東京モノレール

The Tokyo Monorail connects Hamamatsucho Station to Haneda Airport.

Haneda Airport now has international flights to Asia, America and Europe after the opening of the new international terminal and the Haneda Airport International Terminal Station on October 21, 2010.

Built in 1964 as part of the Tokyo Olympics development, the cars of the Tokyo Monorail still have that 60s feel to them.

From Haneda Airport International Terminal Station the Tokyo Monoral links to Shin-Seibijō (新整備場), Haneda Airport Terminal 1 (羽田空港第1ビル) and Haneda Airport Terminal 2 (羽田空港第2ビル).


The Haneda Express takes 19 minutes to Haneda Airport Terminal 2 and just 13 minutes to Haneda Airport International Terminal Station from Hamamatsucho Station on the Yamanote Line. Local trains take 18 minutes to Haneda Airport International Terminal Station and Rapid trains 15 minutes.

From Monorail Hamamatsu the stations on the Tokyo Monorail are Tennozu Isle, Oi Keibajo-mae, Ryutsu Center, Showajima, Seibijo, Tenkubashi, Haneda Airport International Terminal Station, Shin Seibijo, Haneda Airport Terminal 1 and Haneda Airport Terminal 2.



Suica and a number of other IC cards can be used on the Tokyo Monorail including: Icoca, Kitaca, Pasmo, Sugoca, Toica and Nimoca.

The standard fare from Monorail Hamamatsu to Haneda Airport International Terminal Station is 470 yen.

Tokyo Monorail


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電車

The Green Car on Japanese trains including the Shinkansen is the equivalent of First Class.

For the extra cost you will find Green Cars have better seats and fewer passengers. The Japan Rail Pass also has a Green Class if you really want to do Japan by rail in style. Perks may include free slippers, personal TVs and laptop power points.

The Green Window (midori no madoguchi) is the place to book train tickets.


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N700系

The Shinkansen N700 Series is JR's latest Shinkansen and incorporates tilting capability for both better performance and speed.



N700 series bullet trains have a maximum speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) and are gradually replacing older models on JR's network. The N700 can reach a velocity of 270 km/h in just three minutes.

N700 trains operate on Nozomi, Hikari and Kodama services from Tokyo Station and are equipped with wireless internet available for rail passengers between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations.





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東京メトロのロゴ

The destinctive pale blue and white Tokyo Metro sign is a Japanese design classic.

The new logo replaced the old Teito Rapid Transit Authority (TRTA) "S" style design in 2004 when the capital's subway network was renamed Tokyo Metro.



The sign can be seen at all Tokyo subway stations operated by Tokyo Metro. Toei Subway stations have a different green-leaf style logo.



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オホーツク

The Okhotsk limited express train runs between Sapporo and Abashiri in Japan's most northerly island of Hokkaido.

The journey time is about 5 hours and 20 minutes with daily trains leaving Sapporo Station at 7.21am, 9.41am, 3.08pm and 5.30pm.



Trains stop at Takikawa, Asahikawa, Kamikawa, Engaru and Kitami stations.

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SL冬の湿原号

JR Hokkaido Railway Co. operates the SL Fuyu-no-Shitsugen-go steam train service through the Kushiro Wetlands in northern Hokkaido between Kushiro and Shibecha stations.



The train service, which reopened in 2000, operates only in winter from January to March and just once a day along the 48km route, which takes around 75 minutes and costs 1,840 yen for a one-way trip. The Shibecha departure time is about 2pm.



From April to September, a diesel train, the Norokko-go travels the same route.

Kushiro Station
Tel: 0154 22 4314


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満員電車



Tokyo's commuter train system is rightly renowned as being one of the most efficient in the world. The frequency of morning trains at rush hour on the JR Sobu line, for example - the one I take daily - is such that you don't run for a train. By the time I've made it down to the far end of the platform - which is where I have to be for getting off at the right spot at my destination station - the next train has arrived, or is just about to.

However, as a commuter, Tokyo trains can be hell at peak time. A packed midsummer train gets stiflingly hot in spite of the air conditioning - often to the point of inducing barely suppressed and palpable panic in some passengers. It's bad enough even in winter. Getting on the morning train and suffering the cruel punishment virtually hugging someone with really rancid breath, for example, is not something you can get to learn to smile about.

One popular image overseas of Japanese trains is their getting so packed that passengers routinely have to be pushed on by a guard. Since coming to Tokyo, I had regarded this as a myth - or at least a phenomenon to be found only in faded photos from the 1970s.

But at last, I saw it! It was last Friday, and I was trying to get on the Sobu line back to Asakusabashi from the electronics town of Akihabara. The doors wouldn't properly close, because some of them had people half hanging out of them. So the guards had to go down the train from door to door forcing people in and the doors shut. I watched it leave, having missed the train without the slightest misgiving.

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Japan By Rail: (2nd Edition)

by Ramsey Zarifeh

Trailblazer Publications

ISBN: 1-8737-5697-6 496 pp

The eagerly awaited, fully revised and expanded second edition of Japan By Rail was published in 2007 and is a definite alternative to challenge for space in your luggage along with the other so-called "major" guides on Japan.

This handy book is geared to visitors arriving with the Japan Rail Pass and planning to see the country by train. With some of the world's quickest and most punctual rail services, seeing Japan by train can be a joy in itself, whether you are speeding through the cities along the Pacific coast by bullet-train or chugging through the mountains of Kyushu at a more sedate pace.

Much of the first half of the book thus takes the reader through everything you need to know on the Japan Rail pass, Japanese railways (JR in particular), possible routes and essential train etiquette. The level of detail is impressive and the practical information for the visitor both on Japan in general and Japanese railways in particular makes this book pretty much a must for visitors who a) have bought the Japan Rail Pass and b) like traveling by train.

The book is also useful for residents of Japan looking to see more of the country by rail - a quick, greener alternative to the nation's packed and stressful highways and expensive domestic air network.

The heart of Japan By Rail are its guides to the country's two main gateways - Tokyo & Osaka - and detailed route guides to the cities and attractions of Japan's four major islands: Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku.

A typical city guide contains a well-spaced map with place names in English and Japanese in the key, what to see and do in each place with opening times and prices plus information on the main station, local transport, where to stay and where to eat and drink.

Author Zarifeh rounds out the book with four appendices: a Japan rail route guide, glossary, useful Japanese phrases and train timetables.
There are also some reasonable color photographs and a number of special boxed texts on various points of interest. Recommended.

Buy this book from Amazon USA I UK I Japan

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伊勢志摩ライナー

One of Japan's most luxurious trains is the Kintetsu Ise Shima Liner which runs from Nagoya and Osaka Namba stations to Kashikojima on the Ise Shima Peninsula in Mie Prefecture.



The train has a European-style "saloon" carriage, a "deluxe" carriage and a trolley service for refreshments.

The train usually stops in Tsu, Uji Yamada, Toba and Kashikojima from Nagoya Station.

Journey time from Namba Station in Osaka to Toba is around 2 hours. From Nagoya the time is approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. A special "weekday four" ticket cuts the price to 2,980 yen per adult from Osaka or 2,500 yen from Nagoya if you travel as a group of four people.

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JR豊肥線　赤水-立野

The 148km-long JR Hohi Mainline which runs in the Aso caldera region of Kyushu connects Kumamoto, Oita and Beppu, east-west across the island.




Running from Kumamoto, it goes down the slopes via a switchback slowly zigzagging back and forth until it reaches the town of Tateno. At Tateno the JR Hohi Mainline connects with the Takamori Line (高森線) run by Minami Aso Railway. Look out for the long station names on this line, one being "Minami Aso Mizuno Umareru Sato Hakusui Kougen Eki" - probably the longest in the country.

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中央本線

The JR Main Line or JR Chuo-honsen runs 246km from Tokyo to Nagoya, through some lovely mountain areas. Most travelers take the much quicker Shinkansen bullet train which takes 1 hour, 40 minutes from Nagoya to Tokyo Station by the fastest Nozomi trains, via Yokohama and Shinagawa Station. The non-reserved fare is 10,070 yen.

If you wanted to get from Nagoya to Tokyo by express train your journey time would be dramatically increased and you would need to change trains a number of times. The fare would be 6,300 yen but would be more than double the travel time.



Leaving Nagoya Station, you would travel via Kanayama to Nakatsugawa. Change here for a Shinano Express to Shiojiri. From Shiojiri take a train to Takao via Kofu and Otsuki. From Takao the penultimate leg of the journey takes you from Takao Station to Mitaka, where you need to change again for a Chuo-Sobu Line service to Tokyo Station.

The rail link between the capital and Nagoya was completed in 1911.

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中央・総武緩行線

The 60km-long JR Chuo-Sobu Line is a major east-west commuter line in Tokyo. In general Chuo Line trains (orange stripe) are express (kaisoku) and the Sobu Line (yellow stripe) are local (futsu or kanko) trains stopping at every station.



The Chuo-Sobu Line runs between Mitaka Station (三鷹) and Kichijoji in the west and Chiba Station (千葉) in the east. 

名古屋ー大阪の電車

There are two main options when traveling between Nagoya and Osaka by train.



The quicker (and more expensive option) is to take a JR Shinkansen from Nagoya Station to Shin Osaka Station. The fastest Nozomi Shinkansen takes just 51 minutes, with a stop in Kyoto, and costs 6,380 yen for a non-reserved seat. To get into the center of Osaka, travelers must then ride the Midosuji Line of the Osaka Subway.



The slower (and cheaper option) is to take the hourly (on the hour from Nagoya Station) Kintetsu Urban Liner from Nagoya Kintetsu Station to Namba. The journey time is 2 hours, 5 minutes. The price of a ticket is 4,150 yen. Your destination is right in the center of Osaka and the journey goes through some beautiful countryside in Mie Prefecture, so if you are not in a hurry, you may consider this route. The last train from Osaka to Nagoya departs at 9.30pm.





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乗り物

Listen to means of transport in Japanese from Joji

So far in our look at Japanese vocabulary categories we have covered animals, parts of the body, the numbers in Japanese, colors and days of the week, another useful vocabulary section is the world of travel.

Whether you live in Japan or are here as a tourist, travel and getting around will be a big part of your day. Here are some useful words.

train (densha 電車), station (eki 駅), bus (basu バス), taxi, (takushi タクシー), bicycle (jitensha 自転車), motorbike (motabaiku; otobai オートバイ), aeroplane (hikoki 飛行機), airport (kuko 空港), ticket (kippu 切符), travel pass (teiki 定期), ferry (feri フェリー), port (minato 港), platform (purattohomu; homu ホーム), passport (pasupoto パスポート), ticket barrier/wicket (kaisatsuguchi 改札口), limited express train (tokkyu 特急), express train (kyukou 急行), rapid (kaisoku 快速), semi-express (jyunkyuu 準急), local train (futsuu 普通), jiyuseki (non-reserved seat 自由席), shiteiseki (reserved seat 指定席), subway/underground (chikatetsu 地下鉄), bullet train (shinkansen 新幹線), monorail (monoreru モノレール), cable car (ropu-ue/keburuka ロープウエー/ケーブルカー), street car/tram (romendensha ろめん電車), car (kuruma/jidosha 車/自動車).

Some names of means of transport are written in katakana if the name is taken from a foreign language such as cable car (keburuka ケーブルカー), monorail (monoreru モノレール) and, of course, bus (bazu バズ) and taxi, (takushi タクシー)

Most visitors and residents will make use of Japan's extensive rail and urban subway systems for getting to and from work or traveling the country.

The inter-city shinkansen bullet trains and many express trains offer both reserved and non-reserved seats: shiteiseki (reserved seat 指定席) and jiyuseki (non-reserved seat 自由席). The Shinkansen first class carriages are known as "green car" (グリーンカー). Tickets and reservations can be booked at the station booking office, from ticket machines, from travel agents and online.

The shinkansen and most express trains have both smoking (kitsu-en 喫煙) and no-smoking (kin-en 禁煙) carriages, though smoking on platforms is being limited to small smoking areas. We'll go into more detail on the language needed to use Japanese trains in a future post. In the meantime, happy traveling!


Last week's Japanese lesson - slang

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出雲ー松江の電車

Izumo and Matsue in Shimane Prefecture in south west Japan are connected by two railway lines.



The JR San-in Line runs south of Lake Shinji and the Ichibata Railway Kitamatsue Line runs to the north of Japan's 7th largest lake. The JR San-in Line is the quicker of the two routes between the cities and is handy for Tamatsukuri Hot Springs and the small town of Shinji near Izumo Airport.



The Ichibata Railway Kitamatsue Line is good for Matsue Vogel Park, Matsue Water Village Museum & Garden and the terminus at Matsue Shinjiko Onsen Station is slightly nearer to Matsue Castle, the Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum and Lafcadio Hearn's Old Residence.



The JR San-in Line actually runs between Kyoto and Shimonoseki via Fukuchiyama, Tottori, Yonago, Matsue, Izumo, Yunotsu, Hamada, Masuda and Hagi.



The Ichibata Electric Railway has two lines. The 40km line between Izumo and Matsue and an 8km spur from Kawato Station (on the Kitamatsue Line) to Izumo Taisha-mae Station, near Izumo Taisha. The Ichibata Railway Izumo Station is to your right as you exit the main JR Izumo Station.




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レトロでんしゃ館

The Nagoya City Tram & Subway Museum near Akaike Station on the Tsurumai subway line is a favorite for parents and their train-loving kids, especially on weekends.

Besides the model railways, Play Station-style computer train simulators and a collection of old subway and tram carriages (ideal for reading a book or newspaper, while the kids play on the trains and ring all the bells) - there are some interesting black and white photographs of Nagoya in the 1960s, when the last trams were still running in the city.



The trams in Nagoya were finally phased out in 1974 as the subway system began to cover much of the city.

Nagoya City Tram & Subway Museum
Tel 052 807 7587
Hours: 10am-4pm

Walk north from Akaike Station Exit 2 down the hill, cross Route 153 and you will see two giant subway drills. The museum is here. Admission free; closed Wednesdays.



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新幹線

Japan's shinkansen is a true icon of the country: fast, stylish and safe.



In service since 1964, the shinkansen rail network now stretches between the northern and southern tips of the main Japanese island of Honshu and to Fukuoka on Kyushu.

Shinkansen at a glance

2,459km of track
Carries around 370,000 people daily
Reaches speeds of 300km per hour

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SL やまぐち号

One of the last remaining steam trains operating in Japan is the SL Yamaguchi-Go which runs between Shin Yamaguchi station in Yamaguchi Prefecture and Tsuwano in the mountains of Shimane Prefecture.



The train operates between March and November, and runs most weekends and on national holidays.



The 69 kilometre journey up into the mountains takes about 2 hours, and 20 minutes faster on the downhill return leg. It leaves Shin Yamaguchi at 10:30 am and arrives at Tsuwano at 12:30 pm. 3 hours later it returns, giving enough time to look around the popular tourist destination of Tsuwano.



The rebuilt steam locomotive was originally built in 1937, and is a C57 class 4-6-2 (2-C-1) Pacific-type - built by Kawasaki.

Each of the train carriages has been outfitted in the style of a different era.

It is very popular, so advance bookings are necessary.

SL Yamaguchi Go
Tel: 0570 002486



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한국고속철도

The Korea Train eXpress (KTX) is South Korea's high-speed rail system, operated by Korail and connecting the capital Seoul to Busan via Daejeon and Daegu and Yongsan Station in Seoul to Gwangju and Mokpo.

The KTX train is based on the French TGV model and has a top speed of 350 km/h, though 300 km/h is the normal operating speed for safety reasons.



The KTX service between Seoul and Busan began in 2004 and the journey time is now 2 hours and 40 minutes and will be reduced further when the high-speed track is completed between Daegu and Busan in 2010.

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名古屋鉄道

Nagoya Railroad company aka Meitetsu Railways is a major railway network in the Chubu region of central Japan. Meitetsu is headquartered at Nagoya Station and connects Nagoya with Inuyama, Gifu, Okazaki, Toyokawa Inari, Gamagori, Toyohashi, the Chita Peninsula and Chubu International Airport via Kanayama Station.



Meitetsu also runs trains to various suburbs of Nagoya including Arimatsu, Chiryu, Tsushima, Hekinan and Toyota city.

Meitetsu Railways has about 445km of track and the Meitetsu Group of around 170 associated companies has diversified into department stores, supermarkets, real estate, bus, ferry and taxi firms and travel agencies. The Meiji Mura historical park near Inuyama is also run by Meitetsu.

Meitetsu most famous trains include the Panorama Car and the Panorama Super as well as the new Centrair Express to Chubu International Airport.

Meitetsu Railways

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