Not My Base

Finally, I have before me, some physical evidence of this summer’s adventure. On my desk is an exchange order for a 21-day rail pass, which allows free travel and seat reservation on any Japanese train, including the Shinkansen (bullet trains), apart from the Nozomi; These are the trains which directly connect the major cities, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo. They don’t travel much faster than the other Shinkansen, but the fact you don’t have to switch trains speeds up the journey times. I get the feeling this is because the Japanese want to reserve the high-speed intercity trains for businessmen. When we land as Kansai airport, the first thing we have to do is find the ticket office and collect the pass, using the exchange order. Luckily enough, the pass comes with maps of every station and where to find said offices.

The Japan Railways Group quotes the pass at ¥57,700 (Yen), which at time of writing, equates to £377, but adding VAT and the fact it’s actually flown in from an office in Australia, hence two currency conversions, brings this to £441 including P&P, meaning I’ve now spent slightly more than £900 on this trip and I’ve not even arrived yet. This may sound a lot, but the Japanese trains are notoriously expensive. For example, an average journey, such as Kyoto to Hiroshima would cost ¥11,290, or £74. Now considering we’ll be travelling almost every other day for three weeks, and some days may involve more than one journey, it suddenly becomes clear how much this is actually saving.

There are some journeys which will go on through the night. I learnt the benefits of this from travelling around Europe. Travelling through the night costs are as much as an expensive youth hostel, with the benefit of waking up in the morning where you want to be, rather than having to wake up, pay and book out of the youth hostel, and then waste the morning travelling to where you want to go. This means a careful selection (with much research) of the trains and timetables. A night train may arrive at your location at 5am, or take eight hours when a bullet train could make the journey in two. There’s also a big variance in prices and sleeping arrangements. Some trains offer a matted floor to sleep on, which are free with the pass, or beds, typically at ¥9500 with the pass (more than double without).