(For purposes of the information in this section personal automobile use is not discussed.)

Japan has one of the best developed public transportation networks in the world; some may argue it is the best, based upon its efficiency, cleanliness, reliability, and geographic saturation.  On the other hand unfamiliar foreigners may view the prospect of navigating the system as a difficult undertaking fraught with the potential to arrive far from ones intended destination. 

The reality is that most any foreign traveler to Japan can get themselves around the country quite easily depending on the degree to which they maintain a travel itinerary based upon usage of transportation geared to be most “Gaijin” (foreigner) friendly.

In order of ease of use for foreigners the list would be as follows:

Airplane

Bullet trains (Shinkansen)

Conventional JR (Japan Railways) limited express and express trains

Independent (non-JR) rail lines

Local buses and taxis

Airplanes

Of course the vast majority of visitors to Japan will arrive and depart by international jet airliner landing at either Tokyo New International Airport (Narita) located outside Tokyo, or Kansai International Airport (Kansai) located on a man-made island outside of Osaka.  These airports are highly focused on ease of communication with foreign travelers and will have signs and announcements in Japanese, English, Korean, and Mandarin.

In many cases transfer to a domestic flight will require travelling to another airport in the area which focuses on the domestic market.  For Tokyo this would mean Haneda Airport and for Osaka this would mean Itami Airport.  Having to transfer adds a degree of complexity to travelling in this manner, but once arriving at the domestic airport signs will be in English and it will be relatively easy to find one’s way to the designated gate.

One additional degree of complexity is traveling from the initial arrival airport to the traveler’s first day’s accommodations or finding one’s way to a Bullet Train (Shinkansen) station.  Both of the main international arrival airports will have train service from the airport to a Shinkansen station, but another economical method would be to take a limousine bus service (service exists to many satellite and main train stations around both Tokyo and Osaka).

Bullet Trains (Shinkansen)

The transportation element that Japan is most famous for is also the easiest to use for foreign travelers.  One can navigate quite easily (and relatively cheaply with a Japan Rail Pass) across major urban destinations on the main island of Honshu, and part of Kyushu, utilizing the Shinkansen system.  All Shinkansen stations feature signs in both Japanese and English and all Shinkansen trains have automated announcements regarding next stops and other information in both Japanese and English.  The service is fast, efficient, clean, and highly reliable (one can literally set ones watch correctly to within seconds based upon the arrival time of the trains).

When the Shinkansen system was developed some of the existing conventional train stations were modified to be able to handle the new trains, but others required the building of new stations to accommodate the system.  Stations designated with “Shin” in front of the city name represent the new Shinkansen stations.  Arriving at a new Shinkansen station usually involves transferring to a conventional JR Line train to complete the trip to the final city center designation (which for a novice Japan traveler adds a slight degree of complexity).

Main city stations that accommodate direct Shinkansen arrivals include:

Tokyo

Nagano

Atami

Himeji

Kyoto

Nagoya

Okayama

Hiroshima

Hakata (Fukuoka)

Sendai

Niigata

New Shinkansen stations which will require transfer on a JR line to reach the main city center station include the following:

Shin-Yokohama

Shin- Osaka

Shin-Kobe

There are eight individually named Shinkansen lines in Japan each of which is named for the destination or region it services.  Within each of these lines the train types also have specific names which determine the type of schedule that particular train follows (such as limited to a few stops, limited to primary station stops, primary and secondary station stops). 

Individual Shinkansen line names and the trains within that line are referred as follows:

 Tohoku Shinkansen

          Hayate – Covers Tokyo to Morioka in about 2 and ½ hours.

Yamabiko – Offers a few more stops and about a 15 minute longer trip to Morioka than Hayate trains.

Nasuno – This train visits most primary and secondary stops and is therefore later to arrive at the same destination than Hayate or Yamabiko covering the same route.

Akita Shinkansen

          Komachi – Covers Tokyo to Akita in about 4 hours.

Yamagata Shinkansen

          Tsubasa – Covers Tokyo to Yamagata in just under 3 hours.

Joetsu Shinkansen

          Toki – Covers Tokyo to Niigata in about 2 hours.

Tanigawa – Tokyo to Echigo-Yuzawa covering all secondary stops and thus arriving at a later time than a Toki train covering the same distance.

Nagano Shinkansen

          Asama – Covers Tokyo to Nagano in about 1 and ½ to 2 hours.

Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen

Nozomi – Currently the fastest Shinkansen linking Tokyo and Osaka in 2 and ½ hours and 5 hours between Tokyo and Hakata (Fukuoka).

          Hikari – Link Tokyo and Osaka in about 3 hours.

Kodama – A Shinkansen that makes all primary and secondary stops and thus increases the total trip time for the same distance covered by other bullet trains which stop less frequently.

 



Kyushu Shinkansen

Tsubame – Covers Hakata (Fukuoka) to Kagoshima in about 2 hours and 20 minutes (the first part of that trip is non-Shinkansen as the route will not open until 2011).

Conventional JR (Japan Railways) limited express and express trains

These are the trains that visitors will take to travel from station to station around a large city like Tokyo (intra-city), mid-range trips from a major city to it outlying suburban areas, and also for longer distance inter-city travel where Shinkansen service is unavailable.

In general travel utilizing the conventional JR trains and stations is more difficult in terms of complexity than traveling via Shinkansen.  One factor contributing to this is the inconsistency among stations and trains within the system in utilizing both Japanese and English.  Most stations and trains in major urban areas will have sufficient English signage and fare charts, schedule notification boards, and on-board electronic displays alerting the next stop name to allow for a somewhat easy trip, but others, particularly in outlying areas, may present greater obstacles  to figuring out exactly how to proceed with ones trip. 

One development over the past couple years that has been quite beneficial in easing system travel for foreigners is the advent of smart ticket cards which automatically deduct the required fare from passengers as they swipe their cards against scanners as they enter and leave the train station.  In the absence of English language fare charts it used to be impossible for a non-Japanese character reading visitor to determine the ticket fare they must pay without assistance, but now with smart ticket cards the only concern really needs to be getting on the right train. Of course with a Japan Rail Pass one need not worry about passing through the ticket gate areas for JR travel at all, as one always proceeds to the right hand side of the ticket gates or smart card sensors to present their pass to the attendant in the window for entrance and exit.

Independent (non-JR) rail lines

Non-JR rail lines exist throughout the country and fill critical gaps where JR service does not exist.  In many ways these independent railways serve as feeder lines in to the JR network and most will have a starting/ending point and separate set of ticket gates as part of a larger JR train station. 



 

Most of these lines are unlikely to have many of the attributes of the more “Gaijin” friendly JR system, and tourists should not expect to see English language fare schedules or hear English on-board stop announcements.  Depending on the metropolitan area location these independent lines may be tied into the same electronic network as the JR smart ticket cards, and if so the burden of figuring out the exact fare for the travel segment is at least eliminated allowing the foreign tourist to focus on making sure they are taking the right train.  If smart ticket cards are not accepted then one will need to get assistance from the independent railway’s ticket personnel.

 Local buses and taxis

Perhaps the most unsure travel experience for a tourist in Japan who does not speak or read the language may be hopping on a local bus or jumping in a taxi cab.  Although certain buses which travel routes frequented by tourist may have some English signage (buses departing from Kyoto Station to various attractions come to mind, where the buses actually state the name of the tourist attraction) local buses in other areas are likely to provide no greater information than a route number.  One should be quite sure of the ultimate destination of a bus one is boarding by finding some way to confirm with other waiting passengers before committing to climb aboard.  In Japan one enters the bus through the rear doors and takes a piece of paper which is dispensed to indicate where the passenger embarked so that the fare can later be determined at the front of the bus where the passenger pay the fee and disembark. Based upon this set up it can be difficult to query the driver before he closes the doors and is already proceeding to drive away with you on a bus unsure of its destination!

Taxis present a little less of a challenge than a bus in that you should have ample opportunity to establish communication with the driver alerting him to your intended destination, but it will be helpful to know the Japanese name of the destination to share with him (i.e., if wanting to go to Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, being able to say Meiji “Jingu” - jingu being the Japanese word for shrine).  Some drivers may have some English skills but it is best not to bank upon this possibility.