JR Tokai announced they will install a private compartment on select Nozomi trains starting in 2026. The announcement is in Japanese only now, JR Tokai's announcement. The announcement said the private compartment would be a private room with a single seat. There will be two private compartments on the train. The price will be set above Green Car. JR East has Gran Class on select Shinkansen trains on Tokyo - Shin Hakodate Hokuto/Kanazawa Tsuruga service. JR Tokai has previously stated that they will introduce their version of a class above Green Car, and this is JR Tokai's answer. There was ..read more

Hi Happy golden week to all Travelling from nagasaki to hiroshima via hakata the reservation gave 7mins to transfer from the relay kamome to the nozomi and as my seat was at the end of the nozomi it was a fast walk. All seats on the nozomi are now reserved fairly quiet at hakata but busier now leaving kokura. Next stop hiroshima ( c 1hr from hakata to hiroshima and 2hr 50min total time from nagasaki cost was y15k Been overcast all day from nagasaki Ĺoving the experience Regards Tbs sorry about the title. Tried editing it but still shows 202 rather than 2024 ..read more

I currently hold a reservation at the Granbell Kyoto hotel for a few nights next month. I understand that parts of the Gion district are now off-limits for tourists due to issues with them harassing Geishas, and apparently some restaurants have stopped serving to tourists. Is this accurate? Should I look for alternative lodging ..read more

Over the weekend, Turkish Airlines flight TK198 from Istanbul took the wrong approach at Haneda and had a near miss with a Star Flyer flight landing from Kita Kyushu. Quote: On the evening of August 20, there was a problem at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, when a Turkish Airlines aircraft deviated from its correct flight path during landing and descent and attempted to head toward a different runway than instructed by air traffic controllers. Another airliner was attempting to land on this runway first, and the Turkish Airlines aircraft made a "go-around" after being pointed out by air traf ..read more

How do I get from the Narita (NRT) airport in Tokyo to Kyoto? Specifically I’m trying to get to the Crowne Plaza - ANA Kyoto where I have a 4 night points stay. I fly into Narita on May 1st and am wondering do I need to purchase train tickets in advance? From a prior aborted trip from Tokyo to Kyoto, I seem to recall getting to Kyoto involves taking the Shinkansen from Shinigawa station—then again I was staying at the Intercontinental Strings in Shinigawa at the time. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Narita so I really would appreciate some end-to-end transportation help. I do have my Sui ..read more

Japan National Tourism Organization (government entity) published number of in-bound visitors (non-Japanese) to Japan for March 2024. There were 3,081,600 in-bound visitors to Japan on March 2024, which was 69.5% increase compared with March 2023. It was 11.6% increase compared with pre-pandemic March 2019. This was the first time more than 3 million non-Japanese have visited Japan in one month period, a new record. Visitors by country according to the passport visitors carried: 1. South Korea: 663,100 (42.0% increase compared with March 2023) 2. Taiwan: 484,400 (73.7% increase compared with ..read more

Hi all, what a useful forum this is. We are about to head off on our first trip to Japan. Please could soemone help with a few questions? Do we need to take cash with us? Are there cash only food places for example? If we need cash, can we rely on Mastercard, Visa withdrawals from 7-11 bank rather than take cash with us? Do we need to pre book airport limousine coach from HND to Hilton Tokyo? Or do we just turn up at a tickets desk in HND and get tickets for the next coach? or is there a metro or train which is better than the limousine bus? We will go from Tokyo to Kyoto, is it better ..read more

Hi all, I saw some bad press at the end of last year on the long waits at KIX Kansai Kyoto/Osaka Airport. From the couple of posts I saw recently, it seemed like the issues have been cleared up? Has anyone flown out of KIX recently? We're flying at 2:30pm on a Saturday, and leaving from Kyoto (probably by car since we're not that close to the train station). Would be great to hear how long security/passport control for departures takes as well as if anyone has tried to check luggage with HK Express. Thanks to everyone for their advice ..read more

Will I be able to use an ICOCA card stored in my iPhone's wallet at convenience stores ..read more

I didn't need to remove my liquids at HND baggage security in Dec 2023, but wanted to see if that's been everyone's experience lately or was this just an odd one off ..read more