Recap Of Best Options For Gaijin Visitor In Shibuya / Shinjuku ?

[meiji]

Although shinjuku was pretty confusing. I got to tokyu hands and tashimayama stores. Plus some side street izakaya but didn't see any love hotels.

That's the completely wrong side of the station. You were on the south side, and the love hotels are north of the station. The easiest way to find them is to take the Kabukicho (east) exit and walk north following the train tracks for a few blocks, and they'll be the two or three blocks east of the tracks. If you hit Shin-Okubo station, you've walked too far.

Has anyone tried www.o-street.net , are they asian/gaijin friendly.

I don't see anything on their site explicitly denying foreigners, but I'm assuming you'd have to have very good Japanese to get service there. You should probably post this as a new thread though.

 

[kms899]

thanks

 

[klikdisumber]

All, thanks for information

 

[Magnod]

Thanks for all the help.

Unfortunately I came back home yesterday with no action to review. I had very small windows to venture out and return back to the co workers. With the distance to the soapland and the trains closing around 12 I never had a chance to go. Then I caught a cold near the end of the trip and didn't want to spread it to the girls.

I can give some future advice. Google maps is a great tool to find your way around. Pay attention to the train company signs. I ended up getting locked in shinjuku cause I switched lines and made a wrong turn somewhere so the pasmo card wouldn't work. Had to go to the info desk for help. It can sometimes be difficult but find out the final stops so you know what direction you're going. Since some trains are local or rapid or rapid express it can be confusing. For example if I was trying to get to maihama station I would need to look for the soga train since maihama is a stop along the way. Don't fall asleep on the train unless you know you can wake up in time.

Anyway it was fun. But for me since my hometown doesn't have trains or any system close to Japan's there was a steep learning curve. Don't know if I'll ever get the chance to go back alone but if I do I will definitely get to the soaps.

 

[meiji]

I can give some future advice. Google maps is a great tool to find your way around. Pay attention to the train company signs. I ended up getting locked in shinjuku cause I switched lines and made a wrong turn somewhere so the pasmo card wouldn't work. Had to go to the info desk for help. It can sometimes be difficult but find out the final stops so you know what direction you're going. Since some trains are local or rapid or rapid express it can be confusing. For example if I was trying to get to maihama station I would need to look for the soga train since maihama is a stop along the way.

Thanks for the update and the feedback.

Yes, having Google Maps or some other transit app is a good idea, because unless you know the platform to board, the train generally will only list the terminal stop, not the direction its heading or intermediate stops (this isn't always the case -- the Yamanote line lists the next few major stops for example). There's also trains that go down multiple routes (which is especially the case with the Odakyu line). It takes some geographical knowledge to know which train to take. Although even without Google Maps there's usually enough maps in the station to get you where you are going.

Don't fall asleep on the train unless you know you can wake up in time.

For a while I lived a few stops down on one of the commuter lines, and after some after-work partying I passed out on the train long enough to wake up in a different prefecture. I immediately jumped on the next train coming back, but didn't make it back to my home station before the trains shut down for the night. Luckily, they usually shut down in a more or less major station, and in my case there was a 24 hour McDonalds next to the station, so I got a bite to eat, sat around, and browsed the web on my phone until first train shortly before 5am. I was better off than some of the salarymen who were passed the fuck out in the booths nearby. No way McD's in the US would allow that crap.

 

[Genji88]

There is a free Tokyo metro train app/journey planner on Android/Apple Store that tells you trip time, costs, & connecting lines that can be used offline. I find Google maps is more for navigation/location than public transport info.

 

[Magnod]

I tried the Tokyo rail app. But it didn't list my station when I was searching for it.

Google maps did a good job of telling which station and direction to travel along with the prices. Only issue I had was when it listed a bus route and it was all in kanji which I couldn't read

 

[bichan2]

Hyperdia.com is a good site for train
scheduling as it is in English.

 

[RandomTokyoGuy]

Never use bus unless you really know what you are doing (or it's tourist buses like in Kyoto). Buses take excessive amounts of time (cause they never go a straight route), all information on bus station is Kanji only, so if you don't exactly know which bus to get on and where that bus stops (in your direction), you will at least spend quite some time figuring that out. Once you are in the bus I think station announcements are in English too, at least for Tokyo
As for the various types of trains, usually on the platform there is a graphic showing exactly which stations each type of train stops. It can save you a lot of time to take a commuter rapid or some of the faster trains and change near your destination to a local one. I wouldnt stick too much on some schedule as your train might be delayed or you get lost when changing, rather plot down your general route. Unless you get very far out or very late, trains usually run every 2-5minutes, sometimes 10 minutes. You can also ask the station staff for directions, usually they are capable of telling you departure time and platform for your destination in English. Only if you want them to plot your rout with changing train etc. things can get challenging.