Anyone been to Japan?

Greensprout

Me and a couple of mates are looking into going to Japan for the F1 in October..

We've found some reasonably priced flights and the track tickets we want but we're sturuggling with a few other bits..

Does anyone know how you go about buying bullet train tickets?
We're wanting to stayin in Nagoya for half of the trip and then Tokyo for the other half but we're not sure how to get from one to the other..
Alternatively does anyone know any car rental websites? Where we'd be able to rent it from Nagoya and leave it in Tokyo?

Also does anyone know any good hotel websites?

I've also been told Nagoya might not be worth staying in although it's the city where the airport is we'll be flying into.. Anyone have an opinion about Nagoya?


Thanks..

pboae

You buy tickets exactly as you would here, go to the station, walk up to the ticket counter and buy a ticket. If you go to the ticket office that deals with reservations (I think it's signposted blue or green, there's a picture of someone sitting in a seat) then there will almost certainly be someone who speaks English. Failing that, take a copy of the timetable and circle the train you want, start and end stations, use that and smile a lot and thank/apologise a lot. Avoid travelling during rush hour and it'll be fine.

The fare from Nagoya to Tokyo is about 11,000 yen each way I think, takes a little under 2 hours. It's the Tokaido Shinkansen line. No idea about car rental, but parking is a nightmare and very expensive.

Nagoya isn't exactly a major tourist destination, but I'm sure you'll find enough to do there. You could easily get to Kyoto or Osaka from there though.

If you juggled your time right, and did a few days in Nagoya, then went up to Tokyo for a week-ish and back down for a few more days, you could get away with a 7 day Japan rail pass. Which is about 28k Y, not much more than a return to Tokyo, but it'll give you more flexibility and you can use it on the trains in Tokyo as well.

Try www.japanrail.com for all the timetable and fare info on the trains.

richardfernandes

Hi there,

I went to Japan November last year and yes, it is a nightmare getting your head around the logistics as the Japanese make few concessions to those who don't speak their language!

hyperdia.com is a greate website for Japanese train timetables and is a superb resource.

The bullet trains are amazing but expensive. I strongly recommend buying a JR Pass before going as this makes train travel much cheaper. You can buy different length JR passes (1 week, 2 week etc) that allow you free travel on the rail network and cost approximately £140 for a week pass. JR passes are only available to buy outside of Japan for tourists and are great value providing you use the rail network a reasonable amount (i.e. a trip from Tokyo - Kyoto and back would cost as much as a week's pass).

I bought my pass from International Rail prior to going to Japan. You can get cashback on it to from topcashback.com so that's worth doing.

Good luck planning your trip. Enjoy the F1, it should be amazing. I'll be over that way at the Singapore Grand Prix a few weeks prior!

pboae

richardfernandes wrote: »

I went to Japan November last year and yes, it is a nightmare getting your head around the logistics as the Japanese make few concessions to those who don't speak their language!

I'm surprised by that comment, because I found the exact opposite. People couldn't have been more helpful and would go to great lengths to find ways around my lack of Japanese. I was expecting it to be a lot more difficult, but compared with other countries I've been to when I didn't speak the language at all, Japan was a breeze.

poe.tuesday

I went there for about 30 hours and had no probs at all getting about and everyone was very helpful, we were trying to find a one yen store and this poor guy tried his best to help us but failed miserably - we also went into a restaurant and just pointed at things on the menu - the waitress was not going to less us pick and mix and despite us not understanding each other we basically got the message that she was going to pick for us and what a treat it was too - I think that the Japanese were the most friendly and helpful people I have come across when travelling and we got around and did what we wanted without any hassles - you are going to love it there - it's an amazing place but spend as long as you can there, we were there for such a short time but we crammed as much as we could in

AHAR

Hi,
This might be somewhere to start your accommodation search:
http://www.jnto.go.jp/a-search/search/search_form.php

There's an English language online car rental service here:
http://www2.tocoo.jp/?file=rentcar_inbound/main

I've always just used the trains but I can see that it may be cheaper for a few people to travel in a car. As well as the rental cost, you'll need to factor in petrol which I think won't cost that much different from here at the current exchange rate. Parking seems to cost 100yen everywhere - that 100yen will last completely different durations from one place to another though! Their motorways have tolls also.
Trains are definitely the worry-free way to go.

Do your sums before buying a rail pass. It'll only save money if you travel far enough - a return from Nagoya to Tokyo won't be enough.

If you're into cars in general, you can visit the Toyota factory which isn't far from Nagoya.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3308.html

Beenie

We went to Japan 2/3 years ago.I agree other people's comments - the Japanese are a friendly and hospitable race. You will have no problems travelling about/ getting meals/accommodation. The JR railpass was a bargain for us as we travelled everywhere (Hiroshima, Tokyo, Kyoto, Takayama, Kanazawa) by train. Not sure if the one journey you are planning would be worth getting the pass for though as it's still quite expensive. Re driving, the road signs in the cities are English/Japanese, but not in the sticks. Can you read enough Japanese to navigate? It would worry me but maybe you're more adventurous.

TheMoneySpider

richardfernandes wrote: »

Hi there,
The bullet trains are amazing but expensive. I strongly recommend buying a JR Pass before going as this makes train travel much cheaper. You can buy different length JR passes (1 week, 2 week etc) that allow you free travel on the rail network and cost approximately £140 for a week pass. JR passes are only available to buy outside of Japan for tourists and are great value providing you use the rail network a reasonable amount (i.e. a trip from Tokyo - Kyoto and back would cost as much as a week's pass).

I'd go as far as saying don't even think about going to Japan without getting a JR Pass sorted beforehand. It will saveyou tonnes and it's so convenient to be able to hop on and off the Shinkansen (bullet trains) almost at will.

I went to the STA to sort mine.

The point about the language is valid but with a bit of patience, preperation, common sense and perserverence it's fine. Things like trains and stuff all speak English to you, there are plenty of maps and stuff and the people are generally pretty tolerant of foreigners as long as they stay polite.

Great, great country.

Greensprout

We would only need to catch a train from Nagoya to Suzuka 3 times (return) and one single journey to Tokyo, we can then fly home from Tokyo.

Would it work out cheaper to buy single tickets out there instead of buying a 7 day pass?

AHAR

One way Nagoya to Tokyo on Shinkansen is ~11,000 yen
It looks like you can get from Nagoya to the station closest to the circuit for as little as 1040 yen:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4325.html

Even if you took the special 2500 yen express train on race day and used the pass to get to Narita Airport you'd be a few thousand yen short of the cost on a 7 day pass. The JR pass would cover local JR train journeys in Tokyo but they are usually <200 yen. The JR pass wouldn't cover the train from Nagoya Airport, the Nagoya and Tokyo Subways or the fastest and most frequent Nozomi type Shinkansen between Nagoya and Tokyo.

Here's information about access to Narita Airport. The 1000 yen Keisei Limited Express is the Money Saving way to go.:money:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2027.html

If you add a few journeys to your plan and want to see if the pass starts to make sense you can use these sites to check prices:
http://www.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperWeb.cgi
http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/

Leave the spaces out of station names in Hyperdia. e.g SUZUKACIRCUITINO
and remember not all trains are JR trains

TheMoneySpider

Greensprout wrote: »

We would only need to catch a train from Nagoya to Suzuka 3 times (return) and one single journey to Tokyo, we can then fly home from Tokyo.

Would it work out cheaper to buy single tickets out there instead of buying a 7 day pass?

Didn't think much of Nagoya although we had the best bowl of ramen ever there (it was in a Taiwanese place listed in the Lonely Planet and it was so nice and spicy).

If you get a spare day got to Nikko north of Tokyo, it's a huge temple complex up in the mountains. Kyoto is well worth a visit but to do it in a day would be a hell of a slog.