Keio Railway will open a new tourist information center in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station on July 1st. The Central Honshu Information Plaza will specialize in tourist information for the Chubu region, which is the central region of Japan’s main island of Honshu. Highway bus tickets will also be available.
Popular tourist locations such as the historic town of Takayama, and the traditional village of Shirakawa-go will be represented in the new plaza along with the prefectures of Nagano, Gifu and Yamanashi. There will also be booths from ten municipalities with informational brochures, and displays of regional crafts and specialty products.
In addition it will be possible to book tickets for the Chuo Highway Bus, as well as tours, and hotels. Information on the Shinjuku area will also be available.
The new center is intended to benefit both domestic and overseas visitors, so staff will be fluent in Japanese, Chinese and English. Visitors will also be able to take advantage of free wi-fi at the plaza and charge their smartphones.
The new information center is part of Keio Railway’s continuing efforts to improve services for overseas visitors. This April they also established a new “Keio Nekonote Baggage Counter” at Shinjuku Station. This counter provides temporary baggage storage and can arrange a same day delivery service to hotels in the Shinjuku area or to Haneda Airport.
Article by Michael Lambe. Images courtesy of Keio Corporation. All rights reserved.