Guides · Practical information
The parts that do not change with the length of your trip
Ticket rules, driving requirements, hotels, restaurants and luggage stay the same whether you are here for two days or three. They live here instead of being repeated inside every day plan, so there is one place to check and one place to update.
Start from the question you actually have
How do I get from Tokyo to Yamanashi?
Trains and tickets
Limited express Azusa and Kaiji have no unreserved cars. South of Kofu you leave JR East for JR Central, and IC cards stop working at the stations you need.
- Seat rules
- Ticketless booking
- Rail passes
- IC card limits
- Unstaffed stations
Can I drive here, and what should I know?
Renting a car
What counts as a valid licence in Japan, what the two branches in front of Kofu Station include in their cover, and what to know before you drive on the left.
- Licence rules
- Insurance
- ETC tolls
- Road rules
- Winter tyres
Where should I sleep?
Where to stay
Your base decides how much of the next morning you keep. Compares the hot spring towns, the lakeside cabins and the station hotels against how you are travelling.
- Shimobe-Onsen
- Isawa-Onsen
- Koan
- Kofu Station
- Booking notes
What do I do with my suitcase?
Luggage and hands-free travel
The stations at the Yamanashi end have stairs and no lockers. Where to leave the large case in Shinjuku, what it costs, and the closing time that catches people on the way back.
- Station lockers
- Staffed counter
- Shop storage
- Late returns
- What to carry
Where do I eat, and when?
Where to eat
The places from the series, the regional dishes worth the detour, and — more usefully — which of them close on the day you were planning to go.
- Closing days
- Cash only
- Dinner near your hotel
- Backup options
Day plans tell you when. Guides tell you how.
A trip page answers questions that depend on the day: what time to leave, how long to stay, what to do when a connection is missed. A guide answers questions that do not: how a ticket works, what an insurance option covers, when a shop is closed. If the same explanation appears in both places, the guide is the one we keep up to date.