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Yeah look into Ghibli tickets on line. You have to buy them in advance. You also have to set a date and time. Foreign sales go up 3 months before and sell out quickly. Or if you know someone in-country they can get them one month in advance at Lawson.
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Mar 18, 2019 10:46
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| # ? May 28, 2024 22:53 |
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Chillyrabbit posted:The JR rail pass is basically for trains in-between cities, which is what the shinkansen runs between. So within Tokyo you practically can't use it for much, but going from Tokyo to Kyoto or Kyoto to Osaka works. (you can also use a suica/pasmo/whatever metro card to go between Kyoto and Osaka but its a bit more roundabout and slower I think.) Cool beans, thanks. I'm just worried that the shinkansens will be packed(that's what https://www.japan-rail-pass.com/ says can happen in May?) so I'm still on the fence about splurging for the Green pass or not. We will have at least one large piece of luggage when going Tokyo->Osaka, possibly two, so I'm wondering if the added space is worth it, too? Doctor Zero posted:Yeah look into Ghibli tickets on line. You have to buy them in advance. You also have to set a date and time. Foreign sales go up 3 months before and sell out quickly. Or if you know someone in-country they can get them one month in advance at Lawson. I haven't purchased the tickets yet, but it's on my to-do list this week! I hope I didn't wait too long and they're all sold out  The Suica card would get me to/from the museum no problem though, correct?Also, does anyone have travel insurance recommendations? I think we're looking into, um.. World Nomads? Seems like they have a fuckton of coverage for a decent amount.
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Mar 18, 2019 13:23
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If you have a travel rewards credit card check to see if they have any kind of travellers insurance. My bank’s travel visa is surprisingly comprehensive.
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Mar 18, 2019 13:42
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Martytoof posted:If you have a travel rewards credit card check to see if they have any kind of travellers insurance. My bank’s travel visa is surprisingly comprehensive. I just checked my Chase Sapphire Rewards travel benefits and while it's pretty comprehensive I don't believe it includes medical insurance, other than their accidental death/dismemberment policy, so I think we may still purchase a basic travel insurance for medical fees.
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Mar 18, 2019 14:08
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My TD Aeroplan Infinite covered me last time and I’m leaving on it again this year. I’m not sure how much of a hassle it would be to invoke over, say, a regular insurance policy though (and knock on wood I hope to never find out)
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Mar 18, 2019 14:13
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Tips for dealing with crowded shinkansen! I've been on a lot over the years. Some of these are a bit more dog-eat-dog than non-assholes can stomach: -Do not be afraid to sit on the floor -The more crowded the train is, the less likely it is that the conductor will come and check tickets. As a result, there may be free seats in the reserved cars that are free for the taking until the actual ticket holder gets on the train. You'll need to get up when they get on, but on the other hand, you can at least sit until that happens -Do not hesitate to sit on the floor if it's really crowded, unless you're in the way of the bathroom, people will not be traveling between the cars anyway. If they need the bathroom they can step around you -If you want to try and grab a non-reserved seat at the train's point of origin, do not wait in line for a non-reserved seat. Instead, as soon as you are allowed on, cut in front of people waiting for a reserved car. Then rush to the non-reserved car -Huge lines at the ticket gates do not matter. If you have some kind of rail pass, you can't use the ticket gates anyway. Push your way through the crowd to find the station staff. Chances are he/she will be way too busy to check anything, so keep on pushing through (obviously, if you get stopped, show your pass) In any case, if your shinkansen is anything more than like 2 days after the end of golden week, it won't be crowded at all
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Mar 18, 2019 15:21
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Hello friends! I am currently in the midst of planning my first trip to Japan! We will be going in November for two weeks: Nov 3-8 : Tokyo Nov 8-14 : Kyoto Nov 14-17 : Tokyo That Kyoto week will be the week we have an active Japan Rail Pass, so we'll be taking day trips to nearby cities and attractions (Himeji, Kobe, Osaka) during that time. We are going as a party of 6 (possibly 7), and will be looking to get an Airbnb house so we can just all stay together. Right now I've been looking to reserve tickets for the Ghibli museum. If I want to get tickets for sometime between Nov 4-7 or Nov 15-16, I need to book 4 months in advance? How exactly does it work, and can I book for a group of 7? Also how crowded will touristy areas be and what is the weather like during the times we are there?
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Mar 18, 2019 15:29
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zmcnulty posted:do not wait in line...cut in front of people waiting Oh my god, I think I just got heart palpitations.
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Mar 18, 2019 15:34
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arisu posted:Hello friends! OK Good (maybe check a Kansai area only pass $$) Yes, Maybe Not bad, Pretty great
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Mar 18, 2019 15:36
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Green car is kinda ridiculous unless you're a visiting celebrity. Standing on the smoking car of the shinkansen is a rite of adulthood, plz enjoy.
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Mar 18, 2019 15:37
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zmcnulty posted:Tips for dealing with crowded shinkansen! I've been on a lot over the years. Some of these are a bit more dog-eat-dog than non-assholes can stomach: Awesome! We fly out 5/7 and land in Haneda in the afternoon on 5/8, so we should be just missing Golden Week. peanut posted:Green car is kinda ridiculous unless you're a visiting celebrity. Standing on the smoking car of the shinkansen is a rite of adulthood, plz enjoy. lol, good to know! No Green pass, it is. I just don't want to be that tourist who fucks up whatever thing can go wrong with the shinkansen by purchasing the wrong ticket or having too many bags or something equally stupid on my part. Now I'm just worried that the Studio Ghibli museum tickets have sold out Gonna buy those fuckers first thing tonight after work!Fake edit: Oh quick other question, is the best way to get from Haneda airport into Tokyo a train that goes to like, right outside of Tokyo? I need a refresher on the transit stuff since I looked it all up first, for some dumb reason 
Johnny Truant fucked around with this message at 15:56 on Mar 18, 2019 |
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Mar 18, 2019 15:53
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Haneda’s already in Tokyo (unlike Narita) so you can just take the monorail to Hamamatsucho station which gets you to the Yamanote (the big green circular JR line which goes to basically the major destinations in the city).
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Mar 18, 2019 16:00
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LimburgLimbo posted:Haneda’s already in Tokyo (unlike Narita) so you can just take the monorail to Hamamatsucho station which gets you to the Yamanote (the big green circular JR line which goes to basically the major destinations in the city). Ah yeah, monorail, that's what I meant! Thank you. Sorry for the dumb touristy questions, another one incoming: we're not activating our JR Pass until the afternoon/evening of the 11th, so our initial transit from the airport then around Tokyo will be mostly with the Suica pass. Is the Yamanote line able to be paid by the Suica pass, or will we need to purchase like, a Hamamatsucho->Tokyo Station single shinkansen pass? Additionally, are the JR passes expiration down to the minute? It'd be nice if we could just activate it the morning of the 11th and then not worry about getting back to Haneda by like 5pm or whenever, but I want to make sure that I don't gently caress us over by activating it for the wrong date/time.
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Mar 18, 2019 16:06
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You can pay for any normal train by suica. This includes the monorail. Yamanote is not a shinkansen train, nor is the monorail. Jr pass is by day.
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Mar 18, 2019 16:56
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We’re doing Tokyo->Hakone and Hakone->Kyoto, and I’m not sure how that works out with the Shinkansen. Google Maps says I have to take the Shinkansen to Hakone from Tokyo, take it back to Tokyo, then go Tokyo to Kyoto. Am I misreading this? Is there a better way to go Tokyo->Hakone->Kyoto?
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Mar 18, 2019 22:58
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Does anybody have any good recommendations for buying Vinyl in Tokyo, near the Yamanote line? I'm looking for mostly College and Alt Rock if that helps narrow it down. Researching I found 'Disc Union Shinjuku Indy' so I'm planning on going there; but I'm wondering if there's anywhere else I should look at.
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Mar 18, 2019 23:07
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Pollyanna posted:We’re doing Tokyo->Hakone and Hakone->Kyoto, and I’m not sure how that works out with the Shinkansen. Google Maps says I have to take the Shinkansen to Hakone from Tokyo, take it back to Tokyo, then go Tokyo to Kyoto. Am I misreading this? Is there a better way to go Tokyo->Hakone->Kyoto? Not sure what station, exactly, Hakone is but you'll have to catch the Shinkansen from Odawara. http://www.hyperdia.com/cgi/en/sear...ed&sum_target=7
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Mar 18, 2019 23:13
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umalt posted:Does anybody have any good recommendations for buying Vinyl in Tokyo, near the Yamanote line? The Yamanote line has like all of the major stations in the area man. Look for record stores in/near Shibuya and Shinjuku. Pollyanna posted:We’re doing Tokyo->Hakone and Hakone->Kyoto, and I’m not sure how that works out with the Shinkansen. Google Maps says I have to take the Shinkansen to Hakone from Tokyo, take it back to Tokyo, then go Tokyo to Kyoto. Am I misreading this? Is there a better way to go Tokyo->Hakone->Kyoto? it's probably because of how the search was entered and how the express trains work. Eg taking a "slower" (stops at all stations) shinkansen out to Hakone via Odawara, and then going back to an express via Tokyo or Shinagawa. If you do it direct, you'll want to take the shinkansen to Odawara, change to local trains to get to Hakone, and then double back to Odawara and to Kyoto from there.
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Mar 18, 2019 23:38
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The "Shinkansen" refers to high-speed, long-distance trains on a designated track, stopping at major cities only. Other trains include express, rapid express, limited express, and regular/local lines. You won't need to do Tokyo-Hakone-Tokyo-Kyoto. However, you will need a non-shinkansen train to get to Hakone or other resort towns near Mt. Fuji.
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Mar 18, 2019 23:43
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totalnewbie posted:You can pay for any normal train by suica. This includes the monorail. Yamanote is not a shinkansen train, nor is the monorail. Most excellent! I was worried about timing the JR pass so we could make our flight, but if it's just by day that simplifies so many things. I think your username is more appropriate for me in this instance  Is Fuji only accessible via the shinkansen? We have approximately 6 days in Tokyo, I'm wondering if we should try to fit it in. Is there anything we should absolutely avoid or absolutely go to? We're going to do the Robot Battle to be super touristy in Tokyo, but any other must see/do/avoids are always welcome. Edit: Huh, so it seems that Studio Ghibli's main online sales company jtb... doesn't sell individual tickets as of this year.  Guess I've gotta purchase them through.. Lawson? Just a month in advance 
Johnny Truant fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Mar 19, 2019 |
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Mar 19, 2019 02:31
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Green car is nice and may be worth it if you’re not a poor.
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Mar 19, 2019 03:04
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Johnny Truant posted:
You're in luck because LITERALLY TWO DAYS AGO https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/japan-rolls-out-limited-express-railway-services-tourists-can-visit-mount-fuji-in
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Mar 19, 2019 03:36
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Fuji is also accessible by Express Train. Fuji is also accessible by Local Train. Fuji is also accessible by walking. Fuji is also accessible by car. Fuji is also accessible by airplane but you will probably also have the military try to shoot you down if you try.
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Mar 19, 2019 05:31
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You forgot bikes smh Also having walked to Fuji I can confirm it’s a nice walk.
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Mar 19, 2019 05:44
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Avoid tunnels on the way back to Tokyo though Just kidding! it's impossible to avoid tunnels in Japan
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Mar 19, 2019 05:56
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Johnny Truant posted:
Welp that sucks. JTB canada still does online sales though, guess its just the US branch that doesn't anymore. Only thing that sucks about lawson tickets is they have specified entry times, whereas the jtb ticket gives you entry all day.
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Mar 19, 2019 06:16
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ntan1 posted:Fuji is also accessible by Express Train. Fuji is also accessible by highway bus, which is cheaper than train and doesn't take much longer, unless you get stuck in traffic.
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Mar 19, 2019 10:15
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totalnewbie posted:Not sure what station, exactly, Hakone is but you'll have to catch the Shinkansen from Odawara. harperdc posted:it's probably because of how the search was entered and how the express trains work. Eg taking a "slower" (stops at all stations) shinkansen out to Hakone via Odawara, and then going back to an express via Tokyo or Shinagawa. If you do it direct, you'll want to take the shinkansen to Odawara, change to local trains to get to Hakone, and then double back to Odawara and to Kyoto from there. Ahh, I see. Looks like it’ll be Shinkansen Tokyo->Odawara, then Odawara->Kyoto. That just makes it a matter of Odawara->Hakone and back. Is it worth it to get a JR pass at that point? Two trips for 3 adults each...
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Mar 19, 2019 16:58
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Hyperdia has prices. Do the math. Be sure that you only include lines that are JR when you do the math, though. Hyperdia will show prices for (and you will use) non-JR lines which is not compatible with the JR pass. JR lines will clearly say "JR X Line" For the record, Hakone <-> Odawara is not JR.
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Mar 19, 2019 18:32
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shoutouts to jtb's credit card processing for getting two of my credit cards flagged for fraud when trying to book hotels to quote the chase rep: "what the hell is going on with this merchant"
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Mar 19, 2019 22:23
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Any recommendations on wagyu, A5, Kobe, insert fancy beef name here, restaurants in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto? A buddy and I are going in May and would like a really solid restaurant we can rely on. Asking just in case we have to book a reservation. Thanks.
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Mar 21, 2019 02:15
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Cbear posted:Any recommendations on wagyu, A5, Kobe, insert fancy beef name here, restaurants in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto? A buddy and I are going in May and would like a really solid restaurant we can rely on. Asking just in case we have to book a reservation. Thanks. Hakushu Teppanyaki in Shibuya is Very Good and well priced. But if you have some free time in Osaka you could go to Kobe and eat Kobe beef in Kobe. I can recommend Wakkoqu, it is More Very Good.
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Mar 21, 2019 02:31
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I really liked Ginza Steak in Ginza, Tokyo. Had the lunch menu, they serve 2 unique wagyu dishes, a potato soup, then its all you can eat of wagyu beef cooked right in front of you.     
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Mar 21, 2019 02:59
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we were recommended Sunmoon in Asakusabashi by someone at one of the stores we were at it was really good https://gurunavi.com/en/garp500/rst/?__ngt__=TT0f47ba54e005ac1e4ae071CglOvtMTCXEchsLdtI2mLT
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Mar 21, 2019 07:11
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Thanks for the replies. I'm going to check those out now. Kobe is definitely on our maybe list. If we had more time we would definitely do it. Right now we're thinking about adding Nara for a day trip but may have to add Kobe for a day trip as well.
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Mar 21, 2019 12:46
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On that note, any similar beef / steak places in Hookaido?
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Mar 21, 2019 13:39
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For Tokyo: If you're staying in Asakusa then Steakhouse Matsunami was really tasty. The cook/chef I had spoke some English.
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Mar 21, 2019 14:08
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Chillyrabbit posted:I really liked Ginza Steak in Ginza, Tokyo. Ginza steak is definitely on my list as well. Here's a youtube vid on it, it looks amazing. Time stamped. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X43PtCCdg_A&t=771s
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Mar 21, 2019 14:16
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Chillyrabbit posted:I really liked Ginza Steak in Ginza, Tokyo. Holy gently caress that looks amazing! Mind if I ask what the price is? My partner and I want to splurge for at least one nice meal, and this could be it. Quick question about Mt. Fuji: is it an entire day-long trip? My tattoo appointment got pushed back one day, so I'm thinking maybe the day after we arrive of planning a Mt. Fuji day. Our hotel is pretty close to Tokyo Station, APA Hotel Nihombashi-Bakurocho Ekimae, and Google Maps says there's the 東４２甲東京駅八重洲口行 and then the Bus東京～河口湖・山中湖河口湖駅行 that takes us to Mt. Fuji station, is that the best way to get there? Or should I go peep Hyperpedia to see a better train route? Alternatively, we could wait until after the tattoo appointment when we have our JR pass activated, if that makes a big difference.
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Mar 21, 2019 14:55
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I didn't actually pay for it, my brother did but their online menu says the Lunch trial course is 5800 Yen. So I would assume its around that price. They also have a dinner course which starts at 9800 yen and goes up from there. Online menu
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Mar 21, 2019 20:26
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