(Not) For Rail Buffs Only

Alan and I used public tranportation the entire time, except for a taxi ride to the train station on our last day. We took trains, subways, and busses (oh and one ferry). The public transporation system leave ours in the dust! And Chicago even has a public tranporation system, unlike most areas of the US. The train schedule book - and this was just for the biggest rail system in Japan, there are many others - for Japan Rail was the size of a telephone book. I was sent a smaller version when I bought our 7-day rail passes, which only covers the larger cities and towns (the pass was $250 each, and got us to Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kamakura and ofr course back to Tokyo). I imagine - but don't know - that between trains and busses you could probably get to any town in Japan. Can't say that here!

Our first trip out of Tokyo was on the Tobu railway (not JR) to Nikko. We had a 4 day pass, getting us to Nikko and back, and unlimited bus service while in the Nikko area, for about $38 each.

This is the train we took to Nikko, standing in the Tobu Asakusa station.


These are some pictures taken from the train, now out in the countryside.

In the distance here is a cemetery.






Famous in Japan are of course the bullet trains. The Shinkasen are part of the Japan Rail system. After we came back to Tokyo from Nikko, we boarded our first Shinkasen to go to Kyoto. Here's a couple at Tokyo Station. The one on the left is a Nozomi type; this one
averages 162.6 mph, maximum 177.
Our rail pass didn't allow us on the Nozomi, so we rode the "slower" Hikari trains, which make more stops, and aren't quite as fast either. The one on the right, which is the kind we took, maxes out at 168mph. Meeting one of these can be quite startling, and I startle easily, so I was driving Alan crazy jumping all the type. It was better if I didn't sit next to the window. And, given how much time we spent in tunnels (remember, Japan is very mountainous), I didn't miss much not being by the window. The air pressure change was enormous when we met a train inside a tunnel! Here's picture inside our train car.

Click here for a Shinkasen map of Japan, with travel times from Tokyo.

We reserved seats only so we could be sure of sitting next to each other. Most folks didn't reserve seats (there's no charge, just extra trouble), so the non-reserved cars were more crowded than this one.This is the train we took from Kyoto to Nara and back, a JR train, but clearly a local train.
This is another type of Nozomi train sitting at the station at Hiroshima. This particular one can go as fast as 186 mph. I didn't take any pictures of the subway trains in Tokyo, although I should have of the interiors, oh and of the subway stations. Clean clean clean! No smelling of, well, pee (human or pigeon). No trash! No loud talking. NO BLARING INTO A CELL PHONE!! (Signs said not to. And in Japan, apparently if a sign says not to, you don't. Everyone furiously text-messaged). Clean bathrooms and shops in the stations.

In the subway trains there was a video display that told how long it would take to get to each stop. And of course, all the trains were on time. Our only encounter with a stinky human was on the train between Osaka and Hiroshima (I think). A drunk came on - with a reserved seat (I think he had learned from an earlier lesson). He was loud, rude, and, as I said, stinky. The conductor talked to him several times, quietly, even picking up the guy's change that he had loudly dropped all over the floor. However, the conductor never threw him off, although several people left their reserved seats and went elsewhere. I later decided that the time it would take to get this guy off the train would delay the train, and that would never do! Drunkenness yes, delayed no!

Less exciting transportation, but unusual, were the trams in Hiroshima (here's a "Green" one),
the ferry (owned by JR, so we could use our pass) to Miyajima Island, and the cable car on Miyajima up to Mt. Misen.