Racing through Japan by Shinkansen

Japan – March 2018

It’s probably on the bucket list for most first time travellers to Japan. It sure was something I really wanted to do: A ride on the famous bullet trains called Shinkansen which reach an operating speed of up to 360km/h. The five Shinkansen lines connect Tokyo to all major cities in the country.

It’s the perfect mode of transport if you are short on time, as it for example breaks down the 6-hour car drive from Tokyo to Osaka to a scenic 2.5-hour train ride However, depending on the route saving time comes at a price. For example, the journey from Tokyo to Osaka by Shinkansen costs approximately 140 USD and by Expressway bus just 70 USD. I highly recommend to check different options for the individual legs of your journey on www.hyperdia.com.

In 2018 my friend and I used Shinkansen for the biggest part of our 1400 km journey from Tokyo to Hiroshima. We only had two weeks to cover Tokyo, Nagano, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima and wanted to spend as much time as possible to discover the cities. Our first bullet train took us from bustling Tokyo to the mountainous prefecture of Nagano. Quite hungover after a long night out we made it to Tokyo Station. As we have decided against buying a Japan Rail Pass, we first had to buy the tickets.

The ticket office at the busiest station in the country was surprisingly empty. We didn’t have to queue and were shown to an English speaking salesman. He asked if we wanted to exchange our JR Pass and we declined. He still offered us to issue JR Passes on the spot – which I read online wouldn’t be possible. We explained that we have used the online fare calculator tool on the JR Pass website and realized that it’s much cheaper if we buy individual tickets. He asked for our route and dates and calculated again. Finally, he agreed with us and gave us the four Shinkansen tickets each.

With a couple minutes to spare, we made our way to platform 11 where our Hokuriku Shinkansen to Nagano was going to leave. Due to the annual spring holiday there were a lot of passengers and the train arrived about 2 minutes late. As they announced the delay, they apologized repeatedly.  We joined the queue of mostly Japanese travellers and boarded the spacious train. We had a row all to ourselves and I spent the following hour napping.

From Nagano to Kyoto there is no direct Shinkansen line as of now. So we took a Limited Express train to Nagoya which is a little slower, but perfect to admire the beautiful countryside. In Nagoya we changed to a Shinkansen for the last leg to Kyoto, which only took around 34 minutes. This train we almost missed, because we wanted to buy some snacks at 7/11 and got lost in the station. A very helpul JR employee showed us all the way to the platform and we made it safely to Kyoto.

From Kyoto to Osaka you have a broad choice of trains – from Shinkansen to regional train lines which stop at every sinlge station. We went for the regional train which stopped closer to our hotel. After a few wonderful days in Osaka we were already facing the last part of our journey. Our last ride from Osaka to Hiroshima with the Sanyo-Shinkansen was the one we were most excited for. Firstly it was the longest one we were taking and the secondly the route leads along the seaside, so we were hoping to catch a glimpse of the ocean.

We arrived at Shin-Osaka Station ahead of time and bought the essential snacks at 7/11: Tuna-Onigiri, sweet melon bread, a small bento box, milk tea and a bag of surprise sweets. Well prepared we got to the platform and patiently waited for the bullet train to arrive, so we could snap a picture. There were much less people on the train compared to the popular commuter lines we took before. So we had a whole queue to ourselves when we waited to board the train. But before we could do that, the staff had to turn the seats. That’s right. On a Shinkansen your seat always faces the direction the train is going. Again, we had a row all to ourselves. We spread out our lunch and enjoyed the beauiful seaside scenery passing by.