Train viewing from Prince Shinagawa Hotel, info needed, Thanks.

[bristolian]

I am planning my first trip to Japan for railfanning this October. I would like to stay at the Prince Shinagawa Hotel as it is easy to get to from the airport and it overlooks Shinagawa station. I was wondering if anyone knows the best tower block (I believe they have four) & the floor levels to obtain a view of the trains arriving and departing the station. Also is it still OK to be taking photographs on the station platforms in the Tokyo area, is a platform ticket needed?. Thanks for any information you can give me.          

                                                                                      Bristolian    

[bikkuri bahn]

The main tower upper floors are probably the best.  There is an east annex that is closer to the station, but the height is lower, and the room windows are very small.

 

You can take pictures from any platform unrestricted and without prior permission (this isn't the UK or USA, thank God), as long as you purchase a platform ticket (nyujoken) from a ticket vending machine. Note that an IC card like Suica doesn't let you exit the same station that you entered without tapping out at another station.

 

Main tower view:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O52eMwihC_8

[spacecadet]

I have stayed there a few times, both in the main and annex towers. I was on the wrong side of the main tower, I guess, but I had a perfect view of the trains from the annex tower. Honestly I think you probably can't go wrong in either tower as long as you're on a high floor and you request the correct side.

 

I think what bikkuri bahn is talking about in the annex tower with the small windows is a particular room type, which is probably a single room. The double rooms have big windows, as big as the main tower.

 

Note that they've renamed all the towers at least once. The main tower is the biggest/tallest tower, the annex tower is the second tallest. The two shorter towers I've never stayed in, but I would think the view wouldn't be as good and would probably be obstructed.

 

Edit: I've attached a pic from my 2001 stay in what's now the annex tower. I took it with a very early digital camera with a crappy sensor and no zoom, but you can get an idea of the general view.

 

Edited March 6, 2015 by spacecadet

[bristolian]

Thanks bikkuri bahn & spacecadet for the information. It was exactly what I was looking for.