Arriving at Narita Airport and Traveling to Aizu-Wakamatsu Keep your airline boarding passes, if you are being reimbursed here. These instructions assume you will take the Keisei Skyliner from Narita Airport to Ueno Station (less than 1 hour). From Ueno Station you will take the Shinkansen to Koriyama (about 1 hour and 15 minutes). From Koriyama, you will take a local train to Aizu-Wakamatsu (about 1 hour and 10 minutes). Names of airlines serviced by Terminals 1 and 2. In both terminals, there are information counters where English is spoken. http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/guide/t_info/index.html Keisei Skyliner Diagrams of both Terminal 1 and 2 plus schedules for train access to Ueno. http://www.keisei.co.jp/keisei/tetudou/skyliner/us/station.html Also at the above links, there are diagrams of the baggage area, ATMs and banks for money exchange, Keisei Skyliner counter, and station access. Currency exchange: After clearing immigration and going down the escalator to collect your baggage, exit into arrivals and definitely exchange money before you leave the airport. If you are staying more than one week, it would be best to buy at least 100,000. However, if you are staying up to one week, then 50,000 should be alright. Both airport terminals have ATM's on the arrival floor. Each has a VISA machine which will issue cash to PLUS system cards. The minimum amount issued is 10,000 Yen. CitiBank ATMs work with both Cirrus and Plus cards and will issue 1,000 Yen notes. There are also American Express cash machines which issue only 10,000 Yen notes. The exchange rates at all machines are virtually identical. (Also, all post office ATMs in Japan take foreign ATM cards with the PLUS symbol. On those machines, be sure to touch the screen part labeled "English guide" at the very beginning.) Other ATMs in Japan do not accept cards issued outside of Japan. Several banks operate currency exchange booths in the arrivals area. If you are going to exchange cash or TC's, do it in the arrivals area after clearing immigration and customs. The exchange rates are relatively uniform. Courier service: If you have heavy bags, you are strongly advised to send them by courier (takkyubin in Japanese) rather than trying to carry them up and down the various escalators and staircases. Delivery is the next day, so keep what you need for overnight. After exiting customs, look for the sign displayed on the right side of this page or ask for Kuroneko (black cat). The company is also called Yamato. Show the Yamato staff the following destination address and pay about 1,500 per suitcase (keep the receipts): ALO 965-8580 (tel: 0242-37-2760) If you are not staying overnight, then after sending your bags, proceed to the Keisei Skyliner counter. (Do not take the JR Narita Express since the directions are different.) Also, do not go to Omiya from Narita. If you are staying in a hotel, then keep your bags (you can send them from the hotel). The Narita Tobu Hotel Airport is the closest (acceptable) hotel to the airport. http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/travel/hotel/index.html Page 1 of 6
Ask staff at the information counter where the stop is for the shuttle bus for your hotel. The next day, take the shuttle back to Terminal 2 (it s the closest). (Passports are required to reenter the airport.) Take the Keisei Skyliner from the Terminal 2. Train travel: Please refer to the following online train timetable. http://www.hyperdia.com/en/ Keisei Skyliner tickets to Ueno cost 2,400. Tickets are usually for reserved seats and your car and seat number will be marked on the ticket. Then take the escalator down to the platform for Ueno. It may say both Nippori and Ueno on the sign. The wrong direction goes toward Narita Terminal 1. The Keisei Skyliner trip from Narita to Ueno is about 60 minutes. The train may stop 2 or 3 times on the way to Ueno station, but it will make one stop at Nippori Station before the final stop at Ueno Station. Kesei Ueno Station At Ueno Station you arrive underground. (At any point after arriving at Ueno, if you are unsure where you are going, ask for the Shinkansen, not bullet train.) Take the escalator up and head to the ticket gates. At the top, you'll know you are in the right place when you see the little escalator with stairs on either side. That whole area opens out to street level. Exit left in the direction of the yellow arrow. (Same direction as yellow line on next map.) Turn to your left at the top of the short escalator and walk along to the point where there is a wide crosswalk and you can see the station on the other side. Walk about 20 metres or so and enter the relatively narrow entrance to the left below the elevated tracks. Looking at the map below, follow the yellow line. (Black and yellow dashed line indicates that you remain at street level but walk below the train tracks.) Page 2 of 6
You ll see a Starbuck s on the left just before entering the station and then once inside a flower shop on the corner and then you'll notice a bakery on the left side called Andersen's. Past that and on the left you'll see the ticket office with a large green sign over the entrance. Referring to the picture below, the JR ticket office where you buy the Shinkansen ticket is on the left below the green sign. The office has been rebuilt in the same location, but the sign may be slightly different now. Andersen s Bakery is just to the left of where this picture was taken. They will speak some English in the ticket office and you can ask for a non-smoking reserve ticket on the Shinkansen to Aizu-Wakamatsu. The Shinkansen will take you to Koriyama and then you have to change and catch another train to Aizu-Wakamatsu. Page 3 of 6
Each Shinkansen passenger is given two tickets (plus a receipt) all the way through to Aizu- Wakamatsu that will cost about 9,000. (Keep the additional longer ticket which is the receipt.) As you exit the ticket office, go to the left and proceed through the automatic ticket gates by inserting both tickets into the machine. Take both tickets on the other end of the gate. Walk about 100 metres angling toward the right and there is another set of gates. You need to go through those also. You will be on the Tohoku line and the signs will indicate that the train goes to Sendai (and perhaps also Morioka and Aomori which are much further down the line). The Shinkansen platform is down two sets of escalators. After you verify that you are on the correct platform by looking at the permanent signs and also the electronic one (which indicates train departure times), check your ticket to see what time the train leaves. The ticket at left is just an example, with a different destination. In the example, the train departs at 10:26. The train number is 70, the car is number 5, and the seat is 10E. A few trains do not stop in Koriyama, so you must make sure you are boarding the right train. The electronic signs on the platform display your train time and number. Car numbers are marked so you can go to the correct place on the platform. The stations will be announced in Japanese and English. Get off at Koriyama (after Omiya and Utsunomiya) and take the escalator down. On the left, you will see the exit in the picture below. Keep to the right side. Page 4 of 6
Put both tickets in the gate on the way out and only one will be returned. Don t leave the station. You might need to ask the staff in the station which platform is for Aizu-Wakamatsu. (Aizu- Wakamatsu wa nan ban desu ka?) The route is called the Bannetsu line. It s probably platform 2, but it may change. There is no reserve seating on this train. It usually stops at every station and you need to get off at Aizu-Wakamatsu which will be the last stop. Page 5 of 6
Route from Narita to Aizu Page 6 of 6