INFORMATION FILE FOR YOHKOH JAPAN VISITORS (Piet Martens, V5; 7/25/92) (Hugh Hudson, V7; 1-apr-97) 0. TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. ISAS Telephone 2. ISAS Mailing Address 3. Arriving at Narita A) Immigration B) Luggage Collection C) Customs D) Money Exchange 4. Transportation to ISAS A) Luggage Transportation Service B) NEX Express C) NEX Narita-Yokohama (VV) Timetable D) Yokohama Station to Fuchinobe E) Fuchinobe to ISAS 5. ISAS Bus Schedule 6. Money exchange. Bank. 7. Return A) Flight confirmation B) Return to Narita C) Train tickets D) Luggage transportation service 1. ISAS TELEPHONE: COMMUNAL OFFICE PHONE: int. access + 81 (country code Japan) + 427-69-4531 " " " + FAX: " " " + + 427-69-4532 These numbers reach data-analysis persons at ISAS, including regulars such as Khan, Hudson, Savy, and Sterling among the English speakers. Ogawara's FAX number: " " " + + 427-59-4253 ISAS general number: (0)427-51-3911 This reaches an operator who can relay the call or search for the party named. Extensions from ISAS general number: Prof. Yoshiaki Ogawara: " " " + ext: 2609 e-mail ogawara@astro.isas.ac.jp Iwata san (secretary, speaks English, same number) e-mail iwata@astro.isas.ac.jp West Room D-toh (where ISASS0,1 are located) ext: 3492 East Room D-toh (where ISASS2,6 are located) ext: 3494 B-toh operations room ext: 2077 This is where the "tohbans" toil. 2. ISAS MAILING ADDRESS: c/o Prof. Yoshiaki Ogawara Institute of Space and Astronautical Science Yoshinodai 3-1-1, Sagamihara-shi Kanagawa Prefecture 229 JAPAN Make sure to include Ogawara's name! 3. ARRIVING AT NARITA: A) Immigration: different lines for Japanese and foreigners, have your immigration form filled out. No visa needed for less than 90 days stay. See VISA section for longer stays. B) Luggage Collection: After immigration go down the stairs and pick up a luggage cart immediately to the right, if needed. Signs for collection belts are in English. You can keep your cart all the way to the railway station. The carts are able to travel up and down the escalators to the station, which is one level down from the arrival hall. C) Customs: In the next hall, show passport again. Only rarely must one open a suitcase. D) Money Exchange: Small counter directly after customs, in the SAME hall. Takes cash, Travellers Checks, and major credit cards (check). Rates are as good as anywhere else. It is advisable to exchange a fairly large amount of money as credit cards are not widely accepted. It is generally safe to carry large amounts of cash in Japan. 4. TRANSPORTATION TO ISAS: A) Luggage Transportation Service: After leaving customs hall one enters a hall with several desks: one Information Desk for English speakers, and others for Luggage Transportation, one with a big sign "ABC", and something like "baggage service". You need the ISAS address written out (like under MAIL), English is OK, Japanese (like from an ISAS return address) is better. Again include c/o Prof. Yoshiaki Ogawara, and his telephone number, so the guards know whom to contact when the luggage arrives at the gate. Cost is about $16 per bag. Delivery takes about 24 hours, so be sure to handcarry immediate necessities. Neverthelesss this service is recommended, because it is really cumbersome to ride the trains and subway with a lot of luggage. Upon return to the airport, the same service is available and can be requested by a Japanese speaker at ISAS. The call must be made two days before flight departure, the pickup one day before. B) NARITA EXPRESS TRAIN (NEX). From the arrival hall go directly down the stairs near the information booth. The luggage card goes on the rolling stairs, a wonder of ingenuity. Down in the station directly to the left is a ticket office. Get a ticket to YOKOHAMA with the NEX, 6400 yen first ("green car") or 4100 yen second class. Free beer, coffee, and tea in the green car have been discontinued, so make sure you buy refreshments at the platform Kiosk. There is a dispensing machine on board. Trains leave about every hour, and seats are reserved. If all seats are sold, you may be issued a standing room ticket. There are no-smoking cars. This train may stop once or twice on the way, in Tokyo station and usually Shinagawa. The ride is smooth and comfortable and takes less than two hours, a good time to nap. The NEX service to Shinagawa started in Jan. 1995. The Shinagawa Prince hotel at the station has rooms with spectacular views for 13000 yen for those who want to lay over in Tokyo inbound or outbound. TIP: pick up a handy free booklet in English inside the NEX train, which details the NEX schedule and route, and gives a map with English annotations of the Tokyo subway system, and the Tokyo/Yokohama rail system. C) NEX NARITA-YOKOHAMA (vv) TIMETABLE (epoch 1-Feb-1995) Dep. Narita - Arr. Yokohama Dep. Yokohama - Arr. Narita 8:13 - 9:57 6:25 - 7:59 9:13 - 10:47 7:26 - 8:58 9:43 - 11:19 8:26 - 9:56 10:13 - 11:44 9:30 - 10:59 11:13 - 12:45 10:30 - 11:59 12:13 - 13:42 11:30 - 12:59 13:13 - 14:51 12:30 - 13:57 14:43 - 16:13 13:00 - 14:27 15:43 - 17:14 13:30 - 14:56 16:43 - 18:18 14:00 - 15:27 17:43 - 19:14 14:30 - 15:58 18:43 - 20:23 15:00 - 16:28 19:15 - 20:47 15:30 - 16:57 19:46 - 21:22 16:31 - 17:54 20:43 - 22:17 17:32 - 18:57 21:43 - 23:18 18:32 - 20:01 19:30 - 21:13 (If any user of these notes detects a timetable change, please pick up a timetable card and deliver it to somebody who can edit this file). D) ALTERNATIVE METHOD TO TRAVEL TO YOKOHAMA (Rapid Express train) An alternative to the NEX is the rapid express train. This leaves about once an hour from the plaform opposite where the NEX departs. It is a regular train, so it makes many stops and the seats are not as comfortable. The journey time to Yokohama is about 30 minutes more than the equivalent NEX trip, and the price is much less. If you decide to travel this way, you can buy a ticket from the machine or from the ticket counter. This train arrives at Yokohama on the same platform as the NEX, so all subsequent instructions will apply if decide to use this method to travel to Yokohama. There are other and still cheaper routes starting with the KEISEI railway line from the station in Narita airport. These may involve interesting visits around to crowded stations, such as Ueno and Shinjuku. Still other routes involve the airport limousine bus. E) YOKOHAMA STATION TO FUCHINOBE. When you exit the NEX train, go downstairs, then up to track 4. KEEP your NEX ticket. Now there are three possibilities: 1) If a BLUE train arrives at track 4, take it ONE stop to Higashi Kanagawa. Then transfer to track 3 to get on the Japan Rail (JR) Yokohama line (SILVER train with a green strip) to Fuchinobe. Fuchinobe is the 12th stop from Higashi Kanagawa. Station names are indicated at least once per station in English, about in the middle of the station. You have to bend down to read it if you are standing in the train. If the characters in the "destination window" (on the side of each car near the end) are RED, you are in the EXPRESS TRAIN. (Of course you will also notice from skipping stations that you are on the express train), which does not stop in Fuchinobe. In that case get off in Machida (10th station), go to the opposite track for the local train, and continue two stops to Fuchinobe. 2) If a SILVER train with green strip arrives (which does not happen often) you are on the JR Yokohama line right away. The destination you want is usually listed as Hachioji (if in doubt, ask for that). Fuchinobe is the 13th stop from Yokohama. Same proviso with respect to express train as above. F) FUCHINOBE STATION TO ISAS. On exiting, surrender your NEX ticket at the ticket barrier and pay Y 310 supplement (for the Yokohama - Fuchinobe part; this is a reduced rate for NEX travellers). Now go LEFT. At the bottom of the stairs the taxi stand is to the right. Say "u-chuu-ken" ("uu" like in "rule") to request ISAS. Fare is 540 Y, (some cabs, and some days, more) and the ride takes only 5 minutes. G) Get out the taxi at the gate. If you arrive at night and you have a reservation at the lodge there will be a doorkey waiting for you in the guards office at the gate. In daytime, you may have to ask the guard to call Prof. Ogawara's office for help (ext. 2609). The Yohkoh data analysis rooms are at extensions 3494 and 3492. H) The lodge building is the first to the left after you enter the main gate. There is a campus map showing the location of A-toh (administration; Ogawara's office on 6th floor) and D-toh (Yohkoh). 5. ISAS BUS SCHEDULE: Free transportation to and from Fuchinobe railway station. Bus stops in front of the main building at ISAS, and in front at the central area just beyond the municipal bus stops. It waits briefly (up to ten minutes, depending on traffic) at the station and departs at the indicated times, while just loading and unloading at ISAS, and departing right after. In the evening it is the other way around. The trip takes no more than 5 minutes. Schedule for departures: ISAS (evening) FUCHINOBE (morning) 17:10 8:15 17:35 8:35 18:00 8:55 18:30 9:20 18:55 9:40 19:25 9:55 19:50 6. MONEY EXCHANGE/ BANK A branch office of the YOKOHAMA BANK is located on the north-east side of Fuchinobe railway station (opposite side from ISAS), right accross the plaza, a large corner building with blue blinds. Cash and Travellers Checks can be exchanged at the counter that has a sign MONEY EXCHANGE. A passport is needed to exchange travellers checks. A second branch of the YOKOHAMA BANK is located in the Machida railway station, 1 level down from the station hall, on the east side. This bank provides cash advances on Visa cards - stop at the first window to get a wait-list number. In Tokyo, the SUMITOMO bank provides the same service. 7. RETURN TO THE US A) FLIGHT CONFIRMATION: It is absolutely necessary to confirm the return flight at least 72 hours in advance. The United confirmation telephone # is: 03 (Tokyo City Code, only outside Tokyo) -3817-4411. Your respondent will speak English. Be prepared to leave a telephone number for changes in flight schedule, etc. See your ticket for other airline numbers. B) RETURN TO NARITA: Route is the reverse of the arrival route -- Fuchinobe to Yokohama on the green line, change to track 10 for the NEX express, to Narita. Your car # is indicated on the pavement and on your ticket: your car will stop there exactly! On the Yokohama line, there are again two types of train that stop at Fuchinobe. One (about one per hour) go through to the Yokohama Station. The others stop at Higashi-Kanagawa, and one must transfer to the blue train for one more stop (same direction) to get to Yokohama. C) TRAIN TICKETS: A ticket all the way from Fuchinobe to Narita can be bought up to a month in advance at Fuchinobe railway station. Advance buying is advisable to secure a reservation on the sometimes fully booked NEX train. It is helpful to write your request out in English, since the attendant probably does not speak English very well. Example: Fuchinobe - Narita, 7/3/1992, Dep. Yokohama 12:28. Allow one hour at least for the part Fuchinobe - Yokohama, more if you want to be safe. There is a good Soba restaurant INSIDE the Yokohama station (at the bottom of the stairs to track 10) for if you have some time to spare. D) BAGGAGE DELIVERY: the same services ("ABC" is one) are available and can be requested by a phone call from ISAS. The call must be made two days before flight departure, the pickup one day before. The pickup can be made at the front gate of ISAS (the guards will hold the bags for the pickup) or from the coffee room in the data analysis area (building D). The ABC computer knows these locations.