Travelling to & from Osaka-Japan

Hey everyone,

I am in a bit of a dilemma. My girlfriend and I are going to Japan in mid February and we were inquiring about JR passes (14 day). In Australia it has jumped from AUD$520 to AUD$790. The JR pass alone will cost more than our initial flights to Japan. We are thinking about catching a Bus from Osaka to Tokyo as soon as our plane lands in Osaka. Then we plan to catch a train back to Osaka from Tokyo when we depart back to Australia.

I know its not very healthy being on a 13 hr flight and then getting on a 9hr bus ride, but I feel we have no choice due to costs.

If anyone can provide suggestions on what we can do, it would be much appreciated.

regards,

Dan.

If you can sleep on busses that could be ok. What we do on arrival is chill out,rest and prepare.
The Dotonbori Hotel is in Namba about an hour from airport,reasonable price and close to everything. We found the train pass was not good value for us, and used some cheaper trains,busses and ferries to get around. Good rates for rental cars had us driving sometimes for less than train prices.

Do you have some reason to visit Tokyo itself?

If yes, I think Jet Star has just started flying into Narita airport(Tokyo's main international airport).

If no and you're just intending to visit one of Japanese metropolises, Osaka(among the top10 richest metropolises in the world) should be large enough to see the "urban life" of Japan, surrounded by the best of historic cites and attractions of the country.

If you are only travelling from Osaka to Tokyo and back again without doing other long distance trips then the 14 day JR pass isn't worth it anyway. I would just buy individual tickets. If you purchase a shinkansen ticket from Tokyo to Osaka at least 7 days in advance on a Hikari train (2nd fastest) then they have a deal called the Hikari Hayatoku Kippu for 12000yen.

Perhaps you could post your itinerary and you might get some other suggestions on how to make travel cheaper.

I recommend looking up the cost of train trips on http://www.japanrail.com/JR_hyperdia.html to see whether it is just worth buying individual tickets.

Also, I'm not sure if you've looked at exchange rates lately but then yen is now at 67 for AUD$1 so it has slightly improved hooray! Hopefully this is a sign that the rate is improving.

Hey guys, thanks for the brilliant answers. However I was wondering how I could book the Shikansen train 7 days in advance? I was planning to get on a shikansen train right away?

My itinerary is as follows:

17th Feb - Arrive in Osaka (not sure yet to stay the night or get on a bus)
18th feb - Arrive in Tokyo
28th Feb - Head back to Osaka
3rd Feb - Back to Aus.

As you can see.. my itinerary is really basic. I plan to come back to Japan in future, which is why im keeping this trip simple. Mainly take in the atmosphere, environment and shopping etc.

Any help would be much appreciated.

1. Neither Your 7days nor 14days JR Pass probably pay off under your simple itinerary. I'd buy single tickets (or Smart IC card when traveling within the cities).

2. Feb 17 or 18 are not "a high season". You can probably reserve a seat on Shinkansen on the spot, or 1day in advance.

For your ref.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2400_osaka_13.html