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    Originally posted by tomato View Post
    Why avoid Tokyo? The waiting rooms there are much more comfortable than at Shinagawa, and depending on time of day, Hikari trains can be very crowded. Go from Tokyo and you are much more likely to get a seat.
    I was told that avoiding Tokyo would be a good idea as Shinigawa is quieter and less chaotic.

    Don;t you have to book seats on a shinkansen, even if using a JR pass?

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      They are both chaotic during rush hour and OK at any other time.

      If you are using the Sobu line, then the walk to the shinkansen is a bit longer at Tokyo station. Other JR lines are the same distance at both stations.

      On the Hikari, the first five coaches are non-reserved seats. On the Kodama, all ordinary cars are non-reserved, the only exceptions being the green cars - first class. On the Hikari, it is the first three. I don't know if the JR Pass entitles you to a reserved seat or not, as I can't have a JR Pass, being a resident.

      By the way, the station is ShinAgawa. Not wanting to be a dick, but just in case you type ShinIgawa into, say, www.hyperdia.com and wonder why you get strange results, I thought I'd point it out in case it wasn't a typo.

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        Originally posted by Ampanman View Post
        You can, I changed mine at NRT in 1994 - the only time I've done one and it still applies.
        Ex's friend was categorically told they don't do that by the staff in Narita Airport station in front of me, and that was in 2008.

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          Originally posted by tomato View Post
          On the Hikari, the first five coaches are non-reserved seats ... On the Hikari, it is the first three.
          I'm confused by this. Can you explain? I've snipped a bit out here. Perhaps that bit is key, but I can't quite understand what you mean.

          Originally posted by tomato View Post
          By the way, the station is ShinAgawa. Not wanting to be a dick, but just in case you type ShinIgawa into, say, www.hyperdia.com and wonder why you get strange results, I thought I'd point it out in case it wasn't a typo.
          No that's fine, thanks for pointing it out. I did actually note that my spelling was different to yours and googled it before my last reply, but then forgot and used the wrong spelling again.

          I think Shinagawa is an earlier stop when coming from Narita, so we'd have a time advantage, non?

          The point I was trying to make about booking seats is - we'll be booking seats anyway, so regardless of whether coming from Tokyo or Shinagawa, we'll have seats anyway.

          Thanks for your input.

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            Originally posted by Kryss View Post
            Ex's friend was categorically told they don't do that by the staff in Narita Airport station in front of me, and that was in 2008.
            The recent guide books I have looked at say that there is a booth at Narita airport where you can pick up your JR pass. I hope they are correct as that is what we are planning to do.

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              Yeah it's downstairs, you can get passes there.

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                Originally posted by Jay View Post
                I'm confused by this. Can you explain? I've snipped a bit out here. Perhaps that bit is key, but I can't quite understand what you mean.



                No that's fine, thanks for pointing it out. I did actually note that my spelling was different to yours and googled it before my last reply, but then forgot and used the wrong spelling again.

                I think Shinagawa is an earlier stop when coming from Narita, so we'd have a time advantage, non?

                The point I was trying to make about booking seats is - we'll be booking seats anyway, so regardless of whether coming from Tokyo or Shinagawa, we'll have seats anyway.

                Thanks for your input.
                Sorry, it should have read that on the NOZOMI , not Hikari, the first three cars - by that I mean the front three carriages are for non-reserved seats. Front five for the Hikari and all cars except the first class carriages (green cars) on the Kodama. But it sounds like it's moot anyway. The link at the bottom of this post says you can book seats for free with the pass, so no need to worry about getting a seat. It also says you can indeed get the pass from Narita.

                If you are coming from Narita, you will pass through Tokyo before Shinagawa, but the difference is only a few minutes.

                Comprehensive introduction to the Japan Rail Pass (JR Pass).

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                  Ah, then I am an idiot as I thought Shinagawa was first for some reason.

                  Thanks.

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                    Jay, when is it you are going in October?

                    If all goes to plan I'm booking my plane tickets tomorrow. Arriving Thursday 27th September and leaving Thursday 11th October.

                    Going to do Tokyo for 5 nights, Kyoto for 3, Nagoya/Suzuka (for the F1) for 3 then Tokyo again for 3.

                    I need to read back a few pages of this thread about the trains as that's the bit I'm most nervous about. Am I right in thinking the JR pass will be okay for the major trains and something separate is needed for the subway (do we need to buy anything in advance). I really need to start reading now I've confirmed I'll be going!

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                      You can buy pre-paid subway cards in Japan, no need to order them in advance like the JR pass.
                      Japan Guide has all the info you need on Shinkansen trains covered by the JR pass. For both of my trips there I never used the JR pass as it would have more expensive than buying "spare" Shinkansen tickets (Tokyo-Kyoto for the 1st trip, Tokyo-Osaka for the 2nd trip); taking trains is very easy, all signs and ticket machines are in double language.
                      I hope that September and October is colder than August, yesterday was blindlingly hot and strolling around the Osaka castle park was debilitating!

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                        We are flying out on October 17 for two weeks. A few nights in Kyoto, and the rest in Tokyo with trips to Makamura, Nikko and the Ghibli museum planned

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                          In Osaka the weather got better: no longer cloudy but strangely less hot than before, noon is a bit too hot to go around but morning, afternoon and evening are absolutely wonderful. Saturday I'll be off to Tokyo for my final week...I've really enjoyed Osaka, probably as much as Kyoto.

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                            Originally posted by briareos_kerensky View Post
                            In Osaka the weather got better: no longer cloudy but strangely less hot than before, noon is a bit too hot to go around but morning, afternoon and evening are absolutely wonderful. Saturday I'll be off to Tokyo for my final week...I've really enjoyed Osaka, probably as much as Kyoto.
                            Good lad, glad you liked Osaka, we don't like Tokyo much prefer the Osaka area.

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                              Originally posted by Jay View Post
                              We are flying out on October 17 for two weeks. A few nights in Kyoto, and the rest in Tokyo with trips to Makamura, Nikko and the Ghibli museum planned
                              Kamakura not Makamura. Duh.

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                                So if you were going to Japan and one of the primary reasons was retro game shopping, where would you go?

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