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First time going to Japan (12 days)

John Tanner
John Tanner
over 6 years ago
3 responses

Hi,

I will be going to Japan this Christmas (25th Dec '17) until (6th January '18) with my family and I will going to places such as : Kanazawa, Osaka, and Tokyo. There'll be lots of question regarding what to do and how should get into the train. Well let's get it, the questions would be

  1. When first arrived in Narita, where would be the nearest JR Ticket Office to redeem my Japan Rail Pass?
  2. Since I will be going to many places and bring many luggages. Is there any luggage compartment in Shinkansen that is suitable enough for more or less 28 inch suitcases? If there is no, is it possible to bring it to the seat?
  3. Do I need to have reservation from one to another place?

Thank you and have a nice day!

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
over 6 years ago
Expert

Hi there,

1.) We have the details here: https://www.jrpass.com/blogs/activating-the-jr-pass-at-narita-airport

2.) Most suitcases will fit in the overhead compartment, these are larger than on most aircraft. There is also space for a couple of suitcases at the end of each train car.

3.) Seat reservations are recommended but not required. That said, be sure to reserve your seats for the new year period 2-4 days in advance, as all of Japan will be traveling. You can find our more here: https://www.jrpass.com/blogs/reserving-seats-boarding-the-bullet-train

Kind regards,
Daniel

John Tanner
John Tanner
3 posts
over 6 years ago

Thank you for your answer! In that case for the 3rd answer. Is it possible for reserved at any JR Ticket Office? And the most common question that I'd like to ask is, do most of JR Ticket office staffs speak English? or do we have to at the very least learn some basic Japanese?

Thank you again!

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
over 6 years ago
Expert

Hi there,

Yes, you can reserve at any ticket office at any JR Station. Most staff will speak basic English but even without English, it will be doable. You can say for instance: I would like to go to "Tokyo station" they'll know the station names for sure and you can ask for a specific train by writing down the date/time or pointing at the clock/calendar that's at the ticket office. If everything else fails, you can also download a (voice) translation app, these work pretty good these days.

John Tanner
John Tanner
3 posts
over 6 years ago

Hi Daniel-san

Thank you for your answer, So it's a bit more convenient if can say Basic Japanese? And for Those trains, is there any application to look at train schedule? Like for JR Train Schedule and sort things that related to it.

Thank you!


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