Sunday, July 14, 2013

Hokkaido Winter 2013 北海道冬季之旅 - Obihiro JR Station 帯広駅, Hokkaido Rail Pass


Obihiro JR Station (K31), on Nemuro main line.
Super Tokachi, limited express train serves between Sapporo and Obihiro.

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Hokkaido Rail Pass
http://www2.jrhokkaido.co.jp/global/english/railpass/index.html


Where to purchase? 
Hokkaido Rail Passes can be purchased from major train stations - New Chitose Airport, Noboribetsu, Abashiri and Twinkle Plaza in Sapporo, Hakodate, Asahikawa, Abashiri, Kushiro and Obihiro. As this pass is exclusive to foreigners only, you will be asked to show your passport prior purchase.

Tips:
- With a holiday itinerary in hand, refer to useful websites from JR Hokkaido and Hyperdia to find out the fares required for each train journey. Calculate the total train fares accummulated for the entire trip.
JR Hokkaido: http://www2.jrhokkaido.co.jp/global/index.html
Hyperdia: http://www.hyperdia.com
- Choose from a range of rail passes available (3 days, 5 days, 7 days or flexible 4 days out of a travel period of 10 days) that can derive the maximum savings.
- Do note that you do not need to fork out additional money for reserved seats with this rail pass. And to get a reserved seat, show your rail pass to the ticket purchase/information counters and obtain a separate reserved seat ticket for the train ride.

My sums:
Chose the flexible 4 days rail pass which cost 19,500 yen.
Day 2: Obihiro > Kushiro, by Super Ozora; 2,420 + 2,260 (reserved seat) = 4,680 yen
Day 5: Abashiri > Kamikawa, by Ryuhyo Express Okhotsk no kaze; 3,880 + 2,810 (reserved seat) = 6,690 yen
Day 7: Asahikawa > Sapporo, by Asahiyama Zoo Train; 4,880 yen
Day 10: Sapporo > Hakodate, by Hokuto train; 5,560 + 3,030 (reserved seat) = 8,590 yen 

Total cost without pass usage = 23,040 yen
Savings = 3,540 yen (~15% discount)

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- Work of art on the north exit of Obihiro JR Station -
What's nearby?
(1) Hotels
A good selection of hotels conveniently located around the train station. Popular hotel chains such as Dormy Inn, Comfort Hotel, Toyoko Inn, Richmond Hotel and Hotel Route Inn have set up branches in Obihiro. JR Company also operates a hotel - JR Inn, which can be found just beside the train station. Did not stay in Obihiro overnight during this trip.

(2) Shopping malls
ESTA: Managed by JR company, this departmental store is located within the train station itself. Divided into two wings, East and West.
- Obihiro Tourist Information Centre is located on 2nd floor of East Wing, a place where you can grab brochures/gather information of nearby tourist attractions. There is a Can Do 100 yen shop (equivalent of Daiso) on the 1st floor too.
- Tokachi Shogu Monogatari, located on the 1st floor of West Wing, a food hall selling specialties of Tokachi subprefecture. You can find the famous Obihiro buta-don, sweets and confectionary from Rokkatei (which originates from Obihiro), agricultural products and etc here.

- Fujimaru and Nakasakiya -
Fujimaru (藤丸) [Permanently closed in Jan 2023]: located about 10 mins walk from north exit of train station. Established in Obihiro, Fujimaru has all the conventional features of a departmental shopping complex, except that it is slightly smaller in scale. What attracted me to this place was Tokyu Hands Truck Market located on its 6th floor. Those who have been to Japan should be quite familiar with Tokyu Hands, a shop that sells novel and innovative lifestyle goods and merchandise. Currently in Hokkaido, there is only one official branch in Sapporo. Understand that this truck market is only held for a limited period of time - opened since Sep 2012 and was supposed to close in May this year, but it looked like they have further extended their operation due to overwhelming response. Selection of goods may not be as extensive as what you get in their official branches, but it was still a pleasure to see some of the out-of-the-box ideas in store.
No closing date for this truck market has been announced yet, so do check out their website for the latest updates.
Fujimaru: http://fujimaru.co.jp/
Tokyo Hands Truck Market (Obihiro): http://www.hands-truck.com/shop/obihiro/

大きな地図で見る

Nagasakiya (长崎屋) [Permanently closed in Jul 2023]: did not get to visit this other shopping mall, located just outside the south exit of train station. From what I know, there is a Daiso outlet housed in this shopping mall. 
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4 comments:

  1. UnknownJanuary 4, 2014 at 5:58 AM

    Hi, just want to confirm if we can use the JR pass for the Asahiyama Zoo Train without any additional cost?

    B

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hsuchiaJanuary 4, 2014 at 8:35 AM

      Yes, you are right! Hokkaido JR Pass can be used for Asahiyama Zoo Train without additional fee.

      Delete
  2. Ow~January 5, 2015 at 3:49 PM

    hi, my first time to Hokkaido next month and I will be reaching kushiro on my first day and plan to get the 4 day flexi pass from twinkle plaza upon arrival. Can I made reservation for the twinkle buses routes up to Utoro, as well as all reserved train to cities that I will be travelling for the next few days in the Kushiro station? Or I can only make reserve train seat at the train station on the day of travelling? Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hsuchiaJanuary 8, 2015 at 2:58 AM

      Hi Ow. After purchasing the rail pass, you can start making seat reservations for limited express/sightseeing trains (which you plan to take on any 4 days) and purchase twinkle bus tickets. Hope you will enjoy your trip in Hokkaido!

      Delete

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