A passport is abolutely needed regardless of your nationality.
Whether you need a visa to enter Japan depends on your nationality
and the duration of your stay there. Call the Japanese Consulate
in New York (212) 888-0889 or check its web site:
http://202.214.66.52/ny/cs/cs_1.html
If you need a visa, in general do not expect that it will be issued immediately. It is, therefore, a very good idea to make an application well in advance.
First check with Chang Kee about your final trip schedule and get
a permission to purchase an airplane ticket. General information
of how to get to Kamioka/Toyama once you are in Japan is available
on web site http://www-sk.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
There are two possible routes to reach Japan from the US: New York
to Tokyo or to Osaka. There are direct flights from New York to
Tokyo but not to Osaka.
From the Airport in Tokyo (Narita Airport) you can take a limousine bus ( 3,000 yen) to Haneda Airport for domestic flights. It takes about 1.5 hours to reach Haneda from Narita, depending on the traffic condition-it could take longer. In general only one bus service per hour at most. The last flight from Haneda to Toyama is currently departs at 7pm and arrive at Toyama Airport at 8pm, operated by All Nippon Airway (ANA). Usually we take this flight.
You can also take train from Narita Airport to Tokyo Station where you change the train to be on a Bullet train (Hokuriku Shinkansen Line). You change the train again at Echigo Yuzawa or at Nagaoka- a trip via Echigo Yuzawa is faster. There you take a Special Express train of Hokuriku Line to Toyama Station. In general you have one service per hour. But if you fail to catch a train in Tokyo before 7pm, you may be stuck somewhere between Tokyo and Toyama. See the web site above.
From Osaka you take trains but you need to change once at Osaka Station. It does not involve a bullet train. See the web site above.
Airplane tickets should be purchased by calling Ryuji Arano at JBTI (Japan Budget Travel Int'l Inc) at 212-686-8855 Ext.3002 or 877-2GO-JBTI. Make sure you tell him that you are associated with High Energy Group at Physics Department of Stony Brook University, the payment will be done through Alice Dugan, and he should fax your itinerary to Alice once your schedule is final. You will pick up the ticket from Alice. It is very difficult and costly to change the departure date once you purchase the ticket. So do not change unless it is emergency. Remeber when you arrive in Japan, the date has already changed from the date of your departure. When you leave Japan, your arrival date in the US is the same as your departure date.
As for train and bus tickets in Japan, you need to purchase at the airport of your destination. Ask for the receipt as they don't give you any by default for reimbursement.
Once your schedule is set, make sure that you inform one of us, Stony Brook person, when and where you will arrive (Toyama Station or Toyama Airport). Rememeber during the day time (~7am-~6pm) nobody has time to pick you up on weekdays including Saturdays.
Police 110
Fire 119
For the following telephone numbers, if you are in the corresponding area, drop the first 3 or 4 digits before the first "-". From the US, drop the first "0". Sakae Apt. 076-467-4181 (Stony Brook Apt. in Osawano/Toyama) US Office 0578-5-9632 (Office in Mozumi) SK Control Room 0578-5-9645 (Control room in mine)
Most of you will stay in a dorm room in Mozumi. It's a small village where the office and comupter facility of SK are housed in a building. There is a post office, two vending machines for soft drinks and a liquor store that also sells some snacks. A train station provides service to Kamioka or Inotani from which you can take train to Toyama or Takayama. There are also a few bus services to Kamioka or Toyama.
In the post office an ATM machine is available (not 24 hours-usually until probably 6pm, no Sunday service). For the ATM you can use credit cards and bank cards on at least Cirrus Network. But my recommendation is that you should get cash in yen at the airport upon arrival. Traveller's check rate is better than cash by 1-2%. Banks in Japan are closed at 3pm, and on Saturdays and Sundays, so practically you can't go to bank to exchange money. Rule of thumb regarding living expense is about $30 a day which depends on the exchange rate ( currently around 128 yen for a dollar ).
You need to sign up in advance for meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for which you must pay yourself to the secretary as soon as possible when you arrive whether you have eaten or will eat the meals. However, at this time, I don't know how we can sign up for the meals yet. As we don't have enough time to come back to the dorm for lunch, normally we will ask them to deliver lunch boxes (lunch bento) to the mine. For Sunday only breakfast is available, and you need to arrange lunch and dinner yourself. For Moday, breakfast is not avalable. In normal situation you also need to pay for the dorm bill to the secretary before you leave.
A dorm room is equipped with a TV with a VCR, a refrigerator, a desk and a chair, a bed, a air-conditioner, and a bathroom with a toilet, a bath tab and a whashing basin. Towels are provided every week. You are not allowed to cook yourself in the kitchen but a microwave oven is available in the dinning room. There are two washing machines and two dryers available for free.
In Sakae Apt. which is two-bedroom apartment with a bath, a kitchen, and a toilet, there are a refrigerator, a washing machine and a dryer. You need to keep the apt. as clean as possible and I expect you to clean all over the apt regularly (every two weeks or so). Also make sure that you dispose of all the trash according to the regulation which is posted on the kitchen wall. Do not leave trash behind in the apt when you leave. One important thing is that you need to bring or buy two sheets and a pillow case.
You should make sure that you will carry a proper health insurance that covers your stay in Japan. If you take some medication regularly, take them enough for the entire stay. Also bring prescriptions for medication just in case you need to buy your medication in Japan.
If you stay in a dorm room, you can receive outside calls in your room. But you can't make outgoing calls. For outgoing calls use either payphones or phones in the offices. However, you are not allowed to use the office phones for long distance calls unless they are needed for the work. You should use your credit cards or telephone cards (ATT, MCI etc.) or prepaid phone cards which may be purchased at 7-11.
If you stay in Sakae Apt., of course you can receive oversee calls. But be considerate not to have calls late at night or early morning if you have a room mate. Unless it's emergency or for work, use your credit cards, telephone cards or paid phone cards for long distance calls.
We have a Toyota LandCruiser and a Toyota passenger car which we affectionately call "Lucky" for a reason. The LandCruiser will be used to go into the mine and it is NOT automatic. Its driver needs a special license to drive it in the mine. You are NOT allowed to drive Lucky if you are under 26 yesrs old. You needs an international driver's license to drive in Japan and it is issued at an AAA office for a fee.
Remeber you will drive on the left not on the right lane, and no turing right/left on red. You also need to stop before you cross a rail road. There is no tolerance on driving under any alcohol influence. There are frequent spot checks by police.
On top of the tank and inside the tank, you are required to wear white sneakers with white sole. So do not forget to bring a pair with you.
This document will be updated later.