For those who have been/travelled around Japan (Puratto Kodama train ticket Q)

Noni Juice

Noni Juice

Noni Juice

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Joined
21 Oct 2006
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Hi there,

Basically, me and my mates are going Japan to see a friend. Tickets were booked ages ago and we need to travel from Tokyo, to Kyoto.

There is two ways of doing this -

Train, one way the train will cost £140, which is a lot, but of course it is quicker and more comfortable.

Coach, this is an overnight coach which will take 8 hours. It also means that we will, in theory, "waste a day", since we land at 1pm, and will have to wait until 9:45pm for the first coach to leave....This costs £56

Now, after some research, I have found another solution.

The Puratto Kodama train, is a discount train that goes from Tokyo to Kyoto, for around £75-80. This is great, however I cannot find ANYWHERE that lets me buy it online. Some blogs also say that you need to purchase it a day in advance, and it will be sent to a Japanese address. The website is useless, google translate does not help.

My mate is in Japan and I could send it to him, but he lives near Kyoto, so how would we get the ticket in Tokyo? We plan to travel to Kyoto on the day we land.

I'm just abit confused as to what I can do to actually get this ticket. Any help would be great.

Links -

The website for the discount ticket-

http://www.jrtours.co.jp/

Blog with some great info-

http://nihonshock.com/2010/02/puratto-kodama-cheap-shinkansen-tickets/
 
Yes, find some way, any way of doing that. Don't waste a day in Japan!! If you're staying at half-decent hotel they should be able to make arrangements like this for you.

The train ride from Tokyo to Kyoto is really nice, btw. Some lovely views of the Japanese countryside, and a great scene of Fujisan at one point.
 
Ride the shinkansen, ought to be around 3 hours? or so to Kobe/Osaka from Tokoy and from there a local train to Kyoto, a couple of hours or so? I forget.
 
If you're returning to Tokyo or travelling around a bit by rail, why not get a Rail Pass?
 
rsatd said:
Ride the shinkansen, ought to be around 3 hours? or so to Kobe/Osaka from Tokoy and from there a local train to Kyoto, a couple of hours or so? I forget.
Click to expand...

Yep, its the price thats the problem though, we want, and to be honest, need something cheaper than £140 one way.

The Rail Pass was our original idea, but only tourists can buy them, since we are travelling everywhere with out mate, who works in Japan, there is no point in getting one since he will have to take the coach, and will get everywhere a day after and etc.

Also a rail pass for 2 weeks is £340....compared to the combined total of coach travel we would need that comes to £150.

Basically, I'm looking for alternatives to the coach, of which are cheap :)
 
Hi,

have you looked at this site it give all the info of the shinkansen trains and other trains in japan.

http://www.hyperdia.com/

you say it would cost you 140 quid to travel, but i just searched that site and it gives you the option of the Nozomi for only 12,710 yen which is about 96 quid at the moment. The nozomi is the fastest shinkansen as well.

the bottom line is the cheapest way to travel in japan is as a tourist on the jr pass but like you say you dont have that option. you pay a high price to get there fast, or cheap and you go the slow route. The over night buses are not that bad, i am 2 metres tall and it would be a lie to say they are comfortable, but i managed. In general japanese transport is very spacious compared to the UK I find.

Tim
 
Can't your mate hire a car and take you all there on a lovely road trip? :D

Sorry, he's in Kyoto. You're in Tokyo. I didn't read it properly.
 
if you are over there for a little while. get a japan rail pass. think it covers you a week or a little longer and free travel on all jr trains, even the bullets. Though not the fastest one, but they are still mighty fast!
 
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