Japan - What to do 9 hours in between flights?

Arriving NRT at 2.02pm and nxt flight is not till 11.35pm at HND on Christmas day. What can I do with my time in between and how to get around?

Appreciate suggestions.

Christmas Day is not a legal holiday in Japan, so it will be an ordinary Sunday except for the small Christian minority.

I have never made the transfer from HRT to HND, but you have a fairly long time, and conceivably, you could take the Narita Express to Tokyo Station, hang around in central Tokyo for a few hours (get a guidebook for things to see and do in that area), hop onto the Yamanote Line (the silver commuter train with a green stripe) to Hamamatsucho, and then transfer to the monorail.

There is a direct bus from NRT to HND, but there isn't much to do in the HND area, so taking a break in the middle in central Tokyo seems like the best way to spend maybe four or five hours between airports.

Arriving NRT at 2.02pm and nxt flight is not till 11.35pm at HND on Christmas day. What can I do with my time in between and how to get around?

Appreciate suggestions.

Assuming you have some luggage, you might want to store it somewhere during the day. Options that I can think of are

(1) Take the Keisei Skyliner train from NRT to Nippori. Transfer at Nippori to the Yamanote line. Get off at Hamamatsucho. Put luggage in a coin locker.

What you do after that is up to you... I might suggest taking the Oedo line from Daimon (just outside Hamamatsucho station) to, say, Kokuritsukyogijo Mae and walk from there to Meiji Jingu, Omotesando, Harajuku, etc. Take the Yamanote line from Harajuku to Hamamatsucho after dinner and pick up luggage. Take Monorail to HND.

(2) Take a limousine bus to HND. Check-in luggage. Leave hand luggage in a locker. Take the Monorail or Keihin Kyuko line to Tokyo and explore.

If you've never done it before, Oedo Onsen Monogatari might be a relaxing and interesting place to kill a few hours.

http://www.ooedoonsen.jp/higaeri/english/aboutus.html

Withat so much time to spare, I'd suggest the following:

Keisei Skyliner train from NRT to Ueno (1 or 2 stops beyond Nippori)

Leave the bag in a locker either in the Keisei station or across the street in a JR station locker.

Shop the street market (under the tracks for blocks). This could take 2 hours, including a cheap lunch stop.

Reclaim the bag from the locker.

(The rest is copied from a well written previous post from jib71)

Board the Yamanote line. Get off at Hamamatsucho. Put luggage in a coin locker.

What you do after that is up to you... I might suggest taking the Oedo line from Daimon (just outside Hamamatsucho station) to, say, Kokuritsukyogijo Mae and walk from there to Meiji Jingu, Omotesando, Harajuku, etc. Take the Yamanote line from Harajuku to Hamamatsucho after dinner and pick up luggage. Take Monorail to HND.

You can also look at the following threads for some ideas:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan/1271743-eight-hours-nrt-what-do.html?highlight=layover
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan/1209430-9-hours-nrt.html?highlight=layover
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan/1198410-nrt-8hr-layover-advice-sought-re-exiting-airport-quick-visit.html?highlight=layover+hours
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/search.php?searchid=12020609
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan/1137589-12-hours-nrt-help.html

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions!

My bad - I forgot to include that I just hv a carryon and a backpack. So no check-in luggage to make for easier moving around.

I arrive on AA 175 at 2.05pm at NRT and leave on JL 35 at 11.35pm at HND.

Will sort thru' the infors and see how best to use those hours.

You can also try this:
Buy the Narita Express Suica package. Take the NEX to Shinagawa.

Store your luggage at the lockers at Shinagawa station (it's inside the paid area so you do not need to exit the fare gates).

Use your NEX ticket to exit whichever JR station inside the Tokyo area you want.

Enjoy Tokyo.

Use your Suica card to arrive back at Shinagawa, retrieve your luggage, and take the Keikyu line to HND.

You can also try this:

^

This is actually a very good suggestion. I checked out the train route and it is simple to follow and central tokyo is close to HND so I'll be quite safe in getting to HND, hv a good late lunch, snack before getting to HND.
Qtn abt Narita Express Suica package - I checked the website and it has a roud trip and a 1 way ticket. I am thinking I shld be buying the 1 way available for 3500 yen to foreign tourists only, I can travel by Narita Express from the airport to Tokyo and receive a Suica prepaid card worth 2000 yen (500 yen refundable deposit plus 1500 yen worth in train fares). NO NEED FOR ROUND TRIP RIGHT? A round trip version is available for 5500 yen.

Thank you very much!

Kef


You can also try this:
Buy the Narita Express Suica package. Take the NEX to Shinagawa.

Store your luggage at the lockers at Shinagawa station (it's inside the paid area so you do not need to exit the fare gates).

Use your NEX ticket to exit whichever JR station inside the Tokyo area you want.

Enjoy Tokyo.

Use your Suica card to arrive back at Shinagawa, retrieve your luggage, and take the Keikyu line to HND.

I am thinking I shld be buying the 1 way available for 3500 yen to foreign tourists only, I can travel by Narita Express from the airport to Tokyo and receive a Suica prepaid card worth 2000 yen (500 yen refundable deposit plus 1500 yen worth in train fares). NO NEED FOR ROUND TRIP RIGHT?

Unless you plan on going from Narita to Tokyo back to Narita and back to Haneda, there is no need for a round trip ticket. Though you'll end up paying a bit of a premium for the Suica, as you'll be hard-pressed to run up 2,000 yen in train fees in a few hours (though you could also use the Suica to purchase items in the stores as well...)

Though you'll end up paying a bit of a premium for the Suica, as you'll be hard-pressed to run up 2,000 yen in train fees in a few hours (though you could also use the Suica to purchase items in the stores as well...)

There's no reason that anyone using the NEX + SUICA deal should pay a premium.

I think the SUICA is loaded with 1500 yen in train fares and 500 yen deposit. At the end of his day in Tokyo (before getting on the train to Haneda) OP should take his card to a JR ticket window and get a full refund for the 500 yen SUICA deposit and a partial refund for any unspent credit (there's a 210 yen fee for refunding unspent credit). I don't think there's a JR ticket office at HND, so he needs to do this at Shinagawa. (Someone will correct me if I'm wrong about that).

If you've never done it before, Oedo Onsen Monogatari might be a relaxing and interesting place to kill a few hours.

http://www.ooedoonsen.jp/higaeri/english/aboutus.html

http://www.heiwajima-onsen.jp/en/index.html

Here's another one that's along the Keikyu line and is only a few stops from Haneda. I've been here; it's a pretty nice place to chill out, and there's a Don Quixote in the complex too :D

If you've never done it before, Oedo Onsen Monogatari might be a relaxing and interesting place to kill a few hours.

http://www.ooedoonsen.jp/higaeri/english/aboutus.html

Maybe it doesn't matter to anyone but me but on the one and only time I tried to enter this onsen, they were offering a discount package of some sort. When I lined up to get it, I was told, "Sorry, Japanese only."

I haven't been back since. I don't wish to patronize places that discriminate against non-Japanese. But, as I said, that could just be me.

There's no reason that anyone using the NEX + SUICA deal should pay a premium.

I think the SUICA is loaded with 1500 yen in train fares and 500 yen deposit. At the end of his day in Tokyo (before getting on the train to Haneda) OP should take his card to a JR ticket window and get a full refund for the 500 yen SUICA deposit and a partial refund for any unspent credit (there's a 210 yen fee for refunding unspent credit). I don't think there's a JR ticket office at HND, so he needs to do this at Shinagawa. (Someone will correct me if I'm wrong about that).

Or the OP could use the remaining credit to buy something -- there are literally thousands of stores, restaurants, and even vending machines places in central Tokyo that accept Suica or Pasmo for payment, and that would make more sense than paying a 210 yen fee. If there's not enough credit, the balance can be paid in cash, credit card, etc. (The 500 yen deposit can only be reclaimed at a JR East railway station, so you'd have to do this at Hamamatsucho/Shinagawa, then purchase a separate ticket for the monorail/Keikyu Line train.)

I like the idea of using up all the value on the Suica card as well to buy snacks or whatever. :)

Hv checked up on Shinagawa station, locker cost abt 300-500yen, train fare from shinagawa to HND abt 400 yen, I am still left with 600 yen or so to eat n buy stuff. Love to get some good street food! and a good meal before heading out of tokyo.

Appreciate all the input guys! leave in 1.5 days! :)

Or the OP could use the remaining credit to buy something -- there are literally thousands of stores, restaurants, and even vending machines places in central Tokyo that accept Suica or Pasmo for payment, and that would make more sense than paying a 210 yen fee. If there's not enough credit, the balance can be paid in cash, credit card, etc. (The 500 yen deposit can only be reclaimed at a JR East railway station, so you'd have to do this at Hamamatsucho/Shinagawa, then purchase a separate ticket for the monorail/Keikyu Line train.)

Maybe it doesn't matter to anyone but me but on the one and only time I tried to enter this onsen, they were offering a discount package of some sort. When I lined up to get it, I was told, "Sorry, Japanese only."

I haven't been back since. I don't wish to patronize places that discriminate against non-Japanese. But, as I said, that could just be me.
I would love to be able to hear both sides of the story on this, as that does not jive with my experience the dozen or so times that I have been there. I've certainly never seen a "Japanese only" special being offered. They do have a special where it is cheaper to get in after 6pm; they might have refused you that rate if you went there beforehand (there is often a queue of people waiting to get in at 6pm for that reason)

I could buy someone there having difficulty communicating that to you in English (and trying to say "Sorry, I speak Japanese only"), but such blatant discrimination as you describe seems unlikely to me.

I would love to be able to hear both sides of the story on this, as that does not jive with my experience the dozen or so times that I have been there. I've certainly never seen a "Japanese only" special being offered. They do have a special where it is cheaper to get in after 6pm; they might have refused you that rate if you went there beforehand (there is often a queue of people waiting to get in at 6pm for that reason)

I could buy someone there having difficulty communicating that to you in English (and trying to say "Sorry, I speak Japanese only"), but such blatant discrimination as you describe seems unlikely to me.

I hear you, but that's what they said and the person who said it to me, said it in very clear English. This was on a weekend during the late morning and there were plenty of Japanese who waited in a fast moving line to get whatever the deal was.

I hear you, but that's what they said and the person who said it to me, said it in very clear English. This was on a weekend during the late morning and there were plenty of Japanese who waited in a fast moving line to get whatever the deal was.

Is it possible that they were lining up for a special event where one needed a lottery ticket or such to attend? There are often events for idols or such where you send a postcard and the winners receive tickets to attend such events. And are you sure that the person who told you this was even associated with the establishment?

I'm not trying to be a Japan apologist here. I know of and have experienced all sorts of subtle forms of discrimination in Tokyo, and blatant discrimination in the sticks, and I imagine that more blatant discrimination exists at places like the soaplands. But at a popular Tokyo entertainment facility that welcomes a large number of foreign tourists, I just have a hard time believing that things went down in the way that you perceived them.

Not to take one side or the other but nobody here knows the real reason. It could have been that the promotion was only open to Japanese residents, for example. All that we do know is what RichardInSF was told, which is clearly unacceptable.

Not to take one side or the other but nobody here knows the real reason. It could have been that the promotion was only open to Japanese residents, for example. All that we do know is what RichardInSF was told, which is clearly unacceptable.

No, we don't know what RichardInSF was told. We know the words, but we don't know the context, or whether "Japanese" was referring to the Japanese language or the Japanese people.

I have looked online for quite some time, but I cannot find a single other mention of something like this, or any other instance of overt racism at Oedo Onsen Monogatari.

No, we don't know what RichardInSF was told. We know the words, but we don't know the context, or whether "Japanese" was referring to the Japanese language or the Japanese people.

I have looked online for quite some time, but I cannot find a single other mention of something like this, or any other instance of overt racism at Oedo Onsen Monogatari.

But I'm sure you found plenty of examples at other onsens....

But I'm sure you found plenty of examples at other onsens....

Yes. But like I said, there's a difference between a local little onsen in the inaka, and a huge theme park that actually caters to foreign customers.

Arriving NRT at 2.02pm and nxt flight is not till 11.35pm at HND on Christmas day. What can I do with my time in between and how to get around?

Appreciate suggestions.

Take Narita Express to Tokyo Station. Get a massage, walk around Ginza. Have a great dinner. Walk over to the Imperial Hotel and catch the 9:05 Limo Bus to the Haneda. Simplest transport, No fuss, no muss, see the sights, see the lights.

Take Narita Express to Tokyo Station. Get a massage
What kind of a "massage" are we talking about here? :eek:

What kind of a "massage" are we talking about here? :eek:

Whatever kind you want, but I was thinking upscale, kenzen.