FRUGAL TRAVELER; Choosing A Slow Pace In Japan

It was a few days before New Year's, when all of Japan surges out of the cities to visit family in their furusato, or hometowns. We, too, were heading from Tokyo, where I work, to my parents' home in Kobe, where I grew up. But instead of joining the throngs packing bullet trains to race from point A to B, my husband, Chris, and I decided to take it slow. Using a little-known budget train pass, we would take local routes for a leisurely journey, with stops along the way at a snowy lake in Nagano, the geisha district of Kyoto and the sake breweries in Kobe. It would take us three days for a trip we could have done in three hours -- but that was the point.

Earlier last fall, I had come across an English-language Web site devoted to Japan Rail with a section about a train pass called the Seishun 18. The name beguiled me: seishun is one of my favorite Japanese words, meaning ''springtime of youth.'' Despite the name, a call to JR confirmed that anyone -- regardless of age or nationality -- can buy the passes, which are sold only in Japan. For 11,500 yen, or $100 at the current rate of 115 yen to the dollar, the pass allows for five days of unlimited train travel -- at $20 a day. Unlike the JR passes popular with foreign travelers, the Seishun 18 can be used over a period of a month or so and can be shared. But there are two restrictions: the passes are only available three times a year and you have to ride local trains. That meant traveling from Tokyo to Kyoto would take nine hours instead of just over two, but cost less than a fifth of the $115 you'd pay on the bullet train.

Our journey began at Shinjuku Station, a sprawling, swarming hub that made us all the more glad to leave Tokyo. Armed with train schedules, we hopped a local on the Chuo Line heading southwest toward Nagano. After about an hour, concrete gave way to patches of green. The commuter train takes you only so far on the line, at which point we stepped onto the platform to wait for one with booth seats for longer-distance traveling. We passed through a tunnel and, on the other side, the country unfolded. But first: lunch.

The eki bento, a boxed lunch bought at stations, is as essential to train travel in Japan as a ticket. Ekiben vendors line the platforms, offering a selection of rectangular boxes jam-packed with local delicacies. The ekiben I'd bought at Shinjuku Station featured bits of grilled salmon, tempura shrimp, fried pork cutlet, egg roll, lotus root, pickles and rice -- all for $4.70. While Mount Fuji had commanded our full attention, the mountains and villages that followed provided a lovely complement to our meal.

The sun was setting as we arrived five hours after departure (an express train would have taken just two) in Kamisuwa, a quaint lakeside hot-spring town in Nagano prefecture. As befitting the prefecture that played host to the 1998 Winter Olympics, snow caked the surrounding mountain peaks and edged the roads of the town. It gets so cold there is even an enclosed hot-spring bath right on the station platform for travelers with long layovers.

We, however, were calling it a day. Our destination was the Saginoyu, a large, grand inn with 55 rooms overlooking Lake Suwa, about a 10-minute walk from the station. (Kamisuwa means ''above Suwa.'') Thanks to the recession, first-class ryokan like this have lowered their rates and now offer a night's stay including two elaborate meals for $155 a person. Tumbling into our pleasant tatami-mat room with a view of the lake, we changed quickly into cotton yukata robes and raced down to the communal hot springs on the ground floor. Sinking into the snow-ringed cedar rotenburo (outdoor bath), I felt my travel kinks float away.

Upstairs, in our room, a feast awaited. Ryokan tend to fashion meals according to season, and this one featured warmth-inducing dishes like chawanmushi (a hot egg custard) and a bubbling stew of seafood and local vegetables in a miso broth. Kimono-clad servers carted in no fewer than 10 artfully arranged dishes, after which we simply keeled over into the futon mattresses.

We awoke as the sunrise stained the lake a hazy pink. After another dip and a breakfast of rice, grilled fish and tofu in the dining room, we were off.

The five-hour ride on the Iida Line from Kamisuwa to Toyohashi was so local it seemed to stop more often than it went. The train wove through the mountains stopping at every little village, some of which included no more than a wooden farmhouse or two. Adjusting to the pace wasn't easy, but once we did we were glad: the jade-green rivers, apple trees clothed in protective straw coats and evergreens layered like feathers on the mountainside would have been nothing but a blur from a bullet train.

In between, we people-watched. Hikers unloaded their gear; an old country woman snoozed in the sun; a family of four played word games. Chris and I ate our ekiben, caught up on novels and poked each other at odd sights like a forest of bonsai on the roof of a house and a life-size rubber Godzilla standing guard outside a tire factory.

The lazy leg of the trip ended in Toyohashi; we switched twice for one-hour rides on rapid trains to Kyoto. (Many rapid trains including these -- but not the bullet trains -- are covered by the Seishun 18 pass.) ''Almost there,'' I kept saying to Chris, kicking myself for not booking a night somewhere in between. Exhausted, we arrived at the Motonago inn in the Gion district.

Ryokan are far and away the best places to stay while traveling in Japan, but they operate on rigid schedules. We arrived at 7:30 p.m., and the staff was setting out dinner in our room not 10 minutes later. Aside from the rush, the dinner was delicious, featuring matsutake mushrooms in a ponzu dip, sashimi and a shabu-shabu of thinly sliced beef.

After dinner, we took a stroll. At night, the historic district of Gion empties of tourists and once again becomes an ancient neighborhood. We wandered through skinny alleys between wooden homes, passing two fire wardens clacking sticks and calling out, ''Hinoyojin'' -- beware of fire. We saw a geisha dressed in a demure kimono with her more flamboyantly costumed maiko, or apprentice. They exited a teahouse calling out farewells, then scurried away down a wet cobblestone path.

The last leg of our trip would be short and easy, so we decided to spend the next day walking around Kyoto, eating something other than ekiben. We ogled the troughs of salmon roe and bamboo shoots at Nishiki Market, then stopped nearby for cheap and filling domburi rice bowls. Looping through the old neighborhoods near Kiyomizu Temple, we ended our day at an old tea shop across the alley from our ryokan for a hot winter snack of sweet red-bean soup.

Then it was back on the trains. The rapid ride to Kobe was sinfully easy at 50 minutes, and though it wasn't the best use of our train pass, we were grateful for the speed. Though we planned to visit my family for the rest of our stay, we spent the first night at the Rokkoso Hotel in Kitano-cho, a charming hillside neighborhood thick with restaurants, boutiques and turn-of-the-century Western-style buildings constructed by European traders. We opted for Western food to match the city's international flair. On Higashi-mon, the gaudy main street in the red-light district, we stumbled upon a basement Italian restaurant, Osteria ca' d'Oro, where we gorged on prosciutto, vegetables, seafood linguine, fresh bread and a carafe of wine for under $80.

In the morning we lucked into a breakfast bargain: at the sunny OB Cafe in Oriental Avenue, a hotel and shopping complex nearby, we discovered that a giant mug of coffee came with a free hard-boiled egg and toast. It was too blustery that day, but in the past I've taken the ropeway (cable car) from Oriental Avenue to the top of the mountain for the stunning view of Osaka Bay and a stroll around the mountaintop herb gardens.

Over the next few days we explored the city where I grew up. I've always loved Kobe for its leisurely pace and cosmopolitan flair, dimmed only briefly by the huge earthquake of 1995. Its world-famous cattle graze at the dairy farms in the Rokko Mountains, which slope gently into a bay crowded with ships. We poked around the boutiques at Harborland, a charming shopping arcade on the water, and snacked on deep-fried gyoza dumplings from stalls in bustling Chinatown, a district near downtown Sannomiya.

But throughout my years in Kobe, I'd never visited the sake breweries that have clustered there since the 18th century. Nine offer tours. We opted for the Shushinkan, a local brewer. The walled compound hard by a major highway is dominated by an old-style sakagura (sake brewery) with white walls and tiled roof. Its renowned restaurant, the Sakabayashi, resembles a farmhouse with high ceilings and massive wooden slabs for tables. A seven-dish lunch featuring homemade tofu and an aperitif of the local brew cost just $11.

I learned at the gift shop that a guided tour of the brewery was about to take place -- and because we were the first to line up, they showed the introductory video in English. We learned it was the pure waters of Kobe's mountains that attracted the first sake makers, and we viewed the cedar-lined room used to ferment the rice. Then we hurried back to the gift shop and stocked up on bottles of sake. We'd need it to wash down our ekiben on the ride back to Tokyo.

Tokyo to Kobe: stops along the way

I spent an average of $145 a day, in three days of travel, at 115 yen to $1. One Seishun 18 rail pass, consisting of five tickets, is good for five days of unlimited travel (within the validity period) and costs $100. (The same trip without the pass would have cost about $170.) Travel dates do not have to be consecutive. Up to five people can share the pass; each ticket is good for one day.

Seishun 18 passes are not sold outside Japan. They are available three times a year for a period of up to two months -- generally starting in March, July and December -- and are good for about a month and a half, depending on date of purchase. They are currently on sale through August and may be used through Sept. 10.

The passes are also practical for a more leisurely trip than ours; rapid local (kaisoku) overnight trains are a good option.

Passes can be bought at Midori-no-Madoguchi (green window) reservation offices or Travel Service Centers at any JR station serving long-distance trains, but these will not have timetables in English. Japanese travel agencies -- often found at hotels -- have staff members who can speak English and not only sell the pass but can help plan your route. (Local trains can be confusing and inefficient, so it's important to use an agent or call JR for itinerary advice. Most signs at JR stations are bilingual; station masters aren't, but they're eager to help.)

Before your trip, you may wish to call JR in New York to compare the Seishun 18 pass with the standard Japan Rail pass as to convenience and savings; (212) 332-8686. In Japan, for English-language help, call (81-3) 3423-0111.
JR's site is www.japanrail.com, but an independent site, www.oocities.org
/leinsd/local.html, is more informative.

Local trains from Shinjuku Station in Tokyo to Kamisuwa in Nagano require some changes, although they are on the same line. Planned correctly, the trip should take about four hours. There are more direct routes from Kamisuwa to Kyoto than ours, which took a staggering nine hours. The shinkaisoku express from Kyoto to Kobe took 50 minutes. Because we split the pass between two people, we had to pay for one leg of this last trip ($9).

Where to Stay

In Kamisuwa, Saginoyu, 3-2-14, Kogandori, Suwa-shi, (81-266) 52-0480, fax (81-266) 58-5204, is a well-groomed hot-spring ryokan (inn) with 55 rooms, most with views of the lake. Japanese-style rooms, from $155 a night per person (rates vary by month and day of the week), include a lavish in-room dinner, breakfast in a common room, and use of indoor and outdoor baths.

In Kyoto, we stayed at Motonago, 511, Washio-cho, Koudaiji-dori, Higashiyama-ku; (81-75) 561-2087, fax (81-75) 561-2655. The 11-room ryokan, in a century-old house, is on Nene-no-Michi, a famous stone-paved alley. Rate per person, from $130, depending on season, includes dinner and breakfast.

Kobe has few ryokan, so we chose Rokkoso, on Fudozaka, 1-1-14, Kitano-cho, Chuo-ku, (81-78) 241-2451, fax (81-78) 241-2497, a 37-room hotel in a charming neighborhood. Our clean mountain-view double cost $105.

Where to Eat

Eki bento, generally $4 to $10, can be bought at most stations. Most of our dinners and breakfasts were covered by the ryokan. My simple lunch in Kyoto at Hottokeya, near Nishiki Market, (81-75) 213-3506, cost $6; later I had a $6 snack at Rakusho on Nene-no-Michi, across from Motonago in Gion, (81-75) 561-6892, a picturesque old teahouse with a carp pond.

In Kobe, our Italian dinner cost $40 each at Osteria ca' d'Oro, Koshin Building B1F, 1-3-5 Shimoyamate-dori, Chuo-ku, (81-78) 321-3558; breakfast, $4.50 apiece at OB Cafe, Shinkobe Oriental Avenue Building 1F, 1-1, Kitanomachi, (81-78) 262-2611; and lunch at Sakabayashi at the sake brewery in the Shushinkan Building, 1-8-17, Tsuka-machi, Mikage Higashinada-ku, (81-78) 841-2612, $11 each. LISA TAKEUCHI CULLEN