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Japan Do #3 - The FUK Do - April 3-5, 2015

Old May 4, 2014, 4:59 am
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Last edit by: NewbieRunner
SUMMARY OF EVENTS Click links for details

Thursday 2 April
Welcome Drinks 19:00-20:00, Bar Fizz Grand Hyatt Fukuoka followed by Yatai food stalls, craft beer excursion, cherry blossom viewing
Late arrivals can meet at the GH reception at 21:00.

Friday 3 April
Half-day trip to Dazaifu (not organised)
Official Do Dinner - Yanagimachi Ikkokudō Haruyoshi-ten, 19:00-22:00

Saturday 4 April
Day Trip to Nagasaki Depart Hakata 07:54 (Kamome #7, Platform 4), Return Nagasaki 17:20 (Kamome #38) arrive Hakata 19:14

Sunday-Monday 5-6 April
Post-do trip to Kurokawa Onsen
Lunch, day trip to Kumamoto, etc. for those still in Fukuoka

Planning to attend Welcome Drinks Thursday, April 2, 7PM~8PM, Bar Fizz, Grand Hyatt Fukuoka
NewbieRunner
greendx
kpcs
kpc+1
Awesom Andy
JY1024 (arriving FUK @ 9:35PM, but will get to GH ASAP)
kirkwoodj (arr FUK 8pm)
lili (arriving FUK @ 9:35PM, GH)
BOB W (arriving FUK @ NH249 at 12:25 PM)
beckoa (arriving FUK @ NH249 at 12:25 PM)
ClaudiSTR (50% chance for 7 pm, but sure after arriving at 8:05pm at FUK)
DENchick
iris30
ParanoiaTX (arriving FUK 18:30 on OZ136)
ParanoiaTX+1 (arriving FUK 18:30 on OZ136)
Moomba
nme7
gvdIAD (arriving FUK @ 20:05 on NH2145)
nomadic.relief (arriving FUK @ 12:25 on NH249)
upup&away(arriving by train,Thursday, April 02 (16:39)
ZFW-ATC
Henwurst
The_Wrath_of_Khan - I'll be there as soon as the 1800 Hawks game is over.
Sykes (going to the Baseball game with The_Wrath_of_Khan, so will arrive at the end)
El_Duderito+1

Planning to trip to Dazaifu
(Unorganized - link up information)
Awesom Andy
restlessinRNO
JY1024
kirkwoodj
BOB W
beckoa
ClaudiSTR
pfbloom
lynnevt
DENchick
lili
iris30
Moomba
Sykes
violist got rained on too much this morning
nomadic.relief
upup&away
ZFW-ATC
nme7
O Sora
Henwurst
The_Wrath_of_Khan
El_Duderito+1

Do Dinner - Friday, April 3, 7:00PM
See post #3 for confirmed attendees.

Planning to join Day Trip to Nagasaki Saturday, April 4, Depart Hakata 7:54AM
NewbieRunner
greendx
kpc
kpc+1
serfty
Awesom Andy
restlessinRNO
JY1024
kirkwoodj
lili
BOB W
beckoa
ClaudiSTR
DENchick
iris30
Moomba
Sykes (50/50 on going)
gvdIAD
nomadic.relief (assuming I'm capable of waking up early enough!)
upup&away
ZFW-ATC
El_Duderito+1
BigRedBears+1
nme7
O Sora
Henwurst


A summary of the events may be found in post #2.


This event also has a Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/JapanDo2015/ if you are interested in the event and enjoy a bit more social interaction with fellow attendees / organizers, feel free to join in.
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Japan Do #3 - The FUK Do - April 3-5, 2015

Old Mar 5, 2015, 1:03 pm
  #346  
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Post-Do Trip to Kurokawa Onsen (Update)

Please see post #357 regarding Plan B for Monday.

Increased volcanic activity of Mr Aso continues and a no-entry zone is currently in force stretching 1 km from the crater and resulting in the closure of the ropeway, road and hiking trails to the crater. Since it seems unlikely the situation will change in the next 3-4 weeks a slightly revised plan is proposed for Monday 6th April.

Starting on 1st April there are more buses from Fukuoka/Hita to Kurokawa Onsen (4 daily instead of 2 daily services), so I've had to change our plan slightly. For this trip I'm assuming everybody will have either a 3 day or a 5 day Northern Kyushu Rail Pass, which should cover all rail travel. The bus we plan to catch in Hita actually comes from Fukuoka but we'll save 1,240 yen by going to Hita on JR with a Rail Pass.

Revised Schedule - Sunday 5th April
09:24 JR Hakata (Limited Express Yufuin-no-Mori #1) - 10:40 Hita **
11:38 Hita Bus Station (bus) - 12:50 Kurokawa Onsen (1,850 yen)

** Just found Limited Express Yufuin-no-Mori has free wifi @:-) Seat reservation is compulsory and must be arranged in advance.



The revised schedule gives us nearly an hour in Hita, which is a historic town under the direct control of the Toyotomi Clan and later the Tokugawa Shogunate as the main city overseeing Kyushu between the late 16th and 19th century. There is an area not far from the railway station which has preserved or restored shops and other buildings from the Edo period. We can walk there and back (0.5 km each way) while we wait for our bus.


Mameda-machi, Hita City

Tickets go on sale a month in advance for long-distance buses and I suggest we book seats on the bus before we arrive in Fukuoka. Please let me know as soon as possible if you would like me to book a seat on the bus for you. The cost will be 1,850 yen which you can pay me on Thursday or Friday.

Revised schedule - Monday 6th April
10:35 Kurokawa Onsen (bus) - 11:23 Aso Station (990 yen)
11:45 Aso Station (bus) - 12:14 Kusasenri Plateau (570 yen one way)
Optional visit to Aso Volcano Museum

Once again if you would like me to book a seat on the bus from Kurokawa Onsen to Aso JR Station please let me know. Good news for serfty who has to return to FUK on Monday morning: the 9:30 bus to Fukuoka via FUK remains unchanged.




Unfortunately we will not be able to see this view.
We have a few options for getting back to Aso JR Station and to Kumamoto. We can decided this nearer the date or even on the day.

13:10 Kusasenri Plateau - 13:35 Aso Station / 13:44 Aso Station - 14:50 Kumamoto or
13:10 Kusasenri Plateau - 13:35 Aso Station / 13:53 Aso Station - 15:22 Kumamoto or
13:35 Kusasenri Plateau - 14:00 Aso Station / 14:43 Aso Station - 16:11 Kumamoto or
14:05 Kusasenri Plateau - 14:30 Aso Station / 14:43 Aso Station - 16:11 Kumamoto

I will try and explore alternative ways of viewing Mt Aso without getting too close on our way to Kumamoto on Monday afternoon.


Kumamoto Castle


Suizenji Garden, Kumamoto

Last edited by NewbieRunner; Mar 7, 2015 at 12:22 pm
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Old Mar 5, 2015, 1:32 pm
  #347  
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Wow, looks very nice.
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Old Mar 5, 2015, 1:46 pm
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NewbieRunner - Please book a seat on both buses for me. Thank you.
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Old Mar 5, 2015, 2:32 pm
  #349  
 
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Originally Posted by NewbieRunner
One of the easiest and also the cheapest ways is to use the ANA Experience Japan Fare from HND to FUK for 10,800 yen (US $90). There is plenty of availability on April 2. The ticket books into Y if anyone is interested.
Thanks, but there had previously been talk of several people taking the train down and I was hoping to get in on that. I know the train is longer and more expensive, but if there are others along for the ride, I'm in!
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Old Mar 5, 2015, 2:40 pm
  #350  
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Seat reservations requested for Hita-Kurokawa Onsen and Kurokawa Onsen-Aso Station

Awesom Andy
DENchick
gvdIAD
JY1024
kpc
kpc+1
restlessinRNO

Last edited by NewbieRunner; Mar 6, 2015 at 10:46 am Reason: updated
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Old Mar 5, 2015, 6:08 pm
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Originally Posted by NewbieRunner
Seat reservations requested for Hita-Kurokawa Onsen and Kurokawa Onsen-Aso Station
Guess I'm a little late with this, but would you be able to request seat reservations for 2 buses please?

Originally Posted by NewbieRunner
I will try and explore alternative ways of viewing Mt Aso without getting too close on our way to Kumamoto on Monday afternoon.
Well, we certainly don't want to get fried.
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Old Mar 5, 2015, 8:48 pm
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Originally Posted by nomadic.relief
Thanks, but there had previously been talk of several people taking the train down and I was hoping to get in on that. I know the train is longer and more expensive, but if there are others along for the ride, I'm in!

I will also be in Tokyo pre-DO and plan to take the train. There was a fair amount of info posted up-thread about the train but I'd have to go back and read it again, and honestly, I'm not sure I'll understand it any better now to know what I am supposed to buy. Has anyone who is taking the train from Tokyo bought their ticket? If so, please feel free to PM me so I know exactly how/what to buy.
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Old Mar 6, 2015, 7:34 am
  #353  
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I should probably start looking to see what rail passes I need to buy, etc...looks like the 5-day Northern Kyushu pass is what I'm needing since a) I'm not going to be in TYO before/after the Do and b) I'll be joining the Sunday/Monday onsen & Kumamoto excursion.
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Old Mar 6, 2015, 11:26 pm
  #354  
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If you are arriving/departing FUK and going to Nagasaki on Saturday, what you should consider is the Northern Kyushu Rail Pass. A day trip to Nagasaki alone costs less with a 3-day Northern Kyushu Rail Pass (7,200 yen) than the normal return fare plus the limited express charge. A 3-day pass should also take you from Hakata to Hita on Sunday and Aso to Kumamoto and even back to Hakata on Monday. A real bargain. @:-)

Anyone staying overnight in Kumamoto on Monday and returning to Hakata on Tuesday should get a 5-day pass at 9,260 yen if they are also going to Nagasaki.

Unlike the Japan Rail Pass, the Northern Kyushu Rail Pass may be bought after you arrive in Japan at Hakata Station or TISCO Travel Information Center located on the first floor of the International Terminal of Fukuoka Airport. When you purchase a pass or exchange a voucher (which you have bought outside Japan) you can specify the date when the pass should be activated and reserve seats (free of charge) as well. If you arrive in Fukuoka on 2nd, you can buy a pass on arrival to be activated on 4th for a trip to Nagasaki.

Seat reservation to/from Nagasaki is optional. The train we plan to catch has 2.5 cars with reserved seats and 3 cars with unreserved seats. If you are reserving seats the trains we plan to travel on are:

Kamome #7 : dep. Hakata 07.54 - arr. Nagasaki 09.50
Kamome #38 : dep. Nagasaki 17.20 - arr. Hakata 19.14

If you have difficulty getting reserved seats for the Nagasaki trip what you should tell/show at the Midori no Madoguchi is that you want a reserved seat or a Shitei-seki (指定席) on April 4th (4月4日) on the following trains.

かもめ7号 博多発 07.54 長崎着 09.50
かもめ38号 長崎発 17.20 博多着 19.14

If anyone is still in Fukuoka on Sunday and not going on the onsen trip, they can hop on the Kyushu Shinkansen for a 33 min ride to Kumamoto to see the castle and cherry blossoms. If you can stay until the evening you might be able to catch the last day of floodlighting of the castle during the cherry blossom season. The normal return fare between Hakata and Kumamoto on the Shinkansen is 9,220 yen!
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Old Mar 7, 2015, 3:19 am
  #355  
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Originally Posted by NewbieRunner
Seat reservation to/from Nagasaki is optional. The train we plan to catch has 2.5 cars with reserved seats and 3 cars with unreserved seats. If you are reserving seats the trains we plan to travel on are:

Kamome #7 : dep. Hakata 07.54 - arr. Nagasaki 09.50
Kamome #38 : dep. Nagasaki 17.20 - arr. Hakata 19.14
Any particular carriage / seats we should be trying to reserve so the FT group would be together, NewbieRunner? Also. would the the Northern Kyushu Rail Pass cover the train for the Half-day trip to Dazaifu, esp. if youi have bought the 5 day pass?
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Old Mar 7, 2015, 5:06 am
  #356  
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Originally Posted by kpc
Any particular carriage / seats we should be trying to reserve so the FT group would be together, NewbieRunner? Also. would the the Northern Kyushu Rail Pass cover the train for the Half-day trip to Dazaifu, esp. if youi have bought the 5 day pass?
I will try and get a seat in Car 2 which has power supply. It will be difficult to reserve seats together as a group because you will have to take your rail pass with you to get free seat reservation. Car 3 should probably be avoided by our group since it is described as a quiet carriage.


Standard class seats


Part of car 2

You cannot use the Northern Kyushu Rail Pass to go to Dazaifu as there is no JR station nearby. It will cost 400 yen one way on Nishitetsu Line from Tenjin (Nishitetsu Fukuoka) Station. You can use a Suica for the trip.
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Old Mar 7, 2015, 8:10 am
  #357  
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Plan B for Mt Aso

(Disclaimer: assuming we can actually see the mountain during our trip… )

The bus to take us from Kurokawa Onsen to JR Aso Station is the Cross-Kyushu service from Beppu to Kumamoto. Since we will not be able to go near the crater, instead of going to Kusasenri and returning to JR Aso Station, we can continue down the eastern side of Mt Aso (or strictly speaking Nakadake) to Tateno JR Station.


Japan Guide


Google Map showing the size of Aso Caldera with Kurokawa-sō near the top, Aso town, active volcano (red drop-pin), Tateno and Hakusui Kōgen stations (yellow stars) lower left

This will mean we can only see Mt Aso from the bus (assuming we can see it at all!) but one of the best views of the volcano appears to be on the way from Kurokawa Onsen to Aso Station.


By Miya.m via Wikimedia Commons

Tateno seems to be a place with nothing more than some houses and a railway station (actually two stations). One reason why Limited Express trains from Beppu to Kumamoto stop at Tateno is because the station is part of the zig zag system of JR Hohi Line.


National Land Image Information (Color Aerial Photograph), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Brown lines show JR Hohi Line with Tateno Station on the right and Kumamoto to the left

Tateno is also a terminus of Minamiaso Railway which used to be part of the JR system. Our bus should arrive in Tateno at 12:09 and the next Limited Express train to Kumamoto leaves at 14:10 (arriving in Kumamoto at 14:49). According to Google Street View there is a noodle restaurant on the main road where the bus will drop us. Although there is an earlier local train to Kumamoto, I'd like to suggest the following detour.

There is a Minamiaso Railway train leaving Tateno at 12:46. We can travel 15 mins on this train to the ridiculously named 'Minamiaso Mizu-no-Umareru-Sato Hakusui-Kōgen Station' (Hakusui Plateau, birthplace of Minamiaso mineral water). We will wait 7 minutes for a train travelling in the other direction back to Tateno. We should be back in Tateno at 13:21.







The bus fare from Kurokawa Onsen to Tateno will be 1,340 yen instead of 2,130 yen for Kurokawa Onsen-Aso Station-Kusasenri-Aso Station. The Minamiaso Railway is not covered by the Northern Kyushu Rail Pass but if the weather is kind to us it should be a scenic ride.

Last edited by NewbieRunner; Mar 9, 2015 at 2:28 am Reason: resized image
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Old Mar 7, 2015, 6:17 pm
  #358  
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Post Do Kurokawa Onsen and Kumamoto trip

OK NewbieRunner, I'm just summarising your revised schedule so I can follow it so please let me know if below is incorrect:

Revised Schedule - Sunday 5th April
09:24 JR Hakata (Limited Express Yufuin-no-Mori #1) - 10:40 Hita **
11:38 Hita Bus Station (bus) - 12:50 Kurokawa Onsen (1,850 yen) –booked by NewbieRunner

** Just found Limited Express Yufuin-no-Mori has free wifi . Seat reservation is compulsory and must be arranged in advance

Kurokawaso Onsen

Revised schedule - Monday 6th April
10:35 Kurokawa Onsen(bus) to 12:09 Tateno JR Station (1,340 yen) –booked by NewbieRunner

Minamiaso Railway train: 12:46 JR Tateno to 13:01 Minamiaso Mizu-no-Umareru-Sato Hakusui-Kōgen Station' (Hakusui Plateau, birthplace of Minamiaso mineral water). We will wait 7 minutes for a train travelling in the other direction back to Tateno.

Limited Express train leaves Tateno JR Station at 14:10 (arriving in Kumamoto at 14:49)

Hotel Nikko Kumamoto

Booked:
Bus: Hita-Kurokawa Onsen (1,850 yen ) and Kurokawa Onsen to Tateno JR Station (1,340 yen). The cost will be 3,190 yen (1,850 yen + 1340 yen) to be paid to be paid NewbieRunner on Thursday or Friday...as there are two of us, we will pay double this

PS^^^^ for all your efforts....we will be following like sheep
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Old Mar 8, 2015, 12:48 am
  #359  
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Originally Posted by NewbieRunner
One of the easiest and also the cheapest ways is to use the ANA Experience Japan Fare from HND to FUK for 10,800 yen (US $90). There is plenty of availability on April 2. The ticket books into Y if anyone is interested.
Thanks for the heads up. Was looking at one from JAL that was similar- but required OW to/from Japan and this does not.

Originally Posted by nomadic.relief
Thanks, but there had previously been talk of several people taking the train down and I was hoping to get in on that. I know the train is longer and more expensive, but if there are others along for the ride, I'm in!
This seems like a nice train ride and still want to try some longer rail journeys. However ANA offers a 787 on the HND-FUK route!

And thanks NewbieRunner for all the updates. I've been mostly offline for the past week and it seems I've missed a bit.
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Old Mar 8, 2015, 3:31 am
  #360  
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Originally Posted by kpc
OK NewbieRunner, I'm just summarising your revised schedule so I can follow it so please let me know if below is incorrect:
Apologies if my posts have confused you.

Booked: Bus: Hita-Kurokawa Onsen (1,850 yen ) and Kurokawa Onsen to Tateno JR Station (1,340 yen). The cost will be 3,190 yen (1,850 yen + 1340 yen) to be paid to be paid NewbieRunner on Thursday or Friday...as there are two of us, we will pay double this
I have booked tickets for Hita-Kurokawa Onsen on Sunday 5th. We have the front two rows!

I haven't booked Kurokawa Onsen to Tateno yet. I'm waiting for comments from those joining the tour since we won't have the chance to get out to "admire" the view of Mt Aso, though a ride on the Minamiaso Railway might somewhat make up for this.
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