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Mike · Site Admin Joined: 07 Sep 2004 Posts: 4512 Location:

By Hauquan Chau
To travel around Japan and with the least amount of headaches, away from the freight truck-clogged expressways and congested streets, trains are the best bet. Besides some of the magnificent views from the trains, where else can you meet the locals who use the same train as travelers?

The network of tracks that crisscross over Japan with more runs along the old Tokai Route, between Tokyo and Kyoto, include the once-national Japan Railway (JR), offers a travel experience that can take you to the famous sightseeing cities as well as rural villages, tucked along the tracks in between its mega-urban brothers. The ambition of the daimyos of lore wanting to unite the country is realized in the train. Nobunaga would be pleased!

Take the train leaving Tokyo and at the end of the day, you could be seeing the sunset overlooking the Sea of Japan, across to South Korea from the banks of Kyushu Island. And you don't have to sell your liver to do it either.

Indeed the price of a round-trip ticket from Tokyo to Kyoto and back on the world-famous bullet train could set you back at least 20,000 yen (~$180 USD). In three hours, you're transplanted suddenly from the streets straight out of Blade Runner to stepping into world of Shogun with temples and shrines galore along ancient streets.

If you have all the time in the world and none of its riches, consider buying the "Juhachi Kippu". Offered three times a year during the spring, summer and winter holidays, it was originally intended for affordable travel for college students. Although the name has remained, meaning "18 year olds-ticket", it is available for anyone willing to shell out 11,500 yen (~$105 USD) for a ticket.

With space for five stamps, you the traveler along with your companions can get on any JR train station and ride as far as you can until the trains close down for the evening. As these trains are local, expect frequent stops as you edge your way to your destination, one station at a time. With this ticket, you can exit at any station to explore and re-enter without any extra costs. It's a great chance to explore life in rural Japan.

On a cool summer evening, after the train rattles away, down the tracks, the silence is broken only by the crying cicadas who rest invisibly in the trees. In the winters, a freshly blanketed layer of snow on traditional tile roofs as foreground to swaying cedars in the distant mountain is a sight to be remembered, inspiring odes to be written, meditation of the eternal.

Those flashes of green that you would normally see onboard the bullet train are homes to many. People live in those blurred flashes, whipping by the oval windows at 270 km/h.

The timing for the trains is impeccable. Take a train leaving from the same tracks that leave a few minutes earlier and you could end up on the other side of the lake or island. 3:05 means 3:05.

Fortunately if you're one of those schedule types, who need to calibrate their watches to the atomic clock once in a while, then you're in luck! JR Cyber Station (http://www.jr.cyberstation.ne.jp/) has all the times, connections and train numbers you'll need to catch all the trains. Just type in the station you're starting from and the station you want to end up and presto, the printable schedule comes up with all the local trains and the connections. Unfortunately, the website is completely is Japanese so either it's a chance to brush up on your Kanji or make some Japanese friends. It's worth the effort.

Efficient yes, but a schedule built up by a computer doesn't factor in much for human concerns such as bathroom breaks and the human's need for food. If you're the hardcore schedule type, you can print out additional schedules to take into account those much needed stretch breaks.

Here are some other tips that may be helpful:

1. Bring a book and some snacks.
The view can get monotonous or the conversations run stale and who knows what sort of munchies is available at the next stop.

2. Pack lightly.
An eternal manna for all experienced travelers, it's no fun running for your next train with bulky luggage.

3. Time-defying trains.
An earlier train doesn't necessarily mean it'll get there earlier. A later train could actually arrive 30 minutes earlier!

4. Local Flavor.
Enjoy the various accents of the local culture that haven't been tainted by a materialistic city life.

5. The journey's the thing!
Don't worry about missing a train (even for you schedule types!). Another will come eventually. Sit back. Feel the trains' wheels rumbling underneath. Listen in on conversations. Look outside the window and watch little kids wave at the train on a rural road surrounded by rice fields.

When?
February 20 - March 31
July 1 - August 31
December 1 - January 10

Where?
18-kippu can be purchased at any JR ticket office at most major stations.

Who?
From 9 - 99 years of age. And anyone else!

Why?
It's an affordable way to travel all over Japan and a chance to explore those flashes of green.
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