GETTING AROUND
AIR Narita Airport in Tokyo is an efficient international airport and offers most services from the buying of train tickets and money-changing facilities to hotel reservations. Japan’s other international airport, Kansai Airport, is located in Osaka. It is the first airport in Japan to operate 24 hours. There is a departure tax of Y2,000 (S$25.60) at Narita Airport and Y2,600 (S$33.28) at Kansai Airport.
To/From Narita Airport
Trains Other trains are not as fast but just as convenient. There are basically four types of train services. They are Futsu (local service), Tokkyu (limited express service), Kyuko (express service) and Kaisoku (rapid service). If you want to travel first-class, both tokkyu and kyuko have superior class coaches known as “Green Cars”. When travelling in big cities, use the mass transit systems. The trains run at frequent intervals of between two and 10 minutes from early morning until late at night.
Buses Intra-city buses offer a convenient and cheap way of taking in the sights of the city, especially so for historical and scenic routes in rural areas. The name of the destination indicated above the windshield of the bus is usually in Japanese. So before you embark on such a journey, get the hotel staff or a Japanese friend to write down the name of your destination. Show the slip of paper to the driver, and he will be able to tell you if the bus he is driving is going to where you want to go. |
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