nishimark

We live in Kansai, but not real familiar with local transportation around Tokyo.

My wife needs to get to Seibu Nishi-Tokorozawa station from Osaka/Kobe, possibly more than a few times over the next few months, for medical appointments. She's not disabled, but the easier the better. It seems like the two reasonable options are air from Itami or Kobe, or shinkansen. If I book far enough ahead, I might be able to get a very cheap air ticket to Haneda. Not considering cost, what are the easiest ways (fewest transfers, least amount of walking, comfort) to get to Nishi-Tokorozawa?

Air - from Haneda, which way to go from there?
Train - Shinkansen to Tokyo, Yamanote line to Ikebukero, Seibu line from Ikebukero?

Thanks much.

NewbieRunner

I would suggest Shinkansen but instead of changing to Yamanote Line at Tokyo, she can change at Shinagawa for less amount of walking. Then Yamanote Line to Ikebukuro as you suggest and Seibu Ikebukuro Line to Nishi Tokorozawa.

P.S. Alternatively take the Limousine Bus from Haneda to Tokorozawa Station which takes 1 hr 40 mins. Then taxi to her destination.

jib71

That certainly looks like the "least effort" route to me. Ensures a seat for the whole journey. And the buses are relatively frequent (at least in the afternoon...). http://www.limousinebus.co.jp/en/pla...es/index/4/174

If your wife prefers trains for any reason, its worth noting that the fast trains stop at Tokorozawa. So change there for Nishi Tokorozawa.

NewbieRunner

Tokorozawa to Nishi Tokorozawa is only about a mile as the crow flies. I would take a taxi from Tokorozawa Station especially if her destination is not the actual station in Nishi Tokorozawa.

jib71

My thought was that if the OP's wife doesn't like the idea of taking a bus to Tokorozawa (I don't know what toilet facilities exist on the Seibu buses, for example... or whether she gets car sick ... my personal preference is to avoid the limo buses but I can see situations where feeling fragile would make them preferable to trains), she might find herself travelling by train via Ikebukuro. In that situation, she should choose a fast train... and taking a fast train means not getting directly to Nishi Tokorozawa. Finding herself instead at Tokorozawa, she could change to a local train for one stop .... or, indeed, she could take a cab.

hailstorm

Another alternative is to take the Hikari from Osaka/Kobe to Odawara, then transfer on the Shonan-Shinjuku line to Ikebukuro. Only one transfer, and slightly cheaper, and maybe a bit easier to get a seat from Odawara, though with a little bit less flexibility in the timing than the former method.

nishimark

Thanks all. Some good ideas to check into. I really appreciate it.

NewbieRunner

Having used the Shonan-Shinjuku line a few times recently, I have thought about the option but was too lazy to look up the timetable.

I have now looked it up and found that there's only one hourly train from Odawara going to Ikebukuro (and beyond). If you can find a good connection from the Hikari that should work but otherwise it will not be very convenient.

If you go as far as Shinagawa on the Shinkansen you have to take the Yamanote line to Osaki to change to the Shonan-Shinjuku line.

P.S. According to this blog post (in Japanese) the Seibu buses which run between Haneda and Tokorozawa do have a toliet at the back.

nishimark

Reviving an oldish thread here. I'm the OP. My wife has done the trip several times now. Always, Shin-Osaka to Shinagawa, transfer and to go Ikebukero, transfer and go to Tokorozawa. After the medical appointment, she does the same in reverse. Not bad, but requires two transfers at large, crowded stations in Tokyo. Would like to fine an easier way.

I checked out the idea of transferring at Odawara and then on to Tokorozawa. However, to stay on the same shinkansen train, she needs to catch a Hikari that leaves Shin-Osaka at 8:13am, which is too late. She needs to arrive in Tokorozawa by about 10:00am.

I thought that I'd post one more time to see if there may be other alternatives. My main goal is the easiest method, as her condition is not great.

O Sora

Hello, nishimark. How about this?

1 Take a Shinkansen to Tokyo Station.
2 It arrives near Yaesu Gate of Tokyo Station.
3 Take a cab from taxi stand near the Yaesu Gate to Imperial Theater(ていこくげきじょう　or ていげき) in Yurakucho, Tokyo. It's under 2km. So the cab fare will be 710yen.
4 In the Imperial Theater building, it has an elevator directly going underground. It is assigned B3 entrance/exit number for the subway Yurakucho Station.
5 After getting off on the basement floor, turn left, walk about 10 meters,and turn left again. She will see, in front of her, the entrance gate of Yurakucho Station for the Yurakucho Line.
6 After entering the gate, she will have the choice of an elevator or an escalator. Go down.
7 Now she is on the platform of the Yurakucho Line.
8 From there, there are about 4, per hour, direct service trains to the Seibu Ikebukuro Line. She will need no more transfer to Nishi-Tokorozawa.

I hope this will help you.

JR Tokai Tokyo Station Map
http://railway.jr-central.co.jp/stat...tokyo/map.html
*Yaesu gate is up.

Photo of entrance B3 for Yurakucho Station
http://chizu.tokyometro.jp/mapPano.p...tid=533@000831

Subway Yurakucho Station Map
http://www.tokyometro.jp/station/yur...dex_pdf_01.pdf

Timetable Yurakucho Station (Weekday)
http://www.tokyometro.jp/station/yur...o/b/index.html

nishimark

Thanks O Sora. As for your point #8, does the Yurakucho line go all the way to Tokorozawa?

O Sora

About the half of the trains just go to Wako-shi, which is the terminal for the Yurakucho Line, and the rest go directly into the Seibu Ikebukuro Line. Some of them go beyond Nishi-Tokorozawa; others stop before Nishi-Tokorozawa.

NG:Wako-Shi, Shiki, Kiyose, Nerima-Takanodai, Ikebukuro
OK:Shinrin-Koen, Kawagoe-Shi, Hanno, Kotesashi,
Gray: Tokorozawa (This is one stop before Nishi-Tokorozawa)

You should choose a train
a) which goes directly into Seibu Ikebukuro Line
and
b) whose destination is on the OK list above.

Semi express and rapid trains are available from Yurakucho Station and it takes 60 minutes.
Local trains take about 70 minutes.

Let me pick up the suitable trains departing Yurakucho from 8:00am to 10.
8:08 to Tokorozawa, semi express (You need another change at Tokorozawa)
8:21 to Hanno, rapid
8:36 to Kotesashi, rapid
8:55 to Kotesashi, semi express
9:27 to Kotesashi, semi express
9:57 to Kotesashi, semi express

+ all the local trains whose destination is on the OK list

O Sora

Looks like I mistakenly hit "Quote" instead of "Edit". I am sorry.
I've updated post #10.

nishimark

Thanks very much!