Japan Rail Pass - Worth it?

I wondered if there were a way to travel cheaper.

Kansai Area pass covers Kyoto-Nara-Osaka-Kobe - $80 for 4 days per adult, $55 for 2 days per adult. So for 10 days in the Kansai region - $215. per adult. If we travel by the slower Shinkansen, it would be $180. Total $400.

BUT, still need a pass in Tokyo. That 5 day pass is $241.

So total would be $640

A 14 day National Pass = $590 (when I checked in July) which includes the slower Shinkansen. Still cheaper. And more convenient.

I guess if next time we just cover Tokyo to Hokkaido, we can just use the JR East regional pass.

Travel From Haneda to Osaka by Nozomi - Green seat - 19,820 yen ($252) - $80 more than ordinary reserve seat.

Why there are no recycling bins in Nara

Recycling bins are ubiquitous in Japan.

And after you are used to them, Nara is like a wasteland for recycling bins.

But you might also have realised that trash bins are also quite scarce. Why? Here is an explanation of sorts.

But whatever the reason, the reality is, there are fewer trash bins in Japan than in most other cities.

Conversely, almost every drinks vending machine (and there are many) would have a can and bottle recycling bin right next to it for the convenience of the customer.

However, not in Nara.

Hotel Review in point form

As usual, I'll provide "+" for plus points, and "-" for negative points, and "=" for neutral points. Positive and negative points are personal and of course subjective. Review is based on one instance of stay at the hotel, so YMMV.

Features or attractions not used may not be mentioned nor rated.

Ikinari Steak House

After the extravagance of a 28,000 Yen steak dinner (Red One, Motomachi), and a 36,000 Yen Teppanyaki grill (Kagura) - both with Kobe beef - it was time to come back down to earth.

On Okubo Dori, Shinjuku, Tokyo close (within 2 min walk) to the Meiji Dori junction, there is Ikinari Steak.

It also offered "Pepper Lunch" set - beef with rice, on a sizzling hot plate, which you mix together with various sauces - which I was unable to identify because most were in Japanese.

And it offered steak by weight. Depending on the cut, the steak might be 5 yen per gram. So if you ordered a 200 gm steak, it would cost you 1000 yen.

Rail Pass. Green pass. Nozumi Shinkansen

This time round, we were thinking of getting a Green pass for first class comfort. And because we could do with more space.

The Green Pass costs about $800 for 14 days. The regular pass costs $590. Over $200 difference.

BUT, I just realised that other than the long distance between Osaka and Tokyo, other short distance do not offer green cars. So there is no call for a Green pass. The Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto-Nara routes are so short that a regular pass will do.

Also the Rail Pass does not allow travel on the fastest Shinkansen, the Nozomi.

A Green car ticket on a Nozomi Shinkansen will cost over Y10,000, raising the overall cost of a trip from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Osaka to about Y20,000.

Trip will also take just over 200 minutes (about 3.5 hours).

Without using the Nozomi Shinkansen, it would be about Y15,000 and it would be covered by the Green Rail Pass (no extra fare).

But the trip will take closer to 4 hours.

Return to Japan (2016)

We are planning to return to Japan.

And because we haven't been to Osaka in the last two trip, this time we will aim to spend some time there. Especially after seeing this article "20 things to do in Osaka".

And because, the first city we visited in 1998 was Osaka.

From Osaka, we can go on to visit Kyoto, Nara, and Kobe.


Haven't been to Kobe. We'll eat at a McDonald's there and tell people we've eaten beef in Kobe.

Reminiscing about Omoshiroyamakogen

It was two years ago (21 Oct 2013) that PL and I trek from Omoshiroyamakogen to Yamadera

I was reminded of it because I noticed that there were more that the usual "activity" on this blog.

Someone was reading my travel blog!!!

Because they were searching for tips on hiking Omoshiroyama so they could hike it too.

Here's the blog piece.

They paid to climb 1015 steps at the temple at Yamadera. Good for them. I calculated that 1015 steps was more than 60 storeys. Thank you, but no thank you.

Maybe we should have, but we had the rest of the holiday to get through. We needed to conserve our strength. Wouldn't do to kill ourselves within two days of our arrival.

The pictures they took brought back memories. So I looked through mine.

And I couldn't help but think that I would like to go back there, maybe in November one year when the Autumn colours will be more obvious and it would be lovely.

In 2013, we went there because that was my original honeymoon plans. If we had gotten married in Oct.

But for logistics and other reasons, we got married in July 2013, and went to NZ for our honeymoon. (Which I just realised I never posted. Must rectify that soon... maybe...)

Anyway, we had a good time in NZ, though it was on the cold side.

Christchurch had a big Earthquake in 2011, and it was still recovering. many parts of the city were damaged and had either to be restored or demolished. It was a lovely city, with many lovely buildings. I wish I could see it before the quake, but then I might be heartbroken then.

But I really wanted to go to Omoshiroyama to see the autumn colours. So in Oct, a few months after my honeymoon, we travelled again to Japan. As was my original plan.

Oct 21 was a little early. There were some autumn colours, but I think it would have been more spectacular a week or two later.

Maybe I shall return. In a few years.