Airport Arrival & Getting to Kodosan Temple:

We will not be able to meet you all at the airport at the various times you arrive. However, it is not difficult to get to Kodosan by public transport. Do not take a taxi since the distance is quite far and the fare will be extremely expensive. The easiest method is to take the Limousine Bus Service that leaves regularly for the Yokohama City Air Terminal (YCAT) from both Narita (90 mins) and Haneda airports (40 mins) <– see hyper links for times and other information). If you are able to contact us on arrival at the airport, we can probably meet you at the bus terminal. If not, it is easy to get a taxi from the terminal to Kodosan, about a 5-10 taxi ride of roughly 1,500 yen. We do ask you to pay your own costs for this journey from the airport to Kodosan. Use this access map to show the taxi driver. (note: Shin Yokohama and Yokohama Stations are different. The former is for the special bullet train to Kyoto. The latter is the normal station where the YCAT is located and not shown on this map but very nearby)

Money Exchange

Japan has become much easier to exchange money in recent years or use a credit card to get money from an ATM. The airport still has the best rates for cash so it is good to exchange money there. However, there is a money exchange at Yokohama Station nearby. For getting money off your credit cards, you can use the ATMs at all nationwide 7-11 convenience stores. There is one located right across the street from Kodosan.

Payments:

There will be the need for some basic exchange of payments between us and some participants which can be done at registration on Sunday afternoon. Please check if you fall under any of these categories and prepare accordingly:

• plane fare reimbursement (for a few selected participants: please prepare a receipt of your ticket and your boarding pass)
• bullet train to Kyoto payment (for some participants: if you have agreed with us in advance to pay your own bullet train ticket, please prepare 11,000 yen as we have already purchased the tickets in advance as a large group discount. If we have agreed to pay your ticket and you need to return to Tokyo, we will provide you with a one-way non-reserved ticket in Kyoto. There are many trains running all day long from Kyoto to Tokyo and you can directly choose the one you like and the time you like after the conference and get on the train in the non-reserved open seating section of the train)

Meals

Meals will be provided without charge from the evening of Nov. 5^th through the morning of the Nov. 11^th . Here is an outline of the plan and choices:

• Breakfasts in Yokohama: At registration, we will give you all 3,000 yen in cash to cover the 3 mornings (11/6-8). As people have variable morning routines and tastes we feel it will be easiest for you to all decide yourselves on how to manage breakfast. The choices are:

1) traditional Japanese of grilled fish, rice, miso soup and a pickle at the Kodosan cafeteria for 350 yen starting at 7:30 am

2) modern Japanese family restaurant called Gusto: various western and Japanese items and a coffee and tea bar for around 1,000 yen starting at 7:00 am across the street from Kodosan

3) various convenience stores open 24-7 & a My Basket mini-grocery open 7:00 am to midnight & a major grocery store called Aeon open 7:00 am to 11:00 pm. All less than a 5 minute walk from the temple.

• You will not be able to cook in your rooms, but we will provide hot pots for boiled water and cups for drinking tea/coffee
• Lunches will be provided in the temple during the conference. We have noted any restrictions you have in your registration sheet that you sent in
• Monday night 11/6 we will offer a welcome banquet at an all vegetarian buffet restaurant nearby
• Sunday night and Tuesday night, we will break into smaller groups with local staff to take you out to a choice of local restaurants (Chinese, Japanese izakaya, noodle shop, Indian, etc.) There will be an ample budget of 2,000 yen provided per person. We do ask if you like to consume alcohol that you pay for that yourself.
• In Kyoto, we will have buffet breakfast at our hotel and box lunches. 11/9 evening will be a dinner reception. 11/8 and 10 will be eating out in Kyoto with a 2,000 individual budget as above in Yokohama.

Accommodation

Accommodation will be provided without charge from the evening of Nov. 5^th through the morning of the Nov. 11^th at the Kodo Kyodan Buddhist Fellowship in Yokohama and then at the Monpo Hall of the Nishi Honganji Jodo Shin Denomination in Kyoto. I have notified you already of your housing at these two locations. We have done our best to provide you all with either private or double rooms. The bedding at Kodosan will be traditional Japanese style of sleeping on fold up mattresses on the floor. Your rooms will be provided with towels and soap and you can hand wash small amounts of clothes in your rooms. If you need to do a large amount of laundry, there is a coin laundromat nearby. The temple is located in downtown Yokohama so many necessary items like medicines, toiletries, etc. can be bought within a 5 minute walk from the temple at either a convenience store, super market or other such store.

• Take a look at the temple grounds of Kodosan at this link

Important number to call in case of emergency

1. Mr. Jonathan Watts (080-8911-5114 inside Japan; 81-80-8911-5114 from overseas; e-mail: ogigaya@gmail.com; I also use LINE, Facebook messenger, Whatsapp)
2. Mr. Tsuyoshi Kotaki – Kodosan Business Manager (090-8877-2737 inside Japan)

Useful things to bring

• Warm clothes for people from southern countries. Early November in Japan is one of the best times of year. The weather is dry and cool and clear. Average day temperatures are between 15-20 degrees and at night between 10-15 degrees.
• Please bring electronic appliance adapted fro 110 voltage and must be with the two-pronged plugs (U.S.A. type).
• More coming (if you have any ideas, please suggest)

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