If you've been following along for a while, you should now feel pretty comfortable catching a train in Japan:

- [NDL #663] - Travel: I want to go to...
- [NDL #670] - Travel: Does this train go to ～?
- [NDL #677] - Travel: What time is the next train?
- [NDL #684] - Travel: What time is the next train? - Part 2

...well, maybe not "pretty comfortable." But I think you can manage it.

Trains are awesome in Japan.

I might put "trains" and "izakaya" at the top of my things-I-love-about-Japan list. Oh, and the awesome walkability of cities.

But sometimes trains will fail you.

If you miss your last train, or 終電 (しゅうでん), then you have to either (1) stay out all night or (2) catch a taxi. If you're staying somewhere far away, that taxi will cost you an arm and a leg.

But maybe you're at a conveniently located hotel for this trip.

In that case, just wave for a taxi.

Then the adventure begins...

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If you're a well-prepared traveler, you'll have the address of the place you're staying written on a card or something.

Most hotels have cards for this purpose sitting at the front desk.

Then you can just hand it over and say:

この住所までお願いします。
この　じゅうしょ　まで　おねがい　します。
Please take me to this address.
Literally: “this + address + until + please (=favor + do).”

An even shorter option:

ここまでお願いします。
ここ　まで　おねがい　します。
Please take me here.
Literally: “here + until + please (=favor + do).”

The taxi driver will then turn on his light (if it's nighttime) and proceed to mumble to himself while he tries to read where you're going.

The thing is, you stole that card from a fancy hotel, but you're actually staying at a ボロボロ (worn out; falling apart) AirBnB around the corner.

You notice that your taxi is driving right by it! Rather than walk all the way from the fancy hotel, you want the taxi driver to stop here.

So you say...

ここで止めてください。
ここ　で　とめて　ください。
Please stop here.
Literally: “here + で + stop (and) + please.”

If it were me, I'd probably just say:

あっ、ここでいいです。
あっ、　ここ　で　いい　です。
Oh, here is fine.
Literally: “ah, + here + で + good + です.”

I like throwing in that little あっ because it sounds like I just realized this is where I wanted to get off (the evil truth being that I don't know how to describe this exact location in Japanese).

Or maybe you could say:

ここで降ります。
ここ　で　おります。
I'll get out here.
Literally: “here + で + get off / get out.”

You can also use 降ります (おります) to refer to getting off a train or a bus, by the way.

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One way that you can get a bus driver to help you is to say:

XX に着いたら教えてくれませんか？
XX　に　ついたら　おしえて　くれませんか？
Could you please tell me when we get to XX?
Literally: “XX + に + if / when (we) arrive + teach / tell (and) + won't you give (me)?”

So if you're in Kyoto, where buses are quite useful (in Tokyo, it's all about trains!), maybe you could say:

二条城に着いたら教えてくれませんか？
にじょうじょう　に　ついたら　おしえて　くれませんか？
Could you please tell me when we get to Nijō Castle?
Literally: “Nijō Castle + に + if / when (we) arrive + teach / tell (and) + won't you give (me)?”

My mom loved Nijō Castle, by the way. I thought it was pretty cool, but there were just too many tourists for me. I was also younger back then, though. Maybe I'd appreciate the history more if I went today.

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🏙 Review City 🏙

You're such a great student. So you'll have memorized all of the words from this lesson already, right?

No?

Well...

この（この // this）
ここ（ここ // here）
どこ（どこ // where）

住所（じゅうしょ // address）

まで（まで // until; up to）
に（に // [particle marking a destination]）
で（で // [particle marking place an action is done]）

お願いします（おねがいします // please）
ください（ください // please）

止める（とめる // to stop）
止めてください（とめてください // please stop）

あっ（あっ // ah）

いい（いい // good）
です（です // [copula (~to be)]）

降りる（おりる // to get off; to get out）
降ります（おります // get off; get out）

着く（つく // to arrive）
着いたら（ついたら // if / when [one] arrive）

教える（おしえる // to teach; to tell）
教えてくれませんか（おしえてくれませんか // could [you] please tell [me]）

二条城（にじょうじょう // Nijō Castle）

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You might want to try reconstructing the sentences we have seen so far from memory.

Being able to understand them might not be too hard. But being able to make them come out of your mouth while you're traveling can be really challenging:

- Please take me to this address.
- Please stop here.
- Oh, here is fine.
- I'll get out here.
- Could you please tell me when we get to XX?
- Could you please tell me when we get to Nijō Castle?

Best of luck, fellow traveler.