Shinkansen - Tokyo Intro: Experience #36 of 55

First Bullet train in 1964

The first bullet train ran in Japan more than 50 years ago for the 1964 Olympic games.  The first line just connected Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka.  Now you can take a shinkansen from Hokkaido, in the north, all the way down to the southern island of Kyushu.  There are undersea tunnels connecting the island to allow this.

The bullet trains are sleek and modern, with top speeds over 300 kilometers per hour.  A typical train has 16 cars that can carry 1,323 seated passengers.  The inside of the train provides plenty of leg room, overhead storage, and seats that can pivot around so a group of four can have their own little space.

JR East N700 Series

 Over a 150 million passengers took the bullet train in 2017 and over 10 billion passengers have ridden the shinkansen.  The ride on a shinkansen is very smooth, like flying in clear weather, with no clickety-clack as you would get on a regular train.  Despite the high speed, as of 2020, there have been no passenger fatalities due to accidents on these trains.
 

JR East N700 Series Shinkansen viewed from the rooftop garden of Kotsu Kaikan.

The main shinkansen stations in Tokyo are Ueno, Tokyo  Station, and Shinagawa.  These stations are on the east side of central Tokyo where the shinkansen tracks run north to south.  In fact, Tokyo Station has kilometre zero in it, from which the distance of all train lines are measured.  Nearby, on the the Nihonbashi bridge, there is also another kilometre zero from which all road distances are measured.  A great place to watch shinkansen go by is from the rooftop garden at Kotsu Kaikan near the Tokyo International Forum and south of Tokyo Station.

The train trip from Tokyo to Kyoto takes about two hours and twenty minutes, just enough time to see Mt. Fuji and enjoy a train bento (Ekiben) at the halfway point.  At the train station, buying a quality Ekiben along with a beer or bottle of tea is a treat, and much nicer than flying economy.

• Ekiben Matsuri (Train Bento Festival Store) at Tokyo Station
• Eating Well While Travelling In Japan - Part 2 - Kyoto Dining (Ekiben, Bullet Trains, Fushimi Inari Food Stalls) 
• Riding the Shinkansen(from Eggs Overseas Blog)

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