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some kinda jackal posted:Welp, pulled the trigger on May 5-28 2023 since I need to lock in my availability for work projects in FY23 and plan any extra resourcing, so this was as good a time as any. The number keeps going down, so give it a few weeks of scary foreign tour groups not causing a major up-swing and we should have visa-waiver normality on the horizon. Would hope May ‘23 is safe at this rate.
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Jun 14, 2022 12:10
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Full scale tourists for the Autumn I think. At the very least we will know when it will happen by then.
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Jun 14, 2022 12:17
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Well I'm still booking everything fully refundable so no real issue other than "ah geez not again" if I have to bail, though I predict we'll be good after whatever hiccups from tour-group-trial are ironed out. As a bonus, AirBnB seem to be super cheap right now, a year out, with the weak yen. I'm not sure how the price will fluctuate down the road, but right now I'm able to book for probably 2/3rds of what I paid last time, and pretty happy to lock those rates in speculatively.
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Jun 14, 2022 12:58
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Welp dad talked me into the Nakahechi. ~4 days of nature hiking in Wakayama  im going to dieI’m still gonna fit Shikoku in, but I heard that ferries might not be running.  It would be ideal if we can just ferry over to Tokushima afterwards. Otherwise I suppose we could bus on over to Osaka and catch trains from there.
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Jun 15, 2022 02:42
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I’ve seen what if videos for if a Shinkansen line went from Osaka past Kansai Airport through a tunnel through the Kitan Strait to Awaji Island and Shikoku and wouldn’t that be swell (e: to clarify, an undersea tunnel like the Seikan tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaido or the ones between Shimonoseki and Kitakyushu)
Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 04:06 on Jun 15, 2022 |
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Jun 15, 2022 03:41
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Like half the fun of the train is everything outside the train what.
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Jun 15, 2022 03:59
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Pollyanna posted:Like half the fun of the train is everything outside the train what. Yes but that’d be an awful long bridge, so a tunnel could be useful. Shikoku and Okinawa are the two areas without any real Shinkansen service from memory, so adding it that way could be interesting. (Okinawa barely has any train coverage so it’s almost fully reliant on cars, belying it’s background as a post-war US territory developed as such)
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Jun 15, 2022 04:14
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That bit of ocean between Tokushima and Kansai is famous for whirlpools and weird currents. I would not want to build a tunnel there.
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Jun 15, 2022 04:17
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The ruling party is waiting for the upper house elections to happen. They will open things up, probably close to full bore, the second the polls close.
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Jun 15, 2022 08:55
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Mr. Fix It posted:The ruling party is waiting for the upper house elections to happen. They will open things up, probably close to full bore, the second the polls close. No, we have to go on Twitter and pretend that guided tours are how it's supposed to be forever and it's anti-human rights and North Korea etc.
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Jun 15, 2022 09:03
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Just walking through some shower thoughts this morning. I fly into HND but I'm aiming to start my trip in Osaka this time around, so I'm probably going to immediately pile into the shinkansen. I fly in on the last Friday of golden week and land at 16:00. I'm sure it'll be FINE and walk-on tickets are aplenty, but also I can just get a hotel in Tokyo for that night and do a sane non-rushed shinkansen trip on Saturday. Was hoping to get all my long and boring travel out of the way in one day -- I just sat on the plane for thirteen hours, what's another three? But then that means super late checkin to my Osaka stay, and doesn't take into account any crowding or delays or my dumb jetlagged rear end getting on the wrong train on the way to Shinagawa or something. The more I talk it out, the more I think I should just grab an airbnb around Haneda, go load up on Ozeki, and chill out until Saturday where I can not stress.
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Jun 15, 2022 11:37
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Stay overnight imo
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Jun 15, 2022 12:38
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peanut posted:That bit of ocean between Tokushima and Kansai is famous for whirlpools and weird currents. I would not want to build a tunnel there. there's already space for railway tracks on the bottom deck of the naruto bridge, which could be usable for a shinkansen the main problem from what i read is that the akashi kaikyo bridge can't support the weight of railway tracks, and that while it's possible to build a tunnel underneath the kitan strait between wakayama and awaji island, it would take decades and also be really expensive just going off the example set by the seikan tunnel, which has a similar length and depth below sea level
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Jun 15, 2022 12:39
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I would just fly to Osaka.
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Jun 15, 2022 12:47
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Another reason why Shikoku will never get a shinkansen is that most sections of JR only have one track. The trains are timed perfectly so one train will wait at a station until the other train arrives or passes by. There is one slow train and one express train each way per hour.
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Jun 15, 2022 12:48
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i'm not sure if that's a reason since the shinkansen runs on a different gauge from conventional JR trains and they can't share tracks anyway with few exceptions in the tohoku region; JR shikoku, the prefectures, and the national government would have to foot the bill to build new shinkansen gauge tracks. though i'm sure "who really wants to take a shinkansen from osaka to shikoku's cities" is a question that the boosters have to grapple with
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Jun 15, 2022 12:59
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some kinda jackal posted:Just walking through some shower thoughts this morning. I fly into HND but I'm aiming to start my trip in Osaka this time around, so I'm probably going to immediately pile into the shinkansen. I fly in on the last Friday of golden week and land at 16:00. I'm sure it'll be FINE and walk-on tickets are aplenty, but also I can just get a hotel in Tokyo for that night and do a sane non-rushed shinkansen trip on Saturday. There's also the night bus. I love the night bus. No worries about changing trains or dragging luggage around stations, just go to sleep and when you wake up, you're there. The buses are also way more comfortable than they used to be 10+ years ago.
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Jun 15, 2022 23:09
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Pollyanna posted:Like half the fun of the train is everything outside the train what. It depends on what train. I rode from Fukuoka > Osaka once and a lot of it wasn't fun. Constant tunnels. Tokyo > Osaka is pretty awesome, though. Especially on a clear day when you fly by Fuji. Can't speak for other lines.
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Jun 15, 2022 23:40
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apparently most of the shinkansen lines built from 1972 onward have much more tunnels, due to excavating technology being much better than when the tokaido shikansen was built, there being much more mountains along the san'yo corridor and other regions where they've been built compared to the tokaido shinkansen's route, tunnels enabling less curvy routes and thus higher speeds, and also if a train is going at 300 km/h in a tunnel nobody's going to be around to complain about it being loud something like 80% of the route from shin hakodate hokuto to sapporo is going to run through tunnels, and like 86% of the maglev train from shinagawa to nagoya will be in tunnels Jerry Manderbilt fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Jun 16, 2022 |
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Jun 16, 2022 01:12
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I used to live about 100 feet from the Sanyo Shinkansen and you couldn't hear a drat thing because the soundwall is so good. It's quieter than a regular train line.
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Jun 16, 2022 02:22
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some kinda jackal posted:Just walking through some shower thoughts this morning. I fly into HND but I'm aiming to start my trip in Osaka this time around, so I'm probably going to immediately pile into the shinkansen. I fly in on the last Friday of golden week and land at 16:00. I'm sure it'll be FINE and walk-on tickets are aplenty, but also I can just get a hotel in Tokyo for that night and do a sane non-rushed shinkansen trip on Saturday. I always suggest people go straight on. It won't be that late in Osaka and you'll be fine if you just get a reserved seat.
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Jun 16, 2022 06:43
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totalnewbie posted:I always suggest people go straight on. It won't be that late in Osaka and you'll be fine if you just get a reserved seat. Only concern about reserving is that I'm not sure if I can account for airport delays post-COVID. I have plenty of time to see how this shakes out, but the more I think about it the more I think I'll probably just get a hotel or airbnb right around the airport or shinagawa and take a load off, at least for this first trip back after two years. For the record if this was my 2020 trip I think I would have just pushed ahead and taken a shot at a standby shinkansen ticket. I don't want to discount the night bus or flying, and I haven't yet. The night bus I'm debating in my mind since it seems fairly safe, I can be pretty sure my disembarking or delays won't amount to like, six hours or however long it would take to miss night bus departure. Flying is more dicey since I'd have to book a ticket and if I want to play it safe it would have to be a late afternoon or evening ticket, and I'd be getting in fairly late so other than "faster" it has all the same travel down sides as the shinkansen in my case. I think both will be really good options for the return trip though, if I don't end up getting the JR pass. JR pass is another consideration for leaving Saturday. I think my plan is to get the 21 day since I want to stretch my legs a little this trip and do a few day trips from both Osaka and Tokyo. I forgot how late the JRpass counter is open but I might be cutting it close, vs just chilling out until Saturday and exchanging it at a leisurely pace and getting whatever standby shinkansen ticket I can catch in the morning, get to Osaka early afternoon to check into my airbnb. I'm talking it out and that makes a lot more sense just to avoid the rush. I do lose basically half a day of "doing stuff" just getting off the flight and getting to Osaka but if I'm being honest it's half a day that I'm going to be absolutely jetlagged and groggy so this is fine.
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Jun 16, 2022 11:30
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I will say this. Do not take a night bus ever unless money is that much of a factor and if you flew here it is most certainly not.
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Jun 16, 2022 12:25
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The JR pass counter closes pretty early iirc so if it would be pretty much impossible to get a JR pass on the night you land in since the nearest one would be Shinagawa station.
Zettace fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Jun 16, 2022 |
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Jun 16, 2022 17:29
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A night bus trip is never "good", they can only ever be "fine" or "terrible", and being cheaper than both a train and hotel combined pushes a lot of those terrible trips into the realm of fine.
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Jun 16, 2022 17:31
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tokyo to osaka is like a 60 min flight and costs like $80 (used to at least)
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Jun 16, 2022 18:48
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Yeah I think the flight from Boston I’m looking at goes straight to KIX, no HND or NRT.
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Jun 16, 2022 21:08
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Pollyanna posted:Yeah I think the flight from Boston I’m looking at goes straight to KIX, no HND or NRT. That's way better, OP. Always do KIX if you can.
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Jun 16, 2022 21:35
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Haneda's great if you're going to Tokyo. Just don't go to Narita if you can avoid it.
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Jun 16, 2022 21:42
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Zettace posted:The JR pass counter closes pretty early iirc so if it would be pretty much impossible to get a JR pass on the night you land in since the nearest one would be Shinagawa station. There's a counter in Haneda airport that closes at 8 PM. For me, going straight on is more about the fact that I'm already in travel mode, with everything I need for traveling at hand, skip some unpack/pack, etc. But that's just my feeling. Nothing wrong with staying overnight if that's what you want to do.
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Jun 16, 2022 22:04
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Narita reminds me Daniel K Inouye airport in Honolulu And that's not a good thing
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Jun 16, 2022 22:27
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I’m planning out the Shikoku northern coast leg of our trip. We’ll be doing the Kumano Kodo after all, and I’m hoping to take the Nankai ferry from Wakayama to Tokushima. Getting from Tokushima to Matsuyama via public transport looks incredibly lame. I’m halfway tempted to explore renting a car in Tokushima and road tripping along the coast instead.  Driving on the left side intimidates me, though. Maybe I’ll get my dad to do it. Good idea/bad idea? Can you rent a car in Tokushima, anyway? Or I suppose I should ask, can I rent a car in Tokushima? I think I heard something about them not being fully available.
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Jun 16, 2022 23:04
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Grand Fromage posted:Haneda's great if you're going to Tokyo. Just don't go to Narita if you can avoid it. Wait, I was gonna fly into Narita and stay in Shinjuku when I visit (been on hold since COVID, but hoping for Spring of 2023)... Is this like a JFK/Newark situation, and Narita should be avoided?
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Jun 16, 2022 23:26
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Ham Equity posted:Wait, I was gonna fly into Narita and stay in Shinjuku when I visit (been on hold since COVID, but hoping for Spring of 2023)... Is this like a JFK/Newark situation, and Narita should be avoided? I don’t know what that means but Narita is not in Tokyo.
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Jun 16, 2022 23:33
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Narita is fine, it's just massive and far compared to Haneda. Most flights arrive at Narita. Yes, Shikoku has rental cars, and also stoplights* and electricity. * In most cities
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Jun 16, 2022 23:49
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Ham Equity posted:Wait, I was gonna fly into Narita and stay in Shinjuku when I visit (been on hold since COVID, but hoping for Spring of 2023)... Is this like a JFK/Newark situation, and Narita should be avoided? Narita just sucks and is far away from the city. If it's where your flight goes then whatever, but if it's all the same Haneda is always the better choice. If it's significantly cheaper I'd go to Narita.
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Jun 16, 2022 23:59
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Ham Equity posted:Wait, I was gonna fly into Narita and stay in Shinjuku when I visit (been on hold since COVID, but hoping for Spring of 2023)... Is this like a JFK/Newark situation, and Narita should be avoided? Narita is fine, it’s just 90 minutes by express train from Shinjuku. Haneda would be at least half that, and has a just-renovated international terminal. And I don’t think any airport in Japan could be as bad as JFK or Newark.
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Jun 17, 2022 00:04
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peanut posted:Yes, Shikoku has rental cars, and also stoplights* and electricity. Clearly it’s too urban for hiking, but not urban enough for rental cars!!!  Anyway I’m moreso wondering if they were suspended as of covid, but it looks like they’ll open ‘er up by October anyway so meh, I’ll roll the dice. Pollyanna fucked around with this message at 00:15 on Jun 17, 2022 |
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Jun 17, 2022 00:12
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October and November seem like extremely good Japan months and I have never been because of work. Would like to go while I'm funemployed.
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Jun 17, 2022 00:21
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early-ish november is what i'd like, since (my guess) is that it'll be comfortably cool by then; i'd die if i went in the summer hooray for generous public sector holiday leave days i can use at will!
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