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A mate and I are planning on going to Hokkaido for christmas and new year. Am tempted to try to take advantage of the cheap train ticket offer and go from Okayama (3hours local train journey south of osaka) and make a couple of stops along the way.

 

Has anyone tried this before and know how feasible it is?

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My friend had taken train from Yokohama to Hokkaido with his motorbike in summer. He loved that cheap train ticket(Is it Seishun 18 Kippu?) and visited many places.(Actually, he always slept at the station.) He can't do it now because he got a baby this year and his wife will not allow him to do that for few years.

 

Cheap train trip always sounds very fun to me! ;\)

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That`s what it`s called - the Seishun 18 Kippu, cheers! Want to try to get up there and back using the five day pass. Was thinking about the ferry also, but from Okayama the nearest one leaves from Kyoto so not sure if it`s worth it.

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Connackers,

 

Taken the local from Hiroshima to Tokyo and that was a hell of a trip - first train to last train. Even if you have a few stops in there I would just be exhausted and not up for skiing after that. It would probably take you 3 solid days to get up there, maybe 4. Never done it so dont know mate.

 

Indosnm is right. Take the ferry. Its like 18 hours or something...

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I did the "Seishun 18 kippu" trek from Tokyo to Hokkaido in the summer a few years back. It took about 36 hours ... We slept out the front of a station in Hachinohe on the way back and got bitten by loads of big mosquitoes. Was a hell of a trip.

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Hi Guys. I am catching the train from Niseko to Amori, and then a few days later on to Tokyo. looking a some web sites it did not seem to complicated, it was bout 7 hours to Amori with a couple of changes & 4 from there to Tokyo, is this right!!! now you have me worried, cheers

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Bro, from most cities you can get the 10,000 yen each way deals if you book 2 mths in advance. Limited but if you can get hold of them way quicker and not that much more expensive.

 

Gone are my hardcore days! call me what you want but these days I will take any way that can get me there the quickest! even if it means shelling out a few more!

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AAAaahhhh!!! Went into the travel agent today and the cheapest return flight is apparantly 80,000 yen!!! Aparantly because i want to go in the new year holiday. So i guess it`s back to trying to find out an alternative route. Or planning a different holiday

" title="" src="graemlins/cry.gif" /> The ferry`s starting to look a good option again!

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The train would probably take a full two days of travelling (using the discount ticket) as those trains are pretty slow and there`s only a couple of short night trains you can use.

 

The ferry between Maizuru to Otaru takes either 20, 30 or 36 hrs! Most guide books and information on the web says 30 hrs. But the travel agent seemed to reckon it left at 00:30 (definitely at night) and arrived at 20:30 the next day. This I work out as being 20 hrs but she was convinced it was 30 ??? We had a 30 min argument about it :rolleyes: lol.gif My mate who`s done it says it takes 36.

 

I`ve given up and am going to Hakuba!

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Have you thought of hitchhiking?

 

I've never seen anybody doing it in Japan, but whenever I've done it, I haven't had to wait more than five minutes (looking pretty damn feral too!). And however hard I protest, I'm always put down right where I'm headed. No walking at all.

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It`s a good idea but i`ve never tried it before - think having my first attempt over such a long distance with a snowboard might be pushing my luck (there`s two of us also). Especially as i`d probably need to pre-book accomodation to be able to get it cheap.

 

Definitely an idea for the future though.

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Connackers, what you doing down in Okayama? My wife's from Kurashiki and we are thinking of ditching Tokyo and heading back there. Provided I find suitable work of course.

 

The typhoon just hit hard here in Tokyo, and the air warmed up 10 degrees in just a few minutes...went from clammy slashing rain to hot booming winds just like that. Weird!

 

\:D

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badmigs,

 

If youre a lawyer I wouldnt expect youd be able to find any work in Kurashiki/Okayama in that field. If youve been there you know how small of an area it is and its not like Okayama is boasting international companies - he says without knowing - but judging by the size of it youre gonna end up teaching at Novacation ;\)

 

Wouldnt Kansai be better suited for somebody with your quals? confused.gif

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Yeah, Osaka/Kobe is the locus of opportunity. My company may actually relocate to Kyoto next year, which would encourage me to keep suckling at the teat for awhile longer.

 

I'm wondering if there are some J law firms around Kurashiki that wouldn't mind having an American lawyer come in once or twice a week to help with any English language work they may have. There are some people down there doing this already that I know about. If I got 2-3 of these places lined up, I might make a rummy go of it.

 

;\)

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Badmigs,

 

I think that as a "consultant" you could work a variety of fields - just would you want that job insecurity? If your firm is going to relocate to Kyoto wouldnt that be ideal? Or are you trying to leave it? If youre leaving it to go to Kurashiki youre going to be working for peanuts down there I would think. Maybe now is the time for you to find that Niche market!!! ;\)

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