Tony - Japan 2024 Planning - Take 2

[Tony Galiani]

Friday was our day to go to Oboke Gorge which went well except for some mis-steps but you have to expect that not everything will work perfectly.

 

After breakfast, we decided to try for the 9:04 train to Oboke even though we only had twenty minutes to make it.  I ran ahead to the station and could only find ticket machines to purchase tickets (something I find cumbersome for someone who is inexperienced).  Anyway, I thought I had it set when I went to pay to find out the machine is cash only!  The clock is ticking here so I ran to the station desk but the worker there really couldn't understand.  By now Mira is with me and we find another machine so try again - but we time out as it stops selling tickets for a train a few minutes before departure.  I know there is a tourist office across the station hall so we go over there and the woman nicely suggests the ticket office.  !!  And points across the hall - once again, just as at Joshin SKL, I couldn't find it as my back was to it!  To be fair, it was only a small door with tiny sign - the main entry was on the other side.  Anyway, tickets finally purchased so we are on our way on the next train.

 

It was a rainy day but we had decided to brave the elements as we did not want to miss the opportunity.  Train ride was nice - local EMU to Maragume then on to Nanpu 5 JR Shikoku 2700 series for the ride to Oboke.  Great ride and views actually made better my the rainy weather as the clouds were low and wreathing the hills in mist.  I see the boat landing below but we keep going and going (!) to finally stop at Oboke - the landing was not .6 kilometer from the station but rather 1.6 kilometers!  The station is unmanned but there is helpful tourist office and we decided walking was the best option due to the bus schedule.  The young man there ran into another room and brought out umbrellas for us - I was not keen on this as I did not want to be encumbered but couldn't refuse his kindness.  So off we went to the boat landing.

 

It was not a bad walk and fairly level though it took quite a while as someone, not me, took several hundred pictures on the way.  Finally we got there and got tickets, then down several flights of stairs and ramps and more stairs to get to river level.  The ride itself was very pleasant, great views, some wildlife and generally neat atmosphere.  I thought we would see more autumn foliage but trees were just starting to turn - I guess we were too early.  After the ride, the slow climb back up the stairs and ramps to make our way back to the station and nearby coffee shop.  This walk actually took about half the time as not as many pictures were required.

 

However, when we got to the bridge back to the station, we found that the coffee shop was closed!  Oh well - we start across the bridge and then I see the Shikoku Mannaka Sennen Monogatari train in the station!  So we hustle over to get pictures.  After a few minutes the young man working the tourist office comes out in a traditional hat carrying a drum and a bubble machine - he is seeing the train off.  He set the machine on and starts walking up and down the platform with the drum.  Another man comes along to wave them off as well but there are no other locals.  So we station ourselves by the crossing to take pictures and wave off the train.  As it leaves I am waving and I see people in the train filming the departure and waving back.  Not quite sure what they will make of their videos when they see two gaijin as half the departure crowd.

 

The coffee shop next to the station was also closed so we just hung out there for the 20 minute wait for our return train - which turned out to be in Anpanman livery!  Hopefully, it is not available in model form!

 

Ciao,

Tony

 

Edited November 1 by Tony Galiani
typo

[Tony Galiani]

A couple more photos, just for fun.  Train action at Oboke Station.

 

[RS18U]

5 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

Friday was our day to go to Oboke Gorge

We did Oboke Gorge in the summer of 2014.  It was very refreshing given the hot, humid summers in Japan.  Water was pretty low but a good trip anyway.  Fun to see the railway line on the side too.  We got some snacks at the ticket office area which were not too bad.

[Tony Galiani]

Yesterday was mainly a travel day as we flew from Takamatsu to Tokyo.  We had a little bit of time in the morning so went over to Takamatsu Castle.  Tour books tend to downplay it but it was nice and worth more time than we had.  Plus it was next to the Kotoden Rwy so a bit of train watching is possible while wandering around the grounds.

 

Off to the airport which is pretty small.  I had allowed too much time so we went to Three Cafe for lattes and sweets.  Wonderful presentation - and everything was very nice.

 

We flew ANA and while I was initially disappointed not to get window seats it did not really matter as the weather was pretty poor with clouds, rain and some chop.  And a tremendous tailwind - at one point our speed was 611 mph and I noticed the pilot deployed the speed brakes on the wings at least twice.

I was also surprised that ANA was flying a widebody (B767-300) on such a short flight but it was completely full.  Very impressed with how clean the plane was as well.

 

Once at Haneda, Mira spotted the monorail sign and wanted to take that in so that is what we did.  By sheer dumb luck we got an express so zipped into Tokyo very quickly.  Once checked in at our hotel, we headed out for a light snack and a visit to Maruzen.  I was mildly disappointed as they only had a few modeling books but I did find one.  Was going to purchase one on freight and cargo around Japan but didn't - might go back for that at some point.  One neat thing was the heavy rain did not deter us as we could walk underground almost all the way from our hotel on the Yaesu side of Tokyo Station to Maruzen which is by Marunouchi / Otemachi.

 

Ciao,

Tony

[Tony Galiani]

Sunday was supposed to be low key - we staggered back to the hotel early evening after logging over 14 kilometers - a bit more than we had anticipated!

 

We had breakfast at the Excelsior Cafe next store to the hotel which was a good value and close enough that I could stay on the hotel Wi-Fi.  Then on to our shopping missions - Mira to a fabric store south of Ueno and I decided to try some train shops.  I went to Poppondetta and Tam Tam but only ended up with a couple of small purchases.  I had hoped to get some Unitrack turnouts but there seems to be a turnout shortage.  Neither Joshin SKL, Poppondetta or Tam Tam had Wye turnouts or No. 4 Left hand turnouts.  Oh well.

 

We reunited after this to go to Hibaya park but then decided to go to Odaiba as we had never been.  So off to Shimbashi to catch the Yukamome monorail.  It turned out to be quite crowded as it is Cultural Day weekend so a three-day weekend with various events.  There were quite a few people on our train wearing traditional dress and when we got off at Daiba station, there were many more with dances and performances happening near the station.  We watched a bit then went down to the water and spent time strolling along the beach just people (and dog) watching.  Ended up spending over three hours there.  When we went to return to the hotel, we were dragging a bit and I was surprised to find the monorail trains packed in both directions.  As the crowd with children was leaving another crowd was arriving to enjoy Odaiba's evening attractions.

 

Back in Tokyo Station we stopped at a small restaurant to have some curry.  We had been there on a previous trip and were having some trouble using the ticket machine that one of the staff saw us and came out to help.  But they now have a ticket machine with an English option!  Though we managed to have a little bit of trouble with that we finally did figure it out and got our meal.  Then back to the hotel to call it a day.

 

Ciao,

Tony

[chadbag]

On 11/1/2024 at 4:58 PM, Tony Galiani said:

Hopefully, it is not available in model form!

 

You know it will be some where

[chadbag]

On 11/2/2024 at 5:59 PM, Tony Galiani said:

I was also surprised that ANA was flying a widebody (B767-300) on such a short flight but it was completely full.  Very impressed with how clean the plane was as well.

 

 Japan airlines (small-A) fly a lot of wide bodies domestically in special seating arrangements that maximize the seats as there is huge demand.  The 747SP (a shorty 747) was originally made for a japanese airline IIRC.  We flew an Airbus 350 from HND to ITM on our last trip.

 

ETA:  I think my son when he went from Tokyo to Sapporo was on a 777 wide body, in June

Edited November 4 by chadbag

[kuro68000]

11 hours ago, chadbag said:

 Japan airlines (small-A) fly a lot of wide bodies domestically in special seating arrangements that maximize the seats as there is huge demand.  The 747SP (a shorty 747) was originally made for a japanese airline IIRC.  We flew an Airbus 350 from HND to ITM on our last trip.

 

It's surprising that there is so much demand, given how good the Shinkansen are. I suppose areas not on the Shinkansen network, or just the fact that they seem to be able to offer flights are incredibly low prices, must account for some of it.

[chadbag]

2 hours ago, kuro68000 said:

 

It's surprising that there is so much demand, given how good the Shinkansen are. I suppose areas not on the Shinkansen network, or just the fact that they seem to be able to offer flights are incredibly low prices, must account for some of it.

 

Air is a lot faster so I guess a lot of people fly instead.  Especially for things like Tokyo Hokkaido, Tokyo Kyushu, etc.

 

My SILs fly when it is further than Osaka to Tokyo as far as I can tell.  For that stretch they take Shinkansen.  (Rather Kobe -- Yokohama but same difference).

[Tony Galiani]

@kuro68000 & @chadbag - for our particular flight it was pretty much a wash both time wise and cost wise.  Our hotel was across the plaza from the JR station in Takamatsu and our hotel in Tokyo was only two blocks from Tokyo station.  So easy to do.  For the flight, it was a 30 minute plus ride to the airport and we needed to be there early for check-in, baggage drop off and so on.  Then the time in from Haneda to our hotel.  I was mostly interested in the experience and, having watched the NHK program On The Wings, had also been hoping for a view of Mount Fuji from the air.  For future trips we will likely focus on train travel (but I will also likely try another flight if the route passes Mount Fuji).

Cheers,

Tony

[Tony Galiani]

Another "low key" day yesterday and so now we are pretty tired out.  Went to Shinjuku - yarn store for Mira, bookstores for me - then on to another stationary shop close to Otemachi reputed to have a very nice cafe.  And indeed it was.  Latte for me and cinnamon toast (which was served with a whipped cream sauce) and cheesecake and tea for Mira.  The toast had me on the interweb looking for a Japanese bakery in my area - I sense more cinnamon toast in my future.  I left to walk back to the hotel with the obligatory stop at a Daiso on the way while Mira spent a ridiculous amount of time in the shop.

 

I lucked out at Book Off and found three books for about 2500 yen so pleased with that.  Mira spotted a Maruzen only a few blocks from our hotel so we also went there and I was able to get another modeling book.  Faced with some sort of work or music challenge - no problem.  Faced with a blank layout board - complete paralysis.  So I wanted a few books for inspiration and, TBH, blatant copying of ideas.

 

We met the @Kingmeows for dinner at Tonkatsu Wako and that was a great way to spend the evening.  Turned out we had both lived in New York so lots of hometown and train stuff to chat about.

 

Typing this over a latte at Excelsior Cafe while waiting for Mira to come down so not sure what our plans are for today.  We had planned on the Artizon Museum but is closed - normally it is closed on Mondays but was open yesterday for the holiday and this is the only Tuesday that it will be closed.

 

Ciao,

Tony

[cteno4]

Fantastic you guys and Kingmeow and his wife got to meet up like that. Always heartwarming to see it happen.

 

jeff

[Kingmeow]

Great to meet up with Tony and Mira for a great Tonkatsu meal last night.

 

I have many stories to tell when I get back home.  Hint: I was able to find my father's birth place in Kobe and probably walked the same grounds that he and my grandparents walked on 100 years ago!  More details on this after my decompression.   🙂

 

A WONDERFUL time for 3 weeks and LOTS of N-scale to bring home.  Hint:  we had to buy another bag and I cleaned out all the shops in Tokyo of Kato DCC decoders (DCC not popular in Japan).  🤣

Edited November 5 by Kingmeow

[Tony Galiani]

Yikes - I typed this yesterday but forgot to post it!  Here goes.

 

Some random notes from the last few days. 

 

I see a lot of older looking black Toyota Crown taxis.  I am wondering if Toyota, like Checker in the USA, kept the same body style for years?  If not, there are a lot of very well maintained taxis around.

 

Suica cards - I knew we could use them in a lot of places but was pleased to note that our Suica cards were good in Shikoku and Osaka both for transit and in many small shops.

 

I see the credit card conversion practice/scam has hit Japan.  For many of our transactions, we were presented with the option to pay in yen or in dollars.  Of course, what is missing from that is the fact that the conversion rate offered when you see dollars is much worse than paying in yen and letting your bank convert the currency.  For our first hotel stay, the difference was US$30.  Not necessarily huge on a four day bill but it adds up.  Thinking we have saved over US$200 in extra charges by paying attention to this.

 

In Osaka and Takamatsu we saw several buildings that had grass planted on their flat rooftops.  This may be a good idea though most of what we saw did not look great - lots of brown and dry grass - so not sure how well it works.  But potentially a neat modeling detail.

 

In Shikoku we saw a large JR Freight yard just past the bridge to Honshu and in our travels, we saw JR flatbed trucks with containers.  A two container load in Takamatsu and a three container load near Oboke.  In neither case could I react fast enough to pics.

 

Tony

[chadbag]

2 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

Suica cards - I knew we could use them in a lot of places but was pleased to note that our Suica cards were good in Shikoku and Osaka both for transit and in many small shops.

 

Suica is run by JR East.  Most of the other JR companies have their own version -- JR West has ICOCA for example.  However, they are all run on the JR East Suica system so any of them that are on the JR East system, no matter what the local name is, should be good nationwide.

 

Edited November 6 by chadbag

[chadbag]

15 minutes ago, Tony Galiani said:

I see the credit card conversion practice/scam has hit Japan.  For many of our transactions, we were presented with the option to pay in yen or in dollars.  Of course, what is missing from that is the fact that the conversion rate offered when you see dollars is much worse than paying in yen and letting your bank convert the currency.  For our first hotel stay, the difference was US$30.  Not necessarily huge on a four day bill but it adds up.  Thinking we have saved over US$200 in extra charges by paying attention to this.

 

 

yeah it's been there a while.  Back in 2019 I think it was the wife went shopping at a store and she told them no, she did not want to pay in USD.  They ran it that way anyway and it showed up on our statement that way.  I complained to the credit card company that we had declined this and did not authorize it.  They upheld my complaint and credited us the difference, which was pretty substantial for what the wife had bought.  I saw it lots of places the last time we were there and always declined and made sure the wife and kids knew to decline it as well.  It is a rip off.

 

[Tony Galiani]

Currently lounging around Haneda Airport waiting for our flight.  Smooth journey to the airport and through baggage drop off and security - about an hour from our hotel to the lounge.

 

Another low key day yesterday.  Rick Steves advises taking a vacation from your vacation and we were pretty beat so had a light day for us - only about 10 kilometers of walking.  Just for fun we had to stop at a Daiso and we strolled from Ueno down to Akihabara.  However, we did this on some side streets and it was so different from the main road just a short distance away.  We came across some interesting shops - metalworking and glassware as well as a tranquil garden with small fountain.  Quite a contrast from the scene up by Ueno Station.

 

We also stopped for Mira to pick up a few last minuted gifts then a very light dinner at Tokyo Station.  Back to the hotel to pack and prep for travel.  Checked in on line but still needed to go to airport check in to get our boarding passes and drop off bags.  For our purchases, we carry a folding bag that we fill up with stuff and then check.  You can tell I am a low key shopper.  Around us people were checking three and four bags apiece and most of them were over the 20 Kg allowance from ANA.  Could they all be carrying model trains?

We just checked three bags between the two of us with the heaviest being about 12 Kg.

 

Anyway, we had an enjoyable trip and are already thinking about our next trip.  Planning to go to Kyushu hopefully.

 

Forum members had suggested some postings after returning to help re-enjoy the trip and I plan to post more photos after we get back.  But, just for fun, one more photo from up near Ueno.

 

Ciao,

Tony

[RS18U]

40 minutes ago, Tony Galiani said:

I see the credit card conversion practice/scam has hit Japan.  For many of our transactions, we were presented with the option to pay in yen or in dollars.  Of course, what is missing from that is the fact that the conversion rate offered when you see dollars is much worse than paying in yen and letting your bank convert the currency.  For our first hotel stay, the difference was US$30.  Not necessarily huge on a four day bill but it adds up.  Thinking we have saved over US$200 in extra charges by paying attention to this.

Thanks for the reminder; I also let my co-worker know for our upcoming trip.

 

Safe travels, and looking forward to whatever photos you want to share once you recover from the trip!

[cteno4]

1 hour ago, Tony Galiani said:

In Osaka and Takamatsu we saw several buildings that had grass planted on their flat rooftops.  This may be a good idea though most of what we saw did not look great - lots of brown and dry grass - so not sure how well it works.  But potentially a neat modeling detail

Many green rooftops now are not “evergreen” plants and will go thru seasonal die offs and dry times. Planting hearty endemic species helps as they are evolved for the climate there and usually require a lot less maintenance than grass lawns and they don’t spread invasive seeds into the local environment. They can also create a better insulating layer once grown in well. But this is a complaint by some that they can look brown and dead parts of the year, sheesh nature! But also issue with rooftop grass lawns is they are tricky to keep them going in the artificial roof environments.

 

jeff

[RS18U]

45 minutes ago, Tony Galiani said:

I see a lot of older looking black Toyota Crown taxis.  I am wondering if Toyota, like Checker in the USA, kept the same body style for years?  If not, there are a lot of very well maintained taxis around.

Here are some interesting articles on the Crown:

 

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/uncategorized/curbside-classic-2002-toyota-crown-comfort-super-deluxe-g-time-for-a-change/

 

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-asian/junkyard-classics-toyota-crown-comfort-nissan-cedric-jdm-taxi-graveyard/

 

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-asian/cc-capsule-1995-toyota-crown-comfort-living-fossil/

 

And I managed to get me 2 sets of these: https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10535042

 

 

[Gunzel]

The credit card thing is disappointing, unfortunately 7 Bank are also in on the act and trying to get you to convert directly to your native currency when you withdraw from an ATM as well.

 

The other credit card thing I have had come up is some sort of pay by installment thing. I have no idea if that would involve extra costs, but I've avoided it so I don't have to check. 

 

Love the Crowns and Cedrics, but the Prius' and some sort of London style cab seem to be making inroads.

 

IC card support seems to be getting wider and wider, but there are still a lot of local systems as well in more regional areas, often running in parallel. EMV payments (just tap you regular credit card) also seem to be popping up a bit.

[chadbag]

2 hours ago, Gunzel said:

The other credit card thing I have had come up is some sort of pay by installment thing. I have no idea if that would involve extra costs, but I've avoided it so I don't have to check. 

 

Yeah that confused me at first (years ago).  The people would ask "one time" and I had no clue.  I stood for 10  minutes at Toys R Us trying to figure out what they were saying.  Wife came but she did not understand it either (she understood the Japanese but not what it meant in terms of charges).  FInally we figured out it was some sort of multi pay thing and now I always just put up 1 finger when I check out and they ask me something.

 

2 hours ago, Gunzel said:

IC card support seems to be getting wider and wider, but there are still a lot of local systems as well in more regional areas, often running in parallel. EMV payments (just tap you regular credit card) also seem to be popping up a bit.

 

I read an article a few days ago about how some of the smaller bus lines or regional systems are ditching regional IC (keeping Suica system) due to the expense of having to upgrade all their equipment for millions and are instead going to direct credit card tap.

[kuro68000]

15 hours ago, chadbag said:

 

Suica is run by JR East.  Most of the other JR companies have their own version -- JR West has ICOCA for example.  However, they are all run on the JR East Suica system so any of them that are on the JR East system, no matter what the local name is, should be good nationwide.

 

 

Not that my face doesn't give it away instantly, but when travelling outside the Suica area the bright green card stands out against the local ones, and makes it clear I'm a tourist. Might have to get a holder for it.

[kuro68000]

50 minutes ago, chadbag said:

Yeah that confused me at first (years ago).  The people would ask "one time" and I had no clue.  I stood for 10  minutes at Toys R Us trying to figure out what they were saying.  Wife came but she did not understand it either (she understood the Japanese but not what it meant in terms of charges).  FInally we figured out it was some sort of multi pay thing and now I always just put up 1 finger when I check out and they ask me something.

 

Same here. There are actually two ways it is phrased as well, 一括 (ikkatsu, all together) or 一回 (ikkai, one time). You can say either if you don't want to gesture.

 

You should probably say "ikkatsu barai" but many people omit the barai.

 

The other useful one is 暗証版ごで (anshou bango de), meaning "by PIN code". It's increasingly not needed these days, but they used to ask you to do a signature and British banks would decline the payment.

 

The other thing that might catch you is when they don't ask for a PIN or signature at all, and just hand you the card back. It seems like on some small transactions they just don't bother with the validation at all.

[chadbag]

16 minutes ago, kuro68000 said:

The other useful one is 暗証版ごで (anshou bango de), meaning "by PIN code". It's increasingly not needed these days, but they used to ask you to do a signature and British banks would decline the payment.

 

That's interesting.  My experience has been (not in Japan) that the PIN or signaure status is embedded in the card meta data.  I had PIN and everything set up for a US based card and was traveling in Europe and sticking my card in the reader ALWAYS automatically triggered a signature request and never asked for PIN, even though the local card convention was PIN.

 

I don't know if PIN based credit card transactions are common in Japan but they just always hand me the slip and say "sign please"