Getting Around
When Things Go Wrong: Missed Trains, Lost Tickets and the Last Train
You will miss a connection, feed the wrong ticket into a gate, or look up at 11:40pm and realise the last train…
Travel style: First-timer
Getting Around
Luggage in Japan: Coin Lockers, Takkyubin and Oversized Baggage Rules
Japanese trains were not built for suitcases, so Japan moves the suitcase separately. How luggage forwarding works, what the 160cm rule means,…
Getting Around
Airport to City: Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose
Every major Japanese airport has at least two rail options at very different prices. Which to take from each one, what it…
Getting Around
Kansai Transport: Which Pass for Which Trip
Kyoto is a bus city, Osaka is a subway city, and the fastest train between them is not the one you would…
Getting Around
Tokyo Trains Explained: JR, Metro, Toei and the Private Lines
Four operators, thirty-odd lines and the world's busiest station. You only need six lines to see Tokyo — here they are, plus…
Getting Around
How to Read a Japanese Train Timetable, Sign and Platform
Station codes, colour bars, the four kinds of train that stop at different stations, and the one column of a timetable that…
Getting Around
Is the Japan Rail Pass Worth It? Run the Numbers First
The Japan Rail Pass rose about 70 per cent in late 2023, and the old advice stopped being true. Three real itineraries,…
Getting Around
IC Cards Explained: Suica, ICOCA, PASMO and the Rest
Ten different cards, one system. Which to buy, where it works, where it does not, and why the card that opens every…
Getting Around
How to Ride the Shinkansen Without Speaking Japanese
Buying the ticket is the easy part. This is what happens between the ticket machine and your seat, including the two gates…
Getting Around
Getting Around Japan: The Complete Transport Guide
Which trains to take, which passes are worth buying, and how to move around a country where almost nothing is written in…