Japan overnight trains

I'd like to save some money in Japan and take few overnight trains because I
have the Japan Rail Pass. What trains would be good choices? Like leaving at
11pm and arriving around 6am or 7am. No changes if possible and no extra
fees. I'm happy to take a non-reserved regular seat for trips like this.

Are there any web sites where I could find timetables?

Are there better web sites or newsgroups to ask this question?

Thanks for your help.

In article ,
"Eki" wrote:

I'd like to save some money in Japan and take few overnight trains because I
have the Japan Rail Pass. What trains would be good choices? Like leaving at

be aware that these are getting far and few between

11pm and arriving around 6am or 7am. No changes if possible and no extra
fees. I'm happy to take a non-reserved regular seat for trips like this.

Are there any web sites where I could find timetables?

unfortunately no, especially if you do not read japanese

Are there better web sites or newsgroups to ask this question?

Thanks for your help.

"Eki" wrote in message
...

I'd like to save some money in Japan and take few overnight trains because
I
have the Japan Rail Pass. What trains would be good choices? Like leaving
at
11pm and arriving around 6am or 7am. No changes if possible and no extra
fees. I'm happy to take a non-reserved regular seat for trips like this.

There are not many such trains left, as most parts of Japan are within a
day's journey by Shinkansen and connecting expresses. There are some extra
such overnight non-express trains at times when Seishun 18 tickets are valid
(mainly school holidays). But they get packed with mostly young Japanese
ineligible to buy JR Pass. There are still some regular sleeper trains, but
even with JR Pass you will have to pay limited express supplement
(tokkyu-ken) and berth charge.

Are there any web sites where I could find timetables?

There are some websites dedicated to hunting out connections using overnight
and day trains (mainly for Seishun users), but they are all in Japanese.
Hyperdia is good, but biased towards Shinkansen and express trains.

Are there better web sites or newsgroups to ask this question?

Try Lonely Planet Thorntree www.lonelyplanet.com and go to North East Asia
branch.

Thanks for your help.

You're welcome.

Alec

"Eki" wrote in message ...
I'd like to save some money in Japan and take few overnight trains because I
have the Japan Rail Pass. What trains would be good choices? Like leaving at
11pm and arriving around 6am or 7am. No changes if possible and no extra
fees. I'm happy to take a non-reserved regular seat for trips like this.

Are there any web sites where I could find timetables?

Are there better web sites or newsgroups to ask this question?

Thanks for your help.

You can use your rail pass for the JR Highway Bus, but in all honesty
it's kind of a waste of money unless you're making up for the cost of
the pass in other ways.

What route are you planning on? I'd arrange for a youth hostel or some
other cheap lodging; might cost Yen3,000 or so (depending on where you
go), but you'll get to take the train in the day and actually see the
countryside (part of the allure of train travel). If you're going to
pay a little extra for an overnight train (and usually you do), I'd
spend it on a room someplace.

John W.

"Eki" wrote in message ...
I'd like to save some money in Japan and take few overnight trains because I
have the Japan Rail Pass. What trains would be good choices? Like leaving at
11pm and arriving around 6am or 7am. No changes if possible and no extra
fees. I'm happy to take a non-reserved regular seat for trips like this.

Are there any web sites where I could find timetables?

Are there better web sites or newsgroups to ask this question?

Thanks for your help.

Some overnight routes I took back in 1999/2000

Morioka - Sapporo
Fukuoka - Kagoshima
Fukuoka - Osaka

Free with Rail Pass but need to reserve the seat and usually only one
cart avaialble. Arm chair reclinable seat.

My old notes show the following routes but I never used it myself

Tokyo - Kyoto (JR Bus from Shinjuku)
Tokyo - Nagoya (unreserved seats)

When you buy your JR rail pass, you can try asking for a time table in
English version. Not very complete but it has all the main routes.

"John W." wrote in message
What route are you planning on? I'd arrange for a youth hostel or some
other cheap lodging; might cost Yen3,000 or so (depending on where you
go),

There are two of us so it's usually 8,000 yens per night so I'd like to
spend few nights in the trains.

We have no plans for the routes. We'll just go somewhere. I just hate
advance planning when you are travelling but still I'd like to know few of
the night trains in advance :-)

I found this one:

Limited Express Dream Tsubame

Hakata (00:06) = Nishikagoshima (05:54)

Can I take that one without extra fees with Japan Rail Pass?

How about Limited Express Suisei from Beppu (21:34) to Kyoto (07:52)? Do I
have to pay extra fees?

"Eki" wrote in message
...

I found this one:

Limited Express Dream Tsubame

Hakata (00:06) = Nishikagoshima (05:54)

Can I take that one without extra fees with Japan Rail Pass?

Yes, as it's an all-seat train.

How about Limited Express Suisei from Beppu (21:34) to Kyoto (07:52)? Do I
have to pay extra fees?

No you can't ride free, as it's all-sleeper. You have to pay limited express
fare (3,150 yen) and 6,300 yen for cheapest berth.

Alec

"Alec" wrote in message news:405c7360$0$3309
Can I take that one without extra fees with Japan Rail Pass?

Yes, as it's an all-seat train.

Thanks a lot Alec!

I wa