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11-07-2007, 07:06 AM
I dunno, I spent so much time in a tour bus going around China and it was just horrible to sleep in! We want to save money but I'm not sure I want to spend a night on a bus... unless they're somehow quite comfortable? I've heard they take a few times longer than the bullet trains.
I've heard about the hectic peak times on the trains; we're going to be avoiding those times as much as possible, especially while we're still figuring out how the heck to buy tickets! @samokan: Do you have any recommendations for other places to visit? Particularly places we can do as day trips from one of those major cities. We're still going through details and haven't decided on all the places we want to go. As it stands currently we're doing 5 days in Tokyo, one day in Nagano, one day in Hakone, 4 days in Kyoto, 4 days in Osaka then back up to Tokyo again to fly out. Thanks for the help so far everyone! And for such quick response. 
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11-07-2007, 07:26 AM
the JR night bus is comfortable as long as you don't take the Seishun Mega Dream ( the cheapest ) cause its narrow there is not much space for the legs to stretch into. But if you get the 6000yen ( $60 approx ) or the 8000yen bus its very comfortable , the chair can be reclined, you have a blanket and a slipper and there is toilet inside .. tokyo - osaka night bus takes about 6-8 hours.. usually the bus leaves around 10-11 pm and usually arrive at around 6-7 am, but you will be sleeping the whole time ..
also if you buy the ticket in advance, you get around 10% discount.. so it gets cheaper.. Osaka can actually be toured in one day, that is if you are just going to do some sightseeing. Get the one day ticket for the subway that cost 850yen. If you are touring the city on a weekday, start around 9am after the rush hour. But if you want to try the osaka subway rush hour, try starting at 8am and be prepare to be squished hehehee... Kyoto, will I love this place and never get tired of visiting it. Anyways, the cheapest to get around Kyoto is to get the One-day ticket bus which is only 500yen, it will get you to all areas of Kyoto as long as the city bus goes there that is.. Depends on how fast you move, you can visit the major tourist destination in about a day  ]Kobe and Himeji, if you don't have the JR pass, get the Hanshin one day ticket cost around 2000yen, ride all you can on Hanshin train from OSAKA to Himeji. Don't miss the Himeji Castle, its Japan's most beautiful Castle. Hiroshima, Miyajima , Beppu , Kagoshima, Takayama, Toyama, Nara, Wakayama, Nikko, Hakone... Yamaguchi, Hagi, hehehe I could go on.... you can visit all this places using the JR pass.. and don't necessarily stay at the place , you can always go back with the shinkansen to your hotel at night.. just be sure to check the train schedule..
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11-07-2007, 07:35 AM
oh you are coming in FEB right.. try checking out the Yuki Matsuri ( Snow festival ) in Hokkaido..
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11-07-2007, 08:07 AM
We're actually going just after the Snow Festival in Sapporo, which kind of sucks! But due to Chinese New Year and other commitments it's a bit hard to go any earlier
 We'll be going on the 13th Feb. Okay, so the buses don't sound too bad... hrmm... if we don't go with the JR pass might see how we go with those then... We have Universal Studios and the aquarium to go to in Osaka, but no plans for the rest of the time there. Is it really only worth a day to look around? Maybe we should spend more of that time in Kyoto then? Definitely planning on a trip to Himeji at some point. I'll have a look at the others, thanks for the suggestions!
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11-07-2007, 02:19 PM
hey hey you can spend much longer in Osaka than that! There is the castle (ok not an 'authentic' one but it still looks nice), Umeda, Namba, Ame mura...oh Spa world...well the main thing about Osaka is eating lol.
Kyoto does have more touristy things to see, mainly temples. If you're doing day trips to Hakone and Nagano you definetly will need the JR pass. So forget the night buses, I personally hate them because I find them too hot to sleep in. And then you end up in the middle of umeda at like 6am totally wasted. Unfortunetly I had to do 4 round trips from Tokyo to Osaka by bus and would have taken the shinkansen if I could have afforded it.
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11-08-2007, 12:46 AM
Hokay, so maybe a couple of days in Osaka? Maybe I'll look into some more day trips in that area for the rest of the time, that'll get some good use out of the rail pass then too.
Yeah, that was my worry with the buses - I don't want to not be able to sleep in it and then be too tired to do anything for the next day!
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11-08-2007, 01:17 AM
Quote:
Shopping is also nice in Osaka , since its cheaper compared to Tokyo.. also don't miss the Famous Osaka Takoyaki, Okomiyaki, Nigiyaki and whateverYaki 
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11-08-2007, 01:34 AM
Nara is only 45 minutes from Osaka, and the deer park and Great Bhudda (Daibutu) are definately worth seeing. 4 days in Kyoto seems like a long time unless you REALLy REALLY like seeing temples.
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11-08-2007, 01:43 AM
A lot of people have recommended Nara to me, definitely looks worth checking out
 I kind of got sick of temples when I went to China ^^; Although they were all Buddhist ones. But people keep saying there's so much to do and see in Kyoto? I haven't really done any research on it yet, so I don't know what there is to see. What about Tokyo? Is it worth spending 5 days there? Basically we're a group of amateur artists/graphic designers/anime geeks so we're up for main tourist attractions, places with nice (inspiring?) photography opportunities, weird fashion, shopping, contemporary art type places, architecture, anime and manga stuff (there aren't any conventions in Feb are there?), food... okay, I guess that doesn't really narrow it down much! I seriously appreciate everyone's help here - I want to see as much as I can, cos I don't know when I'll be able to afford to go again!
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