Quick Shinkansen Guide

We're only 2 months away bound for Japan and near close to finishing all of our bookings. One more to go is our ride, The JR Pass. 

 Japan has seen a huge influx of tourist for the past years. And for us that who travels a lot, public transportation plays a very important role when roaming the country. And Japan's trains are very well known for being efficient and reliable. The only thing that may pose a challenge is navigating through the labyrinth of their train stations. Riding the Shinkansen maybe more convenient than taking a domestic flight but it still has it's own challenges. 

 I'm going to try make a quick guide on how to ride the Shinkansen. And I can already see that smug of a face. YES, it's not as easy as hoping unto it and looking for a seat and enjoying the scenery till you get to your destination. 

Instagram Shinkansen

 Booking/Buying the JR Pass 

 I immediately jumped to buying the JR Pass since this how we usually go around the country. You can definitely just go to it's official site at JRPass.com. But there are several sites that you can purchase it. Below are a list of sites and their given rates. I will just be posting the 7day pass just for reference 

 1. https://www.jrpass.com/  $360(regular) - $504(green) 

 2. https://www.japan-experience.com/  $368(regular) - $505(green) 

 3. https://www.jtbusa.com/  $353(regular)  - $494(green) 

 4. https://www.jrailpass.com/  $367(regular)  $589(green) 

 5. https://www.klook.com/  $358(regular)  $502(green) 

But if here's a quick link for a trip calculator if you really need a pass

Shinkansen Calculator

Knowing when to buy

Obviously before considering  buying a pass, you would have booked your flight months ahead. And you should know by now where and when you'll be taking the Shinkansen. How early can I purchase a pass? According to JRPass.com, "Can be ordered up to 6 months before planned activation date. The Japan Rail Pass exchange voucher is valid for 90 days after issue date, so we will send the actual tickets closer to your travel day". 

Depending on which site you bought your pass, it can be a few days to weeks upon delivery. So even with today's technology, passes won't be in-hand instantly.

How long is the JR Pass for?

The Japan Rail Pass can be activated up to 3 months after issue date. At point of activation it is possible to select a "Starting date" for up to 30 days in the future.

Now for the hard part

Once you receive the exchange order, you will have to activate the pass once you get to Japan. You can do this at the airport in one of their exchange offices and fill out a form. But the most important part is don't loose your pass. It's not refundable nor replaceable. 

This pass will give you unlimited rides on all JR Trains including the Shinkansen. I did rely on two apps when it comes to navigating the stations and train times, Google Maps and Japan Travel by Navitime.. 

Seat reservation

Seat reservations can be made for all shinkansen trains, but are not mandatory on the trains that also carry non-reserved seating. Only the Hayabusa, Hayate, Komachi and Tsubasa trains along the Tohoku/Hokkaido Shinkansen, and hte Kagayaki trains along the Hokuriku Shinkansen require seat reservations. In addition, Nozomi trains along the Tokaido/Sanyo Shinkansen become temporarily fully reserved on select holidays.

Seat reservations can be made from one month before travel date (from 10am) until shortly before departure time. It can be made at any ticket offices, ticket machines or online.

And the new thing now is doing reservations for your luggage's. A good alternative to this, if you have a lot to lug around, is by doing the luggage delivery services such as Yamato, Sagawa or JAL to name a few. But this is a new topic all together.

What then?

I'm not gonna lie, but it's going to be confusing and chaotic to say the least. It's a lot of stuff to absorb the moment you land and step out of that plane. It actually took me a few days before I was able to breeze through the commute using the trains. And yet, I still managed to loose my pass back then. Good thing was, it was the last day. If you're not a seasoned traveler, all I can say is, Good Luck to you.

 

Japan quick tip #1

In a few months we'd be setting foot again in Japan. And this time, were prepared (I think). We know that shopping is on our list, so one way of saving money in a way for it is by loading up early on our Suica e-card.

Japan is still based on a cash society but their e-cards such as Suica, Pasmo, Iococa to name a few, is a must. These are used for train rides and sometimes pay for items or even services. Then told myself, why not load up early so that by the time we're there, we'd have a few hundred dollars stashed.

But there's a catch. When you load up, it's gonna be in Yen. And the value in Dollars changes everyday. It's like playing the stock market.

The Dollar is up against the Yen. Tourism is at an all time high in Japan. I really can't say if this would benefit us by the time we get there, but at the end of the day, we'd still have extra money for our trip.

In an instant

When you're at work and have those few minutes to spare to do whatever. I spent mine doing a 6 day Japan itenerary for my aunt's. Conditions were very simple. Make it cheap, some thrift shopping, do it in 4 to 5 days and they were specific they should at least be able to go to the bamboo forest.

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove Normally, I would not even take this challenge and deem it near impossible. But I wanted to see what are the posibilities and if they don't like it, then it's ok. Immediately, I had to negotiate, since 4 days in Japan is a waste of money and it needs to be more.

Osaka Castle So there I was googling my way. Looking through flights and schedules. And this is the same time were in Japan as well (November). This is just 5 months away, and I'm having doubts with the rates already. Four hours after, I came up with a rough draft. And this is how it turned out.

Japan right now is a good destination. We were there pre-pandemic and it was a bit pricey and yet worth every penny. It's a no brainer to not go and spend a few weeks there now. Again, 10 days is not enough. The amount of things to do, places to go. Immersing yourself to their culture and understanding how they look at the world, gives that perspective on how we should be living as humans. You wont understand till you go there, and stop behaving as a tourist, go down on whatever pedestal you're standing on and experience on how to be a local. And you would start questioning yourself why can't we be like the Japanese with regards on how respectful they are, disciplined and just in general. Dotonbori, Osaka Anyways, the auntie's are thinkin about it. But again, if I'm in their shoes, decision would be in an instant, a very clear "YES!!!".

The 100

I was surprised to see this email when I woke this morning. Whoever that 100th person, Thank you so much!!! Does that mean I'm a legit influencer now? Do I start shooting videos on a tripod dancing out on the sidewalks and be able to ignore the stares and grins that people would throw at me while I distrupt the flow of foot traffic? Or maybe rent out a Lambo and start doing those gold digger scenarios? Howbout just play video games and have people watch me all day? Endless possibilities...........

My most viewed

This was my most viewed unboxing. I was not even expecting it to go beyond 300, let alone by 2k+. Nothing really special about this figure and it's also based on the movie which most collectors are not that eager to buy. And again, I just want to thank all those who viewed this, just hope that somebody would comment why it's so popular.

And we're off again in July 2023

It was my weekend off and was perfect timing for SDCC to have their returning attendees to have their badges purchased this day. But again, me and another 50-60k people out in the world are probably ready for this. 8AM PST is the hour that we should be logging in and an hour wait to be placed in a virtual line. The first few minutes was already hitting a snag. It was not letting us wait and just gave us a notice that we'll be re-directed. I was like, "probably normal since people are starting to log in" Another 20+ minutes then this happened. "MAINTENANCE". Now there's a problem. I was logged in two computers, one under my account and another to Anna's. FB and Twitter started blowing up. people are now frustrated and but we are all not surprised. And now people are speculating that it might not even happen today and get re-scheduled. 9AM and stil no news. Wondering whats gonna happen next. Then a twitter was sent out that they found and resolved the issue. Registration will commence at 9:30AM and pre-sale will be at 10AM now. Now I was excited the moment it came up and saw that little walking guy that would indicate wher in line we're at. Now it's just waiting whether the tickets would be sold out by the time I get the chance to buy the badges. And I got in under my account. Anna's was still an hour away. To my surprise all days are available including Preview Night. But I had to skip that since thats only 3hrs and I would have to cough up another $55.No thank you. My friend Vinh wanted to go on Thursday and Friday only but at the very last minute decided to go on all days. I think we had lady luck on our side. So I went and left Anna's account still in line just wondering if it would be able to get in. I returned some stuff I bought from Amazon to UPS and by the time I got home, Anna's account was still in-line. Waited again for another 10-15 minutes, and got in. Thursday and Friday were the only days left. This day ended well for us. And now people at work would just be like, "How are you able to get those badges and can you get me one?". Argghhhhhh. It's just..........