Twelve Hours in Tokyo - Suggestions?

[yflyer]

Now in the US, with a TR on SIN-HND-SFO in the works. Unfortunately last minute work commitments came up, and the Tokyo layover never materialized. Oh well. The suggestions here will need to wait for a subsequent trip. Thanks in any case, everyone, for the suggestions! They will definitely come in useful in future!

[yflyer]

Um…based on some of your latest TRs, this is not always the case.

Yup, sometimes it's a points redemption, and sometimes I get lucky and hear the beep of joy!

But I am getting better at creating my own luck i.e. putting myself on flights where the odds of an op-up are infinitesimally greater. For example an Op-up from Y to J on an SQ A380 MEL-SIN during Singapore Grand Prix season several years ago. Op-up from Y to J because it was overbooked in Y with Aussie pax coming over to SG for the Grand Prix.

[HUGE AL]

They are starting a refurb program to put the SS8 seat into all of their 787s later this year

Point being -- and as with LH -- why didn't they do this from the beginning???

My natural habitat is the back of the bus. A slanted seat is my idea of heaven on earth

Um…based on some of your latest TRs, this is not always the case.

Really?!? That's shocking! You don't do that in any culture. From what I saw on the menu, it was mostly standard sushi, no exotic stuff like fugu. No wonder nothing substantive came out from the visit.

http://www.soshiok.com/content/obama...i-course-media
[CREDIT: milehighj]

It may be "standard," but the quality and technique are on a whole 'nother level.

[Unionruler]

Really?!? That's shocking! You don't do that in any culture. From what I saw on the menu, it was mostly standard sushi, no exotic stuff like fugu. No wonder nothing substantive came out from the visit.

I don't think Jiro would comply with any attempts to tell him what to serve, even if it were from no less than the PM.

[CarbonMan]

…and insultingly only ate HALF…after yammering the week before that he couldn't wait to eat sushi in Japan!

Really?!? That's shocking! You don't do that in any culture. From what I saw on the menu, it was mostly standard sushi, no exotic stuff like fugu. No wonder nothing substantive came out from the visit.

[yflyer]

I'd switch to another aircraft. JL pulled a Lufthansa and put slanted seats in a 2-2-2 config.

My natural habitat is the back of the bus. A slanted seat is my idea of heaven on earth

The interesting thing is that I believe the 767's they now use for SIN-HND use the new Sky Suite 6 (SS6) seats in J. I'll try to snap a picture of the SS6 as I walk past on the way to m(y) seat...

[9V-JKL]

I'd switch to another aircraft. JL pulled a Lufthansa and put slanted seats in a 2-2-2 config.

They are starting a refurb program to put the SS8 seat into all of their 787s later this year

[HUGE AL]

I'm flying JAL by the way...

I'd switch to another aircraft. JL pulled a Lufthansa and put slanted seats in a 2-2-2 config.

...I read the ANA First lounge is as crappy as the Business one.

To say NH's lounges are "crappy" is quite a stretch.

Obama just had a sushi meal at Jiro's.

…and insultingly only ate HALF…after yammering the week before that he couldn't wait to eat sushi in Japan!

How is the food onboard the shinkansen? I heard train stations in Japan have quite interesting food too...

It's good stuff. And, yes.

...just like how the Park Hyatt Tokyo is now perpetually full and not available for Hyatt Gold Passport redemptions, after the movie "Lost in Translation" came out...

Uh…it was like that BEFORE the movie as well.

YMMV of course but - for me at least - I'd go for it. Why ? Domestic so no CIQ. This is Japan which is super efficient, e.g. being able to check-in 10 mins before domestic flight departure. And of course building in time in my schedule to allow for delays etc. The OP arrives 10am and departs at midnight so there's plenty of time to go somewhere for lunch and some afternoon sightseeing and be back in Haneda for dinner.

+1

[jhm]

Another suggestion is to do what I did one year whilst in transit for the day - cherry blossom viewing (for me, Ueno Park in Tokyo).

Where to go depends on the time - the cherry blossom bloom in the south of Japan and move north. By the time it gets to May next month and if it's during the first half of the month, you'd have to go up to Sapporo:

http://www.jnto.go.jp/sakura/eng/index.php

and these spots:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5316.html

However, the last JL CTS-HND seems to be around 17:30 so assuming the OP arrives in Sapporo around midday, it gives only about 3-4 hours of sightseeing. Not so leisurely but still enough to see something, buy some souvenirs and grab lunch.

[yflyer]

For most trips, and particularly business trips, I am very cautious when it comes to scheduling flights, to the extent of planning fairly long transit times (way in excess of MCT) just to build in enough buffer for flight delays, queues etc.

That said, I think if I was on vacation, and if there was really some place I wanted to go (or eat!) I might actually think about throwing caution to the wind and catching a domestic hop somewhere else while on a long layover.

I am finding this thread to be a goldmine for info on what to do while in transit in Japan

[jhm]

But you see, he has to transit from a domestic flight to SFO, something not so domestic

Yes but I meant that if the OP takes a domestic flight somewhere, there will be no CIQ getting back to Haneda. In other words, it will be the same as taking a train except that - as CarbonMan mentions - the possibility of a weather or other delay but just build in a buffer for that. The OP has plenty of time.

[Kyo]

But you see, he has to transit from a domestic flight to SFO, something not so domestic

I do agree, one can never run out of things to do in Tokyo!

[jhm]

I get very nervous doing a short jaunt like that within a day, especially if I have a flight to connect to.

YMMV of course but - for me at least - I'd go for it. Why ? Domestic so no CIQ. This is Japan which is super efficient, e.g. being able to check-in 10 mins before domestic flight departure. And of course building in time in my schedule to allow for delays etc. The OP arrives 10am and departs at midnight so there's plenty of time to go somewhere for lunch and some afternoon sightseeing and be back in Haneda for dinner.

Trains to Yokohama

Been there - the port area, red brick warehouses, Chinatown etc - but depending on the OP's interests maybe Kamakura or Nikko may be of more interest or not as the case may be.

On the other hand, personally, there's plenty in Tokyo itself to keep me amused.

[CarbonMan]

I get very nervous doing a short jaunt like that within a day, especially if I have a flight to connect to. I very, very nearly missed a previous flight and only through sheer luck managed to get there 3 minutes before they stopped issuing BPs in the ICN transfer area. The transfer CIQ inspection area was utterly backlogged way down the corridor and even nearly into the escalators. Utter mess that was. All it takes is for one flight to be delayed or retimed and your whole world becomes a shambles. Trains to Yokohama, however, are ultra-frequent, and even if you miss your intended one, there'll be another one along shortly.

Much safer in my book.

I agree. Too many things up in the air (pun unintended), including the weather. Far more relaxing to just do something more local. Then again, I'm more of a control-type person.

[Kyo]

I get very nervous doing a short jaunt like that within a day, especially if I have a flight to connect to. I very, very nearly missed a previous flight and only through sheer luck managed to get there 3 minutes before they stopped issuing BPs in the ICN transfer area. The transfer CIQ inspection area was utterly backlogged way down the corridor and even nearly into the escalators. Utter mess that was. All it takes is for one flight to be delayed or retimed and your whole world becomes a shambles. Trains to Yokohama, however, are ultra-frequent, and even if you miss your intended one, there'll be another one along shortly.

Much safer in my book.