Team Bachido @ Hirosaki Taikai: Part 2

General
#1

Hey bros!

Well, most everyone has signed up (and for those who haven’t yet, it’s not too late, there is still time!) and so I think it is now time we work out logistics - where we’ll fly in, where we’ll meet up, what we’ll do afterwards, how we’ll get back, etc.

I know that it’ll be a first time in Japan for some of us, and communication will be difficult until we meet up. Thus, I encourage that we make our rendezvous plans as simple and straightforward as possible (I.e, fewest number of train switching, biggest landmark, etc) to ensure no misunderstandings or slipups. As one who made uncertain rendezvous plans which led to hours of waiting at the wrong station, I can attest that dead-obvious plans will be essential.

The main people I ask ideas from is Grant, Anne and Kevin, who have been thinking hard (I think) about how/where/when we will group. Of course, anyone else with concerns, pre-made plans, questions, etc, please comment as well! :slight_smile:

#2

Ah, and just to add, I’m planning to buy my ticket early February in hopes to get a cheaper price. For those who can, I encourage to do the same. (Thus, it’s beneficial that we commit our meetup date/location now :slight_smile: )

#3

At the first ever Bachido Meeting in Tokyo last July, Norm made it at JR Ueno station central exit. And it was so successful everyone came in good time. And I felt safe to know the leader’s cell phone number.

#4

Yeps i was thinking that i’d get Grant’s phone number or Kyle’s or something and call when i’d be there…?

But if we have a good plan it’s always the safest and cheapest

#5

Quick thoughts from the mastermind:

I agree with Kyle, try to get your ticket as soon as possible. It’s cheaper and your not as likely to bail out. :stuck_out_tongue:

29th of April, around 12 pm: Meeting up at Harajuku station for a jam in Yoyogi koen (park) for everyone who’s in Tokyo and wants to hang and start the fun! Then go for dinner together somewhere in the area.

30th of April, early morning: Take of with rental car, traveling up north for the taikai. Going about half way. Stopping at a nice little town, look around, play even more shamisen (hopefully in the car as well, lol), get drunk (optional).

1st of May, morning: Leaving whatever town we ended up in and get our asses over to the inn in Kanagi, where we will be staying for the rest of the weekend.
From here on practice as crazy on our Jonkaras and Kita no Hibiki.

3-5th of May: Rock the taikais in Hirosaki and Kanagi. Forever changing the ways of how a group tournament piece should be played and make our mark in the taikai history! :smiley:

5th of May (evening): Epic party, to celebrate all our awards and to get really drunk on Chu-Hai (or other beverage of interest).

6th of May and on: Hang out some more or separate and travel to wherever we want to go.

My suggestion: Be sure to arrive one or two days before the 29th and leave a day or two after the 6th. You might want to see some of Tokyo too, so a couple of days before or after the Taikai events should give you enough time to do that.

The rental car will be driven by me up to Hirosaki where I’ll leave it. So you’ll have to make it back on your own. There’s bullet trains that wont make you disapointed.
Check out: HyperDia | Timetable and Route Search in Japan.
for times and costs.

Something more to think about:
If you want to do some more traveling I highly recommend getting a JR railpass (which only can be bought outside of Japan). It allows you to travel on most of the JR trains with no extra charge. If you go back and forth Tokyo-Kyoto, you pretty much have had your moneys worth. And you can also get around in the major cities on it.

I’ll be back with more info on the approximate expenses for the road trip soon!

#6

Anne!! :smiley: That sounds excellent!

I have a few thoughts

As I told Grant a few days ago, I’m a little concerned about traffic from Golden Week, which Kyoko mentioned. Leaving on the 30th may be enough time, but I really make sure we aren’t late due to traffic/getting lost or such. It might probably be fine, but that’s assuming everything goes according to plan.

I like planning tight schedules as it’s more exciting, but because this is quite an important event, I feel that we should allow extra time for something going wrong, which means we will arrive on time if it does. Likewise, if everything is smooth, we have an extra day to sightsee around hirosaki. :slight_smile: A win/win!

Thus, I wonder if it would be a good idea to meet on the 28th and depart on the 29th?

#7

well i’ve already filed the funding format… and i wrote there that i’m leaving from finland in 29th and be in tokyo on 30th…

And i should follow the plan i’ve wrote them

#8

http://traqoo.com/jp/usj/kon/a5.html
This might help you think about your schedule.
I really hope you will never get stuck in Japan. Japanese golden week traffic is incredibly crazy for you Americans and Europeans.
I am sorry the site is in Japanese, and I think I am going to summarize it later in English.

#9

http://traqoo.com/jp/tokyo/tdr/disneysea/kon/5.html
This is Tokyo Dysneyland site and might help how Tokyo area will be crowded.

#10

Anne, are you going to reserve a rental car before coming to Japan? If not I am afraid local rent in Japan might be difficult.

#11

Kyle: I agree with you. Leaving Tokyo around the 29th will probably be a better idea.

Kyoko: I’ve understood it’s really busy during that time of year, golden week is crazy!

Renting a caravan, which will fit 10 people, one way (from the 29th of April to the 6th of May) will cost about 184 USD/person (not including fuel). A one-way trip with train costs aproximately 180 USD.

A 7 seat car costs 213 USD/person (no fuel included).

So if we are 10 people, travelling together the price for the trip would be pretty much the same as going with the train. And so much more fun! :slight_smile:

Kyoko: Do you know any good place to rent a car? I’ve just looked it up at: http://www.rentalcars.com/

Or does anyone else have any ideas?

#12

Hey guys, I would love to road trip with you, but I just don’t know if I’ll be able to take those middle of the week days off. The Golden Week holiday schedule this year is just not the most convenient: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2282.html

Worst case scenario, though, I just train it up by myself from Tokyo to Hirosaki Thursday night and meet you guys wherever we’re staying. Since the group performances are on Saturday, that should still give me at least a day to practice together with you guys.

I’ll probably have to go back to work on Tuesday the 7th, but it looks like that wouldn’t interfere with the rest of the proposed schedule. If anyone’s coming back to Tokyo after that, I’d love to continue the hanging out and exploring, although I’d have to work it around my work hours.

#13

Okay bros, I hate to do this, but I’ve been thinking (which I hate to do as well).

When I think about having a road trip on the biggest holiday in Japan, I see the best/worst case scenario being…

Best case, we somehow avoid traffic, see some sights and arrive on time.

Worst case, we’re late. Really late.

For myself, Team Bachido @ Hirosaki is my #1 priority and responsibility. It’s Nitta san’s and my duty to you all to make it follow through as best as possible, and as enjoyably for everyone as possible. So obviously, that’s my main concern and focus.

So, in having a road trip on the biggest holiday, rather than thinking “what’s the best thing that could happen?”, I must think “what’s the worst thing could happen?” And then consider, is it worth it?

If it’s worth it for you (whoever’s reading), then by all means, do what feels right.
For me, because this is very, very important, from a gut level I feel the risk is not worth it.

For bonding, I do think the road trip is a great idea, and something worth doing, so here is a thought. What about having the road trip after the taikai? The big responsibility is out of the way, there’s no deadlines and we can just relax and visit without worrying about a timetable?

#14

What about having the road trip after the taikai?

Hmm, if you did that, perhaps those who will still be in Japan then could all go to Oiwake on May 8 or 9 {wink to Kyle…}

#15

This is definitely worth looking into and is a valid concern.

I think the Bachido members living in Japan should ask around and see what their friends and family think about the timing/logistics of the road trip.

All of the worries are pure speculation since we live outside of Japan. And if you’ve ever gone anywhere in the US that is more than a 6 hour drive (for instance, from Santa Cruz to Canada), leaving a day early (giving yourself an effective 24 hours to arrive at your destination), is a sure fire way to arrive where you want to be.
At worst, traffic, even on the busiest days, even in LA, is never enough to delay a trip more than 3 -4 hours.

On the open highways cars move. The traffic will be near the cities and sightseeing destinations.
However, the destinations that Anne has pointed out are definitely not hotspots and are more of just a convenient place to stop and stay along the way.

Either way it’s going to work out fine, and all we really need is a decision either way. If we need to leave earlier on the roadtrip, then we leave earlier.

So yeah, if you live in Tokyo or in Japan, please inquire about traffic conditions and let your friends know of our idea. I always do the same thing here in California when I plan on traveling somewhere. Assuming it’s going to go well, or assuming it’s going to go poorly; both are uninformed decisions that we can’t afford to make.

#16

Also, I do really like the idea of having a little road trip after as well. Maybe up to Sapporo, or around Aomori-ken? We’ve done it before and it’s always a lot of fun.

#17

Yes, road trip starting after Taikai seems to be safe and comfortable.Especially on May 7and afterwards, people starts to get back to work and hotspots are not crowded.
I am not the good one to give advise about traveling in Japan, but let me ask some friends and oh, I have a friend who works for a major travelers agency. He might possibly be a help. Let me see what he knows.

#18

Grant: You may a good point. I also forgot that we’re able to drive at night. I doubt there would be much traffic at night, so we can make up the difference that way.

My mind is more at ease than it was this morning.
But here is the next question. Is it guaranteed that we can rent a car at that time? If that falls through, chances of getting tickets for other transportation might be tenuous (day before GW and I’m sure people reserve tickets)

I’m glad you like the idea of a post-taikai road trip. :slight_smile: Even if we can rule out most issues for a Tokyo>Hirosaki route, post-taikai is ultimate because there are no worries at all. :slight_smile:

And for the all-around non-road trip schedule, I got a message from Nitta san a few minutes ago.

1日は三沢にみんな泊まった方がいいと思います
2日に三沢で撥どう合同練習会と、撥どうパーティをしましょう
3日に三沢を出発して、弘前へ向かいます

May 1st: We will all meet and stay in Misawa
May 2nd: In Misawa, we will have a group practice, and then a Bachido party.
May 3rd: We depart Misawa to Hirosaki.

So I say, how about we all fly in to Misawa on the 30th or 1st? Then, arriving at the destination is totally confirmed and nothing to worry about. Afterwards, we putter around Aomori and maybe see some places like the forest where Chikuzan played and such? Nitta san is also in favor of a post-taikai trip. Who knows, he may even join in! :slight_smile:

#19

I say go for the after-taikai road trip!
If you don’t want to fly in there’s also trains going from Tokyo up to Misawa. It’s really easy to get there from Ueno station.
So we can go up as a group on the 30th, we just decide a time when to meet up and we then buy the ticket for the train at the station.
Even if the seats are filled up your allowed to go on the train. Approximated cost 15 900 Yen one-way.

We meet up in Misawa and there we rent a car or two to get around. My suggestion is that we make reservations already, since it’s a buys weekend. (I looked up the rental cars from Tokyo and they were already sparse.)
After the taikai we travel around the area with our cars for as long as we feel like and then return them and take the train back. Might be cheapest to buy a JR travel pass, but I’m not sure.

So, new plan:
29th Gathering in Yoyogi koen for everyone who wants to. We shamichock everyone and then go for a good dinner together. And maybe a beer or two.

30th we all meet up in Ueno station and take the train up to Misawa.

1st-5th See Kyles post above.

5th-7th/8th? Running around in the areas around Aomori, producing new epic shamisen pieces, silly movies and relax. Maybe a onsen visit or two?

How’s that!?

Links: http://www.hyperdia.com/en/
Map over the area: https://maps.google.se/maps/ms?msid=213895056288552861940.0004d3ff4078a6b0b2aaa&msa=0&ll=40.711935,140.91662&spn=0.474674,1.056747

#20

30th we all meet up in Ueno station and take the train up to Misawa.

What if it’s not possible to get a train reservation to go to Misawa on the 30th? (I have no idea whether it would be or not, but something I’d have to wonder)

© 2020 Kyle Abbott