Japan 2017

Trip to Japan 2017

Outstanding Tasks

• Book things that we think might book up
• Agree where we're staying each night and book
  • Tokyo accommodation generally - Proposals required
    • http://www.booking.com/hotel/jp/astro-station.en-gb.html lol?
    • 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 places in Tokyo. I would prefer that we all stay in the same place whilst we are travelling through other the parts of Japan though.
      • It's either booked up or their booking site ist kaputt. Can't reach them by email either. - YYY
      • I've stayed in Taito Ryoukan. Cheap, nicely traditional, but that does mean firm futons and poor sound insulation --lmm
• Tokyo accommodation (Fri, 24/03/2017 only) - Yingke to make proposal
  • Capsule hotel, possibly only for a night. Can split party between hostel and capsule hotel.
    • Interest: Alasadair
    • Alasdair to make proposal. Others to register interest.
• Yakushima accommodation - booked-ish, 7000/person/night normally, 5000/person/night for Sunday as there is no dinner.
  • Yakushima car hire - Yingke to look a prices and make proposal.
• Kagoshima accommodation - Proposals required
  • Nagasaki accommodation - Proposals required
  • Hiroshima accommodation - Proposals required
  • Kyoto accommodation - Proposals required, MarkP to make decision
  • Hakone accommodation - Proposals required
    • In and around Sengokuhara (where fun2drive is):
      • Actually bookable
        • http://www.wro-hotels.com/merveille-hakone-gora Western-style twin room 29,000/night, 2 in japanese-style room 33,000/night 4 people in japanese-style room 58,000/night (japanese style rooms available for 2-5 people on a sliding scale), twin western-style with private bath 39,000/night, 4 japanese-style with private bath 70,000/night.
        • http://www.mvhakone.jp/ . Twin room 32,400/night half board (3 or 4 in a room possible but the cost is exactly proportional).
    • Possibly booked up or bookings not open
      • http://www.fujiyahotel.jp/en/index.html (historic and famous). Can't book our dates (or they're booked up?), but looking at March: Basic twin 8,964/person/night, some options with dinner.
      • http://www.resorthotels109.com/en/hakone-koushien/ Not bookable at our dates yet (or our dates booked), but twin rooms from ￥18,900/night and rooms for up to 5 from ￥39,375/night.
      • http://www.hgp.co.jp/language/english/sp/index.html . Can't book our dates, in March Twin room 68,000 for 2 nights half board, room for 4 120,000 for 2 nights half board.
• i.e. whether we travel in the evening or morning for Nagasaki-Hiroshima, Hiroshima-Kyoto, Kyoto-Hakone and Hakone-Tokyo
  • From memory Kyoto is expensive to stay in - decision therefore partially blocked on choosing Kyoto accommodation.
  • Otherwise it's a judgement call as to which direction we want to be flexible in (since the accommodation bookings will be what constrains how long we spend where)
• James is with us for Yakushima and Nagasaki - to confirm whether he's staying in Nagasaki on the night of Thur 30th.

Blocked Tasks

• Booking for tours of Tanegashima Space Center is 1 month ahead if I've read the site correctly
• Pop concerts
  • I can help with booking via ePlus if there's anything major - JN
  • If you're fine with going to see a group you've never heard of, there's almost certainly something, but it's too early to book: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=jhqrtl9na3gev1vihqnpt3qvgo@group.calendar.google.com - JN

Dates

24/03/2017 - 10/04/2017

Who's Going

• YYY - Yingke
• Mark P
• lmm
• Mark H
• Alasdair
• Zolty
• Maria
• Dexter
• James N (ish)

Checklist

Handle	Annual Leave Taken	International Plane tickets purchased	Domestic Plane tickets purchased	JR Pass purchased	 Passmo card purchased	International Driving Permit acquired	JPY exchanged	Japanese fluency achieved
YYY	(./)	(./)	(./)			(./)
Mark P	(./)	(./)	(./)
lmm	(./)	(./)	(./)		(./)	(./)
Mark H	(./)	(./)	(./)
Alasdair	(./)	(./)	(./)
Zolty	(./)	(./)	(./)
Maria	(./)	(./)	(./)
Dexter	(./)	(./)	(./)
James		N/A		N/A			N/A	(./)

Misc Planning Area

• JR passes are best bought from https://www.insidejapantours.com/japan-rail-pass-all/
• Do we want to bring suitcases or stick to bags?
  • Our internal flight allows 20kg of checked luggage (in any number of bags) - probably plenty.

Flight details

• Lmm: Arriving 2017-03-24 12:05 HND, departing 2017-04-10 14:00 NRT (via Shanghai)
• Alasdair: arriving 2017-03-24 10:00 NRT, departing 2017-04-10 11:00 NRT (via Helsinki)
• Zolty: Arriving 2017-03-24 8:55 NRT, departing 2017-04-10 10:25 NRT
• YYY, MarkP, MarkH: Arriving 2017-03-24 10:35 NRT, departing 2017-04-10 12:35 NRT
• Maria, Dexter: Arriving 2017-03-24 10:40 NRT, departing 2017-04-10 11:40 NRT (via Copenhagen)

Itinerary

Fri, 24/03/2017

• Morning and early afternoon
  • Arrive in Japan and meet up.
    • Narita Arrivals: Zolty, Alasdair, YYY, MP, MarkH, Maria, Dexter
    • Haneda Arrivals: Lmm
• Any suggestions for a meeting point? Probably a case of having a late lunch?
• Late afternoon we can get a quick taste of Tokyo and enjoy some culture shock
• Spending night in Tokyo

Sat, 25/03/2017

• Morning: Possibly a little tourism in Tokyo. Get brunch, as we're flying at lunchtime.
• Lunchtime: Fly to Yakushima
• Book flight from Tokyo to Yakushima: 13:20 to 17:35 on Saturday 25th of March. http://www.jal.co.jp/en/ (¥18,790)
  • Michael/Alasdair/Mark/Mark/Dexter/Maria booked
  • Yingke/Josh booked
  • We should make a point of booking our tickets for the ferries when we arrive, as the tourist office is near the airport
• Getting to the place we're staying is a bit of a fiddle by bus.
  • http://www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~yasuakim/bustimefuyu.pdf is the timetable
• I am interested in renting a car for a few days/duration of stay on Yakushima. I will look into prices. - YYY
• Evening: Baths. 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)
  • Low tides are approximately midday and midnight. Nighttime visit to Hirauchi would be incredibly cool, though probably relies on car hire.
• Stay in Yakushima for 3 nights, at http://www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~yasuakim/english.html . 7000yen/night each (I think hope), 5000 on Sunday as dinner will not be served.
• Spending night in Yakushima

Sun, 26/03/2017

• Yakushima day 1
  • Day: walk up to the top of the mountain
  • Evening: baths
  • No dinner at our accommodation this night, we will have to eat out (IIRC there is a restaurant just down the road from them)
  • Midnight-ish trip to seaside onsen at low tide: http://www.yesyakushima.com/about-yakushima-yakushima-english-services-home/yakushima-seaside-onsens-hot-springs/
    • Bring towels, and carrier bags for clothes.
• Spending night in Yakushima

Mon, 27/03/2017

• Yakushima day 2
  • Day: walk around the old cedar trees
  • Visit Senpiro's waterfall?
  • Alternately: http://kuchinoerabu-jima.org/eng/profile.html
• Spending night in Yakushima

Tue, 28/03/2017

• Ferries: http://www.yesyakushima.com/getting-to-yakushima/by-sea/
  • These are a pain to book from outside, I suggest we book them when we arrive (on the Saturday). They don't tend to fill up AIUI, but best not to be relying on it.
• Team space: Tanegashima
  • Morning: ferry to Tanegashima (possibly involving an early start to get to the port on the time). Ideally going to Shimama (even if that means leaving from Miyanoura), but I can't find a timetable for that. Assuming this year's summer timetable is the same as last year's, there should be a jetfoil at 07:00 from Anbo to Nishinoomote (arriving 07:50), which would easily get us there in time for the first space station tour at 11:00. Or one at 10:00 (arriving 10:50), in which case we should probably go for the 13:30 tour. The space center is a 50-minute taxi ride from Nishinoomote, whereas it's a lot closer to Shimama. Jetfoil timetable is https://www.tykousoku.jp/fare_time/.
    • Note one cannot get a bus to the 07:00. So we would have to be dropped there by a driver who was not coming to Tanegashima.
    • The 9:00 ferry to Shimama would be ideal http://www.town.yakushima.kagoshima.jp/en/e-access/ (arriving 10:05), but it only runs on "odd days" - does that mean day of the month? If so we could go previous day and then get the 16:40 jetfoil back to Anbo? Space center is closed on Mondays, so there is no way to correct our parity if it's wrong :(
• Day: space centre tour http://global.jaxa.jp/about/centers/tnsc/index.html . Guided tours are 11:00 to 12:15, 13:30 to 14:45 or 15:30 to 16:45
  • Evening: ferry to Kagoshima. Last jetfoil back is 16:45 arriving at 18:20 (via Ibusuki) - in turn that probably means leaving the space center around 15:30-15:45.
• Team Kagoshima:
  • Morning: ferry/jetfoil direct to Kagoshima
  • I was tempted by Sakurajima, the active volcano. - YYY
• Spending night in Kagoshima

Wed, 29/03/2017

• Nagasaki day 1
  • Morning: travel there (Note that this takes around 3:30 from Kagoshimachuo, a little longer from Kagoshima central. Sakura shinkansen should be ok with the JR pass).
    • Thought about JR pass logistics: assuming we use the subway etc. to/from the airport in tokyo, we can probably defer activating them until the Tuesday, meaning they'll be live for the whole rest of our trip if we do get bored in Tokyo on the last Sunday and want to head out into the country or some such. --lmm
    • We can activate at Kagoshima-Chūō, though the office is only open from 10AM. May be better off activating at the airport, but we'd better all agree dates beforehand in that case. --lmm
• Afternoon: Stuff.
• Dejima
• Spending night in Nagasaki

Thu, 30/03/2017

• Nagasaki day 2
• Spending night in Nagasaki

Fri, 31/03/2017

• Hiroshima day 1
  • Morning: travel there - again around 3:30
  • Afternoon: museum and peace park
• Spending night in Hiroshima

Sat, 01/04/2017

• Hiroshima day 2
  • Miyajima
• Spending night in Hiroshima(?)

Sun, 02/04/2017

• Kyoto day 1
  • 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
  • Kyoto station - 10 or 12 story escalator paradise, with a little wedding chapel sticking out the top with a great view over the city.
  • Animu tourism: http://likeafishinwater.com/2016/04/29/pilgrimage-to-uji-for-hibike-euphonium/ --lmm (with due regret)
• This is the day of the Kawasaki penis festival, but attending is probably impractical
• Spending night in Kyoto

Mon, 03/04/2017

• Kyoto day 2
• Spending night in Kyoto(?)

Tue, 04/04/2017

• Hakone day 1
  • Daytime: ???
    • 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
  • http://www.polamuseum.or.jp/english/
    • Hakone Ropeway
• Evening: Baths? (to relax and prepare for driving)
  • Maybe look at booking a bath if we are quorate - otherwise they tend to be segregated
• Spending night in Hakone

Wed, 05/04/2017

• Hakone day 2
  • Team drivers:
    • Ultimate Hakone Drive
      • Michael (RX-7)/Alasdair (S2000)/Yingke (GT-R R35) booked
      • CAN I COME WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY? Yes, your friends and family are welcome to ride together free of charge as long as your car's capacity allows. Children are welcome and we have a rental child seat available. However, for safety reasons we do not recommend children under the age of 24 months attend this tour. Pets are not allowed.
      • Cars have capacity for 5 additional people (enough for all of us) but it will be cramped in the back of the GT-R.
• Team others:
  • ???
• Spending night in Hakone(?)

Thu, 06/04/2017

• Tokyo day 1
  • Rabbit and hedgehog cafe
    • You need to book this > 1 week ahead of time. I can handle this if you let me know how many people. They might not be able to fit everyone at once. - JN
• 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
    • I always find Shinjuku Park more spectacular than Ueno. You have to pay 200 yen or so to get in, but it's more grassy and much bigger so you don't have to wade through drunk Japanese people & big American tourists - JN
• Spending night in Tokyo

Fri, 07/04/2017

• Tokyo day 2

Sat, 08/04/2017

• Tokyo day 3

Sun, 09/04/2017

• Tokyo day 4
  • 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