Shinkansen - first ride

On January 17 I took my first trip on the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Shin Yokohama to Kyoto. If you're interested in specific details about the Shinkansen - I'd advise you to read up on the Japan Railways English websites - or visit Wikipedia. This post is just about my impressions of the service as a first-time rider.

There's currently a lot of talk about high speed rail in the US, and this trip showed me just how far the Japanese have come with their extensive HSR network since it debuted in 1964. I think what struck me most about the service was the number and frequency of trains. I've grown accustomed to seeing the sleek trains (on their separate tracks) as I've traveled between Yokosuka and Tokyo. When I bought our tickets at the Yokohama JR Station I was amused by the size of the timetable the ticket agent showed me (it was published in a book). However, standing on the Shinkansen platforms watching inter-city trains come and go with three minute headways made me realize just how many trains are running (at top speed) across Japan.

Since this was our first trip, we decided to try the fastest (limited stop) service, called Nozomi. The trip from Shin Yokohama to Kyoto is a little over 300 miles but took just about two hours using this service. We made only one very brief stop, in Nagoya, with a less than three minute layover. Overall I was extremely impressed - the train is smooth, quiet, and even relaxing. As in other high speed railcars (including Amtrak's Acela), the interior of the car seems like a wide body airplane, with bright lighting and individual seats. My only complaint was on the return trip - we chose seats on a non-smoking car that were near the back of the car, adjacent to a smoking car, and like other places in Japan, there was quite a bit of "bleed through" from the smoking sections into the non-smoking sections.

At the station platforms, clockwork efficiency was the name of the game. I noticed that passengers didn't appear to come to the platform until 5 or 10 minutes before their departure (we arrived much earlier, so I had time to watch). Information is clearly available to travelers in English and Japanese using LED signboards posted at each car's designated boarding location. Overall, the shinkansen train platforms are busy, but not crowded. The constant turnover of travelers provided a good opportunity for people watching.

The video below briefly summarizes the trip, including views from the window and of the platform activity.