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Tokyo - Hokkaido via train stopping on the way


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Hey!

 

Just wondering if anyone has done this before, or knows much about it.

Im flying into Tokyo just after christmas and spending a few nights including new years in tokyo. We were thinking about jumping on a train heading north and eventually getting all the way to hokkaido but stopping at a resort in honshu for 5 or 6 nights on the way north, that would be sort of on the way. Thinking Niigata..Yuzawa or Iwate ?? When we get to Hokkaido we are spending another week there in Niseko.

 

Anyone done this before, worthwhile or not ? Any tips or advice on a good resort to go to on the way up ?

Thanks.

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Maybe along the Tohoku shinkansen area is easier for you to get trains to Hokkaido.

 

I traveled that area on the way to Hokkaido like

Tokyo -->Mt.Bandai -->Fukushima -->Oomagari -->Lake Towada --> Aomori -->Hakodate

When the Seikan tunnel was not available yet, so I needed to get on a Seikan renraku ferry for 4 hours from Aomori to Hakodate. It was in 1979, please don't say you were not born in yet!

\:D

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As Gamera writes, the train to catch is the Tohoku Shinkansen. The Tsubasa will get you to Yamagata in three hours from Tokyo, and you can ski at Zao and Jangle Jungle. Then take a local train to Sendai, and catch the Max Yamabiko to Hachinohe, then ferry to Hakodate.

 

Have fun.

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I ve done it 2 years ago. Its not something I would recommend unless you are able to find a ticket for the night train with the bank beds. If you take the normal trains, it is something like 9 hours to Niseko. It takes 3 hours from Tokyo to Hachinoe in Aomori prefecture (the northern pref. on Honsu island), 3 hour after that for the train that goes to Hakodate (the first big city after the tunnel that connects Hokaido and Honsu) and finally 3 hours from Hakodate to Niseko. The train ticket for the trip is almost the same money with the plane ticket, around 21000 yen one-way.

Now the night train is a good option, it takes around 12-16 hours from Tokyo to Hakodate, but it is not easy to find tickets. It is also more expensive that the plane tickets if I remember well. If you have a train pass and covers also that train, it is an option you should consider.

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Thanks everyone for your replies, in answer to a few questions, and hoping for more replies, 1979...nooo i was far from born. 1985 was my year. Sorry haha.

 

As far as the rail pass question goes, yea we would buy a rail pass and use it for the 5 or so days we are in tokyo and then use it to get to whatever resort we are going to stop at on the way up. Most likely a 7 day pass. We fly out of tokyo, but we will catch a plane back to tokyo from sapporo after our time in Niseko.

 

The long trip is not so much of a concern as we are planning to go to northern Honshu (or some resort) and then stay 6 days, and then continue the train trip up to Niseko. So it would break it up a bit, making the long time it takes not so bad.

 

Does anyone know what the resorts, the snow, pretty much any detail at all, are like in northern honshu ? Which area might be the best? Reasonably close to the train line. Any opinions on the IWATE idea.. Appi Kogen ?

Thanks again everyone

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There are only two of us from Tohoku who post with any regularity. Kintaro lives in Sendai, and Boards(?) and Jangle Jungle (Yamagata pref). I live in Yamagata and ski mostly locally at no-name hills.

 

There is no problem with snow in Yamagata. We had 14 metres last winter, so you can leave your rock skis in Oz. In any given six days, you would be very unlucky not to be skiing fresh snow on three.

 

Yamagata Zao Onsen is close to the shinkansen and big by Tohoku standards. It gets mixed reviews, but some people like it. The Onsen is great too, shame the outdoor bath is shut in winter.

 

Sorry, never skied in Iwate.

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a rail pass is not much use in tokyo, there are better passes that you can buy for tokyo alone.

 

That said if you are gonna take the train up to hokkaido it might be better to buy the train pass.

 

look into the JR east flexible 4 day pass.

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L_miller

 

Have you look into the Cathay Airline Asia pass?

 

I was thinking about getting it, it cost $1100 US 30 days unlimited travel around Asia, including flights to Sapporo, Tokyo, Osaka and other asia countries. That would save you a lot of money and time. Don't know if you can buy it in Aussie or not.. that would be a better option, but have to warn you, I brought this asia pass before, since Cathay Airline is a Hong Kong based airline, so for every country you plan to visit, you would have to first fly back to HK then to your country of your choice.

 

Here is a link to the offer:

 

http://www.cathay-usa.com/offers/aap/subdefault.asp

 

Happy traveling!

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Somewhere else worth thinking about is Onikobe, in Miyagi pref. It is a purpose built resort and hotel. The lower slopes are quite easy, the middle is very steep, and there are some ridges and a bowl at the top. I really like it. The hotel is very comfortable, but mid week was empty and you have to make your own entertainment.

 

I think it's a really good idea to take the rail pass and see Tohoku. You'll have seen what 99% of poster's here haven't ;\)

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Hey guys, thanks for all your replies, especially Soubruquet whos been replying a fair bit.

 

So Sobriquet was that resort park onikobe that you were talking about ? Is it fairly small, the snow japan info on it makes it seem that way. Just 7 double chairs ?? What about the snow, it says thers only like 2 meteres, that seems like not much.

 

Same question to everyone about yamagata..snow japan doesnt say anything about 14 meteres last year but you said thats what you got, which i believe, is this the case for most japan resorts, that snow japans snow depths arent accurate ??

 

Thanks guys.

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This will be my third winter in Yamagata, so I'm no expert. Last winter had a late start and an epic finish. The 14 metres is daily accumulation. It means, on average, about 10cms fresh snow every 24 hours for the entire winter.

 

The figures the resorts publish are the compacted total accumulation, as measured by looking at a graduated pole, somewhere close to the office. So, in Yamagata, 120cm probably means 10cm fresh on 110cm corn snow.

 

The weather comes from the north west, so the norther, the wester, the morer.

 

Onikobe is small, but it is sweet and I found it quite challenging. Yamagata Zao is probably the largest centre in Tohoku (correct me if I'm wrong). Jangle Jungle is also quite large, and less than an hour by car. If more area is better, then this is the best choice in Tohoku, and not hard to do by train.

 

Cheers thumbsup.gif

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