Osaka to Tokyo, non shinkansen

[Gord]

hey guys,
in a few days I'm taking the, shall we say, scenic route to Tokyo from Osaka. My question is, can I ride straight from Osaka to Tokyo or do I need to switch from JR west to JR central to JR east? What are the major stations to switch at? Any help would be great, thanks guys

 

[hintgiver]

If you窶决e talking about taking the local train then you will have to switch. I did that once on some ticket that let you ride all the local trains you wanted to for 6 days. Anyway, you need to keep switching trains. If you窶决e traveling with someone and/or are loaded up on awesome books (if you are an avid reader) the trip will be a short one...

窶ｦOff topic but if anyone is looking for a good book try reading "War of the Flowers" by Tad Williams while in Japan. It is a fantasy novel but has really interesting parallels but I digress....

I am not sure if you can speak or read Japanese but there is a book you can buy / get (about the size of the Sears catalogue) that tells you when trains leave, from where, and has maps of where they run. This book really helped my friend and I when we were taking out little trip.

I don窶冲 remember where we stopped窶ｦ if no one else can help you I might be able to help point you in the way of good places to find out. Things I need to know though is what city are you in and what is your Japanese ability? (or the ability of someone you are with).

 

[Gord]

My japanese ability isn't enough to really be able to ask someone what train to switch on or anything, so that's why I came here. I know I will have to switch, but if I ride most of the rapid trains to the end of the line, I should only have to switch at a few major stations, right? A map of JR lines throughout Japan would be a great help.

War of Flowers - I wouldn't mind picking that up, I'm always open to a good book recomendation. What better for this extremally long trip than a new book? I don't know if I could find it in English while I'm here, but as I've learned, searching for something specific is often half the fun of shopping here.

 

[shiroma]

If you窶决e talking about taking the local train then you will have to switch.

There are a couple of bus routes between Tokyo and Osaka (daytime ride) co-operated by JR Bus Kanto and West JR Bus. Timetables available here and here, terminal maps here and here.

More routes

 

[MeAndroo]

If you窶决e talking about taking the local train then you will have to switch. I did that once on some ticket that let you ride all the local trains you wanted to for 6 days. Anyway, you need to keep switching trains. If you窶决e traveling with someone and/or are loaded up on awesome books (if you are an avid reader) the trip will be a short one...

I wonder if you're referring to seishun juuhachi kippu. When I used it, it was 5 all-you-can-ride-in-24-hours tickets for 12000 yen.

 

[hintgiver]

I wonder if you're referring to seishun juuhachi kippu. When I used it, it was 5 all-you-can-ride-in-24-hours tickets for 12000 yen.

That's the one... but I am not sure if they have it anymore... It was a great deal and so much fun. But even if your willing to deal with the local... it's not bad.

However, you also need to remember that a one way ticket on the Shinkansen (on the Green car!! which, is very very nice) is only around 100$ (窶啀窶毒凪?ｰ~) You still get to see a lot on the train... it's something to concider. I am not sure how long your vacation / trip is but... spending time on local trains might not be what you want to do. However, it just might be what you want to do.

Would you be able to go to your local JR Station and ask for a book of train times? Or is that something that would be too hard for you?

 

[duff_o_josh]

i think you should leave osaka and fo as far as you can on jr west with a 60yen childrens ticket, tell them you lost your ticket at the end, then buy another 60yen childrens ticket, then get to tokyo and tell them you lost your ticket and you came from ueno koen

 

[Harvey]

You could seriously try hitchhiking! I kid you not it's not impossible!

 

[budd]

tokyo iki wa dore des ka
norika e wa
dono eki des ka
kai itte kudasai

"then get to tokyo and tell them you lost your ticket and you came from ueno koen"
real bad karma

 

[hintgiver]

i think you should leave osaka and fo as far as you can on jr west with a 60yen childrens ticket, tell them you lost your ticket at the end, then buy another 60yen childrens ticket, then get to tokyo and tell them you lost your ticket and you came from ueno koen

Don't screw the system like this. One of the really nice things about being in Japan is the amount of trust there is. I remember asking so many people "Why doesn't someone just -Inset bad thing here?" and the answer was "Because it's just not right." Just obey the rules... it's not that bad. Even if you were to take the green-car Shinkansen from Tokyo it's not that expensive... don't take advantage of a culture that trusts people on a whole.

Also, we want to break away from the negative view of Americans... or whatever country your from.

Don't steal in Japan... It is really kinda' low since a lot of the businesses in Japan sometimes I feel operate on good-faith in some respects...

 

[Keiichi]

I don't think you can really take advantage of the shinkansen since they usually have a guard checking your ticket on the train. Unless you hide real good and never show your face or that ticket. hahaha.

Keiichi

lol

 

[Gord]

uh,I guess I'll just figure it out as I go along

 

[mangaman]

I've done it before and it takes all day but you don't have to change too many times. It isn't that hard to figure out and you can always ask. You don't have to speak Japanese just say the name of your destination or the next big place+ikitai and they will tell you. In some places they even printed out a customized itinerary with all the changes and times.

 

[duff_o_josh]

Don't screw the system like this. One of the really nice things about being in Japan is the amount of trust there is. I remember asking so many people "Why doesn't someone just -Inset bad thing here?" and the answer was "Because it's just not right." Just obey the rules... it's not that bad. Even if you were to take the green-car Shinkansen from Tokyo it's not that expensive... don't take advantage of a culture that trusts people on a whole.

Also, we want to break away from the negative view of Americans... or whatever country your from.

Don't steal in Japan... It is really kinda' low since a lot of the businesses in Japan sometimes I feel operate on good-faith in some respects...

sorry it was a inside joke between gord and i. i do not encourage cheating or cheat personally.

 

[hintgiver]

sorry it was a inside joke between gord and i. i do not encourage cheating or cheat personally.

Awesome, sorry for getting so up in arms about it, just I have heard of some people who go to Japan and take advantage and it makes me sad that they take advantage of a good thing. 'Cause as we all know the reason why it is a good thing is for the majority people don't take advantage.

Hope everything works out for ya' Gord