Future Japan Trip Planning

[Phantom]

I've made a bit of a last minute discovery. The E3/E8 table for february doesn't seem to include every train. I can't find Tsubasa 135 on it, does this mean it would be an E3? It would make sense, only put the trains that use the E8 at some point on the table. So if 135 is exclusively E3 it would have no need to be on the timetable. I think I might be right because 123 is on the January chart but not for february.

 

Linking the Table again so you guys dont have to go looking for it here previously: https://www.jreast.co.jp/railway/extratrain/2024/winter_tsubasa.pdf

 

It appears Tsubasa 123, 127, 133, 135, 139, 145 and 128, 136, 142, 150, 154, 156 are missing.

I was able to get the JR East app to work by fumbling around until I found how to display shinkansen on the train map thing. I see two E3s on the Yamagata line right now at a time that doesn't line up with the chart so I'm going to assume I'm correct. I can't read any of the station names, but I can figure out which is tokyo and which is fukushima. I can sort out the rest by simply counting the number of stations from tokyo or fukushima.

Edited February 16 by Phantom

[UnfinishedKit]

If you read the text in the top left of that it says that that is just the E8 table, E3 is not mentioned anywhere. Inference is that it if it isn’t on there it’s not planned to be an E8 (and only trains market with a circle will be an E8, unless circumstances force them to use an E3). Double circle is the special Tsubasa whatever that is. 

[Phantom]

36 minutes ago, UnfinishedKit said:

If you read the text in the top left of that it says that that is just the E8 table, E3 is not mentioned anywhere. Inference is that it if it isn’t on there it’s not planned to be an E8 (and only trains market with a circle will be an E8, unless circumstances force them to use an E3). Double circle is the special Tsubasa whatever that is. 

I think that was lost in translation for me. Special tsubasa is not regular operating trains.

Annoyingly JR East appears to be updating train info to show march and no longer february. This train 128 I can find on booking services running in february, but now shows as starting operation in march https://www.jreast-timetable.jp/en/2502shinkansen/train/000/000641.html. I assume because its timetable changed from a regular train, but it would be nice to pull up the dep/arr times for february still without resorting to a third party like https://shinkansenkenkyu.com/time-yamagata/

 

Also, based off the timetable notes it looks like I can ride between Shinjo and Fukushima with no need for a reservation with my railpass? It says if you have a limited express ticket, I assume jr pass would qualify as well.

Edited February 17 by Phantom

[Phantom]

So, it turns out my phone is not eSim compatible and with my late arrival my sim card options appear to be limited. https://www.jalabc.com/en/data-sim-mobile/sim-cards.html I assume the unlimited would be fine for me provided it's on a network with good coverage and the data speed is not pathetically slow. I can't find the specs though. Slow is ok, just not terribly so. I assume these are from a private provider through JAL, but I am unsure from who. JAL doesn't include specs, but I'm sure the provider does. Also have this https://ninjawifi.com/en/application/order?pr_vmaf=bJUeSAjVli&utm_source=cheapo&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=default&cid=pt_cheapo which says 2130 (same counter as JALABC I think too) lastest pickup from NRT which should be fine as well. The 5g is kinda expensive, but if I can't find a simcard it would be fine I assume. I will have a backpack on me about 100% of the time to put it in.

 

The JALABC should be open until 2230 based on a shanghai flight getting in at 2130. That gives me plenty of time, I might be ok figuring it out once I get there. Or the vending machine apparently. I have options, I am unaware of what is best though.

Edited February 17 by Phantom

[kuro68000]

23 hours ago, Gunzel said:

It knows about passes, you can specify different ways to generate a preferred route, you can sort routes in different ways. And you can specify local, limited express and Shinkansen trains to be in or out of the results separately. It’s also much easier to search in the future and I don’t have to deal with the map all the time when I don’t want it. 
 

That said the station search is a lot worse lately, and they’ve hidden some useful stuff like stop timings in an expensive paid version. They also don’t have station timetables. For both these things I use JapanTransit.

 

Thanks, that's very interesting. I installed it a couple of times and then never used it, but I must make the effort to try. Google Maps can be a bit annoying with things like not being able to specify no shinkansen. It has improved in some other ways lately though, in terms of the routes it selects being more practical.

 

The main issue with it these days is that if you back out of the navigation to browse the map or test out alternative routes, it cancels your in-progress navigation and there is no way to resume it. It's particularly bad when you are on a train or bus because if you just select the same destination it won't know you are already in a vehicle and will look for the nearest station/stop to walk to. It didn't used to be like that but some time last year they broke it as part of a general UI redesign. I might actually try installing an old version of Maps.

[kuro68000]

3 hours ago, Phantom said:

So, it turns out my phone is not eSim compatible and with my late arrival my sim card options appear to be limited. https://www.jalabc.com/en/data-sim-mobile/sim-cards.html I assume the unlimited would be fine for me provided it's on a network with good coverage and the data speed is not pathetically slow.

 

 

Sounds like a good excuse to upgrade your phone!

[Phantom]

5 hours ago, kuro68000 said:

 

Sounds like a good excuse to upgrade your phone!

yeah, bit late for that though. Maybe next time.

Edited February 17 by Phantom

[UnfinishedKit]

The yen is weak right now, get yourself to bicccamera and pick out a new one and you’ll solve your IC Card problem as well. There’s a branch above the checkin hall in Narita t2, my wife got a great deal on an iPhone there in December. 

[Phantom]

Update, trip is going well so far. I'm reaching the end and I will likely try to go to a model train shop near ueno. Hopefully the enormous collective wisdom here on things model trains will be able to help me decide which shop to go to. 

 

I am looking for either a kato 10-1718/1719 or a micro ace series 719 5000. I suspect the kato shouldn't be too hard to find, but I know nothing about micro ace. 

 

The kato e2 is dcc compatible. I suspect the 719 isn't but that's fine. I would like to get the 10-2096 but I dont think it has released yet and am unsure if it is dcc compatible.

Edited February 24 by Phantom

[UnfinishedKit]

E2、I think you’ll just have to scour hard off、bookoff and the used sections of popondetta, hobbyland pochi etc.  I seem to remember hardoff in okachimachi did trains. There’s a great bar called Sake Pub Gashue in that part of town as well. 
 

for the 719系　Popondetta has the Akita version in stock and yodobashi camera is showing the Yamagata version, but no way of telling if it’s in a store or which store. 

 

https://www.yodobashi.com/product/100000001008391776/

[Phantom]

29 minutes ago, UnfinishedKit said:

E2、I think you’ll just have to scour hard off、bookoff and the used sections of popondetta, hobbyland pochi etc.  I seem to remember hardoff in okachimachi did trains. There’s a great bar called Sake Pub Gashue in that part of town as well. 
 

for the 719系　Popondetta has the Akita version in stock and yodobashi camera is showing the Yamagata version, but no way of telling if it’s in a store or which store. 

 

https://www.yodobashi.com/product/100000001008391776/

Looks like the 719 is a pre-order. I'll have to see if I can ship to US maybe when I get home. Which stores do you think have the best chance of me finding the e2 or 719? I'm not allocating too much time to it so a few stores close together would be ideal. I know there are supposedly multiple in akihabara. That's one local stop from ueno iirc.

[Tony Galiani]

There are multiple stores in Akihabara which, as you noted is one stop south of Ueno, or a nice walk if you are so inclined.  I do not know which would have the specific models you are seeking though they are all pretty close together so relatively easy to check out several.

Enjoy,

Tony

[kuro68000]

Also if you are in that area, you can get to Nakano easily, and there are at least two model train shops in Nakano Broadway, on the 2nd floor I think, or maybe the 3rd.

[Phantom]

There are multiple popondettas in akihabara