Eighteen-hour layover at Haneda ... what to do?

[highdesert]

Greetings, all -

The title explains it all ...

Tokyo's Haneda airport is our stopover on JAL from Singapore to San Francisco. We arrive about 0630 and depart at 0005 the next day, leaving us 18 hours to kill. We've never been to Japan, and if we're lucky, we can sleep on our 7:40 red-eye from Singapore, so should be reasonably rested. Some questions ...

1) Is there a place in the airport to leave luggage for the day? Touring with a dive bag in tow sounds like no fun at all.

2) Is there a reasonable way for non-Japanese speaking Westerners to do a self-tour from Haneda and get back there, or is this just a bad idea? We don't need our hand(s) held, but after two weeks diving in the middle of nowhere, we aren't looking for a high-stress Amazing Race kind of day.

3) We prefer to visit countries in a low key kind of way ... no "tour guides" with a little megaphone or headset ... something a little more personal and "local", but within a reasonable budget. OK, so that's not a question ...

Any thoughts? We'd love to hear from you.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

 

[Thiad]

My only comment is the airport is far out. I've never done what you are thinking but in your shoes, yeah I would go eat some sushi! It is a lovely airport and you can catch buses to Tokyo. I think you can catch the subway, too, and they are very nicely run and easy to use.

Not much help but I've never had a layover. Just leave about 2 hrs travel time to and from.

 

[highdesert]

Hmmm ... I was just watching Youtube videos of Tokyo's famous "subway packers". I don't think the do-it-yourself tour is such a hot idea after all. I think we'll be opting for a driver/guide.

 

[japan-diver]

I have rode the subway in Tokyo many time over the years and have never seen a subway as full as those seen on you tube. You can easily catch the subway into the city from the airport and wander around a bit and find your way no problem.

 

[globalbabe]

If you're landing at Haneda Airport, as opposed to Narita Airport, where most international flights land/depart and is around 90 minutes from Tokyo, then you're actually already pretty much in the middle of the city (not far from Shinagawa Station).

You can indeed store your luggage temporarily at the airport - see Luggage Delivery, Luggage Storage and Luggage Carts | Haneda Airport International Terminal

Transport-wise, you can take the Keikyu Line to Shinagawa and then connect to a number of other train or subway lines from there, depending on where you want to go - see Access Information | Haneda Airport(Tokyo International Airport). The important thing to remember about Tokyo transport is there is no one train or subway line - they are run by many different companies, so you often have to take 2-3 trains wherever you want to go. It does become a bit tricky when you want to buy tickets but there is usually an English language button on the ticket machine. You can usually find someone around who speaks English to help you buy tickets too. This also complicates things when you want to buy an all-day train/subway pass as it usually limits you to only one company's network.

I don't recommend a driver/guide - Tokyo is a *HUGE* city and it's very expensive/slow to get around by car/taxi. The subway stuffers are usually only active on certain lines during rush hours and that's pretty easy to avoid. Trains/subways really are the best way to travel around the city.

Having lived in Tokyo for nearly 8 years and being able to speak conversational Japanese, it's hard to put myself back in the shoes of a first time visitor. I don't really recall much in the way of tours - and I usually did all the guiding for my visiting friends an family - so am not sure what to suggest for one day. Some of the most popular spots for visitors are Meiji Jingu Shrine in Harajuku (and Takeshiita Dori also in Harajuku), Sensoji Temple and Nakamise Dori in Asakusa, shopping in Shinjuku or Shibuya.

Is there something in particular you want to see or do? That way I can give some specific suggestions on where to go and how to get there. Also what time do you arrive and which day of the week - I will also be able to give specific ideas, based on those details.

 

[highdesert]

globalbabe - Thanks for the great post ... very helpful. I might PM you at a later date with some more direct questions. For the space of one day (a Sunday), we aren't interested so much in parks or culture as just getting a feel of what city life is like there. When we travel, we can be very happy just wandering and people watching, perusing the shops, etc.

From what I read at the airport website, both the train and monorail stop airport service on Sunday at 1700, which is disappointing. But the flip side is we'll be back at the airport early, and can sample a couple of the 28 restaurants in the new international terminal before we have to board.

Plenty of time ... I'm sure we'll plan a workable day.


japan-diver - Thanks for that note ... we'll take a shot at it.

 

[Adonama]

Hi highdesert;

The monorail to Haneda runs every couple of minutes and takes only about 15 minutes to get there from a station called "Hamamatsu-cho". The last monorail is at midnight, so until midnight you should have absolutely no problem to get to Haneda from anywhere within the central city. This station "Hamamatsu-cho" is conveniently located on the circular train line around the city center called the "Yama-no-te Line". Trains and subways in Tokyo are quite easy to use and will get you anywhere quickly and efficiently.

What month is your stop over planned? (or is it actually next Sunday or so?)
I think most fun would be to just go into town; walk around some of the shopping areas - and even though you say you are more interested in a feel of city life, a short walk through the park is definitely recommended if the weather is nice. Yogogi park is where families will go with kids, or friends go to picnic etc - but it is also known to show a wide variety of weird fashions (just do a Google image search on "yoyogi park").
If you are anything like me though the nicest thing to do is to go somewhere around the evening and go have some dinner and a few drinks in a Japanese environment! Places with good and not expensive food in Tokyo are abundant!
I can probably give you a few recommendations; just PM me so we can talk about what kind of food you like or don't like.

Cheers,
Ad

 

[highdesert]

Adonama - That's what we call an "info-rich reply". I was actually poking around the monorail website earlier. Our Sunday in Tokyo is actually March 4th. Maybe a little cool after coming from 3 weeks around the equator, and we hardly take any clothes with us! Anyway, it appears the Haneda shuttle stops running earlier on Sunday, but since we depart at midnight, we can't really spend the whole evening in the city.

Ginza is pretty much the "Times Square" of Tokyo, isn't it? Lots of bright lights and activity, etc. And the park looks good; we want of dose of the pink hair and cosplay girls and punkish guys to get the real "culture" fix.

A little more time on the transportation websites, and I think it'll be a good day when we get there. Thanks for the info!

 

[globalbabe]

Actually I think Shinjuku comes closer to "Times Square". Ginza is all about shopping and fine dining - it's pretty sleepy by comparison to Shinjuku or Shibuya.

 

[highdesert]

Actually I think Shinjuku comes closer to "Times Square". Ginza is all about shopping and fine dining - it's pretty sleepy by comparison to Shinjuku or Shibuya.

Excellent tip ... might as well get the high-voltage fix while we're there. Thanks!