??? About using the trains in Japan
 

Husband and I are off to Japan in September. I have a few questions about using the JR Pass while we are there. I know we need to buy it before arriving. Once we are there and we activate it will I be able to reserve our seats on all the dates we want to travel? We will need to travel:

NRT - Hiroshima
Hiroshima - Kyoto
Kyoto - Tokyo
Tokyo - NRT

We are well traveled but have never been to Japan. Is the train systems easy to use?

Thank you in advance for your help.
Molly

The train system is very easy to use. Yes, once the exchange order that you buy overseas is converted into the actual activated rail pass, you can make future reservations for the entire duration of the pass. Reservations are free, and can be done on the spot at the same time you activate the passes, and/or at any later time. Although the former national railway has been broken up into 6 separate companies, they operate seamlessly as far as the pass goes and reservations go. With your above itinerary, you'll be using the services of 3 of the 6 JR companies (JR East, Central, and West), but everything can be handled at the JR East office at NRT and you'll probably never notice.

Also, JR signage and recorded announcements are all bi-lingual in Japanese and English, so you should not have too much difficulty in navigating the system. The people at the airport ticket office will speak English. But, not all JR employees do, and I would not expect people at other ticket offices to do so. But if you show them your pass, and write down your destination and date and time of travel, they'll figure out what you need.

Also, when getting seat reservations, be sure to ask for the tickets in English. If you don't, then the station names on the tickets will be in Kanji only, which may be difficult for you to keep track of if you have a stack of them. My experience is that the airport ticket office normally does this without asking, but elsewhere, it often does NOT happen unless you ask, even if it's obvious that you don't speak Japanese, let alone read it.

Thank you for the very quick reply Steve. Don't know why I am so nervous about train travel in Japan but you have put my mind at rest.

Molly

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One more thing that wasn't evident to me on my first use of the JR Rail Pass back in the mists of time: With the Pass, you don't use the ticket gates at each station, even when you have seat "reservation" tickets. Each entrance to the stations has a manned office to one side of the ticket wickets. Just walk through the entry next to that office and show your Rail Pass to the attendant, who will wave you through. If you have your seat assignment ticket, just show it to the agent and he/she will direct you to the correct platform for your train. Even if you don't have a seat ticket, if you have the train/route written down, just show that.

It works the same when exiting the station at your destination. Show the Pass and you will be waved through without passing through the wickets.

Japanese rail platforms in major stations are very helpful in that the train car numbers are written on the platform floor. Once you get it figured out, you will know exactly where to queue up. Don't stress about that. The car numbers and destinations are also marked prominently on the cars.

Once on the train, the conductor will rarely ask to see your seat ticket once you show him/her your Rail Pass. The only time I have been asked for my seat reservation ticket was when there was a question about someone being in the wrong seat.

The major stations are well signed in English and Japanese. On the shinkansen (bullet train,) and most deluxe express trains like the airport express, the scrolling electronic display at the front of the car will alternate Japanese and English announcements and the same for the audio announcements.

For the routes in your itinerary, you will be fine.

When you arrive at NRT and finish getting through Immigration and pick up your luggage at baggage claim, you will exit into the arrivals hall. Take care of whatever money exchange you will be doing - ATM, Exchange Window, etc. Then you will go down the escalator (well marked) to the Rail Center in the basement. There are offices for two rail companies. You will need to one for Japan Rail, which is in a glass-walled office with lime green trim. Line up there to exchange the Rail Pass order and, if you have your rail connections already planned, you can make all of your reservations at that time. Or, you can make onward connection reservations after you arrive in each new city. I find it helps to have my desired train information written out to show the agent. Seeing it written out is easier than understanding spoken English for some agents. The agents at NRT are usually very fluent in English.

Enjoy your visit.

Not bad advice but to be clear, the airport express trains (Narita Express) have plentiful racks at the end of each car for luggage in addition to rather skimpy over-seat racks for small bags.

The shinkansen has limited luggage space but you can usually find room for bags at the back of each car, behind the last row of seats. It is shared space but most folks are pretty good about making it work for everyone.

The only time I had a problem was when a couple of non-Japanese passengers figured they could remove my suitcase from the space behind the seats and put it in the area between compartments ...

Jib71: "What do you think you're doing with my suitcase?"
Passenger: [Plays dumb by responding in a language which I do not speak]
Mrs. Jib [Responds in their language - much to their surprise]
Passenger [In fluent English]: "Our bags contain valuables. We need to watch them"
Jib71: "My suitcase is valuable and if you touch it again, I will tell the conductor that you tried to steal it and we can discuss it with the police at the next stop"

... And then Mrs. Jib made friends with them and spent the next two hours chatting away. There are times when I wish she wasn't so good at getting along with people.

Yes, it's fairly easy to travel by train in Japan, so no need to worry.

Most advice has already been given..... but some additional things to consider:

- You probably already know that hyperdia.com is the way to go if you are looking for which train to take. But it's also very useful in the details that are shown like which platform a train leaves from. That is very helpful since some of the stations can be a bit daunting and although most signage is bilingual, not all is.

- No need to get all your tickets all at the same time. But it sometimes can be useful to get them the day before since some routes can be busy and the occasional train might be sold-out. Hardly a problem though since the next one is normally 15 minutes later.

- Using you railpass for the Tokyo-NRT route is a bit of a waste, assuming you will be staying in Tokyo those last days. You might get better value out of it maximizing the 7/14/21 days you are actually traveling longer distances. For Tokyo-NRT an inexpensive ticket can simply be bought separately (or plenty of options for cheap multi-day / combined tickets there).

-And try to keep your luggage as small/light as possible. You will hardly have any trouble but less luggage does make for a more enjoyable trip.

Thank you all for the very useful info. I had already planned on traveling light this trip with all the train travel. I am one of those people that needs to have a "plan" for each day so knowing I will be able to book our seats was a great relief.

the train only stops for 1 min or two. be ready. if traveling in reserved seats, ask one of the employees where is the reserved car. they will give you the stop number. go there and stand. all is very organized, easy, and polite. we bought food and drink before getting on. there is food service, but not frequent. the packaged food in the station is quite decent, and very reasonably priced.

Good advice. The "trolley dollies" who work the trains often do not speak much English. I have found it an absolute pleasure to browse the displayed "bento" lunch boxes at the station kiosks for something that looks good before boarding. Enjoying a nice boxed meal and bottled tea or beer while whizzing along on the bullet train is one of the ubiquitous things to do in Japan. Everybody seems to be eating and/or drinking on the train.

You made my day!! This is soo funny.
I can picutre myself and my hubby in Shinkansen yanking about the same luggage space stuff.

Food/Drink: As said above, selection of food/drink at the station before getting on the Shinkansen is farrrr better than the in-train food/drink trolley. I, too get my food before Shinkansen.

Timing of ticket purchase:I agree that you don't necessary have to buy all at once. Day before is sufficient for most times.

Anyway, Mollyann500, have a great vacation in Japan.

Thank you all for your help....I know FT would come through for me once again. We have been traveling in Asia a fair bit over the last few years and connecting through NRT. Decided this trip we would see a bit of Japan. Busy planning our days in Hiroshima and Kyoto right now. Looking forward to this trip.

Thanks again !!

Molly

Hi Molly... We just got back from Hiroshima to Kyoto today. Hiroshima was heavy but worth the trip. Kyoto is a blast. Couple of suggestions for Kyoto, the Nishiki market is fantastic and well worth the time. Can't recommend it enough. Also the Golden temple and zen garden nearby is incredible.

If you are at all into cooking, we attended a cooking class that started in the Nishiki market done by Taro Saeki in Kyoto. He teaches a class on how to make a lot of the core Japanese cuisine and ends the day with you eating the meal you prepared. It was truly the highlight of our trip. Taro-san is an amazing host and we learned a ton from the class.

For the train travel do not worry, it's incredibly easy. Hiroshima has signs everywhere that direct you to the trolly to take you to the bomb site and museums, also there are really good eats around there as well. Kyoto, wow I would love to have a few weeks here, but alas we leave in the morning.

Scott

Quick follow up to my earlier email. Here's a web site for the cooking class. http://www.kyoto-cooking-class.com

Scott