Logistics: Travel & Lodging

The principal meeting starts at 6pm on February 8 at Nikko, Tochigi prefecture (some 160 km North of Tokyo) and ends at 5 pm on February 10. A "pre"-meeting aimed primarily for the principal investigators of facilities and surveys will be held from 10am-3pm on February 8 at the Kavli Institute of Physics & Mathematics of the Universe (hereafter Kavli IPMU) which is located in Kashiwa (some 35 km to North & East of Tokyo, located in Chiba prefecture).
         

Tokyo has two airports: Haneda (the old airport) & the more famous Narita airport (see map, above). Haneda is far more convenient but has fewer flights than Narita. The instructions below assume that you are attending both meetings and so expect you to arrive on February 7, say mid afternoon.

LODGINGS (February 7). You have two basic choices for February 7 overnight stay:

I would recommend that you stay in the Asakusa hotel and take the occasion to visit the Asakusa shrine or nearby exciting Akihabara.

TRANSPORTATION (to IPMU) Kavli IPMU receives a large number of foreign visitors every year. They have a website which explains how to reach IPMU; see URL.

The train/subway/bus system in Tokyo is extensive and world class. A single IC card "SUICA" or "PASMO" can be used for all of these modes of transport (and also buying items from vending machines). At Narita airport please stop any information desk and collect maps etc. The "Yamanote" is the principal loop. Famous stations or important departure stations are Ueno, Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. Since your first destination is IPMU I suggest that you take "Keisi Skyliner" to Ueno. From here you can go to Asakusa or Akihabara (which is the starting point for the fast train to Kashiwanoha Campus station). Also buy a "PASMO" or "SUICA" card and charge it up by, say, JPY 1000. [Upon departure you can return the card and get the initial deposit of JPY 500]. The website is exceedingly useful and helps you plan the trip. (It is is also an "app"; please install before departing to Japan].

AGENDA for Kavli IPMU meeting (Feb 8, 10a-3pm): To start with please see above URL to see how to reach IPMU either from downtown or from Kashiwa Mitsui hotel. We will start with a round-robin review of projects or missions in progress -- timeline, future plans for these facilities and also if funding/partnership is being sought: ZTF, DESI, PFS, KMTNet, IPAC, Tomo-e-Gozen, SRG, LCO, LAMOST, TAO, Gattini IR, LSST We will then have an open discussion until 3 pm when we leave to Nikko.

Please note that we will be leaving directly from IPMU to Nikko (which is to the North of Tokyo). Therefore you are strongly advised to bring your luggage (it is not practical to go back to downtown Tokyo and then trudge back to Nikko).

Participants (Kavli IPMU)

  1. Nadia BLAGORODNOVA, Radboud University, Netherlands
  2. William DAWSON, Lawrence Livermore, USA
  3. Kishalay DE, Caltech, USA
  4. Christoffer FREMLING, Caltech, USA
  5. Anna HO, Caltech, USA
  6. Nobuyuki KAWAI, Tokodai, Japan
  7. Alex KIM, Lawrence Berkeley, USA
  8. Sang-Chul KIM, KASI, South Korea
  9. Nick KONIDARIS, Carnegie Observatories, USA
  10. Shri KULKARNI, Caltech, USA
  11. Shude MAO, Tsinghua University, PRC
  12. Takashi MORIYA, NAOJ, Japan
  13. Ken'ichi NOMOTO, Kavli IPMU, Japan
  14. Peter NUGENT, Lawrence Berkeley, USA
  15. Arne RAU, MPE, Germany
  16. Takahiro SUMI, Osaka Universit, Japan
  17. Naotaka SUZUKI, Kavli IPMU, Japan
  18. Nozomu TOMINAGA, Konan, Japan
  19. Xiaofeng WANG, Tsinghua University, PRC
  20. Lin YAN, Caltech, USA
  21. Naoki YASUDA, Kavli IPMU, Japan