People in Tokyo are sort of dicks and generally not going to just talk to you randomly, but everywhere else I've been in Japan is a lot friendlier. Kyoto gets so many tourists they are sort of Tokyo-ish. Osaka and Nara are easy places to meet people, as are all of the other smaller towns I've gone to. I am probably overthinking it, and I’m used to big city attitudes anyway. I’m more worried about implicit discrimination and xenophobic sentiment even if it never manifests. That is not a good headspace to be in. It probably doesn’t matter that much, but I get enough of that poo poo at home, you know?
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Jan 8, 2019 23:54
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Archer666 posted:What're some good ways or sites to find & buy concert tickets? I'm looking for some lesser known/indie hard rock, visual kei and metal acts to check out when i'll be in Osaka and Tokyo.. I don't know a good calendar site, just check the pages of bands you like, see where they're playing, then check the pages of those venues...
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Jan 9, 2019 00:17
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Pollyanna posted:I am probably overthinking it, and I’m used to big city attitudes anyway. I’m more worried about implicit discrimination and xenophobic sentiment even if it never manifests. That is not a good headspace to be in. It probably doesn’t matter that much, but I get enough of that poo poo at home, you know? Lol it's Kyoto not Belarus you'll be fine
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Jan 9, 2019 00:20
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Pollyanna posted:Hell, if all we need are Suica cards, that works too. I dunno how flights would work if we went fly in Tokyo -> fly out Osaka, I would have expected needing to train our way back to Tokyo before leaving. Just do a hipmunk multi-city search, arriving in Tokyo (probably Narita, though Haneda is better if it's an option) and leaving from Kansai International. Compare to Tokyo flights + the cost of a shinkansen back from Osaka. If the cost difference is minimal it's a lot less of a pain in the rear end to just fly out of Kansai than have to spend half a day trekking back to Narita. Pollyanna posted:I am probably overthinking it, and I’m used to big city attitudes anyway. I’m more worried about implicit discrimination and xenophobic sentiment even if it never manifests. That is not a good headspace to be in. It probably doesn’t matter that much, but I get enough of that poo poo at home, you know? You're a tourist going to the three big tourist cities in Japan. No one gives a poo poo.
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Jan 9, 2019 00:34
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Pollyanna posted:I’m not worried about getting places, that’ll be fine. Getting affairs in order will be the hard part, since I’m not expecting to mingle with the locals. I don't know what the US is like really but Japan is if anything extremely welcoming. The idea that it's standoffish to foreigners originates mostly from people who had to deal with bureaucracy and the visa system, the ones who do get treated badly are from poorer Asian countries and Koreans but not westerners. The average person is really friendly and if you go into some gay bar in nichome or whatever you'll most likely find people to talk to easily.
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Jan 9, 2019 00:46
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You can for sure by any JR Pass in the country, I did just recently! You save like a whole 10USD if you pre-purchase so it's really not that much different. But like everyone else said if you're just going between Tokyo and Osaka one time it's probably not worth it. I think the cheapest regional passes start over 250USD and a one way shinkansen from tokyo to kyoto or osaka is like 140 or so? it's been a while since I did that one. but yeah echoing other stuff that most goons in this thread overplan everything to an insane extent and you can basically just show up and do whatever. lodging is the one thing that might be really expensive in april but just look on agoda or expedia or whatever. also airbnbs in japan rule? theyve all been super nice and clean in my experience. they already culled all the ones that dont have licenses to rent places so you dont have to worry about that.
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Jan 9, 2019 01:00
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Not a Children posted:We're doing a similar trip. We're getting a normal JR pass (Literally the "JAPAN RAIL PASS") -- they're only available to tourists and let you ride most lines. You can get them in 7, 14, or 21 day lengths. For Tokyo Kyoto Tokyo, this is not the greatest decision. With that much money spent, might as well go on an open jaw ticket to go home and save your self extra time
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Jan 9, 2019 01:27
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Enough snark, but you will be more than fine and enjoy the food! Don't read the bottom part I'm just being snarkyPollyanna posted:I get the sense that the local Japanese keep foreigners at an arm’s length, where the former are wary of the latter. Just based on chatter I’ve seen in these threads and heard from expats. I know it obviously differs from person to person, and Nichoume is an outlier anyway, but as someone who’s baseline of interaction is fuckin’ Boston, it’s a little weird to be in a homogenous society anyway. Eh, we’ll see what happens. Don't worry people can still be cold and mean to you because maybe you have a terrible personality and no one wants to talk to you ever!!!!!! So with lowered expectations you won't become too disappointed with service staff and interactions  Which really begs the question "why do tourists keep on returning to JAPAN" and not some country like China/Korea  caberham fucked around with this message at 01:37 on Jan 9, 2019 |
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Jan 9, 2019 01:30
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Magna Kaser posted:You can for sure by any JR Pass in the country, I did just recently! You save like a whole 10USD if you pre-purchase so it's really not that much different. Listen to this goon, he is a very smart and nice person
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Jan 9, 2019 01:31
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Trying to figure out my train situation right now. All the calculators have my itinerary as a toss-up for value so I will probably just do it and try to use the rails more while I can. Cbear posted:I'm game. I'll be there May 14-27. I'm there 8-28 with a stint in Kyoto/Nara in the middle. Definitely doing at least one day of the tournament. You should come get hyped up in the Sumo thread if you haven't yet. New tournament starts this weekend  some kinda jackal fucked around with this message at 01:42 on Jan 9, 2019 |
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Jan 9, 2019 01:38
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Chill with the worries about being mistreated in Japan and anyone from literally any other country worried about people being assholes to them. If you even leave the house and interact with a single person you don’t know in your home country you’ve probably gotten collectively more poo poo than you’ll get your entire trip.
LimburgLimbo fucked around with this message at 07:43 on Jan 9, 2019 |
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Jan 9, 2019 07:15
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Martytoof posted:Trying to figure out my train situation right now. All the calculators have my itinerary as a toss-up for value so I will probably just do it and try to use the rails more while I can. Where are you starting, where do you want to go, and for how long?
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Jan 9, 2019 07:41
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Pollyanna posted:Edit: I guess I just don’t feel very comfortable going somewhere where the social baseline is “who the gently caress are you” ...what? The Great Autismo! fucked around with this message at 10:14 on Jan 9, 2019 |
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Jan 9, 2019 08:51
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There’s no “who the gently caress are you” social baseline in Japan. They know who you are; you’re a tourist and more importantly a customer, and you’ll be treated as such, which is to say extremely courteously.
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Jan 9, 2019 08:57
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Pollyanna posted:Edit: I guess I just don’t feel very comfortable going somewhere where the social baseline is “who the gently caress are you”. I get enough of that in the US. lol
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Jan 9, 2019 10:12
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I am worried for Pollyanna in Japan considering they're the goon who doesn't know what soup is....
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Jan 9, 2019 12:12
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Xun posted:I am worried for Pollyanna in Japan considering they're the goon who doesn't know what soup is.... Haha, how could she not know that soups are wet salads?
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Jan 9, 2019 12:30
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Remember that goon who posted for months, maybe even years about how concerned he was that people would be racist to him in Japan but he never actually went to Japan or even had any plans to, and just worked himself up about nothing for months on end? Good times.
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Jan 9, 2019 12:33
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Anta wa dare?!
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Jan 9, 2019 13:01
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sale on Banksy art posted:Anta wa dare?! Nobody actually says this outside of video games n poo poo (probably) (I think) Also yes I know I am probably blowing it out of proportion. I’ll find out if I ever get there I guess cuz now mom’s got cold feet.
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Jan 9, 2019 13:42
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Phone posted:Where are you starting, where do you want to go, and for how long? Mainly Tokyo to Kyoto roundtrip, with a day trip to Nara while I'm there, all within a week. Maybe a trip to Saitama to do the railway museum if I have to squeeze value out of a pass. I mean, I'll be doing it either way but my schedule is really wide open right now other than my Kyoto/Nara trip smack dab in the middle of my stay. The calculators also factored in my travel to/from the airport but they're way too far apart, timewise, for me to use any rail pass. I'm not terribly fussed about it either way. some kinda jackal fucked around with this message at 14:43 on Jan 9, 2019 |
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Jan 9, 2019 14:36
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Pollyanna posted:Nobody actually says this outside of video games n poo poo And Nichoume.
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Jan 9, 2019 15:02
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sale on Banksy art posted:And Nichoume. Nooo
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Jan 9, 2019 15:16
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I’m not seeing anything worth considering on JR East or Central. Sorry. 
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Jan 9, 2019 15:18
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LyonsLions posted:Remember that goon who posted for months, maybe even years about how concerned he was that people would be racist to him in Japan but he never actually went to Japan or even had any plans to, and just worked himself up about nothing for months on end? Good times.
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Jan 9, 2019 17:34
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The passes are great if you happen to fall in the very narrow situations where they make sense, but that narrowness sucks the value out of them a lot of the time. Like I think a JR salaryman looks at it and thinks hm yes this is a great value when you take five shinkansen trips in a week, that's a sensible way that people will definitely travel but it's not useful if you want to actually spend any time anywhere. There's a bus pass which is a lot smarter, you get five days of unlimited travel and those days can be taken any time, rather than having a set five day window in which you can bus all you want. If the JR pass worked like that it'd be much better.
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Jan 9, 2019 17:38
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kuddles posted:I feel like 95% of the time I go on a vacation anywhere in the world, I get a lot of information online about how unwelcoming the country is to Westerners and when I go there I immediately wonder how much of a rude rear end in a top hat they must have been to have had that experience. On the contrary, you would think Japanese people get an endorphin rush every time they help out a white guy with the way they behaved. People were way more patient with me than I likely would be with helping a Japanese person who knew no English lost in my country. I mean people could always just feel obligated to be accommodating  Grand Fromage posted:The passes are great if you happen to fall in the very narrow situations where they make sense, but that narrowness sucks the value out of them a lot of the time. Like I think a JR salaryman looks at it and thinks hm yes this is a great value when you take five shinkansen trips in a week, that's a sensible way that people will definitely travel but it's not useful if you want to actually spend any time anywhere. The downside of this is that you’re on a bus and not a kickass train.
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Jan 9, 2019 17:45
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If you’re doing the Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka/Nara roundtrip, that’s the prime tourist route so it makes sense to make money where you can. It’s marginally cheaper to pick up the JR Pass versus just buying tickets outright, but the downsides are that your trip is now dictated by when your pass runs out; it funnels people into a 7 day round trip to try to hit all of the spots in Kyoto and Hiroshima and overbooking their itineraries. For regionals: For JR West, the Kansai-Hiroshima pass is 13,500 for 5 days (Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima) and the Sanyo San’in is 19,000 for 7 days (Shin-Osaka to Hakata). JR East has the East Pass (Tokyo to Niigata, Nasushiobara, Nagano/Joetsumyoko) for 17,000 for 5 days. The Tohoku-South Hokkaido is 19,000 for 5 days; get into Shin-Hakodate.
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Jan 9, 2019 17:55
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I only have four days outside of Tokyo so I'm probably fine with a seven day window. I was ready to do the bus thing but I've never done the Shinkansen before and man.. when in Japan..
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Jan 9, 2019 18:20
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Grand Fromage posted:The passes are great if you happen to fall in the very narrow situations where they make sense, but that narrowness sucks the value out of them a lot of the time. Like I think a JR salaryman looks at it and thinks hm yes this is a great value when you take five shinkansen trips in a week, that's a sensible way that people will definitely travel but it's not useful if you want to actually spend any time anywhere. My brother and I are planning a big tokyo-kyoto-hiroshima-osaka-tokyo loop over 2 weeks with a decent amount of local train travel day-to-day, so we sprung for the passes. If you're a tourist trying to cover a lot of ground it seems like a good deal. I'm hoping I can talk him out of at least one leg of the trip so we can take it a little slower but he's super gung ho on seeing a lot of different places...
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Jan 9, 2019 18:21
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Not a Children posted:My brother and I are planning a big tokyo-kyoto-hiroshima-osaka-tokyo loop over 2 weeks with a decent amount of local train travel day-to-day, so we sprung for the passes. If you're a tourist trying to cover a lot of ground it seems like a good deal. That's rough. Overstuffing a trip is the worst. Hiroshima is a chill town to hang out in but if you just want to see the atomic bomb stuff, it is possible to do that as day trip from Osaka on the shinkansen. It's only a couple hours each way. That might free up some time. Osaka and Kyoto are also essentially one city. It's possible to stay in one and do multiple daytrips to the other. I personally wouldn't do that since it's nice to be able to stay out late and not have to rush for trains, but you don't have to worry about missing stuff in Kyoto because you went to Osaka too quickly or vice versa since you can just pop back over. Grand Fromage fucked around with this message at 18:43 on Jan 9, 2019 |
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Jan 9, 2019 18:39
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