Tokyo to Kyoto, concert in Gunma

I have a reservation at K's kyoto hostel and will be leaving (with 2 other travelers) from K's tokyo hostel to get there on December 22nd.

On the same day i have a concert in Gunma at Kenmin Kaikan (still trying to figure out which city that's located) that starts at 6:30pm. Assuming the concert will be until 9, i need to find my way back to Kyoto alone (because they'll have traveled to Kyoto on their own).

Sorry for all of my questions, but i'm PARANOID like hell since this is my first time in Japan.

My questions are:

How do i get to Gunma from Tokyo?

How do i find my way from Gunma all the way to Kyoto? More importantly, will i even make it in time before the trains stop running?

Anyone know where kenmin Kaikan is located exactly?

Note: i have a JR Pass

I don't understand what kind of hostel booking arrangements you have, but Gunma Kenmin Kaikan (Gunma prefecture hall) is in Gunma prefecture, near Maebashi station, slightly under two hours to the north of Tokyo (via local and express trains).

Are you aware that Kyoto is by Shinkansen superexpress train almost three hours to the WEST of Tokyo, meaning they are in completely different directions?

Suppose your concert ends at 9 at night, the same night you can get back as far as Tokyo, but you will not be able to take any train out until the next morning at all...

Going to the Gackt Concert?

Am afraid the previous poster is correct, there is no way that you will be in Kyoto until the next morning at the earliest. It sounds like the rest of your party is on their own for that night.

I would suggest that you take the night train down to Kyoto and arrive around 6am. It's free with the JR pass and will save you the cost of a hotel room for the night.

From Maebashi take the 22:13 Ryomo Line to Takasaki where you'll catch the 22:37 max toki shinkansen to Nagaoka. From there you can take the Express Kitaguni Night Train to Kyoto which arrives at 6:16 the next morning.

also, here's a map that shows Gunma Kenmin Kaikan and its relation to Maebashi Station:

http://maps.google.co.jp/maps?f=d&saddr=&daddr=&hl=ja&geocod...

The venue is about 1.5 km away from the station.

forgot to tell you how to get to Gunma. Since you have a JR pass, from Tokyo Station take the shinkansen (either a toki, asama, or tanigawa train) to Takasaki Station and transfer to the JR Ryomo Line to Maebashi. It takes about an hour and a half so make sure to leave around 4 to get to the concert on time.

Thank you all for the directions (and map) of Gunma & Kenmin Kaikan! Much appreciated :)

@...
i had booked my rooms several months prior to buying the concert ticket. Unfortunately all the other concert shows sold out in minutes, and i wanted to see this idol, so Gunma was my only choice :) Although i am aware Gunma and Kyoto are in different directions from Tokyo, i'm determined to do it!


@yllwsmrf

haha, it is Gackt indeed. Night train sounds like a perfect idea, actually. I definitely will be using your directions!

Sorry to bother you again, but i tried figuring it out myself but i failed gracefully.

''From there you can take the Express Kitaguni Night Train to Kyoto''

What time does that train leave?

once again, thank you guys so much :) !

To CC,

This must be the connection quoted by yllwsmrf:

Maebashi (22:13) - (22:27) Takasaki (22:37) -"Max Toki 353" - (23:28) Nagaoka (23:53) - "Kitaguni (bound for Osaka)" - (6:16) Kyoto

Yes, I thought later that that must have been the only concert you could get tickets to - enjoy your trip and the concert!

23:53 it is. sorry about that, forgot to put the departure time.