What's New: An Online Update for Frommer's Japan

April 2004 -- Fears of mad cow disease have receded after regulations stipulating that all slaughtered cows must be tested for the disease. Most restaurants specializing in beef that switched to other dishes following the initial scare have now resumed serving meat.

Although the overwhelming majority of Japanese websites are in Japanese only, more and more are becoming bilingual. Most major cities now have English websites, as do many hotels and attractions. Cybercafes are also finally catching on and can be found in major cities across Japan. Some top hotels have installed in-room high-speed Internet connections, though those are still rare.

Train reservations for the Shinkansen bullet train and the Narita Express (which travels between Narita airport and Tokyo Station) can now be booked online at www.world.eki-net.com. After signing up for membership (free of charge), users can peruse timetables and fares and receive e-mail confirmation, which they then print out and present at ticket offices in Japan. Reservations can be made 1 month to 2 days prior to the train's departure. Holders of a Japan Rail Pass (www.japanrailpass.net) can also reserve seats in this way.

Speaking of rail passes, the new Hokkaido Rail Pass (www.train-ticket.net/japan/hokkaido.htm) good for Japan's northernmost major island is now available for 3 days and costs ¥14,000 ($117) for ordinary class and ¥20,000 ($170) for first class. Unlike other Japan Rail Passes, (www.japanrailpass.net) which must be purchased before you enter Japan, it can also be bought in Hokkaido.

Boarding a Shinkansen bullet train bound for Kyoto, Hiroshima, and other points west is now easier in Tokyo with the October 2003 opening of Shinagawa as a station on the Tokaido-Sanyo line, a bonus for travelers wishing to avoid the huge and confusing Tokyo Station.

Settling Into Tokyo

Both the Tourist Information Center (TIC, managed by the Japan National Tourist Organization, tel. 03/3201-3331; www.jnto.go.jp/eng) and the Tokyo Tourist Information Center (operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, www.chijihonbu.metro.tokyo.jp/english), have moved out of their expensive digs in the Tokyo International Forum to opposite ends of town. The TIC moved just a short distance away to rather cramped quarters on the 10th floor of the Tokyo Kotsu Kaikan Building at 2-10-1 Yurakucho, while the Tokyo Tourist Information Center is now ensconced in Shinjuku on the first floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building no. 1 (which also has a great free observatory on the 45th floor).

Several Tokyo neighborhoods have undergone wide-scale makeovers, most notably Roppongi with its 11-hectare (28-acre) Roppongi Hills filled with offices, shops, restaurants, apartments, a hotel, a sophisticated cinema complex, and an art museum. Other construction projects, all located near major train stations, are under way or have been completed on land auctioned off by Japan National Railways.

Odaiba, a man-made island in Tokyo Bay and home to hotels, shopping complexes, several museums, and other attractions, can now be reached not only by the Yurikamome Line monorail but also by the JR Saikyo Line (www.japan-guide.com/e/e2373.html) -- 18 min. from Shibuya, and the Rinkai Line (click here) from Osaki Station.

Although the local tax was abolished a couple years ago, Tokyo has since reinstated a hotel tax of ¥100 (85¢) per person per night for rates between ¥10,000 and ¥14,999 ($83-$125); and ¥200 ($1.65) per night for rates of ¥15,000 ($125) and up.

Several upper-end hotels have opened in the past 2 years. The exclusive Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi, 1-11-1 Marunouchi (tel. 800/322-3442; www.fourseasons.com), has a great location next to Tokyo Station. Grand Hyatt Tokyo is in Roppongi Hills (tel. 800/233-1234; tokyo.grand.hyatt.com).

Tokyoites no longer have to travel to Hakone or other out-of-town destinations to soak in hot springs with the opening of Oedo-Onsen Monogatari on Odaiba (tel. 03/5500-1126). Designed like bathhouses of yore, it features shops, restaurants, massage rooms, sand baths, indoor/outdoor baths, and saunas.

Kyoto

The famed Miyako, open since 1890, has joined forces with Westin to become The Westin Miyako, Sanjo Keage in eastern Kyoto (tel. 800/WESTIN-1), and has undergone extensive renovations that have raised it to the sophisticated level of Tokyo hotels.

Nagoya

Nagoya is gearing up to host the 2005 Expo with construction of a new airport on a man-made island. Noritake Garden, 3-1-36 Noritake Shinmachi (tel. 052/561-7114; www.noritake-elec.com/garden/information.htm), has reopened after undergoing complete renovation in anticipation of its 100-year anniversary bash to be held in 2004.

Osaka

Festivalgate has closed. Not far away, at Shitennoji Temple (tel. 06/6771-0066), there is a newly restored Japanese landscape garden that first opened to the public during the shogun era.

Several Osaka hotels have closed, including the Holiday Inn Nankai and the DH Hotel. The Nankai South Tower Hotel Osaka is undergoing change of management that will bring it under the Raffles helm.

Kobe

Kobe's tragic 1995 earthquake is the focus of a new museum, the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution, 1-5-2 Wakinohama Kaigan-Dori (tel. 078/262-5050), which covers the topic with graphic films, thought-provoking dioramas, and displays outlining the city's recovery and subsequent earthquake-prevention measures.

Other changes include construction of a new airport on Port Island slated to open in 2005; and the opening of one of my favorite chain hotels, Toyoko Inn Kobe-Sannomiya, 1-2-2 Miyukidori (tel. 078/271-1045; www.toyoko-inn.com/eng), which offers such perks as free Internet access and free breakfast.

Kyushu

The Hotel Ocean 45 in the exclusive Seagaia resort area is now the Sheraton Grande Ocean Resort (tel. 800/325-3535; www.sheraton.com).

Meanwhile, on the other side of Kyushu, Huis Ten Bosch (tel. 0956/27-0001), a re-created 17th-century Dutch village, had declared bankruptcy at press time and was awaiting a buyer.

Hokkaido

Sapporo Station has finally finished lengthy reconstruction and now boasts two shopping malls, Daimaru department store, and a hotel. The Sapporo Beer Company has closed its downtown brewery. Luckily, guided tours of the Sapporo Beer Museum, N7 E9 (tel. 011/731-4368), still take in part of the old brewery and, more importantly, end with samples of our favorite brew.