Living & Working in Ishikawa, Japan
Image from Haunted Tokyo Tours' Meetup site.
You’ve been to Roppongi and Shinjuku, but do you know what lurks there at night? (Other than hawkers for hostess bars, that is.) If you’re looking for something different to do while visiting Tokyo, a ghost tour of the city with Haunted Tokyo Tours is a great way to spend the afternoon. The walking tours are conducted in English, and there are several to choose from. Upcoming tours include “Demons of the Red-Light District,” “Graveyard Mystery Tour,” “Ghosts and Demons of Shinjuku,” and “Ghosts and Goblins of Old Japan.”
Photo by Leah Zoller.
I took the “Graveyard Mystery Tour” in late Dec. 2010. Lilly, our guide for the afternoon, has lived in Japan for about 20 years and is very knowledgeable about the history of Japan and Tokyo, Japanese culture, and Japanese concepts of death and the occult. The tour focused on Tokyo’s oldest graveyard, Aoyama Reien (青山霊園) and its occupants, from generals to foreign missionaries, the often strange circumstances of their deaths, and the happenings thereafter. I really like exploring graveyards, but without a guide, I’m usually lost in the Japanese ones. Overall it was a great experience: the tour ran on time; the meeting location was easy to find; and I learned a lot of good stories and historical facts.
Image from the New Koyo website
If you’re going to Tokyo and want to stay somewhere conveniently located but inexpensive, I recommend the Economy Backpacker’s Hotel New Koyo in Tokyo. The hostel is located in between Minami-senju Station 南千住駅 on the JR Joban Line and Minowa Station 三ノ輪駅 on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line. The hostel is 20-30 minutes by train from Shinjuku, where most of the Ishikawa-Tokyo nightbuses go; 10 minutes from the electronics/otaku Mecca of Akihabara; 20 minutes from Tokyo Station; and about an hour from Tokyo Disney and Yokohama. The location is really ideal for traveling around Tokyo.
I love shopping in Tokyo. I love the people-watching. I love the stereotyped feeling of “Japan” that I get while just being there. Tokyo is worth visiting more than once, and it doesn’t have to be too spendy.
I’ve used overnight buses to get to Tokyo (and Tokyo Disneyland — same price!) multiple times, and I haven’t been let down yet.
Photo: oimax
Here’s how overnight buses work:
- Go online (I like Willer Travel because they have English support, and it’s the cheapest company I’ve found).
- Choose your boarding point and destination (You can leave from the Kanazawa Station, and get off in Shinjuku, Tokyo Disneyland, and a few other places)
- Choose your seat type ( Seats range from ¥4,400 – ¥8,500, depending on the type of seat you want and the day you’ll be traveling. It’s all clearly explained in English on the site.)
- Check to see if your travel date is available on the website.
- Make your reservation online (you pay via credit card).
- On the day of travel, you meet at the loading place at the Kanazawa Station –the bus usually leaves at 10:00 pm. Sleep the night on the bus. (It stops every few hours for bathroom breaks, which is good or bad, depending on how easily you can get back to sleep.) If you’re getting off in Shinjuku, you’ll be dropped off at 6:40 am at the train station. You arrive at Tokyo Disneyland at 7:40am.
Photo: Willer Express
If you’re returning via overnight bus, make sure you’ve reserved your return ticket in advanced, and be sure where the boarding location is! You’ll also want to be sure you have their Emergency Phone Number listed in your phone in case you’re having trouble finding where to get on the bus!
If you’re using the “standard” (cheapest) seating option, be aware that you are quite close to the person next to you. If you’re traveling with a friend, it’s fine, but if you don’t know the other person, you may want to get a seat upgrade for a larger personal bubble.
How about you? What’s your preferred method of getting to Tokyo?
Winter cabin fever got you down?
I know sometimes I feel a little bit country…and sometimes I feel like I just need to get the heck out of here.
If you live in the Noto or Nanao and need your Tokyo fix, there’s a new bus route available for your night riding pleasure. Most of us are familiar with the JR highway night bus from Kanazawa station costs 7,840 for a one way ticket and 14,110 for a round-trip ticket (must be within 10 days). For those of us living further north, the drive down and parking situation makes a Tokyo trip more trouble than it’s worth.
Fortunately, starting February 20th, there is a bus that will start its route at Nanao station. It’s only going to run on Friday and Saturday nights until mid-March, when it will run daily. The bus is by a company called Maru Ichi Kankou (丸一観光). The bus’ name is Green Liner (グリーンライナー). So far, the price of a one-way ticket is either 6,000 or 5,500 yen. It seems to vary depending on the day but, I don’t see any pattern (like weekends being a different price than weekdays).
Tickets are only available online. Since the website is in Japanese only, you may need someone to help you book. The website is http://www.travel.rakuten.co.jp. Here is some information about the route offered.
Tokyo Disney 21:30 –> Tokyo Station 22:20 –> Shinjuku Station 23:00 –> Kanazawa Station 7:30 –> Nanao Station 9:00
Nanao Station 8:20 –> Kanazawa Station 10:00 –> Shinjuku Station 6:30 –> Tokyo Station 7:00 –> Tokyo Disney 7:30
In case you don’t know about the alternate Kanazawa to Tokyo buses that are cheaper than JR, there are the following: Hokkoku Kankou’s Orion Bus (オリオンバス), that’s one-way ticket is 4,300 yen and Star Express Willer Travel’s Go Go Bus (ゴーゴーバス), that starts at Jusco (もりの里 ) shopping center and costs 4,600 yen with toilet and 4,400 without toilet.
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