JR passes (Tokyo, Kyoto and rest of Japan)

I would advise travellers for Japan-Travel to purchase JR pass prior to their trips (most of these passes are not available for sale within Japan as the savings are meant for non-Japan residents). Transportation costs make up a large part of my travel budget. JR pass will help you to save a lot on transportation cost if you plan your trip well. For instance, a train ride from Tokyo station to Kyoto station will cost you around ¥13,300 already. (The first time I went Japan, I bought the ordinary 14 day pass for ¥45,100, Rates have increased since then.)

Take a look at the rates of the JR passes in JR website.

You can use the JR pass on most trains within the Japan Railways network and even on certain JR buses and ferries. (Note that I haven't have a chance to use the pass on bueses and ferries yet. I blame it on the railway system being too comprehensive.) Honestly, it is so easy to move around between cities via bullet trains (aka shinkansen).





Another good thing about using JR pass is that you can make reservation for your seats. There are a number of cars within the train that are reserved. Without reservation, you will need to grab a seat within the unreserved cars on a first come first serve basis. It could cost a few thousand yens just to make a reservation. But this service comes free with the JR pass, which is really a big bonus, considering that you are getting your money worth even without this service)

The above JR pass is applicable for the whole of Japan but if you are focusing on certain areas such as eastern Japan (mainly the Tohuku region). You can also get the regional JR passes. For instance, a 5-days consecutive pass or 4 days flexible (to be used within 1 month) costs ¥20,000. More information can be obtained from the website of Japan Railways Group http://www.japanrail.com/

However, if you want to try out the Naomi (one of the fastest train type), you will be disappointed to know that it is not covered by this JR pass. I remembered there was once when a Naomi passed us at a train platform, you can literally feel the swiftness of the train as if a bullet has been shot out. Wow. One day, I will go and give it a try :)

Anyway if you want a feel of how fast is the train, you can take a look at the video below (taken by Missy on the platform).

Would there be a problem if we don't speak the language in Japan?

Well, you don't need to speak Japanese for Japan-Travel.

We did have some concerns about our inability to speak the language initially. In fact, Missy (my travel mate cum gd friend) bought a book to pick up some common phases for use during travel. YY (another travel mate cum gd friend) also brought along her electronic dictionary.

Despite making a few trips to Japan, I can only speak a few words like “konichiwa (hello/good afternoon)”, “sayonara (goodbye)” and “mizu (water”). Well, I guess it is because you don’t need to know the language to make your way around. As long as you did some research on your routes beforehand and have a map on hand, it is relatively easy to find your way around. Even when you get lost at times, you can still “ask” around for help. Japanese are very helpful people. Usually I just need to point the place I want to get to on the map, they will try their best to direct me. Body language is the best way of communication. Sometimes they may even accompany us for a short distance to ensure that we are on the right track.

(P.S. People in Tokyo area are usually not as friendly or helpful. I guess it is because they are too busy rushing about. Good thing is that Tokyo is a city with the proper infastructure in place so it is almost impossible to get lost)

There was once when Missy and I were making our way to Mt Fuji from Nikko. We were supposed to take JR from Nikko station to Kawaguchiko Station (the train journey is about 5 hours). But we made a mistake and gotten ourselves to Kawaguchi Station (over 2 hours from Nikko Station). At first, we thought that Kawaguchiko Station and Kawaguchi Station should be near to each other. To our horror, we realised that they are about 3 hours in journey apart.

Though it was our fault for the mix-up, the station master was very nice about it. He asked one of the senior officers to company us on the journey to Kawaguchi Station, which involved some transfers. The officer escorted us all the way till Otsuki Station for more than one hour. I suspected if not the fact that the train from Otsuki Station to Kawaguchiko Station is operated by another railway company, he will company us all the way till Kawaguchiko Station. (Should have taken a photo with him.)

There is a very useful website which we find very useful for planning our routes in Japan is http://www.hyperdia.com/ (The main website is in Japanese but you can just click on the English tab for the English version) It is a database with the complete list of train schedules. As long as you know the stations of your location and your destination, you can simply input these information and the date and time that you are looking at, it will provide you with the possible routes to get to the destination based on the time you are looking at. The duration of the various routes and the cost will also be reflected so that you can assess and make your best choice.
This is more useful for longer journeys and I don’t think you really need to use this if you are just travelling within Tokyo.

The beginning of the love affair....

I love Japan, especially Tokyo, Japan and Kyoto, Japan. I think it's all started because of those Japanese dramas (think Heaven's Coin, Long Vacation, Love Generation and etc). Exciting plots, pretty gals, cool guys, the sound of the language, the almost artistic appearance of the words and the theme songs that keep running through my head.

(Photo from Love Generation.. I even bought the glass apple before =))

(Long Vacation.. I really like the OST.. )

(Think this story was rather sadzz)

These are the things that made me enchanted with Japan since my teenage years. Due to the perceived high living standards in Japan, I only started my tours to Japan a few years back but my love affair with Japan has never ended since then.

It was also my first free & easy trip that lasted for 1 month. The year was 2006. That time, I was trying to decide for the next holiday destination that was both economical yet fun. One of my colleagues had been relocated to Tokyo and a friend suggested that we could save some costs on accommodation if we stayed with him for a while. This also helped that it happened that there was an air fare promotion to Tokyo at that time. So we did not have a hard time concluding on holiday venue. With the free accommodation in mind, we decided to maximise our stay there – one month (that is the maximum stay allowed by our air tickets).

See below for some photo during my flight to Japan and upon arrival.

(My flight took us from morning till sunset)



(YY and Missy with their heavy backpacks)

I must say that I enjoyed myself so much that Japan becomes a destination for annual trip since then. I am not the only one. I can safely say that about two-third of my friends who made 2 trips to Japan within 3 years. Why is that so? I have no doubt that the nice food, friendly people, clean environment and good shopping have to do with it :)