Tokyo, Japan

  • Guest, it's time once again for the hotly contested and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!



    Go here and fill out your bracket!
    Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Once again, only you can decide!

Cybsled

Avatar of War Slayer
16,294
11,935
People take taxis from Narita to Tokyo? lol...the bullet train ride is a fraction of that time and money wise
 

Furry

WoW Office
<Gold Donor>
19,280
24,166
Traveling by car in japan is expensive and almost universally stupid unless you're in rural areas AND a rush.

I've done taxis before, but generally if there's a reason to go somewhere in japan, there's a bus that will show up at a reasonable time to do what you want. Their public transportation over the whole country is extremely good, cheap and on time.
 

Armadon

<Bronze Donator>
3,556
6,487
Yeah the only places I drove to was coco curry and out on the highway to go anywhere. Trains and busses were just to easy to get around. Another money saving hack is if you have kids and they have a passport bring it with you. When you go to get your rail pass for the intown trains they will give you pass cards that only charge half price. Kids are half off lol. That's how my bother and I got around Tokyo on the cheap. Only thing is the kids pass makes a chirping noise when you use it. Nobody even gave a shit though.
 

Gamma Rays

Large sized member
3,942
9,330
Or you can just choose whatever train you think looks coolest!

Tokyo Narita options.

Narita Express

narita-express-fuji.jpg


Or another option is the Keisei Skyliner:

Keisei Skyliner.png


And if you go to Osaka, Kansai Airport, the one that's out on a man made island. You have the option of this train . . .

Osaka_Airport_Transport-XL.jpg


^^^ It's for real, I saw this thing on my last trip. But I just took a regular train.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Cybsled

Avatar of War Slayer
16,294
11,935
The trains in Japan are so fucking nice. Plus with the railpass, you get to sit in first class...which is really roomy and very rarely crowded.
 

MrHolland420

KRA! KRA!
<Silver Donator>
896
1,120
I couldn't imagine the price for a taxi to take you to Downtown Tokyo from Narita. Even special trains at Narita to bring you into Tokyo proper. I was all the way out to the west of Tokyo prefecture. I was living in Akiruno which is a pretty 30-45 train ride to Downtown Tokyo and maybe about an hour to get down to Yokohama. I love Yokohama, they have the nicest, most respectable and polite police officers when dealing with a white American that is lost in Yokohama after the trains shut down and lost his friends because he decided to jump on a train going who knows where, I time travel a bit and end up at a 7/11 and I have honestly been in Japan for about 2 weeks, I have no Idea how to get back to Akigawa station from a station south of Yokohama.
So I am just yelling "I need to go to AKIGAWA!""I need to go to AKIGAWA!""I need to go to AKIGAWA!", 7/11 cashier tells me to wait outside, cops pull up, small ladie and a bigger fellow, officer Honda, I remember that. They did not search me, they did not restrain me in handcuffs as I was not posing any threat at all, they put me in back of cop car, take me to the police station, the girl cop pushes two cushioned benches together and then ask me if "would you like a blanket?"; I was so blown away by this hospitality to a drunk gaijin(outsider/foreigner), I said "Hai, Arigato gozaimasu" in broken, drunk Japanese, she laughed and brought me a pillow and blanket. So I wake up at daybreak which is fucking 4:30AM, still hungover, I didn't have my passport on me(mistake) but they used my regular USA Drivers license to check me out and all that. Well I guess the police chief was interested in talking to me and knowing where I was from and etc. So he brings a Ipad over with him and open up google earth and I show him Charleston, SC and all that and he messages my friend's wife that I was staying with to let them know I am ok and probably a good laugh in all the hirgana paragraph I glanced at.
Well they take me out for a smoke and I still have some American cigs and me and the Chief said no American cigarettes' here you smoke a Japanese cigarette, they ask me about liking Japanese women and it was one of the best experiences I think I have ever had in my life. Finally they said I am good to go they even wrote down which stations to take in all CAPS ENGLISH to get back to Akigawa on a sheet of paper for me(awesome). So I ask which way to start walking to get to nearest station and Officer Honda and his partner drove me to the train station, I was expecting to walk, then they asked if I had enough money on me to make it home, I did, but they were willing to give me extra yen to make it home if I didn't have enough! They didn't want me to post the selfie we took on facebook so I respected the captain's request and never been on FB. Since this was in 2016 I think enough time has passed. I'll be back. edit: That was such an epic night, I lost my phone @ a craft beer pub called Antenna America, went back a couple months later and asked if anybody had turned it in and dude said he didn't see anything like my phone, well.... go back again another couple months later and same dude found my phone and it was returned.

My Dino Wakandan.jpgJapanese Cops chillin with me.jpg
 
Last edited:
  • 3Worf
  • 3Like
Reactions: 5 users

Xarpolis

Life's a Dream
14,053
15,564
That's a pretty cool story.

I really love Japan. Such an awesome country. Maybe it would be worth retiring out there after all...
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

a_skeleton_06

<Banned>
1,923
2,410
Okay, am I missing something with this Rail Pass situation? It looks like the only time we would be using it is on the trip from Tokyo -> Kyoto and back? I was advised to take the limo bus to and from Narita as it's easy and like 30 bucks. Does that fit with your guy's experience? We aren't making a trip to Fuji and it looks like JR doesn't cover the trip to Mt. Takao from what I can tell.
JRPASS.PNG
 

Chysamere

<WoW Guild Officer>
3,309
2,929
Okay, am I missing something with this Rail Pass situation? It looks like the only time we would be using it is on the trip from Tokyo -> Kyoto and back? I was advised to take the limo bus to and from Narita as it's easy and like 30 bucks. Does that fit with your guy's experience? We aren't making a trip to Fuji and it looks like JR doesn't cover the trip to Mt. Takao from what I can tell.
View attachment 225789

Rail pass also works for all the travel inside Tokyo at $3-5 a pop and is a lot more convenient than having to figure out which ticket to buy every time you're at the station.

It should cover the cost out to Takaosanguchi but probably not the cable car.

If you're only going to Kyoto, then you'd roughly break even. It's when you're going to multiple cities that it really shines.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

Lanx

Oye Ve
<Prior Amod>
60,060
131,346
Okay, am I missing something with this Rail Pass situation? It looks like the only time we would be using it is on the trip from Tokyo -> Kyoto and back? I was advised to take the limo bus to and from Narita as it's easy and like 30 bucks. Does that fit with your guy's experience? We aren't making a trip to Fuji and it looks like JR doesn't cover the trip to Mt. Takao from what I can tell.
View attachment 225789
yes if you do travel from tokyo and kyoto, the rail pass pays off. 7day (past a week unless you're literally traveling all over japan, it's not worth it)

if you're worried about from Narita to tokyo, yea you can take the limo bus, or you can take the skyaccess or skyliner lines (depending if you have to goto shibuya or asakasa)

i haven't been to mt. takao, but JR pass partial covers it
How to get to Mount Takao from Tokyo
You can use your Japan Rail Pass to easily access Mount Takao. From Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station, take the JR Chuo Line to Takao Station. The trip takes just 40 to 50 minutes one-way.

At Takao Station, transfer to the Keio Line (for an additional fee, not covered under the JR Pass) to Takaosanguchi Station. From there you may utilize hiking trails and various ski lifts.

remember JR pass not only covers shinkasen(bullet train) but also every JR train line.

tokyo to takao station costs 940yen, so round trip, it's not bad.

but jr pass is annoying cuz you have to plan it, in accordance with how you plan to travel to make it worthwhile.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Armadon

<Bronze Donator>
3,556
6,487
Have you looked into renting a car for the trip to Kyoto? It's a really nice drive and scenic. Only pain in the ass is getting back into Tokyo if you drive.
 

Cybsled

Avatar of War Slayer
16,294
11,935
You might want to consider day trips as well if you get the rail pass. Nara is close to Kyoto (that's the place with the tame deer and a godzilla sized Buddha statue). Also by bullet train, Hiroshima is like 2 hours from Kyoto. Worth a day trip to see the Hiroshima memorial and museum.
 

a_skeleton_06

<Banned>
1,923
2,410
Thanks guys, I appreciate the tips. I showed my wife the deer in Nara and now that's a thing so I'm going to just pick it up and maybe use Suica the first couple days since we'll be there for 10 days but I'm buying the 7 day pass. Seems like a reasonable middle ground.
 

Lanx

Oye Ve
<Prior Amod>
60,060
131,346
Thanks guys, I appreciate the tips. I showed my wife the deer in Nara and now that's a thing so I'm going to just pick it up and maybe use Suica the first couple days since we'll be there for 10 days but I'm buying the 7 day pass. Seems like a reasonable middle ground.
get the pasmo, you can customize it with your name and if you lose it, just tell em your name and bday and they replace it with the balance, they're all the same anyway.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

gauze

Molten Core Raider
1,078
358
I don't know if it matters.. But it was a trick I learned and saved me money regarding Narita > Tokyo since picking people up was semi regular when I was living there. In the grand scheme it might not matter.. But the trip from Tokyo station - Narita Airport is about 1000yen one way by bus, then taking the train line to Shinjuku is only 200y(I had a commuter pass from Koganei to Yotsuya, so I had big dick saving from that too) .. Versus the N'EX is about 3,000y, but 10 - 20m? quicker. If you're carrying more than two pieces of luggage mid day, it might be a better experience taking the N'EX but if you don't care about "bothering" people and moving luggage around people.. Then whatever, it's a pretty regular occurance at Tokyo/Shinjuku Station anyways. I'm also not sure where the cost of 30$ for the bus is coming from unless it's taking you further into the Tokyo area?? But regardless, this was a suggested method via a Tokyo local. Learned a few other penny pinching train line tricks but prob not all that beneficial with your resting location, ect.

Regarding the rail pass, another time I got sponsored by the JIKEI group to come out for a little and we did a 7 day travel week. We covered Kyoto, Miyajima, Nagasaki, Hiroshima, and Fukoka. Would have done Osaka too but we had a hiccup leaving Miyajima and lost sometime and our time in Kyoto was slammed running temple to temple to castle.. Ended up using the remaining time to getting back into Yokohama..

Id highly recommend going to Osaka, it's only about 15 minutes from Kyoto. If you don't want to invest too much time, atleast just do Dotonburi. Definitely sits at the top in terms of food and drink experience. When I was resident, drinking in Osaka was a blast having met the people.. Comparing it to drinking in Tokyo, where people tend to be more to themselves. It might not be a problem in Tokyo if you're a friendly looking white guy.. salary men love talking to foreigners. Osaka is also the soul kitchen of Japan. I didn't think takoyaki could really be that different, definitely round 2 a line for 20minutes for a x2 order. Same with okonomiyaki.

As far as Nara goes, if deer park is your selling point.. I would suggest considering going/looking into Miyajima instead. It's an island south of Hiroshima, that also have tons of friendly deer around. My hotel for my time spent in Hiroshima was there, I think it's 1hr train between. I'm not sure your reason for Mt Takao, but on Miyajima there is Mt Misen, considered a sacred mountain. That is also where the floating Tori is, as the tide goes out you can walk up to it later in the day. There is also a temple on the side of the mountain, tons of little passage ways, and trails to explore that have interesting stuff. It was one of the most serene experiences I have personally had. I didn't get to climb Mt Misen because I ended up sitting down at the Daishoin and just taking it in. I'm not a spiritual person, but was definitely one of those moments that made me question it.

edit; if sentimental value is a thing, i'd suggest getting a sketchbook or notebook. Japan love their stamp's and collecting. I kinda wish I did it but I didn't know for a majority of it. I do have a couple stamps from when I did have a notebook handy.. I managed to get a stamp from a dive theatre that was hosting 35mm Akira showings for the 30th Anniversary. I got one from Ghib musuem, and another from a really old animation studio which i'd have to go look because I'm pretty sure I fucked it up when I was stamping. The walking st ick you get from Fuji is cool as shit.
 
Last edited:
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

sakkath

Trakanon Raider
1,651
1,036
I usually pick airlines which fly to Haneda since it's cheaper and faster to get to Tokyo central (which is where my company office is) than from Narita. It does require a train change at hamamatsucho though, whereas NEX is one long single trip.
 

Gamma Rays

Large sized member
3,942
9,330
For my trips to and from Narita airport, I took the Keisei limited express. A lot cheaper than either of the 2 flashy trains, and only a bit longer trip.

It's a normal commuter train and it is fulled with locals ( plenty were airline travellers with cases etc ), I was the only roundy eye person I saw on both trips. Which shows this is the train that the locals know to take, therefore probably the best. It's like that thing of: look for the restaurant where all the locals are eating.

Umm . . . just trying to think of something else to post,

I was there 2nd half of August and it was hot and humid. Bear in mind I am from the Gold Coast in Aust and we get damn hot and humid in summer so I knew I'd be okay with it, but it was up there with how it can be here. Then funny thing was when I went up to Nikko, the rain came in and the 2nd day especially was windy and wet and quite cold. But then when I got back to Tokyo, my last day before flying out, it was hot but with showers rolling through at times.