If you are travelling to Japan and travel domestically, you are likely to use Shinkansen (aka bullet train) They are extremely useful and I recommend it.
What is Shinkansen (Bullet Train)?
Shinkansen literally means new stem line (new =shin, stem＝kan, line =sen). They are stem lines now going from Hokkaido to Kyushu. Currently, maximum speed is 320 km/hour (198 mile/hour) in Tohoku Shinkansen. It was so fast, English nick name was bullet train.
The first Shinkansen was built back in 1964 for the Tokyo Olympic. It runs between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka. Since then, other Shinkansen was built (Sanyo between Shin-Osaka and Hakata in Kyushu, Joetsu Shinkansen betweem Tokyo and Niigata, Tohoku between Tokyo and Sendai and are now continued to Hokkaido, Sanyo was extended to Kyushu, Hokuriku Shinkansen to Kanazawa and finally extended to Tsuruga in Fukui)
What Lines Are There?
- Tokaido Shinkansen: Tokyo – Shin-Osaka (JR Central)
- Sanyo Shinkansen: Shin-Osaka – Hakata (JR West)
- Tohoku Shinkansen: Tokyo- Shin Aomori (JR East)
- Joetsu Shinkansen: Tokyo – Niigata (JR East)
- Hokuriku Shinkansen: Tokyo – Tsuruga (JR East)
- Kyushu Shinkansen: Hakata – Kagoshima Chuo (JR Kyushu)
- Hokkaido Shinkansen: Shin-Aomori – Shin-Hakodate Hokuto (JR Hokkaido)
Tokaido Shinkansen
Tokaido Shinkansen is the busiest Shinkansen line of all. The reason is because Tokaido is the major industrial belt. There are many people traveling on business. Also, Tokaido Shinkansen stops at major cities of Japan so many tourists use them, too.
- Tokaido Shinkansen runs between Tokyo and Shin Osaka operated by JR Central.
- Many of the Tokaido Shinkansen continues to Sanyo Shinkansen to Hiroshima or Hakata in Kyushu.
- Maximum speed is 285 km/hour (177 mile/hour).
- 365 Shinkansen operates a day between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka. From Tokyo, Shinkansen leaves almost every 5 minutes.
- There are 3 types of Shinkansen: Nozomi, Hikari and Kodama
- Kodama stops at every station. So it is slowest of the three.
- Hikari makes less stop than Kodama so it is faster than Kodama.
- Nozomi is the fastest of the three. It only stops at major stations including: Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shin-Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka
- The reason many shinkansen station has “shin” is because they made new stations for Shinkansen near the conventional lines. So if the station has “shin”, there is another staion that is for conventional lines which is 5-15 minutes apart. ex. Osaka Station is 5 minutes from Shin-Osaka Station.
- Shinkansen is extremely punctual. The average delay is less than 1 minute. So please wait near your Car number entrance on the platform at least 5 minutes before the train arrive .
- Other than terminal stations, Shinkansen stops only 1 minute. So when you get off, please be ready when you hear the announcement “We will soon be arriving at XXXX”
- In Tokyo station, cleaning staffs clean the Shinkansen in only 7 minutes. You can see this on YouTube. They are extremely efficient and sweeps the floor, change head cover, throw garbages and so on in 7 minutes. This might be interesting.
- When taking photos, Car# 16 areas are good spot to take photos because you can take front part. In Tokyo station, if you go in from Nihonbashi entrance, you will be near the Car #16.
- There are bath rooms on every other cars.
- If you have large suitcases, you need to reserve seat with luggate space. Medium size suitcases and backpacks can be stored over your head.
- Cart service on the Shinkansen is not available now. In Green car, you can order drinks and food using your smartphones.
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