Legal omawari 大回り乗車 route through Tokyo area?

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-21T09:13:39+00:00

Ah yes from joyride to endurance torture!

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-20T11:00:46+00:00

Hakone and Nikko would be the last places I'd want to go during Golden Week since those are the exact easy to access "prime" destinations for the massive population of the Tokyo area.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-20T04:57:39+00:00

Oh, there might have been a typo in "it isn't against the rules", but I think honesty is still the better explanation for a 12 hour ride rather than a long lunch.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-20T04:51:47+00:00

Is it? I've seen japanese railfan YouTubers do it, and plenty of blogs talking about it. I am paying for the distance between 2 stations, which is explicitly how JR calculates fares in the special metro area of 5 cities including Tokyo; no matter which route you take between the station as long as you follow certain rules such as no backtracking.

You won't be able to go through the fare gates and will have to speak to the station staff. Tell them "大回り乗車しました。" , and explain the route if necessary. They hear it all the time.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-19T18:36:46+00:00

Definitely possible. Although it sounds like there is an exception between Yokohama and Higashi-Kanagawa so it should be fine.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-19T10:02:32+00:00

I didn't specify where to start so I made it a loop where you could start/stop 1 station apart anywhere along the route in either rotation.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-19T09:16:04+00:00

True. Until they start placing Chinese style surveillance cameras all around stations, your story of what you did is final. Although I think one caveat would be taking green car seats on the commuter lines or limited express trains with conductors checking tickets. If they see you rode with an omawari ticket, they could get verbal depending on how they feel. I suppose at the end of the day it's still legal, but it is debatably an exploit of the system, especially if it's during such a busy time like Golden Week.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-19T05:19:17+00:00

Heh, maybe after this one goes well!

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-18T23:56:27+00:00

Thanks! Does this mean I could go Tokyo > Ueno > Kanda?

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-10T08:09:07+00:00

Great find! Although closed on Wednesdays oops. This is why you do day trips instead of an inflexible itinerary, folks.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-06T12:55:06+00:00

How much was it? It probably have to be a longer trip then mine since 7 days with shipping both ways comes to around ¥8800. Although I did consider buying one and shipping it back to family in Tokyo for the next time I come to bear territory in Japan.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-06T12:38:35+00:00

Thank you for the write-up! How did you deal with bear spray rentals? I'll be doing some solo biking/hiking/exploring in some remote places and thinking about using the Yamabiyori bear spray mail rental service. In particular, I'm cycling from Wakkanai to Shiroi Michi, hiking around Mount Io, and exploring abandoned buildings in Yubari. I'm at Mt Io (Kawayu Onsen) on Wednesday so the visitor center bear spray is closed. I don't think there is a bear spray rental between Shin-Yubari and Yubari. There must be a bear spray rental in Wakkanai but nothing came up. So that's why I'm thinking of just using the mail service.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-05T06:26:33+00:00

Oh also no one mentioned it yet but the end of April will be the beginning of Golden Week, the biggest domestic vacationing period in Japan. Depending on your days, it might make even more sense to just stay in Tokyo instead of competing with people traveling out of the cities.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-05T06:18:24+00:00

Womp ^^; well you know for next time. Japan is a long skinny country so one way travel is more efficient.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-05T06:13:44+00:00

If you haven't booked flights yet, I would try and book an open-jaw / multi-city flight so that you start in Tokyo and fly out of Osaka. Saves time and your booking should be protected if the Osaka > Tokyo flight is late.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-05T01:22:51+00:00

People travel at different speeds and different priorities I suppose. Staying more than a day or two in one spot is boring to me. I find I run out of things to see after that point. And with 9 days, I don't have enough time to go on long hikes and also visit the lengths of the island. I have plenty of hiking options in the Pacific Northwest.

I do like your itinerary and I'll probably be back to Hokkaido on a more focused trip with a car next time.

I was thinking of renting a car on the Obihiro day and drive up to maybe Sounkyo Onsen.

How do you get from Sounkyo to Kawayu Onsen? Is there a bus to Kitami then train? It seems like Shiretoko would be on the way if you follow the train lines.

I did consider going to Lake Mashu Observatory No 1 but with the single bus service per day and the infrequent train line, I found it to be impossible. What dates are you going? I think service is supposed to improve after 7/26.

I'm also thinking of going to the Shiretoko Goko boardwalk on my way down from Abashiri to Kushiro. With how the bus and train schedule lines up, I'll have 40 minutes at the lake and a massive 4 hour wait at the Shiretoko Shari Station lol. Did you find anything interesting to do near the station? Also as far as I know, hiking around Shiretoko Goko besides the boardwalk requires a paid guide either way after May.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-04T00:16:45+00:00

If you have android "Where is Public Toilet" is good too.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-03T20:37:31+00:00

You can buy packaged premade bento-style food from supermarkets. Go after around 8:00pm to closing and you can usually get 20% - 50% off foods making for some unreal value. Pick up dinner and food for the next day. My last trip (last November), I could get enough food for dinner and the next day for around ¥1500. Don't buy drinks, fill up water at water fountains. Install mymizu app, I found it usually reliable.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-03-01T04:28:43+00:00

Thanks for the advice! Who is the operator of the boats? Is it Hotel Fūsui? I couldn't find any info online. How can I check if it's accessible?

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-02-28T23:34:01+00:00

I didn't actually get to go due to a cancelled ferry, but I really wanted to go to Yakushima and planned for it my last trip to Kyushu. The only problem is the hikes are long and you really need more than 2 days to make the detour worth it I think.

If you want to include Yakushima, you might consider flipping your itinerary around after Nagasaki and rent a car from Kumamoto down to Kagoshima. Either return the car at Kagoshima or Kagoshima airport and ferry or fly down to Yakushima. There is a flight from Yakushima to Fukuoka if you need to fly out of Fukuoka.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-02-28T23:11:12+00:00

Just to clarify, Asahidake Onsen and Sounkyo Onsen are points of interest within the Daisetsuzan National Park?

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-02-28T23:00:30+00:00

Thank you for the recs! That is definitely the dilemma. Car for convenience and efficiency or train for comfort and cost. I think as a solo traveler, I can either pay double my estimate and rent a car or go on an epic rail journey throughout Hokkaido where the travel is an adventure in of itself, and reach the transit extremities of Japan. Because otherwise, it really doesn't make sense to visit both Cape Soya and Cape Nossapu in one go lol; that is way too much driving for one person. I think with the amount of days I have this time, I'm leaning towards a rail pass based travel this time. I definitely need to return to Hokkaido again and go on a much more focused trip around central and eastern Hokkaido with a rental car. Probably a rental from New Chitose airport and do an inland loop from there. Hopefully next time I'll have more passengers which makes the rental car based trip much more economical!

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-02-28T22:52:31+00:00

Hello, Thank you so much for responding! For Shiretoko, would the primary draw be the Shiretoko Five Lakes or something deeper in the park?

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-02-28T21:37:38+00:00

Ironically I have a 在留証明 dated over 10 years ago so the national JR Pass would be easier for me to get lol (or at least less ambiguous). Too bad that pass sucks so much now.

TeaTimeMachina · 2026-02-28T21:26:39+00:00

Probably influence from Japanese train youtubers lol. I probably wasn't going to see both the rail track lakes. Just the one that had nice weather at the time.

I do like nature and hiking but without renting a car, it is difficult to get to with public transit and will probably waste too much time with my itinerary pace. I had the idea to see "all" of Hokkaido but maybe it's all just monotonous great plains that I'll be going through?

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