Ours Inn Hankyu Hotel Single Tower in Oi-machi

2016/02/07
In this article, I will introduce "Ours Inn Hankyu Hotel(アワーズイン阪急)" in Oi-machi(大井町).
This hotel is very useful and the cost performance is very good.
Especially the below points are remarkable.

• It is only one-minutes walk from JR-East Oi-machi station
• You can directly access from Oi-machi(大井町) to Shinjuku(新宿), Shibuya(渋谷), Akihabara(秋葉原), Odaiba(お台場) and Yokohama(横浜) without any changing train.
• It takes only 30 minutes by train or limousine bus from Haneda airport.
• This hotel was established in March 2011 so its facilities are very modern and comfortable.
• You can experience Japanese "Ofuro(お風呂)=taking a bath" culture at the public bath inside the hotel.
• The price is resonable (Single room 6500 JPY / Twin romm 12000 JPY)

If you have a plan to stay in Tokyo and do some sightseeing aggressively, I recommend staying in this hotel.

The location and the buildings

"Ours Inn Hankyu Hotel(アワーズイン阪急)" stands on the west side of Oimachi station.
If you come to Oimachi from Haneda airport by limousine bus directly, you can get off at the west exit of Oimachi station.
So you can see the hotel in front of your eyes.
"Ours Inn Hankyu Hotel(アワーズイン阪急)" consists of two buildings

The left one is "S" which represents "Single Tower".

This Single tower has only Single Room.

The right building is "T" which represents "Twin Tower".

This building has only twin room.

Each building has its own front counter independently.
So you need to go to the building you reserved.
In this article I will introduce "Single Tower".

Single Tower

If you have a reservation for Single Tower, you need to cross the street in front of the station.

And enter the "S" building.

Then go up to 3rd floor taking escalators.

The hotel front is on the 3rd floor.

This is the hotel front of Single Tower.

It is a large counter and there are many staffs.
Please check in here.

Single Tower has 29 floors.

It has 1100 single rooms.
How many rooms there are !

Single Room

Then let's enter the single room.

Each room has compact size due to many rooms.
However there are minimum required things.

A single bed.

It is enough size for Japanese.
If you are more than 185cm (6 feet) tall, you may feel it is small.

The desk.

It is enough to put a laptop PC on it.

There are two AC outlets on the desk.

The plug type is "A".
The voltage is 100V in Japan.
A free wi-fi is also available in the room.

A refrigerator.

You can cool your own beverage bought in a store.

The refrigerator has an switch.

When you use it, you need to turn on this switch.
Otherwise it is better to turn off since it makes noise.

Toilet and washbasin.

They are super clean.
However there are neither shaver nor tooth brash.
You need to prepare them in advance.
You can buy them at the convenience store on the 1st floor for 24 hours.

The toilet has "Shower toilet" system.

Please enjoy Japanese modern technology.

A shower booth

The shower works very well.
There are shampoo and conditioner.
It is no problem.

A pair of slippers

You can take off your shoes and be relax.

The view from the window of 26th floor.

It is very nice since there is no building taller than this hotel !

Night view is so amazing.

You can see some airplanes flying from Haneda airport.

Public bath inside the hotel

Single tower has a public bath "Ofuro-no-ohsama(お風呂の王様)" inside its building.
However this isn't belonging to the hotel, so we need an entrance fee.
If you are an hotel guest, you can buy the ticket at the check-in counter on the 3rd floor in 400 JPY.
(If you are not, it costs more than 1250 JPY)
The entrance to the public bath exclusive for hotel guests is on the 4th floor.
You can rent towels from a staff.

How do you feel this hotel ?
I'm living in Oimachi and proud of this modern hotel.
Enjoy your trip !

Ours Inn Hankyu Oimachi (English site)

"Kou-don" restaurant in Oi-machi

2015/04/12
"Kou-don(幸丼)" is an Oi-machi's local restaurant which serves Japanese style rice bowls topped with stewed and roasted pork fillet.
"Kou(幸)" means happiness, and "don(丼)" means a rice bowl.

There are two "Kou-don" restaurant in Oi-machi.
One is located near the city hall of Shinagawa-ku.
The other one(branch) is located near Mitsumata crossing.

This is Mitsumata crossing branch.

The inside is very very small.
There only three seats.
So you can take away the box you get.

Before you enter the restaurant, at first you need to buy a meal ticket from the vending machine outside.

1000yen bills and coins are available.
A typical and most recommended menu is "Kou-don bara(幸丼バラ) 690JPY" which means rice bowl with "soft" roasted pork fillet.
If you want to get it, insert money and push the button indicated with red circle above.
After you get a ticket, pass it to a staff inside the restaurant.
Then he or she will ask you whether you eat here or take away.

At this time I selected "Eat here".

The inside is very small but fortunately there is no guests except for me...

Waiting about 5 minutes, the bowl was coming.

A cup of miso soup is included.
Pork fillet is very soft and easy to cut to pieces using chopsticks.
It is deeply stewed and grilled until the surface gets slightly burned and you can feel the savory smell of roasted pork.
It is seasoned with soy sauce, garlics and various soup, topped with small pieces of welsh onion.
You can enjoy strong taste of grilled pork.

After you finish to eat two thirds of the rice and pork, you can ask a staff to add "soup" into your bowl.

This is so called "Soup-wari" in Japanese.
This "soup" is hot Japanese tea in this case.
"Wari" means the thing mixed with soup.
You can enjoy different light taste of soup and rice.

"Kou-don" restaurant serves a bowl which can be tasted in Oi-machi only.
When you have an opportunity to visit Oi-machi, I believe it is worth going.

Location :
"Kou-don" restaurant Mitshumata crossing branch (Google Map)

Opening hours : (as of 2015/04)
Mon-Sat : 11：00～14：45、17：30～24：00
Sun : 11：00～15：00、17：00～21：00

Official site (Japanese only)

"Bulldog" restaurant in Oi-machi

2015/04/05
"Bulldog" restaurant is one of the most famous restaurant in Oimachi, Tokyo.
The size of a portion is extremely big for Japanese(maybe normal size for American...) and of cource it is tasty, so it is covered in many Japanese TV media.

"Bulldog" is located in "Higashi-koji restaurant street".

it is a 5 minutes' walk from Oimachi railway station.
「ブルドック」 in Japanese repesents a bulldog and the pronounciation is the same as English.
It is a Japanese old-fashioned style, small restaurant.
It serves homemade western cuisine localized for Japanese.
The inside of the restaurant is small and crowded with local citizens at mealtime.

One of the typical menu, "Menchi-katsu Tei-shoku(メンチカツ定食)" (1150JPY).

"Menchi-katsu(メンチカツ)" is a fried cake of minced meat shown in the right part of the above photo.
It is much bigger than my face!
"Tei-shoku（定食）" means a set menu.
So a dish of rice ,a bowl of chunky miso soup ,and pickled vegetables are served together.
"Menchi-katsu" is very crispy (and fatty).
You can feel rich flavor of beef and a feeling of your fullness is guaranteed.

Most of guests are Japanese local people and I have never seen foreign tourists.
Some of restaurant staffs seem to be Chinese speakers.
If you are very hungry and not satisfied with the amount of a meal in Japanese restaurant, I reccomend to try to visit here.

Please refer to the site below for more details.
Kitchen Bulldog (Tripadvisor)

Oi-machi city

2015/03/29
My home town Oi-machi(大井町) city is located next to Shinagawa (south district of Tokyo) and I think the location is very convenient for foreign tourists.
So in this article, I will introduce the Oimachi city.

What exists in Oi-machi ?

Oimachi city is not a big city and it doesn't have any famous spots for sightseeing.
However you can stay in quiet circumstances and feel Japanese everyday life syle.
There are several hotels, some Ramen noodle shops, many convenience stores, Gyu-don(Beef bowl) shops, a 100 yen shop, shopping centers ,and discount electric store "LABI Oimachi" and so on.

You can enjoy various foods and shopping as the same as Oimachi citizens.

You can also enjoy modern style Japanese public bath (Ofuro-no-osama(お風呂の王様), which means the king of bath)

It is located in Ours Inn Hankyu shopping center.

There are small old‐fashioned streets and restaurants.

You can see many druken office workers in week days...

Furthermore, 3 trains are stopped at Oimachi railway station. so you can go to major spots such as Shnjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo, Akihabara,and Odaiba directly by train without transfering.
So I think the location of Oimachi is very convenient for foreign tourists
.

Access from/to Haneda Airport

You can come to Oimachi from Haneda Airport directly by Keikyu Limousine Bus.
You will get off a limousine bus in front of the west exit of Oimachi railway station.

After getting off, you can see two high buildings of "Ours Inn Hankyu Hotel" in front of your eyes as shown in the above photo.
The left building is its Single Tower "S", and the right building is Twin Tower "T".
Sinse they are reconstructed in 2011-2014, so they have new and modern facilities.

The bus stop for Haneda Airport is located in front of the shopping center "Ito Yokado".

A limousine bus for Haneda Airport departs from Bus Stop No.3.
It takes about 30 minutes from Oimachi to Haneda (depending on traffic condition).
You can also access to Haneda Airport by trains but I think using bus is more comfortable because you can sit down and store your baggage to its cargo space.

I am willing to introfuce more things about Oimachi in later articles.

A train trip to Shinjuku from Haneda by Keikyu train

I will explain how to go to Shinjuku from Haneda airport by Keikyu train.
Using train is one of the most economical way, however you need to bring your baggage by yourself through crowded trains and stations.

The entrance of Haneda Airport International Terminal station of Keikyu train is located on the same floor as arrival exit (2nd floor).

There are some Keikyu staffs.

They will kindly assist you to buy your ticket in English.

It costs 610 JPY for Shinjuku (2014/07/12)

If it is Saturday, Sunday, Japanese public holidays, or days specified by Tokyo monorail, it is cheaper than Keikyu line to use Monorail line's "Monorail and JR Yamanote line discount ticket".

It costs 500 JPY for Shinjuku and other Yamanote line stations.

For further detail, please refer to officiail web site.

Ticket vending machines of Keikyu line support 4 languages (Japanese, Chinese, English, Korean).

You can choose your language by touch panel.

I recommend to buy "PASMO" to avoid buying ticket every time.

PASMO is a kind of pre-paid IC card for public transportation.

It is also the same as "Octopus card" in Hongkong, "Youyou card" in Taiwan, "EZ-link card" in Singapore.

PASMO is available for not only Keikyu train but also most of buses and trains including JR lines.

It is equivalent to SUICA provided by JR line.

After getting a ticket or PASMO, you can pass a automated gate machine by putting your ticket into it.

Please notice that there are two kinds of automated gate machine. 

One is for both paper tickets and IC cards and the other one is for IC cards only.

If you buy a paper ticket, do not enter IC card-only gate.

Then go down to the platform using an elevator or escalator on the underground floor.

The destination of the next train is displayed on the monitor screen.

Keikyu train have two destinations, Shinagawa and Yokohama.

If you go to Shinjuku, you have to get on the train for Shinagawa ("Three boxes and three lines" in Chinese character "品川").

So you need to check the destination carefully.

This is the first trap for a foreign traveler.

A Keikyu train car is designed for local passengers.

There is no shelf for a big baggage.

English instructions are available in the train.

It takes about 20 minutes from Haneda airport to Shinagawa.

Actually, Shinagawa is not final destination for the most of Keikyu train..

Don't miss getting off at Shinagawa station.

If you successfully get off at Shinagawa, you need to transfer from Keikyu line to JR Yamanote line for Shinjuku.

You need to climb up a escalator from the platform of Keikyu line to cross over the railways.

Shinagawa station is big and complicated.

And go down the stairs.

Escalator is also available.

You can find a transfer gate to JR line.

You can pass a gate if you have an appropriate ticket, PASMO or SUICA. 

After pass the gate, you need to go down several steps.

Then you enter JR lines area.

The nearest platform (NO.1 and 2) is JR Yamanote line.

The color of Yamanote line is green.

Go down the stairs again.

You may find a elevator to go down in other place...

For Shinjuku, you have to ride from platform No.2.

Yamanote line operates every about 3 minutes.

Even if you miss a train, the next train will be coming soon.

Many local passengers use Yamanote line every day.

Especially, from 7AM to 9AM in working day it is too crowded to ride on with your suitcase.

It is rush hours for people who travel to working place.

English instructions and announcements are available in the Yamanote line.

It takes about 20 minutes from Shinagawa to Shinjuku.

Finally you can arrive at Shinjuku station.

Shinjuku station is biggest station in Japan.

The number of passengers who use Shinjuku station is more then 3 millions per day !

You need to check the location of your hotel in advance.

Is it on the west or east side of the station ?

Since Shinjuku station is very very big, and many lines are concentrated on, it is very hard to cross the railways.

Have a nice trip !

"Escalator rule" in Tokyo

2014/07/06
When you step on an escalator, which side do you stand on?
Right side or left side ?

In Tokyo, people stand on the left side of a escalator.
And we need to make space on the right side for the persons who climb up the escalator,

Such as:.

Basically, in the east part of Japan including Tokyo "Stand on the left side rule" is applied.

On the other hand, in the west part of Japan including Osaka "Stand on the right side rule" is applied.

I wonder where is the border of these two rules.

According to my experience, other world's cities have the rules below.

・Hongkong : Stand on the Right Side rule

・Germany : Stand on the Right Side rule

When I went to Berlin, Germany last year, I stood on the left side of the escalator as usual in Tokyo.

I was told off by a Germany old man, "Stand on the right side !".

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

When in Tokyo, do as the Tokyo citizens do.

Have a nice trip!

How to access Haneda Airport from Oi-machi by Keukyu limousine bus

If you go to Haneda airport from Oimachi, you can directly arrive at the airport by using Keikyu limousine bus.
The bus stop for Haneda Airport is located on west side of Oimachi station, in front of "Ito Yokado.

"Ito Yokado" is one of the major supermarkets in Japan. 

There are some bus stops in front of Ito Yokado.

Several local bus lines depart from these bus stops.

The bus stop No.3 is for Haneda Airport.

It may be difficult for foreigners to find it.

Small "For Haneda Airport" letters are the only signs.

So I have never seen English-speaking passengers using this limousine bus.

We need to improve...

"Airport bus information" indicates the duration from here to Haneda Airport.

The above photo shows that it takes 35 minutes for the previous bus to Haneda Airport.

This is a Keikyu limousine bus for Haneda airport.

Please be careful not to get on other bus.

(This bus stop is not only for Haneda Airport...)

It costs 580JPY from Oimachi to Haneda Airport.
You don't need to buy a bus ticket in advance.
You can pay a bus fare directly to a driver.
Transportation related IC Card (Suica, Pasmo) is also available.

And, if you use limousine bus to go to Airport, you need to have enough time to spare since the bus may delay depending on traffic conditions.

Please refer official website for more detail and accurate information such as timetable, fares, and where to board.

Have a nice trip!