Sumo? Tea ceremony? Robot bar? Cat café? Ninja faculty? While all worthy experiences, it’s using the rails in Japan that guidelines all of them.
As a lot a cultural, culinary and social expertise as a mode of transportation, you don’t have to be a notepad-toting trainspotter to understand the attract of Japan’s world-leading rail community.
Beloved by many, there are numerous web sites, blogs, boards and Reddit threads full of rail followers fawning over Japan’s trains and dissecting each little bit of train-related information that hits the headlines.
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There’s little doubt about it, Japan’s trains have reached cult standing (one thing that can nearly actually by no means occur to the buses of Los Angeles).
A mode of transport regularly utilized by folks from all walks of life, a prepare journey in Japan isn’t only for the funds traveller both.
In Japan, trains are a lifestyle for everybody from college students to suited salarymen and well-to-do households. There’s even an ultra-luxury prepare scene in Japan evidenced by the truth that the brand new shiki-shima sleeper prepare is booked out greater than a 12 months prematurely regardless of the journey costing as much as $9,000 per particular person.
So what’s so good about Japanese trains anyway? Answer: nearly the whole lot.
Shiki-shima remark carriage. Image c/o East Japan Railway
Bullet trains
Reaching speeds of as much as 320 kilometres per hour (200 mph), Japan’s bullet trains (or shinkansen) might fly throughout the nation like a bat out of hell however someway in addition they handle to take care of a Zen vibe on the within.
Super clear, eerily quiet, scarily environment friendly and ever dependable, Japan’s trains make your own home nation’s rail community look fairly shoddy (until after all you occur to be from Germany).
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On a current journey from Tokyo to Sendai, I rode the Tohoku bullet prepare that covers a staggering 304km in simply over 90 minutes. With the quickest working speeds of the complete community, this line is the Holy Grail for pace nuts who wish to expertise a bullet prepare on the peak of its superpowers.
Apart from travelling at near-warp speeds, there are many different options value celebrating. Free, speedy wifi ensures passengers keep linked via the complete journey, nifty retractable coat racks assure your coat doesn’t get creased and a trolley laden with beer and snacks is rolled out simply after leaving the station.
Super clear, graffiti-free home windows imply a limitless provide of mountain and countryside views are on faucet (albeit these vistas are a little bit blurred because of the breakneck pace of journey). Essentially, Japan is chargeable for creating prepare utopia.
Train meals
Ekiben field
Just like airplane meals, common prepare meals might be hit or miss (however principally miss). From a soggy ham and cheese croissant nuked in a microwave by a surly lady, to a shapeless, tasteless, colourless blob which will or might not have been an try at an omelette (cheers India Railways – you probably did your greatest), consuming prepare meals is a universally dangerous proposition. It’s additionally a excessive stakes recreation when contemplating the Spartan rest room state of affairs on most trains around the globe.
Responsible for among the world’s best culinary experiences, it comes as no shock that Japan additionally excels at prepare meals. Apart from having some fairly good in-car eating and snacks on provide (contemporary sushi, beer and different snacks are all simply procured mid-ride at affordable costs), the prepare station bento bins (often known as ekiben) are the place it’s at.
Immaculately introduced in ornamental bins that includes stunning artwork work and typography, ekiben might be purchased from prepare station platforms and retailers situated in and round prepare stations. From tonkatsu (deep fried pork cutlet) with cabbage, to rice served with succulent chunks of boiled snow crab meat, there are tons of of ekiben varieties to select from. Some even are available miraculous self-heating bins that magically warmth up your meal when opened.
Getting to the prepare station early is a good suggestion, as a result of perusing the astounding number of ekiben on provide can take time (absolutely many vacationers have missed their prepare as a consequence of being sucked right into a pre-ride ekiben purchasing worm gap). You’ve been warned!
The Green Car
Spacious seats within the Green Car
Sure, the usual Japan Rail Pass affords distinctive worth however for those who’re completely satisfied handy over a little bit more money in trade for a extra deluxe expertise then you’ll be able to’t go unsuitable upgrading to the Green Car.
Ideal for small teams travelling collectively, sitting within the Green Car affords privateness and luxury above and past what you get in the principle carriage. Think of it as a First Class experience shared with your pals.
Ensconced in your individual non-public automotive full with USB charging shops, local weather management, outsized seats and a sturdy, fold-down desk excellent for enjoying playing cards or arranging a bento banquet, it’s laborious to not really feel a little bit smug if you journey in a Green Car.
Politeness
Unlike many different prepare journeys, respect is on the coronary heart of a prepare experience in Japan. With most passengers going out of their means to make sure they don’t discuss too loudly or take up an excessive amount of house, a prepare experience in Japan is fortunately devoid of battle or annoyance.
Having witnessed many bitter fights over seating allocation, armrest territory, baggage house, slicing the bathroom line and unruly children, Japan’s trains are principally a conflict-free zone.
Boarding is nearly at all times an orderly, thoughtful expertise characterised by excessive politeness and care. With ticket inspectors bowing to the carriage earlier than checking tickets, and a crack group of cleaners lining as much as bow to the carriage after finishing a beyond-efficient cleansing mission, a Japanese prepare experience is like getting into an alternate universe compared to long-haul prepare journeys in most different international locations.
Be certain to respect the custom – bow to different passengers, say arigato, don’t put your ft on the seats and no matter you do, don’t depart the station with out stocking up on ekiben.
