Tsukuba city is about 50 km northeast of Tokyo and
40 km northwest of Narita Airport (New Tokyo International Airport).
The workshop will be take place in
EPOCHAL
Tsukuba (International Congress Center), which is in
a walking distance from the Tsukuba bus terminal and from the Tsukuba train
station. Conference Hotels are also in a walking distance (Map
with Hotel Location) but on arrival from the airport, it may be better to
use a taxi from the bus station, except for Okura Frontier hotel Tsukuba which
is next to the bus terminal. The taxi costs less than 1000 yen. (1500yen for
Tsukuba Kenshu Center).
There are many flights from all over the world to the new Tokyo International Airport (Narita).
You may
take an airport bus called "Airport Liner - NATT'S" to Tsukuba Center Bus
terminal. The bus stop is located right outside of Narita Airport terminal.
Tickets from Narita Airport to Tsukuba-center bus terminal are available at the
Keisei Bus ticket counter located in the arrival lobby. The fare is 2,540 yen
for an adult, and 1,270 yen for a child. Bus stop number is #15 at Terminal-1,
and #12 at Terminal-2, as of November 2005. Check the latest information at the
ticket counter before you go outside of the lobby. The bus is bound for "Tsuchiura
Station".
The time table is listed
here.
Taxi from the airport to the Tsukuba center area costs ~ 20,000 yen. It's very expensive and not recommended.
An alternative way is to go to Tokyo via train and then take a bus or train from Tokyo to Tsukuba. There are many variations. The fastest way is to use Keisei Skyliner to Nippori-Station and then to exchange to Yamanote-line for Akihabara-station. From Akihabara-station you can use Tsukuba Express as described below. Another way is to use Narita-express to Tokyo-station and take a highway bus from Tokyo-station to the Tsukuba bus center. In either case, it takes more than 2 hours so it is usually faster to wait for the next bus even if you just missed an airport bus.
A new train line called
TSUKUBA EXPRESS began service on 8.24.2005.
Find a way to reach "Akihabara" train station from
where you leave. If you are at Tokyo train station, take "Yamanote" line from
there. It will take 4 minutes or so to reach Akihabara station.
From the Akihabara station, take "TSUKUBA EXPRESS" line to "Tsukuba" terminal.
It will take 45 minutes by Rapid, 52 minutes by Semi-Rapid, and 57 minutes by
Local. See the time
table "TSUKUBA EXPRESS".
There is a direct bus
service from Tokyo JR Train station to Tsukuba Center. The bus stop is located
at the south end of Yaesu-side exit from the train station (* JR : Japan
Railway). It will take approximately an hour and a half to reach to the Tsukuba
center. But the traveling time strongly depends on the traffic condition.
Purchase a ticket from an automatic ticket machine at the Tokyo station, inside
the building. You may also pay cash when you get off the bus (prepare exact
change).
The time table is listed
here (see "Tsukuba
Center line").