Japan 2017

Trip to Japan 2017

Dates

24/03/2017 - 10/04/2017

Who's Going

• YYY - Yingke
• Mark P
• lmm
• Mark H
• Alasdair
• Zolty
• dfb4067424

Checklist

Handle	Annual Leave Taken	Plane tickets purchased	JR Pass purchased	 Passmo card purchased	International Driving Permit acquired	JPY exchanged
YYY	(./)	(./)
Mark P	(./)	(./)
lmm	(./)	(./)		(./)
Mark H
Alasdair	(./)	(./)
Zolty	(./)	(./)
dfb4067424

Rough Planning Area

• 24/03/2017: Arrive in Tokyo.
• Possibly do some stuff in Tokyo for a day or two (so that I can recover from travelling)? Meet up with James. Leave on Sunday afternoon?
  • bAKpAK Tokyo Hostel I've stayed here twice before; it's relatively cheap and cheerful. I don't mind if people want to stay in different in Tokyo. I would prefer that we all stay in the same place whilst we are travelling through other the parts of Japan though.
• Flight down to Kagoshima?
  • Yakushima - stay 3 nights? (1-2 full days, plus arrival and departure days)
    • Flight from Kagoshima or some form of aquatic transport?
    • I'd argue for 3 nights if we end up with enough time - my group liked Yakushima a lot last time. --lmm
    • http://www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~yasuakim/english.html is where we stayed last time.
    • Walk up to the summit and look down on the whole island (1 daytime really)
    • Perhaps do one of the other walks to see more ancient cedar trees
    • Hot springs, the local baths and/or the JR hotel (1000 yen). List at http://www.yesyakushima.com/yakushima-activities/yakushima-onsen-hot-springs/ (1 or 2 evenings)
• Kagoshima - stay 1 night?
  • Again I don't remember there being much there - would sooner proceed directly to Yakushima --lmm
    • I was tempted by Sakurajima, the active volcano. - YYY
• Nagasaki - stay 2 nights?
  • Dejima --Lmm
• Fukuoka - stay 1 night?
  • There's really not much there (or if there is then my group didn't find it) - I'd rather go straight on to Nagasaki. Also consider flying - there are flights Tokyo-Kagoshima for about GBP70, which would save most of a day of travel time (remember we can't use the Nozomi shinkansen without paying a supplement). --lmm
    • GBP70 seems reasonable for a flight. There wasn't anything in particular I wanted to do in Fukuoka so going straight to Nagasaki may be preferable. - YYY
• Tanegashima space center: http://global.jaxa.jp/about/centers/tnsc/index.html
• Shinkansen to Chugoku?
  • Hiroshima - stay 2 night?
    • Is there 2 nights' worth of stuff to do there? --lmm
      • Possibly, James said we could spend one day doing Peace Park and the other going to Miyajima.
        • Had missed that Miyajima was there. Sounds like a plan.
• Shinkansen to Kansai? Meet up with Dave?
  • Kyoto- 1 night or 2 nights? Are we splitting the party here? - MP
    • 2 nights sounds reasonable. I'll stick with the group unless anyone else is interested in striking out. - YYY
    • Shrines
      • Fushimi Inari Shrine- I've done it twice before but I'm up for it again if people are interested. The mountain trails are spectacular and you get great views of Kyoto. - MP
      • Kiyomizudera- big temple famous for its huge stage jutting out over the hill. Adjacent to a number of other temples and the traditional touristy Higashiyama District. -MP
  • Traditional theatre
    • Nijo Castle- Tokugawa Ieyasu's pad. Inner castle is usually closed but the gardens look very nice and include a variety of cherry trees that should be blooming when we're there. - MP
• Shinkansen to Kanto?
  • Hakone - stay 2 nights?
    • fun2drive is the original JDM sports car entertainment company near Mount Fuji, only 2 hours from Tokyo. Conveniently located at a gateway to the greatest touges (mountain passes) in Japan, we offer the largest fleet of JDM sports cars from NISSAN: Skyline GT-R & Fairlady Z, HONDA: NSX, TOYOTA: Supra & AE86, MAZDA: RX-7, MITSUBISHI: Lancer Evolution, SUBARU: Impreza WRX, and more. Whichever JDM sports car you choose, experience it on a variety of touges in Hakone, a mecca of car enthusiasts in japan, while enjoying the stunning scenery of Mount Fuji, landscapes, lakes, oceans, etc…
      • Considering the Ultimate Hakone Drive in the GT-R R35.
      • If more people do it, then we can swap cars (for a fee).
        • Put me down as interested - I guess the RX-7 would be my first choice --lmm
        • Alasdair: I have some interest in this - if I'm reading the price list right it comes to under 50,000 JPY? I'd be happy with most cars, as long as it has power steering and manual transmission. S2000 looks suitably bling, but the Super 7 looks hilarious.
  • Hakone is famous hot spring country, apparently --lmm
    • I would be interested in going to one where they let you wear swimming trunks. - YYY
  • Is there two days worth of stuff here, especially for non-drivers? Hakone Shrine looks fun but what else? -MP
    • The Hakone Tozan Railway looks interesting, and I would interested in seeing the Botanical Gardens or one of the art museums. - YYY
      • Works for me. -MP
• Tokyo:
  • Rabbit and hedgehog cafe
  • ngt=TT0c773e930001ac1e4a112ceMZnqYSN_EjdcS3aCnP12g Kujiraya - Whale meat restaurant
  • Perhaps the LittleBSD cafe, having seen the advertising and been amused.
  • Nasu Animal Kingdom In Tochigi Prefecture. You get to feed Capybara!
  • Mahjong in some suitably fancy way (Gemma has offered to arrange) --Lmm
  • Akiharbara etc. (possibly best as a non-group activity)
  • Skytree- again, I've done it before, but fantastic view. - MP
  • Ueno Park- over one thousand cherry trees so likely great at this season. Features museums and a zoo. - MP
  • Pop concerts if there are any at the right time? --Lmm
    • Basically impossible to book from outside with the possible exception of entering the AKB48 lotteries.
• The last remaining sleeper train, Tokyo - Okoyama: http://jprail.com/trains/sort-by-type/limited-express/sunrise-izumo.html
• Shinkansen to Hokkaido? We almost definitely don't have enough days for it to be worth it.
  • I have a vague interest in taking the sleeper train and going to the underwater station. Might well not be worth it in terms of the time though. --lmm
    • No sleeper trains to Hokkaido. Underwater stations also now shut.
• 10/04/2017: Leave Japan.

Flight details

• Lmm: Arriving 2017-03-24 12:05 HND, departing 2017-04-10 14:00 NRT
• YYY: Arriving 2017-03-24 10:35 NRT, departing 2017-04-10 12:35 NRT
• Alasdair: arriving 2017-03-24 10:00 NRT, departing 2017-04-10 11:00 NRT (cheap flights through Helsinki)
• Zolty: Arriving 2017-03-24 8:55 NRT, departing 2017-04-10 10:25 NRT
• MarkP: Arriving 2017-03-24 10:35 NRT, departing 2017-04-10 12:35 NRT

Itinerary

Fri, 24/03/2017

• Morning and early afternoon
  • Arrive in Japan and meet up.
    • Narita Arrivals: Zolty, Alasdair, YYY, MP
    • Haneda Arrivals: Lmm
• Based on current flights, meet for lunch somewhere near Haneda?
  • I think it would be better to meet somewhere more centralised. -YYY

Sat, 25/03/2017

• Do stuff in Tokyo

Sun, 09/04/2017

• Suggest we make this a shopping day in Akihabara, to minimize the amount of carrying stuff around. Unless shops shut on Sundays? Also bearing in mind our JR passes will presumably be 14-day.

Mon, 10/04/2017

• Part ways