It's never too early to plan!

[JR 500系]

As the topic title goes, i'm planning a trip to my favourite train paradise on earth, Japan next year around March-April. Yap I know, it's like more than 1 year away! But I couldn't contain the excitement and would like to share, and seek, advice on the trip itself.

 

I would be going for a full 14-days this time, and of course together with a full 14-day JR Pass. This way, I need not purchase other tickets (unlike the last time which I had a 7 day JR Pass but was there for 10 days) and can cover all the way to and from the airport.

 

The main attraction this time should be centred around Kyushu, since I totally missed out the entire West region the last time round. If time permits, would love a trip over to Akita and Niigata areas, simply for the E6 and the E4 (before they retire), and high likely the E5 too. I took only the E2 the other time round and missed the rest totally. Hoping to catch a 200 series while i'm at it.

 

As you can see, there's quite a lot to cover. Mainly, I can't keep hopping trains as I need to keep the Mrs happy too, with some dose of shopping and plently of sigh-seeing.

 

So, I was looking at the following course:

 

Day 1 - Arrival at most possibly Kumamoto airport from Singapore. 

 

Day 2 - Kumamoto. SL Hitoyoshi 9:44am depart, arrive at Hitoyoshi at 12:13. Link to Isaburo-Shinpei depart at 13:21 to arrive at Yoshimatsu at 14:47 and link to Hayato-No-Kaze 15:03 and arrive at Kagoshim Chuo at 16:32. (information from: http://kyushu-japan-holidays.com) Sounds familiar? That's Nick Szasa's route in Train Cruise episode 3? Luckily it can be done in 1 day!

 

Day 3 - Kagoshima Chuo - Kumamoto Tsubame 800 series. Then transfer to Aso Boy. Thinking about Ibusuki no Tamatebako too..

 

Day 4 onwards - in the works. To include Akita and Niigata, and of course, Osaka and Tokyo. 500 series and 700 series Railstar is a must take!

 

And of course, good recommendations for visiting scenic routes and also where to find good deals in N scale are also very much sought after and appreciated.

 

Any advice and comments is deeply appreciated.

 

Thank you in advance!  

 

 

[Densha]

Hoping to catch a 200 series while i'm at it.

Sorry to disappoint you, but the Shinkansen 200 series have been retired in March 2013.

[200系]

JR500Nozomi,

 

 

Yap I know, it's like more than 1 year away! But I couldn't contain the excitement and would like to share, and seek, advice on the trip itself.

 

No worries, I'm personally planning a Japan trip in 2015/2016 (depending on my schedule) as well :)

 

 

Hoping to catch a 200 series while i'm at it.

 

Like Densha said, this is unfortunately impossible as the last formations where retired on the 15th of March 2013:

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/7169-2013315-200%E7%B3%BB-shinkansen-retired-from-active-service-jr-east/

 

 

since I totally missed out the entire West region the last time round. If time permits, would love a trip over to Akita and Niigata areas, simply for the E6 and the E4 (before they retire)

 

500 series and 700 series Railstar is a must take!

 

 

I, personally, think you're running the risk of trying to do too much in too short a time span. A fortnight is a nice period of time, but you're essentially traveling from one end of Japan (Western Kyūshū) to the other (Northern Tōhoku) all the while trying to balance your itinerary between train related stuff and sight-seeing/shopping, so I personally think you are aiming too high.

 

Personally I would take a step back and prioritize the things I really wanted to do (and exactly where those goals are in relation to my travel itinerary), and plan the trip accordingly

 

Some information that might hopefully help you:

 

- E4系, still widely in use on the Jōetsu shinkansen, though approaching end of life if you go in 2015, tentative retirement schedule for 2016. (if you want to ride the E4系,it's best to reserve a seat, as that prevents you from suffering the dreaded 3-3 layout used for unreserved seats)

 

- E6系, widely used on the Tōhoku/Akita Shinkansen

 

- 500系, while there is no tentative retirement schedule for the 8 remaining V formations (as far as I know), but taking into account that the oldest surviving formations (V2 till V5) will be approaching 18 years of service in 2015 as well as a rapid build up of N700A系 formations (in turn freeing normal N700系 formations, which in turn replace 700系 formations(which is planned to be retired from the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 2016)), I'd wouldn't be surprised to see the first formations retire in the near future.

The 500系 is used on the Sanyō shinkansen, in Kodama services (the single Hikari service was dropped with the December 2013 timetable revision)

 

- 700系, While I know you specified the Hikari Railstar (E formations), but I think a look at the entire series is appropriate seeing as the 16 car formations (B/C formations) or at least the JR Tōkai examples will be retired in the coming years (8 formations have already been scrapped, while an equal number where transferred to JR West).
 

Of course It's your trip, so it's up to you to decide, but I hope this helps at least a bit :)

 

Sander

[JR 500系]

Oh my... That's sad. I could have gotten on the 200 series when I was there in 2012.. Now i'll never get on it...

 

Thanks Sander san for the valuable information! It helped a lot!

 

Yap I get that a lot, being aiming too high and all... Just hoping to get the most out of my trip, but I do agree from extreme west to extreme east isn't fun at all... Besides, I was checking the airfare to try to land in Kyushu and leave via eastern side, maybe Sendai, but it was not easy, nor cheap. There were no direct flights to and from these areas in Sillypore, and that would mean more time to waste inside the airport waiting for transfer to internal flights, and also more expensive than using the JR Pass.

 

Definitely thinking of going in from Kyushu, but there's just no direct flights. Maybe entering from Osaka, and then exiting Japan from Tokyo. Seems these are the only two places with direct flights.

 

Entering from the West, definitely Kyushu will be first. Work my way up towards Osaka, then Nara. Missed Nara and visited Kyoto instead the last time, so Nara should be in the list this time.

 

Perhaps Akita was far fetched, just wanted to sit on the E6 for that. Heard about the MUST reservation on the E4, to avoid getting the bottom seat which gives you a fantastic view of everyone's footwear.... But the E4 is a MUST try just for the view from the higher level, in speed. Since i'm planning to go Toyama, with luck, I might get on the E4 on the Joetsu Shinkansen line...

 

Some changes along the way, forgetting some places which I have already landmarked to visit. Places include:

 

1) Hakone. Mount Fuji. How could I forget this? Definitely the Odakyu 50000 VSE for this

2) Kurobe Gourge and Kurobe Dam. Wife loves the dam after seeing the video of the dam on youtube. That's near Toyama

3) Definitely Tokyo

 

Seeing that, I probably wouldn't be able to meet it to the east, basically, it's the western and central for this trip.

 

Advice needed:

1) Which atomic bomb museum should I visit, the Hiroshima one or the Nagasaki one?

2) Which railway museum is the most worthy to visit? I only get one chance (approved by Mrs) so it's gotta be good.

3) Is Miyajima and the giant Shrine in the sea worth visiting? I know the JR Pass covers the ferry to visit it, so wondering if it's worthy to make a stop there

4) Should I visit the Snow monkey park in Nagano? Wife thought the monkeys were cute, but I saw the video there's a long path to the park itself, in snow.

5) Best area to visit Sakura? Many say the Sakura and Himeji Castle are the best combination ever.

 

Thanks for your advice in advance!

[the_weird_one]

Personally I'd say the Hiroshima museum and Miyajima are must visits, if you can stay a night either on Miyajima Island or in Hiroshima itself, its a fantastic city that does get overlooked a lot because of the bomb.

 

And I'm looking at going out at the start of March next year myself though won't be for trains.

[JR 500系]

Thanks the_wierd_one!

 

So Hiroshima it is, since the JR Pass covers the Miyajima ferry. That means one night in Hiroshima then.

 

Attached the schedule on the 700-7000 Railstar and 500 series Kodama that I googled... Hopefully they'll still be accurate in 2015!

 

*Having a huge problem of not being able to paste text here hence attaching as a file...*

 

 

 

 

 

500系こだま時刻表 のぞみ新幹線ナビ.pdf

Railstar Schedule.pdf

[wazzd]

Well I can recommend the Nagasaki Bomb Museum Nagaski has a different feel to Hiroshima and I think it's a fair bet the crowd will be smaller, the nearby peace park and sites outside the museum proper are certainly worth it.....and then there are the Nagasaki trams of course!

Miyajima is definitely worth visiting , the ferry is a short walk from the JR station or tram stop and as you say covered by your rail pass. We went there on a public holiday and even though it was crowded it was still an easy, enjoyable place to be, and the food is great too. My son recommends Osaka Castle for the Sakura too, Arishiyama would also be good,including a ride from Kyoto on the Randen.

I am also visiting in 2015 However we are heading to Hokkaido for the Sapporo Ice festival....bbbbrrrrr!

[lurkingknight]

osaka castle was great when I went, as well as kiyomizu dera, ginkakuji and nijo castle in kyoto. Hiroshima seemed very light on foreign visitors when I went. There were some that were at the bomb museum, but for the most part it seemed like a lot of locals. Personally in my trip I had to say either osaka or kyoto were the best for sakura... but it really depends on when the bloom happens... that's nearly impossible to predict. For example a few weeks prior to leaving they said the height of bloom was going to happen a week before to the week we were there for the most part. It ended up being the height of bloom while we were in osaka, hiroshima and kyoto... and tokyo which had a very cold winter suddenly had a heat wave roll through late feb/early march and tokyo bloomed welll in advance of everywhere else we were. As a result, we missed the bloom entirely in tokyo.

 

Going to have to say you've got a lot you want to see, and it may or may not work... If it works you'll be running around a lot. I was on the ground for 12 nights, and we did 4 cities.Technically 5 if you count a half day run down to yokohama. We could have easily spent a week in any one of those cities. We did 4 nights osaka, 2  in hiroshima, 2 in kyoto and 6 in tokyo. So take half a day out of each place due to travel except in osaka when we arrived in town at about 7-8 pm local time just in time to check in, eat and then sleep. The last day in tokyo our train left for narita at 11am so it was a bit of a wash for the morning. It felt really short and we also compiled a pretty substantial list of 'might want to check outs' and 'will check outs' and it happened that each 'will check out' essentially took half a day. The mights were in case the will turned out to be a bust or the weather was not friendly to the venue. I think we could've put in a few more but it honestly would've felt as if we were being rushed around to cram in the schedule.

 

Anyways. Here's some Osaka.

 

 

 

 

 

And kyoto:

 

 

[JR 500系]

Thanks wazzd for the input! Nice to now you're going to Sapporo for the snow festival! I've been there in 2012, but the snow festival has ended, but you can visit the 'Shiro-Koibito' or 'White Lover' chocolate factory, which is a very popular tourist spot. You can visit how they make the world famous Hokkaido White Chocolate which is very delicious. The environment is also very nice and has an 'European' feel to it. I highly recommend going there ¬

 

So Hiroshima it is then, with a day trip to Miyajima.

 

Thanks lurkingknight for the very nice photos! I've been to Osaka and Kyoto in my previous trips, and covered the Dontonburi (world famous Glico man) and most of the temples: Kinkakuji, Ginkakuji, Fushimi Inari etc. but I missed the Kiyomisu dera. Didn't know it looked that good! Oh speaking of Kyoto, definitely need to try out the 'Kirara', going through the cherry blossom tunnel... A sight to behold! That means to miss Nara and Kyoto again...

 

Castle - Osaka castle highly recommended so it guess it's that then. I remembered going to Osaka castle but it was under renovation in 2012. Cause no point stopping by in Himeji just for the castle too..

 

Yes that's quite a lot of ground to cover really... And have to balance between not concentrating on trains only with not rushing like a wild goose chase... Nonetheless it's still a holiday and should be taken at a leisurely pace. But after going next year, it's hard to convince the Mrs to go again the next time that's why I was aiming really high...

 

Advice: Which is the BEST BEST train museum to visit? Should have a nice steam locomotive to take photo of, retired shinkansen etc.

 

Thanks all in advance!

 

*Sharing some photos here too from my trip in 2012*

 

 

[miyakoji]

 

Advice: Which is the BEST BEST train museum to visit? Should have a nice steam locomotive to take photo of, retired shinkansen etc.

I'd think it would be best to visit JR East's museum at Omiya and JR Central's down at Kinjo-futo in Nagoya.  Those are the two big ones as far as I know.  For now, the Modern Transportation Museum in Osaka is still open, but it will close on April 6.  Its replacement will be JR West's museum at Umekoji, but that won't open until 2016.

[westfalen]

If your interest in museums leans toward steam locos then Umekoji in Kyoto is the place to visit, not a Shinkansen in sight.

 

The most recent issue of Japan Railfan Magazine has an article that appears to show a 700 series being placed on display in the JR Central museum, which is the place to go if you like Shinkansen although, naturally, they only have JR Cental varieties.

[bikkuri bahn]

Second westy's comment about Umekoji.  But if you're looking to visit just one general railway museum, go to the JR-E museum in Omiya. One strike against the museum in Nagoya is some of their interesting rolling stock is roped off in the back of the building, you can't get close to them. They might as well have photographed them and pasted them as wallpaper on the back wall...

Edited March 1, 2014 by bikkuri bahn

[E6系]

Hello JR500,

 

Having visited both Atomic Bomb Museums in recent years I would strongly suggest you do the same.  Both have a different story to tell.

 

Osaka Castle is an impressive concrete structure.  For a more authentic castle experience please take a day trip from Osaka or Hakata to Himeji and visit Himeji Castle.  It has recently been renovated and is UNESCO and World Heritage listed.  Plus there are 500 series shinkansen serving Himeji both morning and afternoon.   :P

 

If Kyushu is important please fly JAL SIN-NRT-FUK.  The Fukuoka airport is just a few stops on the subway from downtown Hakata.  There is a great N-scale model shop on the 9th floor at Hakata Station.

 

If you are in Kyushu, I strongly recommend a day trip to Beppu.  Take an early morning 500 series from Hakata to Kokura then a Sonic to Beppu.  Explore the Seven Hells, enjoy a private Onsen (I can give you excellent recommendation), then take Yufuin no Mori back to Hakata.

 

If you are going for 14 days and Kyushu is important to you then I would forget travelling north of Tokyo.  If you wish to travel on E5 and E6 then just make a day trip using those services.

 

I try to understand your plan.  I think you are moving hotel too much and travelling too far.  I recommend base camps of 3-5 nights so that you can travel without luggage much of the time.  Eg:

 

4 nights in Hakata

Day at Hiroshima (you can leave large luggage in lockers at the station.  They have very large locker)

4 nights in Osaka

5 nights in Tokyo

 

That would be my plan.

[JR 500系]

Thanks West, Bikkuri and Miyakoji for the tips on the museum! I found both websites here:

 

But i'm having trouble pasting into thread...

 

I'll type it out then to share:

 

Museum at Nagoya (JR Central) - http://museum.jr-central.co.jp/en/

 

Museum at Omiya (JR East) - http://www.railway-museum.jp/en/index.html

 

As we can see from the website, the 700 series is already in the museum!

 

HHHmmm looking at these I think the Nagoya one is more suited for me, since i'm more towards a shinkansen lover. But Nagoya's abit out, perhaps a day trip from either Osaka or Tokyo? The Omiya one is nice too, but only has the 0 series and 200 series on display... But they do have free train simulators ¬

 

Thanks E6 for the valuable information! That was really helpful!

 

Sounds good! Definitely asking you for the Beppu route, coupled with the Yufuin!

 

You're right about the 500! Definitely on my must ride list. I've go the time table standby to catch it. But the Railstar is becoming increasingly hard to catch....

 

Going to need to travel light this time. Haversacks seems to be the better option to push-around luggage bags, so maybe gonna go for that, together with shoulder slings bags. Remembered I had to lug the luggage up and down stairs and run after trains... Not fun....

 

Forgot about the Sagano Sight-Seeing train too! Gonna try to go on that leg...

[lurkingknight]

I got to ride the 500 from osaka to hiroshima... didn't know it was going to be such a thing ^_^; Though honestly, the 500 looks much more appealing than the n700.

[JR 500系]

Agreed. At any time, i'll be the first to vote the 500 as the best looking train ever¬ It's just an art of technology, and being able to ride in one definitely fulfils the dreams of any train enthusiasts.

 

Back to the planning, i'm happy to know that there is a direct flight from Sillypore into Fukuoka, Hakata Kyushu Japan. It's from Singapore Airlines and it's a night flight, meaning i'll land in around 0835am after a 6hours 15 mins flight. That makes things so much easier! I can now enter from the West and work my way into the island, and exit from the East, probably Tokyo or depending on things, but the way things go now i'll probably not have any time to go further East than Tokyo so...

 

Day 1 - SIN-FUK arrive Fukuoka. Change JR Pass, Hakata - Kumamoto (Tsubame 800 series). Walk around and Night in Kumamoto

 

Day 2 - Kumamoto - SL Hitoyoshi 9:44am depart, arrive at Hitoyoshi at 12:13. Link to Isaburo-Shinpei depart at 13:21 to arrive at Yoshimatsu at 14:47 and link to Hayato-No-Kaze 15:03 and arrive at Kagoshim Chuo at 16:32. (information from: http://kyushu-japan-holidays.com) Sounds familiar? That's Nick Szasa's route in Train Cruise episode 3? Luckily it can be done in 1 day! Night in Kagoshima-Chuo

 

Day 3 - Kagoshima-Chuo to Kumamoto. Aso boy to Aso. After Aso, shinkansen back to Hakata. Overnight in Hakata.

 

Day 4 - Hakata - Kokura in 500 series Kodama. Sonic from Kokura to Beppu. Yufinin from Beppu back to Hakata.

 

Day 5 - That's fast! 4 days gone in Kyushu just like that... So, leaving Kyushu behind now with shinkansen to Hiroshima. Visit A bomb museum in Hiroshima and night over.

 

Day 6 - Hiroshima to Toyama. Toyama - Kurobe Gorge, Kurobe Dam, Overnight in Toyama *See attached schedule*

 

Day 7 - in the works. Halfway there, and we're no where near half complete! hahaha ¬

 

Suggestions very welcomed! Thanks in advance!

alpine_timetable.pdf

[E6系]

Hello Mr JR500,

 

Just a couple of suggestions:

 

Yufuin--no-Mori is difficult to make reservation.  Should be your first item of business at JR Hakata Station ticket office.

 

Wha ... ?  No Nagasaki trip?  ;) You miss the 787 and Nagasaki trams ... so many wonderful types of tram to ride.  Also the bakeries at Nagasaki are worth the trip alone.  Personally, I prefer the Nagasaki A-Bomb museum.

[westfalen]

It might depend on the season but back in 1994 a friend and I reserved seats on the Yufuin no Mori from Yufuin to Hakata via Beppu and I think there were only about six other passengers on board apart from us.

 

Still E6 has good advice. I always make all reservations I need when I collect my pass just in case.

[E6系]

Hello Mr Westfalen,

 

The last time I was in Hakata I was unable to make a weekend reservation from 4 days in advance.

[JR 500系]

Hello Mr JR500,

 

Just a couple of suggestions:

 

Yufuin--no-Mori is difficult to make reservation.  Should be your first item of business at JR Hakata Station ticket office.

 

Wha ... ?  No Nagasaki trip?  ;) You miss the 787 and Nagasaki trams ... so many wonderful types of tram to ride.  Also the bakeries at Nagasaki are worth the trip alone.  Personally, I prefer the Nagasaki A-Bomb museum.

 

Thanks E6 san. Noted the reservation part and will reserve well before the schedule date to secure. Now i'm afraid I can't book the entire leg of the Hitsatsu Line (SL Hitoyoshi-Isaburo Shinpei-Hayato No Kaze) since it's voted the most scenic railway of Japan. Is there a way to pre-book the tickets WAY before? I know we can book the tickets to the VSE 50000 through Odakyu online web, but not sure but the Hitsatsu line...  

 

Unfortunately, I only have time to visit one A bomb museum.. Besides, Hiroshima gives access to Miyajima shrine and ferry... That's why I chose Hiroshima over Nagasaki. I do like the Blue peace statue of Nagasaki, but I think a ferry trip would be nice aside from all those trains for the Mrs.

 

Probably:

 

Day 7 - Toyama to Nagoya to visit JR Central museum. Overnight at Nagoya

 

Day 8 in the works.

 

Probably looking at only 3 days in Tokyo... And only like 2 days left in Osaka... Pretty tiring trip I must say... 

[lurkingknight]

the ferry is a very brief reprieve from rail transit... it's only about a 10 minute ride.

[JR 500系]

the ferry is a very brief reprieve from rail transit... it's only about a 10 minute ride.

 

Thanks knight for the information ¬

 

I googled and found these additional information:

 

http://www.miyajima.or.jp/english/access/access.html

 

This is a useful site. Clearly spells out the routes to take, and yes you are absoluately right in that the ferry ride is 10 mins. Well, it's still good to see a world heritage site and take some photos of the giant Torri gate ¬

 

http://www.jr-miyajimaferry.co.jp/time/

 

Ferry timings, perfect for planning. The ferry is covered by the JR Pass, but it's just 170yen... Nice though ¬

 

It's quite a nice place to visit, Miyajima, with pagodas, shrine, and a nice bridge across red leaves, of course the main attraction the Giant Torii Gate ¬ So this's in.

[E6系]

Hello Mr JR500,

 

You will have no trouble making reservation for VSE 50000 on a week day.  Weekend is another story.

 

Nagasaki is still worth the visit, even if you won't be seeing the Peace Museum.

 

While in Fukuoka, I recommend dinner at http://www.tatsumi-sushi.com/welcome  It is my favourite.

[JR 500系]

Thanks E6 san! Will note that down.

 

Well, I haven't stopped planning! I was planning real hard these few days, down right to each train schedule and timing, and train make that I will want to take without it looking way too 'train-related' and too rush.

 

Till now, it's day 6, but I need some help. There seem to be a difference between HyperDia, my number one site for train planning, and the attached schedule from JR West which I just downloaded, and should be very updated.

 

The thing is this, i'm trying to get from Hiroshima to Toyama, but the Ltd. Express Thunderbird No. 39:

 

Option 1 – Sakura 558 Depart Hiroshima at 16:17 to arrive Shin-Osaka 17:44. Transfer to Ltd. Express Thunderbird 39 depart Shin-Osaka at 18:46 arrive Toyama 22:00. According to HyperDia. See attached Screenshot.

 

Option 2 – Railstar Kodama 742 Depart Hiroshima 14:08 arrive Shin-Osaka 17:05. Transfer to Ltd. Express Thunderbird 39 depart Shin-Osaka at 17:46 arrive Toyama 20:56. According to attached JR West schedule for the Thunderbird.

 

As you might notice, Thunderbird No. 39 was read as departing Shin-Osaka at 18:46 by HyperDia, but shouldn't that be Thunderbird No.43 instead, according to the schedule? Now i'm confused with both conflicting departure time of Thunderbird No. 39 from Shin-Osaka station. HyperDia should be the most accurate, right?

 

Advice very much appreciated! Thanks!

 

 

 

thunderbird schedule.pdf

Edited April 15, 2014 by JR500 のぞみ

[westfalen]

One would think JR West would know their own timetable better than Hyperdia, but the timetable and route finder function on JR West's English website gives the same results as Hyperdia as does my Dec 2013 printed JR timetable book.  I thought your pdf timetable might reflect an upcoming timetable change but Hyperdia gives the same results through to December.

 

Just a thought, how up to date is your pdf timetable? I notice it shows the Nihonkai.

Edited April 16, 2014 by westfalen