Travel Plans/December 2021 Japan Trip

Overview

• [2021-11-29 Mon] Arrival
• [2021-11-30 Tue] through [2021-12-09 Thu] 10 days)
• [2021-12-10 Tue] Freedom (in Tokyo)
• [2021-12-11 Sat] Tokyo Fly in the evening to Ishigaki
• [2021-12-11 Sat] through [2021-12-16 Thu] Stay in Ishigaki
  • [2021-12-12 Sun] through [2021-12-15 Wed] 3 days diving, maybe a dive on [2021-12-15 Wed] depending on flight
• [2021-12-16 Thu] Flying to Hokaido
• [2021-12-16 Thu] through [2021-12-22 Wed] Stay in Hokkaido
  • a. Skiing days [2021-12-17 Fri] through [2021-12-21 Tue]
• [2021-12-22 Wed] Fly back to Tokyo
• [2021-12-22 Wed] through [2022-01-06 Thu] Tokyo
  • [2022-01-04 Tue] Mako Leaves
  • [2022-01-06 Tue] Mika Leaves

Things we still need to do

things to do in the order in where they will fall in our trip:

Quarantine stay in Tokyo/Chiba:

• [DONE] reserve stay in Metroresidences through 2021-12-11
• [DONE] reserve transit to Metroresidences via car service
• [DONE] cancel the metroresidences stay and car service [mako]
• [DONE] register a new car service for trip from NRT to Kujikuri [mika]
  • They say that they'll call/text me to see how the testing is going at the airport. They plan to come a couple hours after we arrive but if the testing takes a long time, they may try to adjust the pickup time and we may need to wait for a bit.

Trip to Ishigaki:

• [DONE] send stuff to Ishigaki on Dec 5 for arrival on Dec 11.
• [DONE] book flight to Ishigaki on 2021-12-11
• [DONE] book place to stay in Ishigaki [mika]
• [DONE] book/reserve three days of diving with a local dive shop ([2021-12-12 Sun] through [2021-12-15 Wed]) [mika]

Trip to Rutsutsu:

• [TODO] send stuff to Rusutsu on Dec 10 for arrival on Dec 16.
• [DONE] book flight from ISG→CTS [mako]
• [TODO] book bus from CTS→Rutsutsu
• [DONE] reserve place in Rutsutsu [mako]
• [TODO] book bus from Rutsutsu→Sapporo
• [DONE] flight from hokkaido back to tokyo on the 22nd

End of trip in Tokyo:

• [DONE] find/reserve place to stay in Tokyo from 2021-12-22 through 2021-01-06
• [TODO] decide if there will be any other traveling?
• [TODO] decide if we're doing do we want to get a rail pass?
• [TODO] mika decides on a trip to nagasaki? when? [mika]
• [DONE] book a place at swrl in Shibuya (they book/reserve only 1 month out) [mako]

General things to keep in mind

• Try to plan no meetings on THURSDAY or FRIDAY 16-17 (or anything after that through the 22nd). Those will be in Rutsutsu.
• Important meetings:
  • Mika: Dec 9 11PM-12:30AM Japan time (Dec 9 9--10:30AM EST) - Kujukuri
  • Mika: Dec 15 10-10:30PM Japan time (Dec 15 5-5:30AM PST; 8-8:30AM EST) - Ishigaki

Details about quarantine

• Quarantine Japan with a useful calendar for counting days of quarantine
• US Embassy in Japan COVID information
• MofA Pages
  • Border enforcement measures to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19)
  • Phased Measures for Resuming Cross-Border Travel
  • PDF on shortening quarantine
  • PDF on valid test certificates for entrance
• MHLW Page about Entering Japan
• MHLW border control page
• Entering Japan Questionnaire from MHLW

Leaving to japan checklist

There's an excellent checklist with links from ANA. It contains the following things:

• [DONE] valid certificates of negative test done 3 days before, ideally in the japanese format
• [DONE] signed copies of Written Pledge
• [DONE] completed copy of Entering Japan Questionnaire from MHLW
• [DONE] install the mobile apps: MySOS (location monitoring app), Google Maps, and COCOA (English details)
  • Install MySOS
  • Install COCOA (contact tracing app)
  • You need to configure Google Maps to retain location information
• [DONE] vaccine certificate
• [DONE] valid visa for foreigners

Schedule

[2021-11-29 Mon through 2021-12-11 Sat] Quarantine in Kujikuri

We'll be staying in Kujūkuri Beach for our quarantine period.

Address

1016-5 Fujishita, Kujukuri, Sambu District, Chiba 283-0112, Japan

Lat/long

35°30'50.4"N 140°26'05.0"E

Check-in Mon, Nov 29, 2021 4

00 PM

Checkout

Sat, Dec 11, 2021 11:00 AM

Nearest supermarket

????

Bike rental

RideTown bike rental in Kujikuri (bad English version of website)

2021-11-29

• arrival day
• order food
• get SIMs

2021-12-03

• order JAL testing kit [DONE]

2021-12-06

• Send the dive gear to the dive shop.

2021-12-09

• send the PCR kit at 9AM
• Mika teaches at 11PM-12:30AM

2021-12-10

• Send skis to Rusutsu Lodges.
• buy bus tickets to haneda from oami

2021-12-11

• The MF board meeting @7:00-9:00AM JST, Saturday December 11, 2021 (Mika)
• Walked to Magame bus stop (20 minutes) and take a local bus at 9:30AM towards Oami station (35 minutes).
• Take a big bus from Oami station at 11 to Haneda (~2 hours). Arrived around 12:45PM.
• Flight at 2:15PM.

COVID Test on 10th day

This is Official list of places (bilingual search) from MHLW

The closest physical place is Chosei Clinic, 2777 Honno, Mobara, Chiba 299-4192, Japan. There are details on their test here (it seems to cost ¥20,000) but will be done as you wait. To do this, we would likely need to get bikes and/or run 20k one way and probably walk most of the way back.

The alternative is to do one a the mail-in test which should be quick but might mean that we are stuck for an extra day (and very likely for at least part of the day until we get our result). These can extremely cheap (¥3,000, plus shipping):

• https://covid-kensa.com/

[2021-12-11 Sat] through [2021-12-16 Thu] Stay in Ishigaki

Transportation

• Kujukuri (九十九里） to Haneda（羽田）:
  • We need to take a local bus to Oami, or other stations that have express shuttles to Haneda.
  • Kujukuri (~35 minutes on a local bus) -> Oami -> Haneda (~2 hours) = 2.5 hours or so.
  • Sunrise Kujukuri bus stop: 9:35AM on Saturday.
  • Oami to Haneda leaving at 11AM arriving at 1PM. Maybe too tight?
  • Map of local buses near Kujukuri.

• • Option 1: Take a taxi from Kujukuri to Togane station (arrive by 9:05AM); take a train from Togane (9:12) to Soga (9:39AM); take the airport shuttle from Soga (9:50) to Haneda (11:55).

Dive Shops:

• Heat Heart Club
• https://www.primescuba-isg.com/ - Big International outfit with a bunch of foreigners and a 60ft boat that fits 30 people. great blog of stuff (seems like they see awesome stuff every day!)

2021-12-11

• Arrival.

2021-12-15

• Mika's meeting with the chair at 7-7:30PM JST (8-8:30AM EST).

2021-12-16

• Charlie's general exams @ 2:00:00 am JST, Wednesday, December 15, 2021
• Special faculty meeting @ 8:30:00 am JST, Thursday, December 16, 2021

[2021-12-16 Thu] through [2021-12-22 Wed] Stay in Rutsutsu

Skiing days [2021-12-17 Fri] through [2021-12-21 Tue]

Flight in

Arrive on JL 521 arriving at 5:05pm

Staying

Rusutsu Lodges Pension Lilla Huset, Cancellation by November 15, Near the Westin (reserved through booking.com/details in Tripit), 144 Izumikawa, Rusutsu-mura, Abuta-gun, Hokkaidō 048-1711, Tel: +81 (0)136-46-3676, Mail: contact@rusutsulodges.com

Options for bus travel:

• Powderhounds seems to rebrand the Hokkaido Resort Liner bus and has a bus at 18:15 from CTS Domestic to Rutsutsu that should work [reservation link]
• Overview article on bus transfer from LiveJapan
• Other options seem to be Chuo Bus, Donan bus, BigRuns (only for resort folks?), and Niseko ski bus (that stops at Rutsutsu along the way)

Alternate options

Option #2

Ohisama House, Ohisama House ($143/night), 32-18 Izumikawa, Rusutsu, Abuta District, Hokkaido 048-1711

Things to do

ルスツ温泉 (Onsen)

Cheap city onsen! 156-2 Rusutsu, Abuta District, Hokkaido 048-1731, Japan (about 1.5km from the place we're staying in the main part of town)

ルスツ温泉・・ことぶきの湯

Fancy resort onsen! 13 Izumikawa, Rusutsu, Abuta District, Hokkaido 048-1711, Japan

[2021-12-22 Wed] through [2022-01-06 Thu] Tokyo

Activities

• Kabuki goes until 12/26th and then starts on 1/2

Food

Lists of places to eat:

• Timeout's list
• Savor Japan's top 20
• Matcha-JP's top 18
• Metropolis Japan's top 10
• JW Magazine's list

Some specific places:

• Tokyo Shiba Tofuya Ukai - Very Fancy tofu restaurant with a veggie set menu (for now. very expensive and I don't see the vegetarian set menu)
• [*] Vegetarian Butcher in Ikebukero (reservations on the 5th or later?)
• Saido - vegan restaurant with kabayaki, set meals, in Meguro. (reservations 6-7th for lunch or dinner)
• Ise Sueyoshi - Vegan kaiseki near Roppongi Hills No vegan menu.
• Ain Soph. - Vegan places right next to the kabuki-za
• Izakaya Masaka - veggie karaage Great!
• Jikasei Mensho - vegan dandanmen Great!
• Chipoon - yuba burger
• Superiority burger Great!
• Ciliegio Ristorante Caffè - Five course vegan meal appears to no longer have the vegan menu!
• Daigo - 2 michelin-starred shojin ryori place
• Sougo - fancy vegan shojin ryori place
• Itasoba Kaoriya - Closed until 1/6
• T's Resaurant — opens on the 4th

2022

2022-01-05

• Send bags to Narita via JAL
• Send Mika's boxes to Seattle

2022-01-06

• Move to the next hotel.

2022-01-09

• Flight to JFK at 11AM

Drinks

Lists of places to drink:

• Punch's Best Craft Cocktail Bars in Tokyo

I'm in particularly interested in:

• SG Club Vosted best bar in Japan the last two years, need [Reservations] (open after the the 7th)
• Bar Kamiya — Low brow but interesting sounding (open after the 2nd)
• Ben Fiddich — Fancy and wonderful. Handground spices. Homemade Campari and Chartreuese
• Radio Bar — Classic folks with bartenders in tuxes
• Low-Non-Bar
• OPEN BOOK — chuhigh bar and library
• BrewDog in Roppongi
• Drinks at swrl @ 9pm (see email + calendar)

Departures:

• [2022-01-09 Sun] Mako and Mika Leave

Things to schedule/plan

• Go to swrl in Shibuya (they book/reserve only 1 month out)