As I write this we are screeching along the Pacific coast, hurtling like an exocet through the endless huge grey cities, their low roofs, driving ranges, skyscrapers and orange and white chimneys a blur.
We glimpse the occasional flash of green paddy fields before another city hoves into view, then its suburbs, before they seem to merge into the next and the next…
No this isn’t my driving. Nor are not strapped into a space rocket. This is the shinkansen, the fabled bullet train.
Japan is rightly famous for this rail network, for it is surely like no other on earth. Linking most of Japan‘s major cities it reduces journey times so much that it rivals, if not surpasses the aeroplane for getting passengers from A to B.
And unlike the plane, the shinkansen offers maximum comfort and convenience.
Huge, sleek, 16-car trains glide into stations, their elongated engines looking more like spaceships than trains. Surely it is no coincidence that my word proceesor keeps automatically changing ‘shinkansen’ to ‘slinkiness’.
A brief stop at the platform and they are off once more, accelerating at a pace that would leave Lewis Hamilton for dust.
On board it’s comfortable and spacious, with acres of legroom and plenty of seats for passengers and space for their luggage. The staff are unstintingly polite (plenty of bowing and cap-doffing), and the ride remarkably smooth given the speeds you are travelling at.
Oh and they are always on time.
At the other end, upon reaching your destination an array of transport options for your onward journey are waiting for you. A range of local trains, local and rapid, are quick and simple to catch, the larger cities boost metros, and most stations have bus stops and secure cycle parking right outside their entrance.
In short Japan Rail (JR) offers passengers everything they need and more. Japan is a trainspotter's paradise. Gordon Brown should dispatch his Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly, here without delay, for a spot of work experience.
Many of the stations themselves are sights to behold: Kyoto station is an immense cathedral of lights, its many levels home to hundreds of shops, hotels and even an anime museum; Tokyo station felt like a sprawling mini-city, populated by thousands of scurrying worker ants, factory of a million bento lunchboxes.
Although often big, even bewildering, JR stations are not unpleasant. This being Japan everything is ordered and well-signposted, passengers rigorously observe the queuing systems and delicious soba noodles are only a stall away.
Thev are bright and airy, pleasant places to spend the few minutes you‘ll need to wait for your carriage to arrive. In Himeji station they even play bird calls across the platform, soothing the nerves of even the most stressed-out salaryman.
All this doesn’t come at too high a price for the savvy traveller either. You don’t need the equivalent of a down payment on a family house in order to board the shinkansen. Read our ‘how to…travel around Japan' hints and tips piece to find out how to do this.
Oh and they are always on time.
At the other end, upon reaching your destination an array of transport options for your onward journey are waiting for you. A range of local trains, local and rapid, are quick and simple to catch, the larger cities boost metros, and most stations have bus stops and secure cycle parking right outside their entrance.
In short Japan Rail (JR) offers passengers everything they need and more. Japan is a trainspotter's paradise. Gordon Brown should dispatch his Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly, here without delay, for a spot of work experience.
Many of the stations themselves are sights to behold: Kyoto station is an immense cathedral of lights, its many levels home to hundreds of shops, hotels and even an anime museum; Tokyo station felt like a sprawling mini-city, populated by thousands of scurrying worker ants, factory of a million bento lunchboxes.
Although often big, even bewildering, JR stations are not unpleasant. This being Japan everything is ordered and well-signposted, passengers rigorously observe the queuing systems and delicious soba noodles are only a stall away.Thev are bright and airy, pleasant places to spend the few minutes you‘ll need to wait for your carriage to arrive. In Himeji station they even play bird calls across the platform, soothing the nerves of even the most stressed-out salaryman.
All this doesn’t come at too high a price for the savvy traveller either. You don’t need the equivalent of a down payment on a family house in order to board the shinkansen. Read our ‘how to…travel around Japan' hints and tips piece to find out how to do this.
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