Shiba Park Hotel

This article is based on a visit made on Sunday, 20 May 2018.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I finally returned to Tokyo after leading my grandmother on a whirlwind trip around central Japan.  But, before I can wrap up this trip I've dragged out over the past two years in blogging about, there is some unfinished business that I need to attend to.  And that includes sharing with you the hotel which I not only chose for both of my Tokyo stays for this trip, but also slept at for my very first night in Japan: the Shiba Park Hotel (芝パークホテル, Shiba Pāku Hoteru).

Shiba Park Hotel is made up of two buildings, a main building and an annex.  For our first visit in 2010, we stayed in the annex.  Eight years later, however, I booked one of the newly-renovated rooms in the main building.  These Deluxe rooms, formerly called Comfort rooms, offer a roomy 30m² (323ft²) of floor area; the regular rooms in the annex are also above the usual standards for Tokyo hotels, at 21m² (226ft²).

Whereas the annex rooms I remember from last time were clean and functional, if a little dated in their decor, these renovated rooms in the main building have an all-new look that is warm and modern, with little traditionally-Japanese touches here and there to define the look.  A shoji-style sliding door separates the bedroom from the entrance hall, allowing extra privacy if, for example, your partner is getting in the bath.  Conveniences are plenty, from the free and fully stocked coffee/tea set, to the USB wall ports beside the beds.

One minor difference, which even I had not seen before in all my time in Japan, was the toilet being situated in a separate room from the bath.  There is a small sink present, but unless you move some soap in here, you'll have to go around to the other room to wash your hands.

A unique amenity offered by Shiba Park Hotel is their series of Japanese Cultural Experiences.  An instructor, who speaks English to a decent degree, will guide your small group in one of several activities, including origami, tea ceremony, calligraphy.  I signed us up for the calligraphy course, the results of which you can see above.  Different courses are held each day of the week at 9:30 AM and 5:30 PM, and range in cost from free to ¥1,000 per person.

Shiba Park Hotel, and the Shiba-koen/Daimon neighbourhood as a whole, makes for a convenient base when flying into or out of Haneda Airport.  Both rail options from the airport, the Tokyo Monorail and Asakusa subway line, have stops in the vicinity (Hamamatsucho and Daimon stations, respectively)  After our arrival experience, walking the 10 minutes all the way from Hamamatsucho with our luggage, proved less than ideal, we asked our hotel to arrange a taxi to pick us up on checkout and take us to the station, from where we would ride the Tokyo Monorail the rest of the way.  It was an ideal compromise, compared to the cost of taking a taxi all the way!  Since Shiba Park Hotel receives a lot of visitors from overseas, especially with tour groups, their staff speaks good English and is able to accommodate a variety of requests like these.

Whether or not you wind up using Haneda Airport as your entrance or exit to Tokyo, the Shiba Park Hotel is a welcoming choice.  I'm glad I got to share it with you when I could, because I have only a couple of articles from this trip left to write.  Find out where in Tokyo I went from here, next time on Sekai Ichi!

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Shiba Park Hotel

Address: 1-5-10 Shiba-kōen, Minato-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒101-0011

Access: Shiba Park Hotel is 3 minutes from Daimon (Toei Asakusa (A) and Oedo (E) lines) and Onarimon (Toei Mita (I) line) stations, or 10 minutes from Hamamatsucho Station (JR Yamanote (JY), Keihin-Tohoku (JK), and Tokyo Monorail (MO) lines).

Directions: From Tokyo Station, take the JR Yamanote or Keihin-Tohoku line to Hamamatsucho (JY28/JK23, 5 minutes, ¥160).  From the North Exit, cross the street and turn left.  Continue on for 5 minutes (400m), and cross and turn right at the third traffic light, just before the large torii gate.  Continue on for 2 more minutes (200m), and after the next traffic light, the hotel will be on the left side.

Alternatively, walk to the nearby Otemachi subway station and take the Toei Mita subway to Onarimon (I06, 5 minutes, ¥180).  From exit A2, head forward, cross the street ahead, and turn left.  At the next traffic light, turn right, and the hotel will be on the right side.

From Shinjuku Station (not Shinjuku-Nishiguchi), take the Toei Oedo subway to Daimon (E20, 15 minutes, ¥220).  From exit A6, head forward and turn right at the next light, as described above.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Concept Hotel WaQ

This article is based on a visit made on Tuesday, 15 May 2018.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I introduced the city of Toyama, where I would be kicking off a series of day-trips across the northern Chubu region.  Looking to inject some classical Japanese style into my accomodations, while still remaining accessible for me and my grandmother, I chose to stay at a place called the Concept Hotel WaQ (コンセプトホテル和休, Konseputo Hoteru Wakyu).  The Concept Hotel WaQ, pronounced "wa-kyu" and meaning "peaceful rest", combines the facilities of a Western hotel with the customs of a Japanese inn.

At the lobby, you have to take your shoes off before stepping in.  The shoe lockers here have these sliding wood-block keys, labelled with a hiragana letter and a number.  Instead of toiletries and other amenities being provided in each room, you have to pick what you need from racks near the front desk, which I actually like.  I generally pack my own toiletries instead of using those provided by the hotel, so it’s good to know I’m not wasting so many resources in that regard.

The twin room I booked, while smaller than other twin rooms I've experienced in Japan (which is saying something), was nonetheless manageable.  To get a Wi-Fi password for your wireless devices, you will have to get a code from the hotel's info channel on the TV.  You have to do this again every day, but the connection itself works well enough.

The beds are regular twin-size mattresses, not futons, and laid right on the floor instead of on a bed frame, but I still had no trouble sleeping on them.  These beds, and much of the furniture in this room, stand very close to the floor.  I'm sure my grandmother needed me to provide the occasional push or pull to help herself up, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.

The view out of our window faced to the north, over the train tracks.  The Sea of Japan is out somewhere in this direction, but there's four miles (6.5km) of urban sprawl in the way, so don't count on seeing it for yourself.

In addition to small en-suite showers in each room, there are shared onsen baths, one each for men and women, which were on the hotter side as onsens go (which, again, is saying something).  And, as if that wasn't hot enough for you, they each have sauna rooms as well.  I've read that the ladies' bath is less-developed than the mens', basically just a Jacuzzi tub, but my grandmother just stuck to our own shower, so neither she nor I can confirm that.

But gender inequality aside, for what class of hotel this is, the staff goes above and beyond in its level of service.  Despite the staff knowing no or little English, they were very helpful in checking us in, introducing its more unique rules, and picking up and shipping off our luggage via delivery service.  They also serve Japanese-style breakfasts for free; while we opted to eat our own breakfasts instead, on our first morning, the concierge noticed we seemed to be skipping breakfast, and gave us a couple of Soyjoy bars so we wouldn’t go hungry.  I think that says it all.

Speaking of food, here are some things I tried around the area.  At Tateyama Soba, a noodle restaurant in front of Toyama Station, we shared a bowl of shrimp tempura udon.  I had never eaten any noodles with chopsticks before, and thus couldn't get the technique down.  Apparently slurping is involved.  Those things on the bottom-left are minced fish patties called kamaboko (蒲鉾).  They were tasteless and rubbery; not something I preferred to eat more than to look at, at least.  The ones at this place were decorated with the kanji for Tateyama (立山), a mountain range near Toyama.

I also tried a matcha (green tea) flavoured cookie with white chocolate chips, picked up from a 7-11 store at the station.  Now there's a more familiar taste, albeit one filtered through Japanese eccentricities.  I kinda liked it.  But thinking about it now, this combination makes a lot of sense.  During tea ceremonies, you're usually given a sweet of some kind to counteract the bitterness of the tea.  It was only a matter of time before someone decided to cut out the middleman and just put the essence of the tea in the cookie itself!

Awkward musings aside, as long as your tastes in accommodation aren't overly discerning, I would highly recommend the Concept Hotel WaQ for anyone staying in Toyama.  Its elegant and economical design is a model for other hotels to follow.  And its proximity to Toyama Station served us well for the many times we would use it leave and come back from day trips.  Find out where we went, after a new Know Your Trains article, next time on Sekai Ichi!

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Concept Hotel WaQ

Address: 1-1-1 Takaramachi, Toyama-shi, Toyama-ken 〒930-0007

Access: Concept Hotel WaQ is within 5 minutes on foot from Toyama Station.

Directions: From the South exit of Toyama Station, turn right at the end of the plaza, crossing the tram tracks.  Continue straight past the next traffic light.  The hotel will be on your right by the end of the block.

Website: (Japanese)

Hotel Gracery Kyoto Sanjo

This article is based on a visit made on Saturday, 12 May 2018.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I wrapped up a long day in Hakone and moved on to Kyoto for a few nights.  The place we stayed at was the Hotel Gracery Kyoto Sanjo (ホテルグレイスリー京都三条, Hoteru Gureisurī Kyōto Sanjo), located in Kyoto's centre-city area.

Hotel Gracery Kyoto Sanjo consists of the North and South towers, the South annex having been opened only in May 2017.  The entrance hallway to the South lobby has a Kabuki theme, and I will explain why in a minute.

I've seen these helper robots elsewhere in Japan; this one was stationed in front of the breakfast restaurant.  When you check in, be sure of which annex, North or South, you'll be staying at, and check in at the appropriate one.  The staff will point you to the correct one if you try to check in at the other, but knowing ahead saves time, if nothing else.  As a hint, the South tower has most of the twin rooms.

So, what attracted me to Hotel Gracery in the first place?  That would be their concept rooms: the two vivid Kabuki Rooms and the subtly refined Kyoto Room.  I checked into the twin Kabuki room, also known as the Matsu-no-Ma (松の間, lit. 'pine room'). They also have a double Kabuki room called the Sakura-no-Ma (桜の間, lit. 'cherry blossom room').  The twin Kabuki room was inspired by the play Kanadehon Chūshingura (仮名手本忠臣蔵, lit. 'Treasury of Loyal Retainers').  This story, adapted into bunraku and kabuki productions, was in turn inspired by the Akō incident of 1703, where a band of forty-seven rōnin tracked down and murdered the man who made their old master commit suicide.  This room sticks to the more pleasant details, with a major inspiration being the (real-life) Kyoto teahouse from act 7, and patterns on the ceiling and bedsheets are based on costumes from the play.

The fun starts as soon as you insert your keycard into the holder by the front door.  The lights turn on, as expected, but then a sound cue plays: a series of woodblock-drum hits, and an announcer calling out some name or command which eludes my memory.  The curtain in front of the mirror has the same black-red-green striped pattern as is used in kabuki theatres nationwide.  When you start to pull it aside, a hidden motor triggers to pull it the rest of the way automatically, and another sound cue plays.

The beds lie on a raised, tatami-laden section of the room, so do be careful not to stub your foot on the ledge, or to leave your shoes on the mats.  The bedside console has the usual array of unmarked light switches, plus a pair of unmarked buttons, one on each side.  Press it, and another sound cue plays.  Quite the surprise if you press it at night, and you'll be tempted to because these buttons are lit, and there's no way to turn them off.  If even small lights are enough to keep you awake, I suggest bringing a mask or something else to cover your eyes with.

The bathroom arrangement is similar to that of most modern Japanese homes, except that the door and shower walls are decorated with examples of Kabuki actors' face-paint patterns.  In addition to the toilet being in a separate room, the bath room itself has two separate faucets, one for filling the tub, and one outside for washing yourself, similar to an onsen.  I tried to take a bath once, but the faucet didn't fill the tub very quickly, perhaps due to it being on the upper floor, so I was fine with just using the shower.

The hotel's surroundings are densely urban, but since the Kabuki rooms are on the hotel's top (9th) floor, there are a nice selection of roofs to look down upon.

Hotel Gracery stands along a covered shopping arcade named Teramachi-dori (寺町通, lit. 'temple-town street').  You could call this place a mini-Akihabara, since it has branches of the dojinshi comic stores Toranoana, Melonbooks, and Lashinbang, plus a movie theatre and a game centre.  There are also restaurants serving everything from churros to crepes.

There's even a branch of the crab restaurant Kani Doraku, with a scaled-down version of the famous crab sign from its Osaka store.

Staying in the Kabuki Twin room cost us an average of US$250 a night, over par for twin rooms in Japan, but not by too much.  For some reason, this and the other concept rooms at the Hotel Gracery cannot be booked through their own website, but are instead available from third-party booking sites like Orbitz, Priceline, or Booking.com.  For all its quirks, or despite some of them, staying at the Kabuki room was an enjoyable, whimsical experience.  I can think of more convenient locations if you'll be going in and out of Kyoto Station a lot, but the neighbourhood is a nice one to get lost in.  Find out where I'll be using this place as a base to travel to, next time on Sekai Ichi!

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Hotel Gracery Kyoto Sanjo South

Address: 420 Rokkaku-dōri, Sakuranochō, Nagakyō-ku, Kyōto-shi, Kyōto-fu 〒604-8035

Access: From Kyoto Station, take bus #4, 5, 17, or 205 to Kawaramachi Sanjo (15 minutes, ¥230).  Bus 104 is faster (12 minutes), but runs more frequently on weekends & holidays (4 per hour) than weekdays (1 per hour).  Alternately, take the Karasuma (K) subway line to Karasuma Oike (K08, 5 minutes), then the Tozai (T) line to Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae (T12, 2 minutes, ¥260).

Directions: From the Kawaramachi Sanjo bus stop, head south down Kawaramachi-dori, and turn right at the traffic light, onto Rokkaku-dori.  The hotel is 2 minutes ahead, just before the end of the road, with the North tower on the right and the South tower on the left.

From Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae station, take exit 1 and turn around.  Cross the street, turn right at Kawaramachi-dori, and continue to the second traffic light in 4 minutes.  Turn right onto Rokkaku-dori as above.

Alternately, when you emerge from the station, stay on Oike-dori, find the entrance to the Teramachi covered shopping arcade (it has signs in Japanese and English), and head down it.  Walk down for two blocks, bear right at the fork in the road, and turn left at the next block after that.  It is next-door to the Tully's Coffee on the corner.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Tokyo Nihonbashi Bay Hotel

This article is based on a visit made on Wednesday, 23 November 2016.

Edit 8 October 2019: This hotel has been renamed the Tokyo Ekimae Bay Hotel.

A post shared by TokyoNihonbashi-bayhotel (@tokyo_nihonbashi_bayhotel) on Jun 5, 2017 at 10:53pm PDT

Have you ever stayed in a capsule hotel?  It is a most unique form of budget lodgings in Japan, and I have wanted to try it for some time.  With my holiday in Japan coming to a close, I finally had the perfect opportunity.  Coming back from Hiroshima, I didn't want to have to rush all the way across the country in order to make my flight on the same day, so I gave myself a buffer with another night's stay in Tokyo.  This, of course, gave me the opportunity to see the winter lights of Shinjuku and Roppongi.  My evening wanderings left my physically drained, so of course I needed somewhere to crash for the night.  To that end, I stayed overnight in a capsule hotel -- and not just any one, but the Tokyo Nihonbashi Bay Hotel.

The first capsule hotel was founded in Osaka in 1979.  Since then, they have been an attractively cheap accommodation choice for city workers who have missed the last train home, or are just too drunk to get back home safely.  Bay Hotel is a young, but growing, chain of capsule hotels in Tokyo.  Their Nihonbashi hotel was not even a year old when I stayed there.  But among capsule hotels, I have to imagine this was one of the nicer ones, in that the facilities were clean and modern.  The concierge even let me check in just shy of the posted check-in time of 4 PM!  Also, to save some money, I booked a capsule without a TV, and indeed paid the rate for that, but got one with a TV nonetheless.  Not that I used it; I don't have much use for television anymore, even when I do understand the language!

A post shared by TokyoNihonbashi-bayhotel (@tokyo_nihonbashi_bayhotel) on Jun 5, 2017 at 10:59pm PDT

So, what is staying at a capsule hotel like?  Well first of all, the "capsules" themselves are quite larger than one may be led to believe.  They are essentially just enclosed bunk beds, measuring about 2 by 1 meters (6 by 3 feet), with a meter (3 feet) or more of headroom.  Most adults, myself included, will be able to sit up in one of these rooms with space to spare.  Amenities within the capsules include a TV, a control panel for the lights and alarm clock, and increasingly, wireless internet.  When it's time to sleep, the capsules have curtains to block out the light, but no doors.  Apparently, that would be a fire hazard; in case people need to be evacuated in an emergency, they wouldn't want anyone to get locked inside their capsule.

On each floor, there are locker rooms for guests to store their personal items and change into their pajamas for the night.  If you have suitcases or other items too large to fit in the lockers, ask the staff if they can hold on to them separately, which they did for me.  They also have shared washrooms; the Nihonbashi Bay Hotel just had showers, but other capsule hotels may have onsen-style baths.  Due to this setup, floors or even entire hotels will be gender-segregated.  The Nihonbashi Bay Hotel accepts both male and female guests, and assigns them to separate floors, each locked by keycards for security.  Other capsule hotels may instead accept only men, or in rare cases, only women.  In fact, Bay Hotel itself has a new branch in Akihabara that is female-exclusive.  Eating, drinking, and smoking are not allowed within the capsules.  To that end, there are common lounge areas where one can pick up a light meal from one of the vending machines.  Other capsule hotels may have their own little restaurants.

A post shared by TokyoNihonbashi-bayhotel (@tokyo_nihonbashi_bayhotel) on Jun 5, 2017 at 10:58pm PDT

I adapted to life in a capsule hotel just fine. The one stumbling block for me, however, was the sleep quality. The beds in these capsules felt quite hard, basically just a thin mattress atop a firm carpet of some sort. It reminds me of the futon-on-tatami beds of traditional Japanese rooms. Maybe I've just been spoiled by the fluffy Western beds I've slept in for 99% of my life, I don't know. I did nod off eventually, but it wasn't easy. Since the blinds at the front of my capsule block light, but not sound, I did have earplugs handy to muffle the noise of everybody walking around, but I don't think I needed them. On the plus side, I finally had my first decent cup of coffee in Japan at this place, a bottled cafe-latte from the vending machine, oddly enough!

Whatever issues I had with the Nihonbashi Bay Hotel could, for all I know, just be problems common among all capsule hotels.  Other capsule hotels may have additional facilities that this place lacks, but it had everything I needed and did it well.  Whether here or elsewhere, I would be willing to try capsule hotels again, although I would hope for capsules with better beds!  I did not take any pictures of my own at this hotel, due to how shortly I stayed there, but fortunately they do have their own Instagram account, so I hope they don't mind me embedding a couple of their posts.

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And... that's all I have from my vacation.  The following morning brought an early snowstorm to Tokyo.  I didn't take any pictures of that either, because I was too busy doing some last-minute gift shopping, and trying in vain to send some money to the Fuji View Hotel, so they could send back the souvenir I had left there.  I eventually gave up on that effort, being unable to work with either the banks or the post office, plus, it wasn't a very expensive thing I had lost either.  And then I had to scramble to make it to the train station and airport on time, with just barely enough time to spare, so that's some added stressors there.  So maybe my holiday came apart slightly by the end, but all in all it was a fulfilling experience.  I came in to take in lots of autumn leaves and winter lights, and I got my money's worth in that regard.

The only question is, what does this mean for the future of this blog?  Well, I do have another holiday in Japan planned for May of 2018, and I've drafted even more itineraries for the future.  You could say that working on this blog has left me obsessed with exploring Japan.  But, until then, expect my output here to slow down a bit.  I will start to shift focus to tutorials and itinerary ideas.  Who knows, I may even do videos in the future!  I hope you all enjoyed joining me, virtually, on my adventures in Japan.  Here's to many more.  *clink*  Kanpai!

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Hours: Check-in from 4:00 PM, check-out before 10:00 AM.

Costs: Rates start at ¥4,000 per night for capsules without a TV, or ¥4,300 with one.  Rates may vary on weekends, holidays, or other peak seasons.

Address: 3-8-13 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo-to 〒103-0027

Access: Tokyo Nihonbashi Bay Hotel is 2-4 minutes on foot from Nihonbashi Station (Tokyo Metro Ginza (G), Tozai (T), and Toei Asakusa (A) lines), or 7 minutes on foot from Tokyo Station (JR Tokaido/Tohoku/Joetsu/Hokuriku Shinkansen, Yamanote (JY), Chuo (Rapid) (JC), Keihin-Tohoku (JK), Tokaido (JT), Utsunomiya/Takasaki (JU), Joban (JJ), Sobu/Yokosuka (JO), Keiyo (JE), and Tokyo Metro Marunouchi (M) lines).

Directions: From Nihonbashi Station (Ginza and Tozai lines), take exit B1.  At street level, take the second left.  The hotel will be on your left side, near the end of the block.

From the Asakusa line platform, take exit D3.  At street level, turn left and head straight down the road.  After the pedestrian overpass, take the second right.  The hotel will be on your right side, just past the next intersection.

From Tokyo Station, turn left out of the Yaesu Central Exit.  At the next traffic light, turn right and cross the street.  Continue for two blocks.  When you reach the Takashimaya department store, turn right, then left.  The hotel will be on your left side, near the end of the block.

You can also go part of the way through the underground Yaesu Shopping Mall.  Go down the stairs in front of the Yaesu Central Exit, and keep going straight until you reach the end.  Turn left, through exit 23, and turn right.  At street level, turn left, cross the street, and turn left again.  Take the third right; the hotel will be on your left side.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Remm Shin-Osaka

This article is based on a visit made on Sunday, 20 November 2016.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I wrapped up my stopover in Nagoya and continued on to Osaka.  My next hotel, the Remm Shin-Osaka (レム新大阪, Remu Shin Ōsaka), was right on top of Shin-Osaka Station, the junction of the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines.  Since I would be doing a few day-trips on both of those high-speed lines, it proved a convenient base for doing so.  The hotel entrance, shown above, lies just past the Shinkansen ticket gates; you don't even have to leave the building!

From the entrance on the 3rd floor of the station, an elevator takes you up to the hotel floors, starting with the front desk on the 12th floor.  My room was on the 13th floor (Again, what is it with me getting hotel rooms on unlucky floors?), and this thing stood in the middle of that floor's elevator lobby.  It looks like a rock, but it's actually a canvas-covered seat of some sort.

Windows from the lobby let me look out southwards, onto downtown Osaka.  My room, conversely, was located on the north side, which didn't have quite such a great view.  Apparently, most of the single rooms are on that side.

This hotel is part of the same chain as the Remm Akihabara I stayed in previously, so much of the decor and amenities are the same.  Like the other hotel, the rooms are also snug, measuring a mere 14.4 m² (155 ft²).

And as with the other Remm hotels, the bathrooms feature a ceiling-mounted "rain shower".  The bathroom has a wide window open to the room and, theoretically, outside, but a shade can be pulled down over it for privacy.

The safe is mounted in the room's coat closet, as opposed to the Remm Akihabara, where it was part of the desk.  Also located in this closet is a slot for you to put your keycard in, which turns on the lights.  I forgot to take my card out one time and locked myself out of the room, but the concierge was able to give me a replacement card.  So, tip of the hat to them!

Like I said, the north side of the building, which my room faced out upon, didn't have the best photo ops, but the sunrise the following morning did give a healthy glow to some of the buildings I looked out upon.

This is the corresponding morning view from the other side, taken the day after.

Breakfast is served at Cafe and Dining Kouji, a restaurant near the hotel entrance in Shin-Osaka Station.  It is served as a sort of semi-buffet; you can choose from one of four main dishes, plus additional items from the buffet.  Tickets for breakfast cost ¥1,300 for hotel guests, and are valid from 6:30 to 11:00 AM; last order time is 10:30 AM.

All things considered, my experience staying at the Remm Shin-Osaka was consistent with its sister hotel in Tokyo.  The rooms are small, which is honestly standard throughout urban Japan, but I adapted to them nicely.  The best part about this hotel would be its location.  Since I would be using both the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines throughout my stay, it was convenient that I didn't have to walk far to reach those platforms.  If you plan to do the same, or if staying closer to the more centrally-located Osaka and Umeda stations turns out to be too expensive, the Remm Shin-Osaka is an ideal alternative!

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Remm Shin-Osaka

Address: Shin-Osaka Station 12F, 1-1-1 Miyahara, Yodogawa-ku, Ōsaka-shi, Ōsaka-fu 〒532-0003

Access: Remm Shin-Osaka is adjacent to Shin-Osaka Station (Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen, JR Kyoto (A), Takarazuka (G), and OsakaMetro Midosuji (M) lines).

Directions: From the Shinkansen Central ticket gates, turn right and right again to reach the hotel entrance.

From the East ticket gate (for regular JR lines), turn right, continue down the promenade, and turn right again when you pass the JR Central office.  Turn right again after passing the Shinkansen Central ticket gates, as above, to reach the hotel entrance.

From the subway Exit 1, simply climb up the escalators and the hotel entrance will be straight ahead.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Fuji View Hotel

This article is based on a visit made on Thursday, 17 November 2016.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I visited a few places around Lake Kawaguchi, to the north of Mount Fuji.  I capped off my adventure with an overnight stay at the Fuji View Hotel.

This was the scene when I returned to Kawaguchi-ko Station that evening.  Fujikyu runs special Thomas the Tank Engine-themed trains and buses as tie-ins to the Thomas Land world in Fuji-Q Highland.  Alas, I didn't ride the one seen here, but the hotel does offer a free shuttle bus to and from the station.

Fuji View Hotel has rooms with Western and Japanese style bedding.  Compared to hotels in the cities, the rooms here are much more spacious.  Room sizes start at 36m² (387 ft²), which includes the Japanese-style room I booked.  You can also book most types of rooms with a view of either Lake Kawaguchi or Mount Fuji.

I chose a view of Mt. Fuji, but unfortunately, my visions of waking up to Fuji-san went unfulfilled.  Why?  The morning fog was thick when I got up, at around 6:30, although it did start to lift in the coming hours.  In the meantime, I indulged in the hotel's hot spring baths.  For both men and women, there is an indoor bath and an outdoor bath.  The outdoor bath is situated in front of a small garden and secluded by a bamboo fence.  It wasn't much of a view, but it was peaceful and pleasant, with some of the leaves also having turned bright orange.

There were even more colours about the premises, such as this vivid red tree just outside the entrance.  I really wish I could have stayed longer, to take in the surroundings better, but I was in a hurry.  Case in point, I forgot to pack one of the souvenirs I bought.  A couple of days later, I received an e-mail from one of the hotel staff, in English no less, informing me that I had left it behind in my room.  We then went back-and-forth trying to set it right, and even though I ended up dropping the matter (I couldn't figure out how to send them the money for postage), it just goes to show the level of service they provide at Fuji View Hotel.

And... that's it.  I didn't take that many pictures at the hotel, so as an added bonus, here are some shots I took on the journey from the hotel.

As I rode on the hotel's shuttle bus to Kawaguchi-ko Station, the morning fog started to lift, until I finally got to see Mount Fuji!  It fits so perfectly right behind the station building!


This is one of the express trains used on the Fujikyu line, the Fujisan View Express.  For more information, read my Know Your Trains article on this line.  It would certainly be a stylish way to get to and from here, but instead I left by bus.  There are direct highway buses between Kawaguchi-ko and Mishima, where I was to board the first Shinkansen ride of my trip, but as before, I didn't book my seat ahead of time and couldn't get on.  Fortunately, I had a backup route planned out.  It was more involved and the timing was a little tighter, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.  I took a local bus from Kawaguchi-ko to Gotemba Station, then transfer to two trains to Mishima.  I've described this route on my "Introduction to: Fuji Five Lakes" article.


On its way south, the bus passed Lake Yamanaka (山中湖, Yamanaka-ko), the largest of the Fuji Five Lakes.  If you look off to the right, you can see a swan-boat paddling along the lake.

Mount Fuji continued to be visible as the bus circled around it.  Zooming in close, I could even see the switchbacks of one of the trails leading up its side.

The bus fell behind schedule, but still made it to Gotemba Station in time for me to make my train to Numazu, and my next train from there to Mishima.  I started using my Japan Rail Pass that day, which saved me a minute or two from not having to buy tickets.  I just had to show my pass to the gate attendants, and I was good to go!

I had also reserved tickets for my planned Shinkansen rides ahead of time, so I was able to board my trains without skipping a beat.  The JR Pass allows you to reserve tickets for free, even if you set the pass to activate for a later date.  I made sure to book a seat on the right side of the train for this ride.  That way, I could get one last look at Mount Fuji.  You can see it between Mishima and Shin-Fuji stations.

It's actually kind of hard to take a picture of a Shinkansen train, because they go by so fast.  It helps if they're parked or slowly taking off, as was this train at Hamamatsu Station.  This is a Series 700 train, introduced in 1999 and still in use on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen.  They are slowly being phased out these days, and are set to be withdrawn from service entirely in the 2019/20 fiscal year, in favour of its upgraded sibling, the Series N700.

Just past Hamamatsu Station, the train passes over this huge lake.  It is called Lake Hamana (浜名湖, Hamana-ko), and it used to be a landlocked freshwater lake, but an earthquake over 500 years ago exposed it to the sea.  Today, there is a theme park, Hamanako Pal-Pal (浜名湖パルパル, Hamanako Paruparu, not shown), on its eastern shore.

On the way to my next hotel, in Osaka, I made an afternoon stopover in Nagoya.  Why is that?  There was a train museum in the area that had captivated my interest: the SCMaglev and Railway Park.  Learn more about it soon, on Sekai Ichi!

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Fuji View Hotel

Address: 511 Katsuyama, Fujikawaguchiko-machi, Minamitsuru-gun, Yamanashi 〒401-0310

Access: The hotel offers a free shuttle bus service for staying guests, to and from Kawaguchi-ko Station.  Departures in either direction are hourly from 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM (9:30 AM to 5:30 PM from December to March).  At Kawaguchi-ko Station, the bus stops at platform #10.  Facing out from the station entrance, platform #10 is off to the right.

Alternately, from Kawaguchi-ko Station, take the Green Line Sightseeing Bus (G) to the "Shikishima-no-Matsu" (敷島の松) stop (17 minutes, ¥300).  The bus stop is right next to a road leading up to the hotel from the back.  These are more frequent than the hotel's shuttle bus, but do not operate as early or late.  Buses leave from Kawaguchi-ko Station for the hotel from 9:10 AM to 4:40 PM, and stop at the hotel on their way to the station from 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM.  (Departure times are based on May 2017 schedules and are subject to change.  For the current schedules, visit Fujikyu's website: (English).)

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Remm Akihabara

This article is based on a visit made on 12 November 2016.

Edit 2 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I finally arrived at my first destination of Akihabara, in Tokyo.  Why did I choose Akiba over all of Tokyo's many other districts?  Believe it or not, it wasn't because of my obsessive love of Japan's anime and gaming sub-cultures.  ...Well, not just because of them, anyway.  It also happens that Akihabara was a convenient base for taking public transportation to the places I wished to visit on my trip, and there was a hotel there which met all my requirements.  It was close to the train stations I would be using frequently, featured a contemporary style which was relevant to my tastes, and was priced comfortably within my budget.  Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the Remm Akihabara (レム秋葉原, Remu Akihabara).

The Remm Akihabara is part of a small chain, owned by the Hankyu-Hanshin Holdings corporation, with additional branches in Tokyo (Hibiya and Roppongi), Osaka, and Kagoshima.  As you can see, I didn't have to go far upon arriving at Akihabara station to check in.  The hotel occupies the tower seen in the centre of this picture.  It stands directly adjacent to the station, also seen here.

Across from the hotel entrance, you will see this building.  It's partially obscured by the trees here, but a large calendar and clock display is situated above the entrance to various restaurants.  There is also a FamilyMart convenience store right next to it.

This is the street entrance to the hotel.  It takes you to an elevator which leads directly to the lobby on the 6th floor.  The hotel can also be accessed by elevators from the Akiba Tolim mall below, to the right of the street entrance.

The single room I stayed in measured a snug 14.3 m² (154 ft²), which was just barely enough for a solo traveller like myself.  Couples (who aren't very, very close with each other) may want to upgrade to a twin room.  Still, the bed was roomy, at a width of 140 cm (55 in).  There was a massage chair in the back corner, but I couldn't figure out how to operate it, so I just used it to hang my clothes on.

The bathroom extends the modernist theme with its use of white porcelain, chrome trim, and glass.  Its most notable feature is its "rain shower", where the water falls straight down from a head embedded in the ceiling.  There is also a hand-held showerhead which can be mounted on the wall if you prefer.

Amenities in these hotel rooms include a safe, a mini-fridge, and even a cell-phone charger, compatible with many types of power ports!  However, this particular one was a little flimsy, in that it didn't always stay plugged in for very long.

The leaflet seen in this picture is an advertisement for breakfast at the Portal Cafe restaurant, in the mall below this hotel.  Breakfast is served as a buffet, with a variety of Western and Japanese-style items.  Hotel guests may buy entry for a discounted rate of ¥1,400; to get yours, buy it from the concierge desk on the 6th floor.

Finally, some views from the 13th floor.  (What is it with me and getting hotel rooms on unlucky-numbered floors?)  This one, taken from my room, shows the morning sun waking up the electronics stores on Chuo-dori.

And this one, taken from the elevator lobby on the same floor, offered a view of the train tracks running to the south, towards Tokyo Station.  I even managed to snap a shot of a Hayabusa + Komachi Shinkansen service -- which, for the record, are my favourite trains ever.  Maybe some day I'll actually ride one of them...

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Remm Akihabara

Address: Akiba Tolim 6F, 1-6-5 Kanda Sakuma-chō, Chiyoda-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒101-0025

Access: Remm Akihabara Akihabara is adjacent to Akihabara Station (JR Yamanote (JY), Keihin-Tohoku (JK), Chuo-Sobu (JB), Tokyo Metro Hibiya (H), and Tsukuba Express (TX) lines).

Directions: From Akihabara Station, turn right out of the Central ticket gates, and continue straight, cross Chuo-dori, and take the next right afterwards.  The direct entrance to Remm Akihabara will be on your right.

Website: (English) (Japanese)