Rail in Japan

[alanh]

I just got back from a week in Japan. Boy, is that enough to make a US railfan cry. I rode the Tokyo and Kyoto subways, along with commuter lines in those cities too. All the services are fast, punctual, and frequent. Despite the reputation for crowding, there was only one subway ride where I felt like a sardine. Most of the time, there was plenty of space, even in rush hour.

I also rode the Hikari Shinkansen between those two cities -- 514km (319 mi) in 165 minutes. The Nozomi does it in 138 minutes, but my rail pass didn't cover that so I had to take the "slow" train.

Although it's normally very punctual, on the 15th we were actually 1 hour late getting into Kyoto due to slow orders because of snow. We slowed from the normal 270 km/h (167 mph) to 150 km/h (93 mph) then a positively pokey 100 km/h (62 mph) as the snow got very heavy near Nagoya. The assistant conductor came into the car, bowed deeply, and gave an apology for the delay (not going to see that on Amtrak).

There were a bunch of railfans on one platform taking pictures of the Shinkansen in the snow as we zoomed by.

The Shinkansen actually had a bad week. There was a computer outage last week on several lines due to too many schedule changes being loaded. This caused traffic to stop for 75 minutes, leading to 15 cancellations and 124 trains being delayed.

For those visiting Japan and traveling outside of Tokyo, the rail pass can be a great deal. It's only available to foreign tourists and must be bought before going to Japan. A 7 day coach pass is about $350, and gives unlimited travel on all JR-operated lines, local and long distance, except the Nozomi. You can also buy upgrades to first class ("green car") or sleepers. For trains with reserved seating (mainly the Shinkansen and Narita Airport Express), you can get a free seat reservation at a ticket office. For unreserved trains, you just show the pass to the agent at the turnstiles and they'll let you through. Once through the turnstile, just get on any train.

By comparison, a roundtrip on the Hikari in coach is about $320 on its own. With the various trips I took on the local lines, I think I would have spent at least $400, plus the hassle of buying individual tickets. The only real downside is that it's only good in JR lines and not any subway, bus, or train systems. The other train operators sometimes have stations closer to certain tourist attractions.

 

[GiantsFan]

Sounds like a lot of fun! Hopefully I'll be able to go to japan sometime in the future.

How easy is it getting around without knowing japanese? (Are there sings in english/etc?)

 

[Shawn Ryu]

I have been to japan few times. Visit my grandparents who lives in Busan, South Korea and take a ferry from there to Japan, where I can take Shinkansen to Tokyo, and from Osaka, I can take the ferry back and take KTX to Seoul. In theory this can all be done in one day.

But I am still quite fond of Amtrak. they offer something Japan and South korean rails cant offer. Scenery. Due to a vast geography they work within.

 

[jis]

How easy is it getting around without knowing japanese? (Are there sings in english/etc?)

As long as you are around the major urban areas or the main rail lines you'd be fine because all station signs have Romanji (English script) version of the name on them. You may have to look around a little for a map with fares that has Romanji on it. But if you are using a Suica, that may be a non issue. Just load up enough in the Suica and go with it until it runs out, and then refill at a refill station which can be found inside the barrier area.

As you go out into the sticks Romanji becomes scarce, and that is when you have to start exercising your pattern matching skills on the Kanji.

But I am still quite fond of Amtrak. they offer something Japan and South korean rails cant offer. Scenery. Due to a vast geography they work within.

You should try the Akita Shinkansen, or some trains in Hokkaido.

 

[LA Resident]

How easy is it getting around without knowing japanese? (Are there sings in english/etc?)

As long as you are around the major urban areas or the main rail lines you'd be fine because all station signs have Romanji (English script) version of the name on them. You may have to look around a little for a map with fares that has Romanji on it. But if you are using a Suica, that may be a non issue. Just load up enough in the Suica and go with it until it runs out, and then refill at a refill station which can be found inside the barrier area.

As you go out into the sticks Romanji becomes scarce, and that is when you have to start exercising your pattern matching skills on the Kanji.

But I am still quite fond of Amtrak. they offer something Japan and South korean rails cant offer. Scenery. Due to a vast geography they work within.

You should try the Akita Shinkansen, or some trains in Hokkaido.

Every rail station in Japan has English (Romaji)on the station sign in front and on the signs on the boarding/alighting platforms, along with the Chinese ideographs (Kanji) and Hiragana (Japanese phonetic syllabary). This has been the case at least since the system was rebuilt from WW II rubble. It was true when I was a graduate student in Japan in the mid-1970s and still true today, based on my 29 visits to the country over the years.

Granted, anyone without a working knowledge of the language should do advance planning on the route(s) he or she will be taking. But I know hundreds of foreigners (Gaikokujin), American and otherwise, who successfully have navigated and enjoyed one of the most comprehensive and well-run rail systems in the world. That means there are millions out there who have had the same great experiences.

I would not want an exaggerated fear of not knowing the language to deter anyone.

As an added example of positive experiences, I left a top-of-the-line Nikon camera on the seat of a Kodama Shinkansen (the "local" that makes all the stops between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka) when getting off at the town of Shizuoka in 1996. I didn't even realize what I had done until the next morning. I went down to the Shizuoka station, hoping beyond hope that the camera might be in the lost-and-found there. The stationmaster (ekicho) had no record, but telephoned Shin-Osaka, and someone had turned the camera in to the lost-and-found office there. It Meant that no one had taken the camera despite it sitting on an empty seat for another two hours and seven or eight stops before the train reached its terminus. It's hard to imagine that such a happy scenario would have happened on Amtrak or Eurostar or British Rail or Deutchebahn or any other rail system, though I suppose anything is possible. Just an example, though, of why the Japanese system should be sampled by everyone at least once.

 

[jis]

Every rail station in Japan has English (Romaji)on the station sign in front and on the signs on the boarding/alighting platforms, along with the Chinese ideographs (Kanji) and Hiragana (Japanese phonetic syllabary). This has been the case at least since the system was rebuilt from WW II rubble. It was true when I was a graduate student in Japan in the mid-1970s and still true today, based on my 29 visits to the country over the years.

Actually I beg to disagree about every station in Japan having Romanjisince WWII. Even 12 or 13 years back back country stations that I traveled through did not necessarily have Romanji signs. For example even Fuji Yoshida at that time did not have any Romanji sign that was easy to find. The other stations on that mountain line simply did not have any period. Things have improved since then and now many more do. But still I cannot say for sure that every two bit station does. Yes, usually stations on a typical tourist's beaten path generally do have Romanji signs. I have generally traveled the entire system over the last 15 years including way back country lines, and I speak from that experience.

These days all station standard signs which have not only the station name, but also the name of adjacent stations in each direction from that station, have all three, but at least 10-15 years back there were many stations that did not have the new signs installed yet.

 

[caravanman]

After a meal with my son in the Amtrak dinner, I managed to leave my wallet on the seat. One of the dinner staff persued me through the sleepers to return it, intact..

Love the idea of visiting Japan! To be honest, I want to see the whole world!

Ed.

 

[Shawn Ryu]

How easy is it getting around without knowing japanese? (Are there sings in english/etc?)

As long as you are around the major urban areas or the main rail lines you'd be fine because all station signs have Romanji (English script) version of the name on them. You may have to look around a little for a map with fares that has Romanji on it. But if you are using a Suica, that may be a non issue. Just load up enough in the Suica and go with it until it runs out, and then refill at a refill station which can be found inside the barrier area.

As you go out into the sticks Romanji becomes scarce, and that is when you have to start exercising your pattern matching skills on the Kanji.

But I am still quite fond of Amtrak. they offer something Japan and South korean rails cant offer. Scenery. Due to a vast geography they work within.

You should try the Akita Shinkansen, or some trains in Hokkaido.

Well I never rode Shinkansen but I have been to Hokkaido, so I know what you are talking about. Good scenery. its great. But amtrak offers something totally different.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I am still quite fond of Amtrak. they offer something Japan and South korean rails cant offer. Scenery. Due to a vast geography they work within.

Of the Amtrak routes I've managed to cover so far most of them weren't very scenic. I mainly see back lots, commercial agriculture, industrial wastelands, low-income housing and more junk heaps than I ever knew existed. There are some rather scenic routes I understand but they're not something you could use as a quick and dependable commute like you can on JR. Japan's scenery may not be everyone's cup of tea but at least they get you where you need to go quickly and safely. On the plus side for train fans they host several different types of trains and even bring out new designs from time to time, which is something you almost never see at 90% of Amtrak stations. If you want to photograph them you're not hassled by some arrogant person with a badge. On those rare occasions when JR is slowed down, chances are everything else is slowed as well. All-in-all I'd take JR over Amtrak in a heartbeat.

 

[George Harris]

In 2005, I think it was, my wife and I spent a week in Japan using the Rail pass. Flew into Sapporo and out from Tokyo. Did it over Chinese New Year, which is not a holiday in Japan. The Hokkaido lines are EXTREMELY scenic. Mountainous and hilly country, forested, we saw deer out the window at one point. Hokkaido is the Japanese frontier. They have a replica 19th century village on the edge of Sapporo. We went to and from it on the city bus. Much of Japan is very scenic. It is an expensive place to visit, but everything works very reliably. All station signs we saw were duplicated in the Roman alphabet. Most tickets also have the points listed in the Roman alphabet, excepting smaller points. We made one trip to an unintended destination because I did not match all the characters correctly. Not a real problem. An interesting place to see anyway. There is alos a Japan travel office in most stations in medium or larger cities. In general we worked about a one day ahead plan. We picked the things we wanted to see out of the Lonely Planet guide book, which also has quite a bit about local travel which is how we knew which bus route to take to the frontier village. Generally when we decided where we would spend the next night we would go to the travel office in the railway station and set up a reservation in a hotel at or near the station at that city. The system worked without fail for the time we were there. All recorded announcements were given in English at all stations we were in that had them. Generally if you need help if you approach people politely and, at least we did, start with an apology for our ignorance of the language and ask in a reasoable manner, people were very helpful.

One of the days my wife voted for day for herself hanging out in the hotel, with hot tub and other forms of rest and relaxation and I went out and simply spent the day riding trains.

Even though only 3 days after a major snow fall, the Hokkaido trains were running precisely on time. The only off scedule trip was on our last full day. We were going to go from Nagoya over to the Sea of Japan side and loop back. As we were waiting for the train there was an announcement that ran for about 10 minutes. A few people, but only a few left the lineup. I was standing there thinking it would really be good to know what all that was about. But, having faith in JR's ability to make things work out, we got on the train. To make a long story short, the trip started fine, then went into stop, creep, go a little, stop creep, go a litte mode until we ended up getting to about the noon point in the schedule at about 6:00 pm. I ran into the station and got a couple of lunch boxes and we awaited developments. JR decided to send the trainset we had been on back to Nagoya. So we got back to Nagoya at about midnight by which point the last train to Takyo had gone. Nagoya station had a big board on the wall with hotel names and phone numbers. At about the fourth one, I found one with a room for two. So we crashed for a few hours then took an early train to Tokyo and made our plane. Saying this to say that even when things don't work they can still be worked out. If all else had failed there was the night on the bench in the station possiblity.

Found out later that the area with the stopped trains had experienced something like 20 inches of snow, which was over twice the predicted amount, in 12 hours between noon and midnight of the day before our planned last day trip. The overhead wire came down in one area, several trains were stranded and something like 500 people spent the night in stalled trains with several hundred others stranded in stations.

There is a national railway timetable, which is about the thickness of a 1950 Official Guide, but in Japanese. However, in the front there is a multi-page railway system map with page numbers on the lines. With a back and forth between this map and the Lonely Planet, I matched place names in the schedule and figured out our trains. Not really that easy, but it helps if you read a few of the simpler characters.

Fujiyama from the train is awesome. There are now bridges or tunnels connecting all the main islands, so you can see them all with a rail pass.

Trains in Japan go literally almost everywhere. One British guy I worked with called Japan the Railway man's Paradise. There are large groups of railfans in the country and numerous fan magazines. Even if you don't read any Japanese, the pictures are facinating.

 

[alanh]

I was in just the urban areas of Tokyo and Kyoto, and the surrounding tourist spots like Nara. All of the transportation signage was dual-posted in Japanese and English, including car placards. The electronic departure boards alternated between Japanese and English. Stop announcements were made in English. Neighborhood maps at the train and subway exits were also dual-language.

Most of the tourist areas have maps/brochures in English (along with Chinese and Korean). If they know and remember, the ticket agents can print tickets in English. If not, they're still fairly easy to puzzle out -- the time and date, for example. The middle line has the train number and (if a reserved train) the car, row, and seat letter (Latin alphabet A-E). Platforms are marked with where the cars are spotted; it's best to be at the right spot because they don't stop long.

I didn't have any trouble at all despite not knowing any Japanese and traveling on my own. Certainly don't hesitate to go out of fear that the language will be a problem.

Although they still publish the timetable, there's an online English timetable at http://www.hyperdia.com . The site also has apps for iPhone and Android. (Note that foreign data charges are gigantic, so be careful if you're using your own phone. I used WiFi at my hotel.)

The only downside is that it sometimes comes up with some pretty convoluted routes if they depart sooner than a more direct route. If you uncheck the "search details" of "Nozomi" and "private railroad", the results are more reasonable, particularly for someone with a JR railpass.

As I mentioned, I did see a pack of railfans photographing us in the snow. The toystores had a lot of model trains on display. The stations also had a pastry stick for sale that came in a long Shinkansen-shaped box.

The ride was extremely smooth. The only real jolts were when passing another train; the train lurched a bit to the side. In the snow, there was a loud THWACK as water blowing off the other train hit us.

As several points, a liquid was sprayed on the side of the train. I presume this was deicing solution.

 

[alanh]

As for expense, I flew there on a US Airways frequent flyer award, which is very easy to get this time of year (United for the overseas leg). The rail pass was $350, and the hotel in Tokyo and ryokan (Japanese B&B) in Kyoto were about $95/night including breakfast. The rooms were small, but clean and comfortable in good locations. Meals mostly ran $10-$15, though I splurged on a few. A ticket to the Kabuki theater was $100.

A coach ticket to Japan would have been 60K miles (cash price about $1000), but I splurged and went international First Suite for 120K. The cash price on that ticket was $12,000, I kid you not. It was nice. Flying coach is really going to suck now. :lol:

For under $2000 all in, I got a week in Japan, got to see a Kubuki play, go to the hot baths, see lots of cultural sites, enjoy the local food, and ride a really, really fast train.

 

[LA Resident]

As for expense, I flew there on a US Airways frequent flyer award, which is very easy to get this time of year (United for the overseas leg). The rail pass was $350, and the hotel in Tokyo and ryokan (Japanese B&B) in Kyoto were about $95/night including breakfast. The rooms were small, but clean and comfortable in good locations. Meals mostly ran $10-$15, though I splurged on a few. A ticket to the Kabuki theater was $100.

A coach ticket to Japan would have been 60K miles (cash price about $1000), but I splurged and went international First Suite for 120K. The cash price on that ticket was $12,000, I kid you not. It was nice. Flying coach is really going to suck now. :lol:

For under $2000 all in, I got a week in Japan, got to see a Kubuki play, go to the hot baths, see lots of cultural sites, enjoy the local food, and ride a really, really fast train.

Glad that you had a great trip! Too many people fear going to Japan because of perceived language problems. Your trip shows that even without knowing a single ideograph, you can have an enjoyable time.

I have to laugh, though, at the references by you and another poster about the timetable "book." I still have the first one I bought as a graduate student in 1978. For many foreign students, you know that your Japanese language skills have really gotten sharp when you can read everything in the jikokuhyo. For the true afficianados of Japan railroading, the monthly timetable guide even lists the regional food specialties sold at each station and on each train! And I still have the little n-gauge Shinkansen models I bought as a student. Other than Germany, I don't know of another country where model train enthusiasm is stronger.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I splurged and went international First Suite for 120K. The cash price on that ticket was $12,000, I kid you not.

Nobody in their right mind would pay USD $12,000 of their own money for any United Airlines seat, I kid you not. :lol:

 

[jis]

I splurged and went international First Suite for 120K. The cash price on that ticket was $12,000, I kid you not.

Nobody in their right mind would pay USD $12,000 of their own money for any United Airlines seat, I kid you not. :lol:

I agree. I have done United First a couple of times, always with FF miles. OTOH, for the Continental Business-First flat beds I have actually paid my own money. It's much cheaper and worth it.

 

[caravanman]

I am very pleased to read of all the adventures of visitors to Japan. I liked the "can do" attitude of George Harris, and the helpfull info from Alanh. I must visit Japan soon myself.. it sounds so interesting!

Ed

 

[alanh]

Well, yeah. For FF miles, it was only double to go from coach to first class, so it wasn't a hard decision. Paying twelve times as much in cash, well... no. (A friend actually said, "Oh, you're flying United. I'm sorry.")

If I were actually paying that kind of money, I'd fly Singapore Airlines, which has a vastly better experience for a similar price. Unfortunately, it's very hard to get partner awards on them in the upper classes, and they didn't have anything available for my dates. I've flown them coach (Houston to Moscow), and even in coach it's much nicer than other airlines.

The cabin was full, despite me snagging the only award ticket available for those flights. I'm guessing most of the other 11 passengers were 1K members using systemwide upgrade certificates to upgrade from business class.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Well, yeah. For FF miles, it was only double to go from coach to first class, so it wasn't a hard decision. Paying twelve times as much in cash, well... no. A friend actually said, "Oh, you're flying United. I'm sorry."

The only thing I liked about United was E+ and the free drinks on TPAC flights. If you're a tall person it's a godsend to have an E+ seat and there were plenty of ways to get access. Any status level could reserve it for free. Or you could buy a per-flight upgrade at departure. Or you could simply purchase an unlimited use upgrade for $300 per year. After the death of MRTC on AA it was best deal going IMO.

If I were actually paying that kind of money, I'd fly Singapore Airlines, which has a vastly better experience for a similar price. Unfortunately, it's very hard to get partner awards on them in the upper classes, and they didn't have anything available for my dates. I've flown them coach (Houston to Moscow), and even in coach it's much nicer than other airlines.

I don't think even Singapore Airlines is worth USD$12,000 for a single trip, but for a mere $7,000 SQ will fly you around the world in first on everything but the A380. That sounds like a deal worth splurging on if you ask me. Just out of curiosity what were you doing in Moscow?

 

[alanh]

I have a friend that's a chess international master. He still has an apartment in Moscow that he goes to check on, so I went with him. To stay on topic I did get to ride some of the Russian trains, including the St Petersburg sleeper. I still want to do the Trans-Siberian.

 

[jis]

I have a friend that's a chess international master. He still has an apartment in Moscow that he goes to check on, so I went with him. To stay on topic I did get to ride some of the Russian trains, including the St Petersburg sleeper. I still want to do the Trans-Siberian.

I have done the Helsinki - Moscow Sleeper on the Leo Tostoy. It was actually a very nice experience. Arrival into Moskva Oktyubrskaya (nee Leningradskii) was quite interesting early in the morning since there is a parade of overnight trains that arrive from the north. The train that arrived just after us on an adjacent platform was the Krasnya Strela (Red Star) from St. Petersburg.

On the return trip we passed through a mother of blizzards between Tver and Vyborg. The platform at Bolgoyo had what appeared to be about a foot of snow and it was coming down horizontally. But the electrified railroad had no problem charging through it through the night and being more or less on time into Helsinki.