Toni’s Spring 2023 Japan Trip

[mojo]

If you are worried about data collection, just walk into Yodobashi Camera and buy a WirelessGate SIM. No sign up, just put it in and it works. Last time I got a 50GB one for ¥5000. Thought I could burn through it but 20GB would have been fine, even with photo/video immediate backup enabled.

[Tony Galiani]

We made it to Tokyo and are currently ensconced in the Mitsui Garden Hotel Otemachi which seems a reasonable value to me.  Travel was not too bad though we were delayed out of RDU which made me really nervous about our connection but we made it so that worked.  Flight was okay - booked at about 14 hours though we ended up arriving at Haneda about 30 minutes early which was nice.

 

I did make a rookie mistake on arrival.  The flight attendants handed out entry cards to the Japanese citizens on the flight but not to anyone else.  Since I had done the Travel Ready page on the airline website and gotten the green check I thought we were okay.  Turns out you either need to do the on-line form to get a QR code or prepare the two paper forms for entry.  (Between the Travel Ready check and the fact that a lot of places we travel to do not require entry forms, I thought we were good.). Not a big deal but first we had to step out of line to do an entry form then, after Passport Control, had to do a customs form as well.  It only delayed us about 15 minutes or so fortunately.  More embarrassing than anything else since usually I am so careful about this stuff.  Though my last day of work before we left was completely bonkers so I was not completely focused when we left home.

 

Just finished our breakfast in the cafe downstairs so getting ready to head out for our day around Tokyo.  A bit rainy right now but not too bad.  Not too badly jet-lagged after a decent nights sleep - we seem to be adapting pretty well to the 13 hour time difference.

 

Ciao,

Tony

 

 

[mojo]

Glad you made it! I bet you weren't the only one who had to do the paper forms. The website wasn't very clear last time I looked, and I imagine quite a few people get confused by it.

[Tony Galiani]

@mojo - You are right.  What was helpful was that there were desks with pens and forms available right there so it wasn't too much of a problem and there were quite a few people who got had to stop at them.

 

[Tony Galiani]

Well another day and another breakfast!  Still no donuts yet so I will have to attend to that soon - I have a reputation to maintain!

 

We have been hitting some sights - the Imperial Gardens, Senso-ji in Askusa (with nice garden and stream area on the northwest side that very few people seem to go to, Sumida Aquarium and the Krispy Kreme Donut Shop in SkyTree City.  (Krispy Kreme originated in North Carolina and after some late night gigs back in the day, we would stop there for coffee (decaf) and hot fresh donuts after we played.)  However, the Krispy Kreme in STC did not have coffee so we passed on trying them. 

 

We only logged about 5 miles / 9 kilometers yesterday as it was pretty rainy and I found out that my waterproof windbreaker wasn't really waterproof.  Not a big problem as we ended up riding a bunch of trains including the Tobu line over the Sumida River.

 

Heading to Kyoto in a little while on the Nozomi Shinkansen.  Didn't particularly aim for that particular Shinkansen - I just asked the ticket agent for the 11:00 AM train and it turned out to be the Nozomi.

 

Ciao,

Tony

 

[Tony Galiani]

Nozomi Shinkansen to Kyoto today.  We really enjoyed it not being used to trains or infrastructure like this.  Nice quick ride and we were able to check into our hotel - another Mitsui Garden Hotel - and our room is nicer than the one we had in Tokyo.  Wandered around a bit - went to the Shosei-en Garden for a while than over to the Porta Dining area by Kyoto Station for dinner.

Hard to spot a lot of trains at that speed but I did see some maintenance equipment and some very new looking 4 wheel diesel shunters.  And a surprise sighting of two grounded WaMu's near a rice farm.

 

It is hard to believe that we have traveled to quite a few countries and even worked for a brief time in South America.  Without assistance we would have ended up at 7-11 or Lawson's for dinner!  Twice people helped us as they saw that we were puzzling out the kiosks to get in the queue and then to order our meal.  We decided on KYK for a Tonkatsu set meal but the tech was new to us.  First you have to enter some info into kiosk which then printed out our number ticket.  Once we were seated, we had to use a tablet to order our meals - but I couldn't even get it on!  Then we could not get our beverages entered.  Finally Mira figured out that we had to enter whether we wanted them before, with or after the meal.  But we got that sorted and the chopsticks arrived - no forks or knives so on to youtube for a quick lesson (while also trying to watch people eat without being too obvious about it).

 

Then over to the station to wander around.  It is just great - there is a staircase on the west side that is lit up so people walking down the stairs become part of a light show - they block the lights as they walk down the stairs and with the colors changing it has quite an effect.  But if you go up above the stairs and look down from behind the stairs - you don't see the lights.  Some people were running up and down to take part in the show for the crowd filming at the bottom.  I expect a lot of people who entered the stairs from the top (and who could not see the lighting effect) were wondering why there was a crowd filming them walking down the stairs.  Much to my surprise I could not find any youtube videos of this to add.

 

After that across the Skywalk for another light show.  Here is a tiny piece from a clip I found:

 

Over to the East side for yet another light show on the inner walls of the station area.  What a great public space this is.

 

Ciao,

Tony

 

 

[chadbag]

14 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

However, the Krispy Kreme in STC did not have coffee so we passed on trying them. 

 

Krispy Kreme is about the same everywhere.  We tried them once or twice when we first saw them in Japan out of novelty and for my son to get one of those hats they wear when he was young.  Now we usually skip -- we did go once this last trip as there was one in the same building our hotel was in in Yokohama and they had some specially decorated ones.

 

I'd rather hit Mister Donut (which originated in the Boston area)

[maihama eki]

Kyoto Station is amazing at night.

 

I've stayed in the Hotel Granvia there a few times on business trips, so I've done a number of night tours.

[Tony Galiani]

@chadbag - Wanted to go to Krispy Kreme for old times so to speak but we definitely plan to stop by Mister Donut.  We found the Mister Donut shop at Kyoto Station but it was closed as it was later in the day.  Probably for the best as I am not sure donuts are the best thing to have for dinner anyway.....

Tony

[Tony Galiani]

My wife forgot her power bar and actually managed to run her phone down to no power yesterday.  So stopped by Yodabashi  to see about picking one up.  They all seemed pretty pricey so she ended up passing on buying one.  But now I am curious - can anyone advise if prices are Yodabashi low, high or in-between?

 

On the other hand, food prices here seem low.  US$10 at Starbucks for one small latte, one large latte and a piece of cake - that would have cost way more at home.  Our dinner last night also seems like a good deal - two tonkatsu set meals, beer for her, OJ for me ran to US$27.

 

I am seeing the annoying currency exchange offer on our credit card transactions.  Several times we have had the option to pay in local currency or be charged in US dollars.  It is always best to pay in the local currency and let your bank do the currency conversion.  On our Tokyo hotel bill we saved US$12 - maybe not a big deal but over the course of multiple hotel stays and meals, I expect the savings to be several hundred dollars.

 

Ciao,

Tony

[Kamome]

1 hour ago, Tony Galiani said:

can anyone advise if prices are Yodabashi low, high or in-between?

It really depends what you’re buying. I generally find them to be kind of in the middle, below SRP but not as cheap as some stores that specialise in particular areas. I used to peruse camera equipment in Yodobashi as everything was in stock, but purchase from Kitamura as their prices were usually cheaper. Railway and model stuff will be cheaper at places like Tam Tam but you can’t beat Yodobashi for range in a lot of areas. 

For those that have a Yodobashi card, you get 10% points on most purchases, except things like iphones. This can sometimes make Yodo cheaper in some cases if you account for the money you’d get discounted on a later purchase using your points. 

[SL-san]

14 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

went to the Shosei-en Garden

Strangely we also went to the Shosei-en Garden when we were in Kyoto on May 10!  A beautifully quiet garden just a block away from all that traffic.

 

I do hope you are going to spend some time with other important cultural pursuits such as the Kyoto Railway Museum.  Besides all the usual exhibits it has an impressive HO scale layout and most importantly (to me anyway) a wonderful collection of working and statically preserved SLs!!  Easy to spend the best part of a day there plus you can view some 1 to 1 rail action from the rooftop and checkout overhauls in the workshop through the glass windows.

 

Enjoy,

Graeme

[Tony Galiani]

@SL-san - current plan is to go to the railway museum on Friday as that appears likely to be very rainy.  Looking forward to it.

Tony

[mojo]

13 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

@chadbag - Wanted to go to Krispy Kreme for old times so to speak but we definitely plan to stop by Mister Donut.  We found the Mister Donut shop at Kyoto Station but it was closed as it was later in the day.  Probably for the best as I am not sure donuts are the best thing to have for dinner anyway.....

Tony

 

For Western style food the numerous "family restaurants" are worth trying. Royal Host, Denney's, Johnathan's, Gasto etc. They have decent options for kids too.

[Tony Galiani]

We have just staggered back to the hotel - about 13 kilometers / 8 miles and the equivalent of 54 flights of stairs according to my wife's phone.  That includes our trip to the Fushima shrine at Mount Inari, a visit to the Kato shop in Kyoto station and the Imperial Gardens.  To my disappointment Mister Donut at Kyoto station is closed!  It is not clear if this is temporary for renovation or permanent.  Maybe a low key day tomorrow?

Ciao,

Tony

[JR East]

Hi Tony, 

 

If you plan to go to Osake, my recommendation : The great Aoniyoshi (Kintestu). 

 

Enjoy your travel. Kyoto is really a nice city and it's where you'll find the best Sake & Tofu (asx the water is extremely pure)

JM. 

[chadbag]

16 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

 

I am seeing the annoying currency exchange offer on our credit card transactions.  Several times we have had the option to pay in local currency or be charged in US dollars.  It is always best to pay in the local currency and let your bank do the currency conversion.  On our Tokyo hotel bill we saved US$12 - maybe not a big deal but over the course of multiple hotel stays and meals, I expect the savings to be several hundred dollars

 

yes always pay in local.  And make sure they don't switch it on you anyway, which has happened to us.

[chadbag]

On 5/30/2023 at 4:49 PM, Kamome said:

It really depends what you’re buying. I generally find them to be kind of in the middle, below SRP but not as cheap as some stores that specialise in particular areas. I used to peruse camera equipment in Yodobashi as everything was in stock, but purchase from Kitamura as their prices were usually cheaper. Railway and model stuff will be cheaper at places like Tam Tam but you can’t beat Yodobashi for range in a lot of areas. 

For those that have a Yodobashi card, you get 10% points on most purchases, except things like iphones. This can sometimes make Yodo cheaper in some cases if you account for the money you’d get discounted on a later purchase using your points. 

 

Yodobashi also does Tax Free for foreigners.  Just show your passport to the guy when purchasing and he'll / sh'll figure out what you are wanting to do.  A lot of the bigger and some smaller stores do the tax free thing.  Things that are not consumables don't have to be wrapped up until you leave but consumables (cosmetics, food of course, and  stationery/writing utensils are examples of consumables) will be wrapped in a special plastic bag and are supposed to remain in there until you've left Japan.  I've had Yodobashi try and put some toys in the bag in Osaka (but not at Aikahabara) but that sort of thing is fine to open.  It's also all electronic now so no special customs/tax free receipts to gather and turn in when you leave.  You just have to visit the customs/tax free desk at the airport on your way out and have your passport scanned and they'll mark all the items as having left the country.

 

With 10% -- that's the current right? -- tax it makes a big deal on big purchases.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by chadbag

[Tony Galiani]

We planned to take it easy today but somehow we clocked in another 7 miles.  Went to the Path of Philosophers this morning then on to Blue Bottle Coffee for a pleasant coffee break.  Then walked along the river and sort of ended up at Hobbyland Poochi where I purchased a used Modemo set for something under US$20.  Hadn't really planned on that but why not?  Then walked back to our hotel from there.  Light dinner and over to watch the light show on the west side of Kyoto Station.

 

We purchased our Shinkansen tickets for our return to Tokyo on Saturday.  Sitting on the left side of the train so that we might catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji though that would take a big change of the weather.  Typhoon Mawar is edging up Japan's Pacific coast so lots of rain right now.  Though the weather channels say it is loosing strength so that is good news.

 

Might have to spend most of tomorrow indoors so thinking railway museum, aquarium, Yodobashi camera and who knows what else.

 

Ciao,

Tony

[SL-san]

12 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji

Good luck with that...on May 9 we saw Fuji-san dusted with snow against a blue sky from a service centre carpark on the way to Kyoto.  Five days later we drove to Lake Ashi and then up to Mt. Fuji's 5th station in a total white out!  Fuji can be decidedly shy!!

 

I'm pleased that you took the Path of Philosophy and discovered Hobbyland Pochi (where I scored a reasonably priced near new D51). Enjoy the rest of your time in Kyoto and especially the Railway Museum.

 

Cheers,

Graeme

[Tony Galiani]

Just finished up our last day in Kyoto - sort of staggered to the finish line and only did about 4 miles today.  Experienced my first typhoon which seems pretty much like a hurricane.  Outside of a lot of rain, it didn't seem to hit Kyoto too hard.  However, my typical weather get up wasn't much of a match for the rain.  After walking a block or so towards the Kyoto Aquarium it was into a Lawson's to buy an umbrella.  This must be a bad weather tradition as we saw plenty of racks of umbrellas for sale at different stores, including Yodobashi Camera.  Thought they would be too low tech for that place.

 

Got to the aquarium fairly wet so right in the spirit of things I guess.  After a few hours there we headed to the Kyoto Railway Museum with a stop for restorative lattes and cake at a conveniently sited Starbuck's.  The KRM is really a great place to see trains and it has all types of interesting exhibits.  While largely in Japanese they are so well set up they are usually easy to grasp.  Impressed by the size of a lot of the locomotives considering that they. are "narrow gauge".  Unfortunately the last few days of being on the go were a bit much for me and I was pretty beat so only spent an hour and a half or so there then onto the San'in Line for a quick 3 minute ride to Kyoto Station.

 

Very low key evening - my wife did some fabric shopping and I prepped for our travel back to Tokyo tomorrow and followed up on some gig bookings for when I am back in North Carolina.  We are scheduled to be on the 11:01 Nozomi tomorrow so looking forward to that.

 

Ciao,

Tony

 

[ED75-775]

Hey, narrow gauge is no restriction on size. Case in point, the Denver & Rio Grande 3ft gauge in Colorado, or the 3ft 6in network across South Africa and Zimbabwe. Even in my home country (New Zealand) you can still get big trains on narrow gauge (again 3ft 6in) tracks, although the loading gauge does sometimes restrict just how big you can go. Our biggest steam locomotives, the K/ KA / KB class 4-8-4s had overall dimensions of 8ft 6in wide and 11ft 6in high - which is fairly cramped! - and yet still managed to put out 30,815lbf of tractive effort.

 

I'm in Tokyo already, and spent my day in the rain plundering Akihabara. Since I've got the next two mornings lined up for steam trains, I might go back again one afternoon just to wrap up finding some more trams, and maybe more useful odds and ends. If you'd like to join me, I'm sure I could make that work.

 

Alastair

[Tony Galiani]

In terms of size, I was thinking mostly in terms of loading gauge.  At the museum you can walk under a locomotive and it impressed me just how wide it was.  I think I have read that the Japanese railways have a similar loading gauge to that of British Railways.  I am impressed by that.

Tony

[railsquid]

I don't have any figures at hand, but IIRC the Japanese "conventional" loading gauge is actually somewhat more generous than the British one. It's certainly noticeable every time I fly from Japan to the UK and take a train and realize how cramped they feel, and presumably also something to do with the fact that Japan effortlessly manages double-decker passenger cars, sometimes even with a pantograph on the roof.

[Tony Galiani]

It is a shame when the not so great ones lose it.  We are currently taking a break from the Shinkansen chaos at Kyoto Station - a coffee and donut break and then back to the fray.

 

I had seen the cancellation info but did not understand that our train was one of the cancelled runs.  Until we got to the station and found out.  I inquired at the information booth but it was not clear if I could simply use my reserved seats on another train - I thought so but lacking confirmation I was hesitant to queue up in the long line.  So we opted to use my airline technique - get in line but try and manage my reservation on-line.  However, the JR Central web site is overloaded so it is slow, slow, slow.  To play it safe, we got unreserved seats for a later train and will shortly head back to the station to get in the train line.

 

In theory, I can get our reserved seat tickets refunded at Tokyo Station.  We shall see.  I am kicking myself a bit - we had a leisurely breakfast and pack up and sauntered over the the station.  Had I been on top of things we could have gotten this sorted out earlier but such is life.

 

On to Tokyo - I hope!

Tony