Twelve Hours in Tokyo - Suggestions?

[jhm]

Komatsu Yasuke where the sushi master is 82-years old

http://twitter.com/DrTomostyle/statu...996544/photo/1

http://hiltmon.com/blog/2012/09/20/the-best-sushi/

[Durian]

Durian, enjoy Suites! I guess you will be transiting NRT and not HND. Why such a long transit? For me the transit was necessary because I was travelling during "Golden Week" where flights are chock full and availability was limited...not to mention the fact that JAL's 787 only flies to SFO via HND...

Hi yflyer, that's a redemption ticket, so when I booked it, the only choice that was available at the Saver rate was that one with the looooong connection

[yflyer]

Hi yflyer, that's a redemption ticket, so when I booked it, the only choice that was available at the Saver rate was that one with the looooong connection

A long layover in a place like Tokyo is a thing to be cherished! Given the same choices, I would do likewise.

[yflyer]

Oops! I was getting you confused with Durian!

If you arrive HND at 10am and depart at midnight and you've seen the most of the sights in Tokyo already, you could hop on a plane somewhere else in Japan for the day. It's a fixed price regardless of the distance - JPY 20,000 (about S$250) for the return - and there are some conditions you need to comply with:

http://www.sqtalk.com/forum/showthre...light=domestic

With this, you could go anywhere (even making it in time for lunch) but suggestions include Sapporo in Hokkaido; Fukuoka in Kyushu;

[...SNIP...]

Wow...that's really thinking out of the box. What a brilliant, audacious plan that would be...I would not have thought of doing that. A lot of jaws would drop if I told someone I was on a layover in Tokyo and decided to fly to Hokkaido for a few hours... Now you are giving me ideas!

...or Kanazawa (via Komatsu) on Honshu's north coast. If you go to the latter, try going to Komatsu Yasuke where the sushi master is 82-years old:

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/activit...1209-6ul3.html

Unlike Jiro who's has a known dislike for foreigners (e.g. here) and bangs out the sushi so that you have to eat and leave within about 30 minutes (e.g. here), Komatsu Yasuke was great when I visited last year. The sushi chef with his limited English was kind, the sushi was great, it wasn't hard to get a booking and it was a lot cheaper than Jiro.

Thanks for the info and links on Komatsu Yasuke...certainly looks like an amazing restaurant. Must add this to my list of places to try...

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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]

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.

[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]

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.

[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

[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

[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...

[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.