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August 28 - Thursday, 2008 |
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Japan - Getting Around
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Travel Guide
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Japan - Getting Around - information
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Destination Guides > Asia > Japan
| Japan |
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GETTING AROUND |
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READ IT HERE |
Birthplace of the Shinkansen or "Bullet Train", Japan is one of the world's great railway countries, though you shouldn't automatically assume that the train is always the best way to get around the country. Although tunnels and bridges now link all four of the main islands, to reach hundreds of others you have no choice but to board a ferry or a plane. The length of the country also makes flying - say, from Tokyo to Sapporo in the north or Kagoshima in the south - well worth considering, especially since the difference in cost with the fastest trains is negligible. It's also worth considering flying into one airport and home from another
.
The time of year is an important factor to consider when arranging your transport around Japan.
Peak travelling seasons
are a few days either side of New Year, the Golden Week holidays of late April and early May, and the mid-August Obon holidays
. During these times the whole of Japan can seem on the move, with trains, planes and ferries packed to the gills and roads clogged with traffic. If you want to be assured of a seat, book well in advance and be prepared to pay higher fares on flights, as all discounts are suspended during peak periods.
The main domestic
travel agencies
- JTB and NTA
- can handle bookings for all types of transport and are also useful sources for checking travel schedules. The assistants there have access to the monthly-updated timetable bible (
jikokuhyo
), an incredible source of information on virtually every form of public transport in Japan. There's always a
jikokuhyo
available for consultation at stations and most accommodation has a copy too. If you're going to travel around Japan a lot, and especially if you're planning an adventurous trek through rural areas, having your own timetable can be invaluable. Pocket versions are available cheaply from most bookstores, and train stations often give out free mini train timetables for the areas they serve. Although they're all in Japanese, once you've decoded the relevant
kanji
characters they're simple to use. Easiest of all, especially if you have a rail pass, is to get hold of a JR English timetable for all the Shinkansen and many major express train services, available from JNTO offices in Japan and abroad.
Online travel resources
Apart from the airline sites
, there are several other useful travel
Web sites
in English that can help you plan your journey around Japan.
Travel Expert
www.businessinsightjapan.com/cgi-bin/expwww/exp.cgi
...
read more >>
Useful travel phrases
Shinkansen
Shinkansen
Limited express train
tokkyu
Express train
kyuko
...
read more >>
By train
Japan has the world's most efficient and frequent
trains
, with services running to all regions of the country and varying from high-speed Shinkansen to chugging steam locomotives maintained as tourist attractions. The vast majority of...
read more >>
By air
Since the deregulation of the airline industry in 1996,
domestic flights
in Japan have come down in price.
Skymark
, a new airline owned by discount travel agent HIS and modelled after no-frills European services such as Go and...
read more >>
Discount Ticket Shops
In most big cities, usually in the main shopping areas near stations, you can find
discount ticket shops
(
kinker shoppu
) which sell, among other things, cheap airline and Shinkansen tickets. These shops (usually identified by a...
read more >>
By bus
Japan has a comprehensive system of long-distance
buses
(
chokyori basu
), including night buses between major cities such as Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. Fares are always cheaper than on the train, but the buses are much slower and can...
read more >>
By ferry
One of the most pleasant ways of travelling around the island nation of Japan is by
ferry
. If you have the time, the overnight journeys to and from the main island Honshu to Hokkaido in the north, and Kyushu and Shikoku in the south, are...
read more >>
By car
While it would be foolhardy to rent a car to get around Japan's cities,
driving
is often the best way to tour the country's less-populated and off-the-beaten-track areas, such as Hokkaido or the San-in coast of Western Honshu. Japanese roads...
read more >>
By bike
Although you're unlikely to want
to cycle
around the grimy, traffic-clogged streets of Japan's main cities, in the smaller towns and countryside a bike is a great way to get from A to B while seeing plenty en route. Outside of the main island,...
read more >>
Hitching
There's always a risk associated with
hitching
, and if you have a choice it's best to err on the side of caution. That said, Japan is one of the safest and easiest places in the world to hitch a ride, and in some rural areas it's just about...
read more >>
City transport
All Japanese cities are served by buses and trains, but only the largest have subway systems. Some towns and cities have retained their trams, although in Tokyo, Osaka and Sapporo they've all but disappeared. Taxis are always a useful standby and need not...
read more >>
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Japan - Getting Around
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