roswell43 0 Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 If we were to come to Japan to basically stay and ride at resorts in Nagano, which place is the best to fly into - Osaka or Tokyo? (time wise, ease of travel) Cheers, great site here Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 100% Tokyo Link to post Share on other sites
ian.f 0 Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 Yes, Tokyo much better. Link to post Share on other sites
slimeypete 0 Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 Definitely. Link to post Share on other sites
slow 0 Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 If you compare Tokyo to Osaka, Tokyo will win but Hakuba, Shigakogen, Nozawa are not easy access from Tokyo, either. It will take more than 4hours by car. Even if I use Shinkansen, those resorts are pretty far from Nagano station and it will take more than 3hours from Tokyo. I'm always wondering how many hours it takes to get to Hakuba from Osaka by car and train. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 yeah but from Osaka airport to there its like 7 hours. Link to post Share on other sites
Oyuki kigan 0 Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 Tokyo. Then I believe it is the Asama shinkansen line you take up to Nagano. For the love of skiing, DO NOT GET OFF AT KARUIZAWA! I think it goes all the way up to Nagano city, maybe further. From there you can get up to Shiga Kogen or whatever. But if you want to do Hakuba, I've heard its best to go by train to Matsumoto, and then up to Hakuba. I don't think there is a shinkansen headed that way, but i could be wrong. Good Luck, hakuba (Happo-one) is the shit. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 shink it to nagano city and then bus it from there. Shink it to matsumoto and you can ride the train to hakuba I think. Not sure but im sure you can pull english train maps of japan off of the web Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 http://www.zone81.com/arch_sections/trains/japan_travel_calculator Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 Like others, if you have the choice, choose Tokyo. Good luck. Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 I've heard that luggage, especially ski gear, might be difficult to lug onto shinkansen. Any one have difficulties in the past with this? Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 not much baggage space so I just put it on the floor. Link to post Share on other sites
brett_jackson 0 Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 Bus timetable from Nagano to Hakuba Valley: http://www.alpico.co.jp/access/express/nagano_hakuba/index_e.html I am planning on making use of this service myself just before Xmas. Has anyone caught this bus before? Are there similar concerns for stowing gear here (on this bus) as well? Also, if anyone has any recommendations about accommodation in the Hakuba Valley, that would be great. I've read another thread here about Snowbeds, and I've looked in the 'Places to Stay' section of this site .... just wondered if anyone else had any tips? Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 There will be 4 of us... all with gear (including Phool and his 3 or 4 new pairs of skis...) Will we offend the other commuters by clogging up the car with our stuff? Link to post Share on other sites
tsondaboy 0 Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 Definitely through Tokyo. The best way to go to hakuba is not the sinkansen but the express train from sinjuku. It is cheaper than the sincansen (about 16000 yen round trip were sinkansen + bus 20000) and you dont even have to change trains. There are special express trains that go straight to hakuba, it takes 3.5 hours, wile sinkansen to nagano takes around 2 hours from Tokyo + bus 1 hour + you will have to move around with the language to get on the bus. Last time I went, I was traveling with a friend and we had 2 snowboard bags with us. No one gave us any problems with the bags; just make sure you stay in line to get on the train at least 30 minutes before departure, if you want to find space over your seats to put your language. Even if you dont do so, you can always leave your language in the space between the cars, no one will complain, I have done it myself many times. Nozawa by car is usually 4 hours. But if you get caught in traffic it might even take 8! Unfortunately I had that experience so I prefer sinkansen to Nagano and then local train to togari-nozawa onsen and the taxi or bus to nozawa. There is also a bus from Nagano station to nozawa but I havent used that yet. Link to post Share on other sites
roswell43 0 Posted November 13, 2004 Author Share Posted November 13, 2004 Sorry about the delay in getting back - thanks for the posts. Got it! Link to post Share on other sites
TJ OZ 0 Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 Train from Tokyo airport to Tokyo station then bullet train to Nagano station, then bus to Hakuba then taxi to hotel. We did it first time last year and found the hardest thing was finding our way around Tokyo station(its big). If your concerned about taking your luggage around with you there is a courier that will take it for you for a small cost and will have it to you within 24 hours. You can arrange this at the airport. Others here will be able to tell you more. We used it on our way back because we had a couple of nights in Tokyo so we sent our boards to the airport to pick them up when we got there. We had no trouble with luggage on the train but it was'nt very busy when we used it. The bus at Nagano had plenty of storage underneath (coach). We used a JR East rail pass which helped us find our way. These have to be organised before you get to Japan. We stayed at Momonoki in Hakuba and found it to be really convenient and comfortable. Two minute walk from the lift and a great onsen. Sometimes we would have a morning onsen, come back at lunch and have an onsen and then the obligatory evening onsen which entailed consuming 2 asahi tubes and a roll around in the snow. We are going back in Jan and staying at Snowbeds. Hope this helps Cheers Link to post Share on other sites
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