Travelling around Japan in Obon holidays
 

Hello,
I will travel to Japan in August 2010. I'm planning to buy the JR pass for one week for the first week but I will need to buy the train ticket Kyoto-Tokyo separately as the JR won't cover it.
The problem is that it will be the Obon period in which I have read that many Japanese travel aswell. ¿How in advance do you think that I need to buy my train tickets? Or is it better to do it when I arrive there with, 6-7 days in advance?
I'm considering aswell to hire a car during those days. Is it recomended to book the car in advance aswell?Again, how in advance?
Anyone knows which will be the "big" Obon days?(weekend?)
Many thanks!

How many people would you come in company with ? That would make much difference.

The JR pass absolutely will cover the Kyoto-Tokyo trip if it is within the 7 days- what you may be seeing is that the pass doesn't cover the Nozomi shinkansens. It does however cover the Hikari and Kodama shinkansens on the same route (they stop at a few more stations) so please don't waste your money buying a separate ticket.

If you are using the hyperdia website just uncheck "Nozomi" in the options to get timetables for the other kinds of shinkansens.

The roads will be just as crowded as the trains during Obon- the traffic jams, with cars crawling in queues more than 20km long, are famous at that time of year. Parking can also be an issue, and of course you would need to book well in advance. I don't really recommend it.

The busiest days for roads and trains this year will be August 12 (more in the direction out of the cities) and 15 (back to the cities), but things will be busy in the opposite directions and on other days too.

Hi Sarasi,
I will be in Japan from the 3rd to the 15th of August and will stay in Tokio from the 11th to the 15th and travelling around the week before.
So,( I think) I just need a JR pass from 3 to 9th.
My plan (please let me know if I'm wrong) is to buy 1 JR week pass + 1 single way Kyoto-Tokyo= 28300 + 13500 = 41.800 aprox vs. 45100 JR 2 weeks. ¿Is this absurd?
My worries are that if I have to book the single way ticket (for the 11th) I can't do it in advance (until I land in Japan) and I'm afraid the tickets are sold out due to the Obon period.
Maybe my question is weird but I have no idea of what I will find on my trip. Many thanks in advance for your advice!

You would only want to buy the pass to cover the expense of the Kyoto - Tokyo shinkansen trip. Otherwise you are wasting your money, as you will never use the daily value of the pass within a city.

The pass does cover that part of the trip, as sarasi said.

Hi all,

I will also be travelling to Japan during the Obon week in August. This is my first time visiting Japan so I'm not sure if I should go ahead with my travel plan or should I change the date to avoid Obon festival? Does the festival only affect traffic and train plus hotel availability?
Will the shops still be open during the festival?
And is there any other things that I need to be aware of if I decided to go ahead with the travel plan for August?

Would really appreciate your inputs on this.. thanks : )

Obon
 

The problem with August is that in most places, especially Tokyo, it's so hot and humid that you are better off in a steam sauna.

The again, Obon brings with it many festivals that are a real treat - fireworks, dancing, parades, etc.

Josh
Smart & Cheap Japan Travel

Traffic can be bad (if you choose driving) and hotels tend to fill up quickly and raise there prices. Its one of the best times to hichthike and there are lots of festivals, but i´d recommend to go around this date if you are in Japan the first time, or book well ahead. Not so touristy areas should be ok, as well as Tokyo (everyone trys to get out of Tokyo during Obon). Most stores are open during this time.