3 Weeks in Japan - The Post COVID Version!

[rbjhan]

Starbucks is really popular in Japan...the coffee snob in me said this with a deeply disappointed tone
However their architecture is worthy of a mention! The concept stores are all magnificent.

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store.starbucks.co.jp

Izumo is one of them.


So I broke tradition and paid a visit, ha ha.

Got back to JR Izumoshi, still too early for my Sunrise Izumo...happily there's a public bath next door...

I still had time for an early dinner before boarding.
Shimane Wagyu on rice.

And finally it's time!

*Okay maybe a little background is needed.

Once upon a time there were many sleeper trains in Japan. However with the spread of Shinkansen and planes, the sleeper trains one by one fell out of favour and got discontinued.
Nowadays Sunrise Izumo/Seto is the only regular sleeper train in Japan, that is to say, luxury trains like Seven Stars in Kyushu/Shikishima etc not included (they are like The Indian Pacific but 3 times more expensive ha ha).

I had been wanting to try the Cassiopeia sleeper since like forever, but that one discontinued in 2015/2016(?). So now Sunrise Limited Express is the only option. (Seto and Izumo start in Tokyo as one train, then splits in Okayama whilst Izumo continues to Izumo in Chugoku, Seto goes to Takamatsu in Shikoku. The return leg they again combine in Okayama.)

Tickets are hard to get as you can imagine! They are very popular amongst train lovers and travellers, generally sell out very fast once booking open one month ahead. And no, afaik you need to book it in person in a JR ticket counter. Nobi nobi seats I heard can be booked online now, but I'm not getting one of those (different type of seats in detail later).

Back in day 1 when I landed, then went to Yokohama to pick up my Saphir Odoriko ticket, another important thing I did was to buy ticket for this!! 2.5 weeks in advance, I thought I had a good chance (also had a backup plan ofc)...well yes and no, I did get a single berth, but in a smoking car coz all non smoking cars were sold out.

 

[rbjhan]

Okay boarding time! Could hardly contain my excitement just looking at the board


Yeah that's why this picture was...hmm...badly taken...


My berth is in car 6, which is a bi-level car.


And my berth was on the upper level, lucky!


Here it was!
PJ, blanket, pillow, slippers and a plastic cup is provided.


This turned out to be better than I thought. Plenty of space, and I didn't smell any smoke, ha ha.
Note: since it's bi-level, the height is about 1.8M, especially on the upper level with the curve, risk of hitting your head is high Not a problem for me since I'm short!



Control panel on the side.

 

[rbjhan]

You can lock your berth with a passcode.


So I went to explore the other parts of the train....
Bathroom and sink at both ends of the car.


Also you have the "single twin" berth at both ends.


Car 5 next to us was the Nobi nobi seats, the cheapest option - fully covered by JR Pass.


But you really are sleeping on the floor....more or less!


The fancy A berths of Single Deluxe and Sunrise Twin were all occupied, so no pictures.

"Solo" berth, located in single level car, but the berths are in upper and lower area, and they are very tight!


The bit sticking out near the door are the stairs for the upper berth, see below.


And one end is really narrow in solo berth.


I think Single is the much better option.

 

[rbjhan]

There's also a small lounge.


Vending machine of course.


There are showers onboard. You need to buy a ticket. One ticket is for 6 minute of water usage.


Shower room



Note: need to BYO towels.

It was a very pleasant 12 hour train ride! I slept quite well and got to Tokyo in the morning ready to go!
Actually, maybe a bit too early...7am in Tokyo you really have not much to do....
I would love to try this train again, maybe take the Sunrise Seto from Tokyo to Takamatsu some day.

 

[karen blancfield]

Thanks for such a detailed report. On board Phillipines Airlines flight that was changed to require a night in Manila tonight before reaching Tokyo tomorrow. We’ve opted not to do the whole 6 hour train trip to Fukuoka as it will be mostly dark so have made a slight change, going as far as Himeji tomorrow and staying night.

You have a lot of helpful tips that we will be making the most of during our 3 week winter holiday in Japan. Thanks!

 

[RooFlyer]

And no, afaik you need to book it in person in a JR ticket counter.

Maybe this is a "we really prefer tourists don't do this" thing?

I'm still in awe of this trip. I'm going to try to do bits of it in the future, but can only dream of doing the rest!

 

[rbjhan]

Thanks for such a detailed report. On board Phillipines Airlines flight that was changed to require a night in Manila tonight before reaching Tokyo tomorrow. We’ve opted not to do the whole 6 hour train trip to Fukuoka as it will be mostly dark so have made a slight change, going as far as Himeji tomorrow and staying night.

You have a lot of helpful tips that we will be making the most of during our 3 week winter holiday in Japan. Thanks!

Happy to help!
Any reason you don't fly to Fukuoka? Much better than Shinkansen for that kind of distance imho.

Will there be a TR? I'm interested in Philipine Airlines...although by the sound of it doesn't look too good...

 

[rbjhan]

Maybe this is a "we really prefer tourists don't do this" thing?

I'm still in awe of this trip. I'm going to try to do bits of it in the future, but can only dream of doing the rest!

You are probably overthinking it. The Japanese can sometimes be stuck in the 90s...
They still do fax in business dealings for crying out loud!

Edit, also, have you seen the little hanko stamps everyone carries?

 

[drron]

Another difference between us. We love Starbucks. In Japan especially as they certainly aren’t cookie cutter establishments. But also in Japan when they take my name for an order they always put down Mr Ron and that is what’s called when our order is ready.

 

[rbjhan]

Another difference between us. We love Starbucks. In Japan especially as they certainly aren’t cookie cutter establishments. But also in Japan when they take my name for an order they always put down Mr Ron and that is what’s called when our order is ready.

I'm one of those who has a manual expresso machine and grinder at home, buy fancy beans and make my own coffee kinda person hence coffee snob...

Japanese coffee in general is a disappointment. They love filter coffee, the horror~~!
I mostly drink tea in Japan, and visit Starbucks for the architecture.

 

[Matt_01]

They love filter coffee, the horror~~!

Yep, on one visit I went out of my way to get to Kappabashi-dori to purchase a bag 50 or 100 of the ready to use single cup coffee for my mother-in-law, I had also collected all the ones provided in room. She thinks they are great.

 

[MARTINE]

I'm one of those who has a manual expresso machine and grinder at home, buy fancy beans and make my own coffee kinda person hence coffee snob...

Japanese coffee in general is a disappointment. They love filter coffee, the horror~~!
I mostly drink tea in Japan, and visit Starbucks for the architecture.

There is that great brand called % - as good as any I have had in Melbourne and the Aussie guy who has the cafe at the bottom of Fushimi Inari in Kyoto

 

[rbjhan]

Yep, on one visit I went out of my way to get to Kappabashi-dori to purchase a bag 50 or 100 of the ready to use single cup coffee for my mother-in-law, I had also collected all the ones provided in room. She thinks they are great.

Yeah I steer well clear of coffee in Japan.
Love the matcha latte though!

 

[rbjhan]

There is that great brand called % - as good as any I have had in Melbourne and the Aussie guy who has the cafe at the bottom of Fushimi Inari in Kyoto

Yes and you need to queue at least 30 mins for that!
In terms of queueing...the Japanese are in a league of their own.
I cannot compete.
Gave up long time ago!

 

[VPS]

Great TR - I think you said you are learning some Japanese but how do you go if they have no English?

Also - how would I go having a severe fish allergy in Japan especially with no Japanese at all

 

[rbjhan]

Great TR - I think you said you are learning some Japanese but how do you go if they have no English?

Also - how would I go having a severe fish allergy in Japan especially with no Japanese at all

Well I did 10 trips before, in touristy areas definitely no problem.
They can speak some English...or you can google translate, it is quite good in most cases!

Fish allergy, now that's tough. Coz dashi is in almost everything, have you tried to see if you are allergy to that? If so safe bet would be to try vegan things? This one I am really not sure....

 

[karen blancfield]

Happy to help!
Any reason you don't fly to Fukuoka? Much better than Shinkansen for that kind of distance imho.

Will there be a TR? I'm interested in Philipine Airlines...although by the sound of it doesn't look too good...

We were fine with a 6 hour train trip when we were arriving at midnight. We would have headed off at 10am and enjoyed the day. Once PAL changed the flights, arriving at 2pm wasn’t so good.

Phillipines was absolutely fine, and less than half Qantas price. Food ok, seats fine, newish plane. A bit of a bother getting in touch with them but plenty of airlines are in that position.

 

[rbjhan]

We were fine with a 6 hour train trip when we were arriving at midnight. We would have headed off at 10am and enjoyed the day. Once PAL changed the flights, arriving at 2pm wasn’t so good.

Phillipines was absolutely fine, and less than half Qantas price. Food ok, seats fine, newish plane. A bit of a bother getting in touch with them but plenty of airlines are in that position.

Yeah I just don't think doing such a long train ride on day 1 is a good idea....flight time would be what, 1.5 hours? plus you are in the airport already.
But hey if you don't mind the trouble I guess it's fine.

Qantas price is probably not a good comparison being so expensive. I avoid them in general if paying cash. Last time I went to Europe in 19, Qantas was about $14K, and I paid $5.5K for JAL/Iberia, this was two months before departure.
How much did it cost if you don't mind me asking?

 

[drron]

Great TR - I think you said you are learning some Japanese but how do you go if they have no English?

Also - how would I go having a severe fish allergy in Japan especially with no Japanese at all

It really is no problem. I remember our first trip to Japan in the early eighties. I spoke no Japanese and English wasn’t compulsory then in Japan so a lot of the older people spoke no English.
I went with our son, Mrsdrron and her mother.
In Hakone both Mrsdrron and her mother came down with a cold. That day my son and I caught the train further into the mountains to the end of the line.

I can remember a quaint little village. Have no clue as to the name. None of the locals we spoke to knew a word of English. But we had a great time with just sign language. We were even invited to have lunch with an older lady at her home. Again not too sure what we had but I remember even my son liked it.

It was one of the reasons why when I got home I went back to University and did 2 years of Japanese. That was nearly 30 years ago now so I don’t remember much. But I have found that some will say that they don’t speak English but I murder a couple of Japanese words and then they find that they are able to speak English after all.

In recent years we have been doing road trips going to some isolated places and still have a great time and make ourselves understood.

 

[rbjhan]

It really is no problem. I remember our first trip to Japan in the early eighties. I spoke no Japanese and English wasn’t compulsory then in Japan so a lot of the older people spoke no English.
I went with our son, Mrsdrron and her mother.
In Hakone both Mrsdrron and her mother came down with a cold. That day my son and I caught the train further into the mountains to the end of the line.

I can remember a quaint little village. Have no clue as to the name. None of the locals we spoke to knew a word of English. But we had a great time with just sign language. We were even invited to have lunch with an older lady at her home. Again not too sure what we had but I remember even my son liked it.

It was one of the reasons why when I got home I went back to University and did 2 years of Japanese. That was nearly 30 years ago now so I don’t remember much. But I have found that some will say that they don’t speak English but I murder a couple of Japanese words and then they find that they are able to speak English after all.

In recent years we have been doing road trips going to some isolated places and still have a great time and make ourselves understood.

A lot of the times I find it's the fear factor. Many Japanese just have this fear of speaking English, if they can overcome it then they can speak a little, or sometimes quite a lot!

My Japanese is very basic atm, but because I could mutter a few words, they were instantly relaxed and everything just went okay from that point.