im currently in the early process of creating my itinerary for February 2022 and I cannot make this itinerary without including a stop at the jigokudani monkey park.
so far i know we will land in tokyo. how many days we will spend there i dont know yet but we’re planning the trip to japan for two weeks and we will be using the JR pass.
i really want to visit jigokudani and i noticed that from tokyo to the area around this monkey park will take over 3 hours to get there. im trying my best to minimize too much travel time if possible and then i came up with the idea of what if i try an overnight train/bus when ever we want to travel to locations in japan that are farther.
im still in the very early stages of planning this trip out so i have time but if anyone here has any suggestions at all please let me know.
43 comments
If you’re getting a JR pass, why bother?
If you have the JR pass, then use that. I used the overnight buses in the past and while they were much more comfortable than expected it sort of ruins the next day for you. You will arrive early in the morning at the next destination having barely slept and most likely will have to deal with all your bags until your hotel/hostel begins taking new customers.
TL;DR night buses are great if you have a lot of time and not much money. If you have money and not much time, use the shinkansen, especially if you have a JR pass
depending on the bus you get it’s quite comfy, fully reclinable well spread out, but i still didn’t sleep very well on it regardless.
at 3 hours away by driving the bus will take a bit longer and you’ll be spending your whole evening trip staring at google maps trying to figure out where you are. it will not be restful and then you’ll arrive barely alive.
access looks like shinkansen to nagano station (~1 hour using your jr pass) why dont you just go there for the evening set up shop at a hotel, wake up bright and early and keep on going it’s only a little bit further from there to get to the snow monkeys. maybe make it 2 nights and there’s things to see and do in nagano too.
3 hours isn’t that long. When does the overnight bus leave? If you take an overnight bus and it leaves at 10PM or midnight or whatever, you’ll arrive when? 1AM? 3AM? What are you are going to do for the rest of the night/morning?
Most of the time when people take an overnight bus they want to spend the whole night on the bus so they can sleep and then arrive the next morning at a normal time. So they usually drive for like 8 hours, i.e. Tokyo to Osaka. Does an overnight bus even go from Tokyo to Jigokudani?
IMO, it would be easiest to just wake up early and get on the 6AM JR train and then arrive at around 10AM, which will still give you a full day at the park (it opens from 8:30AM to 5PM).
Took a 10hr night bus from Tokyo to Fukui, which was decent and cheap + saved money on a hotel that night. I am 193cm and the seat is not made for that height. So the space for my shoulders and legs was very limited in the bus. I slept most of the trip, but I am not sure if I would do it again due to comfort. Was a student at the time, therefore there was a limited budget for my trip – so it did suit a very nice purpose at the time. I did not have a JR pass, if I did I would very much prefer the comfort of a train.
I’ve been to the monkey park on another trip, I went by car so can’t say much about the travel there. If that is the only thing you want to see in the area, I would say it is quite a journey to make for just that. I went to the monkey park as part of a Hakuba ski trip, and it was an extra treat on our rest day. If you do go to the area, make sure to check out the lovely surrounding onsen cities such as Nozawaonsen
It’s not really about saving daytime, it’s about saving on a hotel night. If you’re not on a backpackers budget, get some good sleep in a bed and get started early on the bus/train. Or take a late bus/trains and enjoy a good night in a bed afterwards.
I actually had to walk from the town closest to the bus ride up to jigokudani because they werent running that day, so it was a while of walking. Make sure the buses are running!
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It wasn’t easy for me to sleep in the bus. I only got a couple hours of sleep between Tokyo and Osaka.
I’ve done the Tokyo to Osaka overnight bus once, but probably wouldn’t do it again. I arrived tired and then had to wait for things to open.
I did the Tokyo to Izumo overnight train in a sleeper cabin. That was alright. It wasn’t the best sleep I’ve had, but it was an interesting experience.
Personally, I think traveling by rail in Japan is great. It is always something I look forward whenever I go there. For me the main reason is Ekiben there are so many different options available and many different regional varieties. 3 hours isn’t that long of a trip. Buy a Ekiben and enjoy while watching the scenery go by.
I would say one caveat is if you’re limited on time, like you’ve only got a week or less, overnight buses might be a better option. I don’t think there are many overnight trains still in operation so that might not even be an option for you.
I’ve used them a few times. They’re not super comfortable, but they work and are cheap and can save time. I guess. But bullet trains are super fast so… I only do it to save money, not really time. lol.
I’d recommend taking some sleeping pills with you if you struggle to sleep on planes or other less than comfortable places.
But for 3 – 4 hours? Uhh. Idk about that. I’ve only taken it several times from Tokyo to Osaka, which takes a lot longer and allows me to sleep through the night and wake up at my destination.
You want to minimize travel time by taking a very long bus ride? Shinkansen will get you there faster and more comfortably. I’d recommend against overnight bus.
My experience with the overnight bus is that you will get very little sleep. The PA system is used and announces every stop, roughly every 1.5 hours. You will need earplugs. People brush by you to get to the front. If you use earplugs and need to wakeup for a stop, you’ll need a vibrating alarm.
Are you really strapped for cash and can’t afford hotels? Or really short on time and need to go from A to B over night? Those are the only reasons to travel at night in Japan.
Sleeping on a bus or train isn’t fun. Checking out of your hotel at noon, waiting around 10-12 hours for a bus or train, then arriving in a new town all bleary eyed on 4 hours sleep and having to wait 6-8 hours until you can check into your hotel also isn’t fun.
You also miss the scenery.
Japanese hotels don’t really do late check out or early check in as a general rule.
I took many from Tokyo to Osaka, save some money.
Was like 9pm arrive 6am.
Superrrrrrrrrr tired. Barely can’t sleep and arrive 6am when everything is still close.
I just take train now.
How old are you and how easily can you fall asleep? If you’re young and fit and can fall asleep wherever, it might be okay. Otherwise, it’s just losing a whole day of travel because you get there exhausted and sore.
I used overnight busses when travelling with my friend a few years back. We did Tokyo to Kyoto, which was around 8 hours. Kyoto to Hiroshima which was around 5-6 hours, then Hiroshima to Osaka which was another 5-6 hours, and then Osaka back to Tokyo which was around 8 hours. Some of these timings might be incorrect because I just guessed and it’s been a while. I also used a night bus from Tokyo to Kurashiki to catch a train to Onomichi to do the Shimanami Kaido. I totally think it’s worth it and is a great way to travel, and I think some bus companies have passes like Willer Express (which I used).
JR pass allows you to ride the overnight train for free but you get the cheapest seats. Here is a video of what that experience is like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEY-CbBaSD4
The train leaves at 10PM every night. My wife and I rode it from Tokyo to Okayama for the experience and to save on one night hotel. If you opt to sleep in the free area, it’s not that comfortable. You don’t get any blankets or pillow. The floor is carpeted but fairly hard. My wife and I did not know this and had to use some of our clothes as a pillow. We did not have a good night’s rest. Unless you opt to pay more out of pocket to upgrade to a private cabin with a bed, you can expect more or less the same uncomfortable experience.
Would I do it again? No. But I did not regret doing it once to get the experience. Same thing with the Mario Kart thing lol.
I took night busses a *lot* when I lived in japan, they’re fine but I dont really recommend it unless you’re on a tight budget. (It’s like 1/3-1/4 the price of shinkansen)
a) I did a quick search and dont see any overnight busses from tokyo to nagano because theyre so close
b) it’s like a 4 hr bus ride, to nagano, but 1.5 hr by shinkansen. Even if there was a night bus there, you’d either leave at a reasonable time and get there at like 4am, or leave at 4am and get there at 8. Or you can sleep in a bit more, take the train and get there at 8 anyways (JR pass covers hokuriku shinkansen i think, so it’ll be cheaper than bus as well)
There most likely wont be anything direct from tokyo to jigokudani, so either way you’ll have to go tokyo-nagano-jigokudani fyi.
I don’t think you’ve looked at the train timetables correctly.
Fastest train from Ueno to Nagano is 76 minutes. The 6:58 train will get you there at about 8:30. Even an 8 AM train will get you there by 9:30.
There are others at 103 minutes, 92 minutes, 89 minutes, etc.
Use [hyperdia.com](https://hyperdia.com)
In general, your prime hours for “doing stuff” is basically 9-5 PM. You can usually fit in all your traveling before or after that; this is the general approach I take when I holiday in Japan (traveling early in the morning or late in the afternoon/into evening).
When it arrives will play a huge role. Usually you can’t check in til much later. I usually use the time to go to a laundromat and do my laundry. They usually leave late at night and you can’t check in til late so you’ll be really tired by the time you get to your destination. I’ve done it a bunch of times
It takes just one and a half hour on shinkansen or 4 hours on bus or conventional train to get to Nagano from Tokyo. Plus another 50 minuets on bus from Nagano station to the monkey park.
They don’t have overnight bus for the Shinjuju-Nagano route. I would strongly suggest using the Shinkansen since you are planning to get the JR pass anyway. Don’t bother with the bus.
When I was younger, no problem. But now? No way, I need a proper night sleep!
I have done the monkey park in Nagano as a day trip from Tokyo. I had a JR Pass and just took the shinkansen. You could also book a ticket on the faster trains that cost extra, which will cut down the travel time. With a standard ticket, I had the time to go to the park, then back to town to eat at a cafe and visited a few shrines in town before heading back to Tokyo. It does make for a long day, but is worth it to not drag your luggage all over the place. If you get to the park early enough there is a lovely place to eat that has a hot spring right beside the area the monkeys are hanging out, it is amazing! A side note, you may want to make sure the monkeys will be down from the mountains by February. They generally go back into the mountains in the winter and you may not be able to see them in the park area.
I haven’t tried them in Japan, but from my experience elsewhere, it depends on if you’d have trouble sleeping in one of them.
If you can sleep in those the advantages are clear, you save one hotel night, and you don’t waste time travelling, since you used all that time for sleeping, which you’d have done anyway.
I think it worths especially if you are a traveler basically skip 1 payment of hotel while traveling is great.
We took the overnight bus from Kyoto to Tokyo. The trip took 8 hours and it was comfy enough to sleep but I probably only got about 5-6 hours that night. Overall, I would not recommend. Just take the daytime train and enjoy the views, especially if you snore or are a light sleeper.
If you’re looking to take an overnight bus:
1) make sure it has a backup driver
2) sit behind the driver if you can
Logic: a bus accident on an overnight bus about a decade back where the solo driver got tired and drove into a cement barrier on the left. He was okay, the passengers on the left, not so much.
Seriously, just take the train.
We did a two week trip across Japan including Tokyo -> Kawaguchi (mt Fuji) -> Nara -> Osaka -> Kyoto -> himeji -> kobe and back home from there. It was quite a lot of travel but we always stayed at least 1 night at each stop and got up early to take the next train. Everything was done with the rail pass and never did we do any overnight stuff. I would probably do the same next time except maybe one less stop. I still recommend you try to see as much as possible since Japan is just wonderful and each prefecture/city offers something different and unique. Enjoy your trip !
Keep in mind that early checkin isn’t really a thing in Japan. If you take an overnight bus you’ll usually arrive to your destination in the early morning and spend all day sightseeing til Checkin which is usually at 3 pm. You can store your luggage in a locker at the station or may be able to store it at the hotel front desk but unless you’re willing to pay extra won’t be able to get your room key til 3. Also, most shops and sightseeing locations don’t open til 10 am (sometimes earlier but not as common) so if your overnight bus arrives at 6:30 or 7 am what will you do with this time? The bus seats are comfortable but not comfortable enough for most people to get a deep, full night’s sleep and, just as you really do fall deep asleep, the bus might pull into a rest area and wake you up. Unless you are on a really tight budget or there’s just no other way to get from point a to point b to meet your schedule I would not recommend the overnight bus. Rather, get up and take the earliest train you can to your next destination as arriving about 10 – 11 am will usually be enough time to see what you want there and then catch an evening train to your next destination if you aren’t staying overnight.
Rail travel (especially Shinkansen) in Japan is part of the experience. If you reframe it it as not a mode of transportation but, as a uniquely Japanese thing, you won’t think of it as a waste of time. Enjoying your ekiben while staring out the window is very relaxing. It’s a nice time to chill especially when much of travel to a new place includes a lot of walking. Depending on destination, you get to see some wonderful scenery as well.
If you’re using JR pass, don’t forget you’ll have to take a private rail from Nagano to Shibu onsen to/from as well. It’s a nice scenic ride.
When I went to Jigokudani in March 2020 I had to go through a local train line to reach the place so, at least by train, you can’t make a single 3h ride, you’ll have to change trains.
On the other hand the local train is kind of a scenic one with very wide windows and the ride is actually quite enjoyable.
If you’re planning to stay the night I’d advise staying in Yamanouchi machi which has 9 natural onsen baths accessible for free if you take a room in one of the numerous ryokans of the town.
It depends on your ability to rest/recover while sleeping on a bus, I did travel from Osaka to FujiQ park overnight and I slept like a baby because I was so tired from the day before even if the bus only had reclining seats, not beds.
It was worth it for me
Not the most comfortable, but way better than America’s buses, and idk, I enjoyed the experience of it, too
But that’s just me
We did this and honestly next time we’re just gonna get the JR pass. It was fine on the way from Tokyo to Kyoto because the bus was spacious and had chargers under each seat. We got into Kyoto around 6am and just left our luggage in a luggage locker at the station. It was actually nice being in the city so early because we got to enjoy the scenery and take some great photos without the crowds. When it was finally check in time, we just grabbed our luggage from the lockers and made our way to the hostel. The way back from Osaka to Tokyo was another story. Small bus and no chargers. I think the bullet train is a way better bet if you can do that.
id rather just take the train.
> is it worth it to avoid too much day transportation?
I think it’s worth a try. I did 2 night buses the first time in Japan (Tokyo to Osaka and Osaka to Fuji) and it was *fine*. Definitely not great, but it does the job. They are not super comfortable, I barely slept, but I rested well enough to be able to enjoy the next day. And it’s fairly cheap. It’s a good budget option. But not good if you like your comfort.
> over 3 hours to get there
There is no point in night bus for such a short ride. I mean, it’s not short, but you won’t fall asleep (unless you literally fall asleep on command, anywhere). Just get a morning bus.
Best bet is to overnight in Nagano city. The buses to jigokudani are not so frequent. Nagano is a beautiful city with lots to see and hotels are plentiful and inexpensive.
It depends how easily you sleep. If you can fall asleep anywhere, do it. But if not, you’ll just feel rubbish the next day.
But I don’t think it’s worth going just to the monkey park by itself, why not stay the night nearby and do something else in the area?
My husband had a lot of trouble sleeping on a night bus, and we arrived at our destination super early in the morning, hours before the city woke up. I’d only recommend using it if you’re trying to save the cost of lodging for a night.
Night buses are great if you are able to get a decent night’s rest in a chair.
But as another poster said, three hours doesn’t really warrant the use of a nightbus.
Does the shinkansen not get you reasonably close?