Japan Railway offers an autumn, three consecutive day ticket for local and rapid trains across Japan, which costs only 7850 yen. I took advantage of the ticket and will have several posts ahead about my adventure. The first day I went to Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture. It is an Edo era castle town a short distance from Tokyo. I had been there before in 2021, but you can never see and do everything in one trip, plus some things change. I walked around, looking but not stopping much on my way to the Kawagoe Castle ruins area where the Honmaru-Goten (Inner Citadel Palace) is. (A full post is coming on that).
The historic 85 Bank Building, built in 1918, reopened on May 15, 2024 as the Resona Koedo Terrace. It is recognized as a national registered tangible cultural property.
There are many interesting old buildings that are repurposed as shops and restaurants.
Toki no Kane is the historic bell tower that was originally built in the early 1600’s, but has been rebuilt several times due to fire damage. The current tower was constructed in 1894, after the Great Fire of Kawagoe destroyed the previous tower. The tower is three stories (16 meters) tall. The chimes ring out four times a day 6 am, 12 noon, 3 pm, and 6 pm). In 1996, the Japan Ministry of the Environment designated the Bell Tower’s chimes as one of the “100 Best Sound Sceneries in Japan.” The Tower is located just off Kurazukuri Street.
The next trip post will continue on to the Kawagoe Castle area.
I met an adorable woman on a crowded train. We were both standing, and I was very disappointed that no one offered her their seat. Finally, some people got off the train, and we were able to sit together. We talked, and asked each other things like where do you live, can you see Mt. Fuji where you live, do you like sweets, etc. Just simple things. She told me she is 92 years old! Our time together was short, and then we went our separate ways. She made my day!
On Thursday, I read on the Japan Today website that JR East would be increasing its fares across its entire service area by an average of 7.1% on Friday, the next day. This was the first I had heard of this increase, just one day before the increase was implemented, and I was quite surprised. I often travel by train, and even though I live in the JR Central area, JR East area begins in Atami, which is not far from me.
Regular fares increased 7.8%, commuter passes 12.0%, and student passes by 4.9%. The largest increases will be in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. JR claims the increase is needed to cover rising costs of maintenance inspections and railway improvements.
The costs of so many things seem to be rising. Do you feel that way too?
Japan has a great public transportation system. I don’t drive here, so I often ride the trains and am very satisfied. With the cost of so many things getting more expensive, I wasn’t surprised to read that JR East will be increasing its fares beginning March 2026. This is the first price increase since it started in 1987, not including consumption tax increases by the government.
I live in an area covered by JR Central, but traveling to Tokyo or northern Honshu means JR East.
The Executive Vice President announced the company must spend effort and money on safe railway operations. The estimated annual increase of 88.1 billion yen will be used for equipment and repairs, as well as to offset rising operational costs and to raise wages for staff.
On average, fares will rise by 7.1%. IC card holders will have slightly lower rates compared to paper ticket holders. I expect the other train companies will also be raising fares soon.
Have you ever ridden trains in Japan? How do you feel about the price increases?
I took a two day trip and visited some places in Osaka, Nara, Koriyama, and Kyoto. I stayed one night at the Henn na Hotel in Nara. The novelty is that there are no live people at check-in, just hologram type creatures/people. When I first entered the lobby area, there was a dinosaur helping another person check-in.
When I walked up, a ninja appeared. I was asked to type my name onto the screen. I mistakenly typed my given name, then my family name on the screen (as in done in the US) and the ninja told me (in English) to start with my family name first (as is done in Japan). My reservation popped up on the screen, then the machine spit out my room key and breakfast ticket.
How cool was that? The lobby area also had a fun look.
My room was on the 6th floor. It was comfortable and clean, but pretty ordinary.
Breakfast was included in my reservation. There was a choice of cheese toast or French toast, plus a little buffet. I chose French toast and had scrambled eggs with almonds and a salad with caesar dressing.
After breakfast, I packed up my few things and checked out because I had many things to see and do.
Last Saturday, I took the train to Tokyo to visit the Ueno Zoo. I like most of the animals, but I especially like the Giant Pandas. It was an unusually warm day for December and a great day to go to the zoo.
The entrance fee for the zoo is 600 yen and they warn you about the wait time to see the pandas before you buy your ticket.
The wait time to see the adult parents of the twin two year old parents was only about 15 minutes. The female panda was behind a plexiglas divider and hard to see because of the reflection. It was feeding time and the pandas didn't seem to be concerned with the crowds.
The male panda looked like he was sitting in his recliner.
This was the start of the hour long wait to see the two year old twins. Only one of the twin pandas was in the exhibit area.
When I finally got up to the exhibit area, all I could see was a little white fur of the one twin in the exhibit area. It was disappointing.
I left the pandas and moved on the see the other animals. It was nice to see the signage in English. I think there were many foreign tourists at the zoo because I heard a lot of people speaking English.
The Vivarium was an interesting place, but it was hard to get good pictures there.
I found it interesting that the signs show what the animal eats.
Back outside again.
My pictures from inside the Small Mammal's House were not good.
There were still some fall colors to be seen.
I could have stayed longer, but after the elephant, I decided to leave the zoo. It was on to another place at Ueno Park.
