Train to Kyoto
 

I am trying to plan my transportation from Shinjuku to Kyoto on Nov. 10th. Hyperdia gave me an option that i am considering....Shinjuku>Yamanote Line>Shinagawa>Hikari 505>Kyoto. The given schedule shows a 10 minute transfer time at Shinagawa to get on the shinkansen. Will this be enough time to make the transfer. This will probably be my first time at this station and i will have luggage. Has anyone made this connection? Could you please elaborate or give some tips on how to successfully make the transfer? Thanks.

That's farkin' nonsense. Take the Chuo Line from Shinjuku to Tokyo Station and take the train from there.

Ten minutes to transfer from the Yamanote to the Shinkansen is sufficient if you know what you are doing and aren't carrying luggage. If not, you will give yourself a heart attack trying to make it.

The nice thing about the Yamanote Line is that it runs - literally - every few minutes. Instead of the 8:10, you could get on the 8:07 and have a 13 minute connection, or the 8:05 and have 15 minutes, or the 8:02 and have 18 minutes - and so forth. You aren't limited to the exact train Hyperdia suggests. I rarely accept every link they recommend for the same reason - I want a bit more time for connections.

If this is a weekday, then please remember that Shinjuku and Shinagawa are likely to be mob scenes - especially Shinjuku. Do you HAVE to try this at 8:00 am? If so, I suggest an even earlier Yamanote train to make that 8:40 am Hikari.

Here is a trick you may not have figured out yet. On the Hyperdia screen that shows your connection - ie. "The First Course" or whichever - look across to the column named "Timetable" on the line for your Yamanote connection. See the icon of an open book with a clock? Click it and it will show EVERY train from your start (Shinjuku) to the intervening station (Shinagawa.) You can substitute any of the earlier trains to what Hyperdia suggested, giving yourself a longer connection. You can even look for alternatives to your Hikari suggestion by clicking the icon on that line.

If you are using a JR Rail Pass, you probably will want seat reservations for the shinkansen but you can just walk on whichever Yamanote train suits your needs. No ticket. If you are buying tickets, again - just reserve the shinkansen seat and use your Yamanote ticket for whichever train works for you.

JR

I noticed Pickles' response and agree with it - if you are comfortable with Tokyo Station - as he is. On the other hand, Shinagawa is much easier to navigate for a newbie. Just give yourself plenty of time to get on your train at Shinjuku and plenty more to find your way through Shinagawa (or Tokyo if you so choose.)

Trains in Japan are never late... Totally different from NYC... here's you're lucky if trains are only late by 10-20 minutes.

Shinjuku to Kyoto via Shinagawa seems fine to me ... What am I missing?

Not sure what the other details of your schedule are. If you don't want to carry luggage, you can send it ahead. Japan has a very efficient package shipping system called "takyubin". If you're staying at a hotel, the front desk can arrange to send your luggage onto the next hotel. You would have to check with the front desk about times, but you could probably send in the afternoon/evening before you check out and get it the next day soon after you arrive in Kyoto.

One would think so but not last week. :D Something happened on the Yamanote track and we had no train for a good 20 minutes at 5:45AM. It made for a really tight connection at Shinagawa to get on the Shinkansen with about 30 seconds to spare.

The OP's Shinjuku --> Shinagawa on the Yamanote and then Shinagawa --> Kyoto on the Shinkansen sounds good to me. ^

Second.

Was in Tokyo a week or so ago when the Yūrakuchō line was out of service or something in the evening.

I was in Tokyo for a couple of weeks recently and had never seen so many delays announced at JR stations due to what is euphemistically referred to as 'jinshin jiko' (bodily accident) or simply 'accident' in English. I could only think these sad and desperate incidents were on the increase because of deep recession.

Thanks to all who have contibuted.

Why nonsense? Is the route you have suggested shorter on time and/or distance?

I suspect Pickles just feels that the Chuo line has more class than the Yamanote line. It flows into the city from the mountainous regions to the West of the capital like a great river and it inspires great art. If I start the morning on the Chuo line ... It gives me a sense of enormous well-being. And then Im happy for the rest of the day, safe in the knowledge there will always be a bit of my heart devoted to it.

But in terms of getting to Kyoto, I don't think there's much in it.

I read the "nonsense" remark as directed more at the 10 minute connection than anything else. Frankly, I would use a somewhat stronger phrase to describe an attempt to connect from the Yamanote to the shinkansen at a major Tokyo station in 10 minutes at the height of the morning rush, with luggage. Unfortunately, it would not pass the FT censors. :p

I'm a Chuo line person myself.

The Chuo line gets you from one place to another. The Yamanote line just goes round and round...

Yah. But a 10 minute connection at Shinagawa is quite another kettle o' fish.