I got some more detailed travel info on domestic travel in Japan.
However,until you decide on actual intended arrival dates,which airports (departing US and arriving Japan), howyou want to get to your destination in Matsuyama, andhow much time you will or won't have to spend intransit, the fares and schedules here are stillinexact at best.
If you are not going to be arriving in Tokyo when I'm here (Aug 26-29), then you may or may not be wantingto stopover in Tokyo on your way to Matsuyama. In thatcase, KIX might be a better arrival airport since itsaves your time and money to end up closer toMatsuyama. However, it is not impossible to see theBig Turnip (Tokyo) on your own, of course. With a good map in English (and with Japanese too sothat you can match up places names), buying a subwaycard or JR day pass/tourist card, you can get aroundthe city on your own. Believe me that will be easilyto do in Tokyo than most any other cities in Japan --except -- of course -- for the small towns where thereis only one major train station and one majorattraction (like Matsuyama for instance).
Paul (the friend in Kochi) wrote back. He's alwaysvery terse so I did not get much info, but he saysusually flies ANA or JAL from Tokyo to Kochi. His reason is that ANA offers advanced purchase faresso that you can get a one-way ticket from Tokyo forabout 10,000 - 18,000 yen (about half of the typicalfare). They are probably purchase and daterestrictions so you'd need to work on that prettysoon. JAL does too but since ANA is Star Alliance(both he and I use them). In fact, you may be able to get a flight to NRT fromyour US departure city that stops over (in Tokyo) andthen continues forward to Matsuyama directly (oranother city, such as Hiroshima, Kobe, Osaka (KIX)).
ANA (All Nippon Airlines) US site
http://www.anaskyweb.com/us/e/index.html
Link on above page to their summer travel deals(although the dates seem to be for flights from Sept 1and there is a 90 day limit). However, if you are thinking of flying back home for Xmas/New Years then a90 day ticket may work out for you.
http://rs1.aspwb.com/ana/global/us/ssf/en/detail.php?id=3489
Re-Entry Permit
Remember that once you are admitted to Japan as on awork visa (6 months or year), then you must also getan Alien Registration card (easy enough to do at thelocal city office) and you must also get a re-entrypermit (stamped permission in your passport to be ableto leave and re-enter the country using your currentvisa status). This can be a pain to get especially outin the hinterlands where there is no Japaneseimmigration office close by.
So...if at all possible, applyfor a re-entry permit at the same time you get yourvisa (especially if you know you are going to leaveJapan at Xmas-NewYears). You might call ANA US and inquire about other flightoptions. ANA Customer Service Contact Center at 1-800-235-9262 TRAIN I also checked into the train schedule on the localMSN network:
The link below (if it works) will show you three options for travel for one-way travel from Tokyo toMatsuyama. (in Japanese only)
- The first two were by airplane from Haneda Airportdirectly to Matsuyama (cost about 30,000 yen(undiscounted).
- The third option costs was about20,000 yen and was by Shinkansen (high-speed bullettrain) from Tokyo to Okayama Station (about half waybetween Osaka and Hiroshima), changing there for anexpress train (3 hours) to Matsuyma and then you mayneed to transfer to a local line and go a stop or two (depending on where you are actually meeting the reps from Ehime Medical U.).
http://transit.msn.co.jp/
Well, I'll close for now and also put my search torest until you know something more definite about yourdates and preferences. Also, Ehime Medical should be forthcoming about travel logistics (and hopefully support) too.
No comments:
Post a Comment