Avoiding Shinkansen

[hydkarthik]

Hello,

I am planning to travel from a Tokyo suburb to either Kyoto or Hiroshima over the weekend. I plan to start from Tokyo on Friday night and plan to reach Hiroshima or Kyoto by the next morning. I donot want to use the Night Sunrise Seto, nor i am willing to travel by the Shinkansen. Is there a way i can travel using the local trains.

 

[katoftw]

Nope. Most services dont run between midnight and 5 am.

[railsquid]

There is the "Moonlight Nagara" service which is usable with the normal fare and a seat reservation fee, but AFAIR it only runs during the Seishun 18 Kippu season  (i.e. not this weekend), and seats sell out quickly.

 

The cheapest overnight option will be some sort of overnight bus, of which there are plenty.

 

BTW during the daytime, it will take about 15 hours to reach Hiroshima from Tokyo by normal train.

[bikkuri bahn]

It's doable, but as railsquid says, a trip from Tokyo Station to Hiroshima will take around 15 hours, with 8 changes of trains.  Much easier in a day would be the Tokyo-Kyoto leg.  Can get up a little later in the morning, depart Tokyo Station around 9:30am, and arrive in Kyoto in time for an early dinner. Your body will thank you the following day.

[hydkarthik]

Thanks for your responses. However 

• I dont want to travel by bus or flight
• I want to start at night. and hence a full day trip is not what i am looking for
• It is okay for me if the journey is a 15hour one 
• If the trains donot run from midnight to morning, can I stay put in the last station of the day?

[miyakoji]

I don't think they'll let you stay in a station.  I tried that once after arriving on a delayed flight, I was not allowed.

[railsquid]

Nope, unless it's one of the few stations with expected passenger traffic from sleeper trains, or there are exceptional circumstances (natural catastrophe, that kind of thing), you'll be turfed out.

 

Looking at an online timetable (hey, you could do that too), you can for example leave Shinagawa at ca. 22:30, and if you're willing to spend ca. 00:30 ~ 05:00 hanging out outside Numazu station (tip: find an internet cafe), you can get to Kyoto around 11:15.