Jeebus! Tokyo is a long way to drive

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Shorts · #1 Unread post by **Shorts** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 12:34 pm

Well, drove to Tokyo wednesday, drove back yesterday. Oy! It's a long drive...well, a little over 8hrs. Like driving through Texas, except going much slower! When they were looking

jstark47 · #2 Unread post by **jstark47** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 1:26 pm

Why drive? Isn't Japan supposed to have the world's finest trains, or something like that? (you already know they could write a book about what I don't know about Japan, Shorts)

flynrider · #3 Unread post by **flynrider** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 1:46 pm

You think that was a long drive. Try driving to Tokyo from here!

Shorts · #4 Unread post by **Shorts** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 3:54 pm

jstark47 wrote:Why drive? Isn't Japan supposed to have the world's finest trains, or something like that? (you already know they could write a book about what I don't know about Japan, Shorts)

A friend was PCSing and she has dogs (must travel in crates - think Labradors and dogs with the L or XL crates). Since they took our Rotator flight away (the military flights), we now have to transport (drive) pets from here all the way to the Narita International Airport for flights back to the States.

Every family with pets will have to do that ridiculous trip in order to take their pets with them when they move, or leave them here (for sale/abandoned/etc).

It is extremely unreasonable to move pets through the train system - there is just no room aside from the transitioning issues. There are several trains that must be taken in the 4-5hr trip by train...the local from here to the next station (where you switch to the Shinkansen). Shinkansen all the way to Tokyo Station (HUGE and busy busy crowded busy large train station), where you drop 4 levels down to get to the express train platform that takes you to the airport. From there you have to get to the correct terminal (there are 2 separate terminals at Narita).

The check in process at the airport took us several hours as you had to shuttle the pet back and forth between offices andcpunters.

Traveling in Japan, while the system is good, is a real pain in the butt if you have anything with you other than a briefcase, backpack or purse. It is NOT like traveling in the US.

Apollofrost · Thu Apr 05, 2007 3:55 pm

Ugh... got a week long road trip coming up. Merida, Mexico to Northern California

Shorts · #6 Unread post by **Shorts** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 3:57 pm

I guess one of these days on a random trip I'll document on video evey step of the way traveling by train.

intotherain · Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:06 pm

the bullet train service economy seats in Japan are SO small. I can fit in it fine but man are they cramped.