Nozomi Shinkansen "flight" from Kyoto to Tokyo

There's my bullet train ride shown on the board - Nozomi 222 bound for Tokyo at 10:02 am. Being a fan of rail travel (as opposed to air and bus travel), I was psyched to experience one of the world's fastest bullet trains, the Shinkansen, and was waiting on the platform a Kyoto station for the 2.5 hour "rapid express" ride.

I hadn't really known about the distinctions between the different classes. But when buying my ticket, the counter lady gave a brief explanation, and I figured that logically the less stops, the better.

Thus I chose the Nozomi, which as you can see, makes fewer stops along the Kyoto to Tokyo route than its Hikari "express" counterpart. The time savings probably aren't all that great, perhaps half an hour, since the Shinkansen does speed through the countryside at a top rate of 300 kilometers per hour.

Regardless of the class - rapid express or express (I love how the local trains are called "semi-express"), in truth, I was just happy to be in a country with a great rail travel system like Japan,
given the paucity of good rail travel options in the USA.

In fact, one of my fondest memories of my trips in Switzerland was taking the intercity trains between the different cities, always amazed by their punctuality and efficiency. (Which probably explains why I wear a Swiss Railways watch to this day).

Other than the Amtrak Acela Express service on the Northeast corridor between Boston and Washington DC, travelling by train seems to have gone out of style at home, with no foreseeable revival given the massive costs of upgrading the infrastructure.

Even the much-touted Acela Express reaches top speeds of only 150 mph (210 km/hr), and only on certain sections of the route. Something to do with the tracks, I believe.

So, there I was eagerly waiting for "my" Nozomi train to arrive, and to while away the time, I watched other Shinkansen trains zoom past the Kyoto station platform.

You could easily tell they were coming - the train would appear in the distance - still seemingly far - but this can be quite deceiving. You only have a few precious seconds to set the perfect angle on your camera's view finder, and remember to brace yourself for the strong gust of cool air that the Shinkansen brings with it to avoid being knocked over.

In a few seconds, the show is all over and you're left to replay the video you've shot, shake your head in disappointment, and then stake out your position on the platform's edge waiting for the next one. Repeat as many times as necessary.

Here is the link to video of the Shinkansen speeding through Kyoto station (if the embedded video below doesn't appear).




Finally, the Nozomi train came and I took my designated seat inside the designated car. The Shinkansen was very comfortable and had ample legroom.

For people like me who are normally stuck in the middle seat in economy class, this was quite a relief. The smoothness of the ride struck me. In fact, you'd only notice you are traveling at such high speeds when you look out the window at the countryside and everything whizzes by in an instant.

Overall, the Shinkansen is a great way to experience the outstanding Japan rail system (those Swiss better watch out), although it comes at a steep price. My one-way trip between Kyoto and Tokyo came to around 13,520 yen or roughly US$150. (No one said traveling in style would be cheap, I rationalized). A JR pass can be used on the Hikari trains, but not the "rapid express" Nozomi.

Check out this Lonely Planet article to learn more about Japan's amazing bullet trains.

For more of my Japan trip blog posts, click here.

All aboard the Sushi Train!

Japanese food is one of my favorite cuisines, if not my most favorite. Although New York City has tons of Japanese restaurants offering sushi, yakitori, ramen, and even curry, I haven't really found one that offers conveyor belt sushi.

There are probably a few places out there that I'm not aware of, but they're far from being ubiquitous, unlike in say, Australia, where the conveyor belt sushi ("Oh, the sushi trains!", exclaimed my Aussie friend) places are everywhere, usually operated by proprietors of Japanese descent. Great for them, but why not NYC? Isn't that strange?

Sushi Train video

If you've never heard of conveyor belt sushi, that's exactly what it is. The sushi plates are placed on a rotating belt that moves around the sushi bar, with prices varying according to the color of the plate. As the plate that catches your fancy passes by, simply reach out and grab it from the belt. Your bill will be tallied up after wards according to the number and color of plates you have consumed.

Fortunately, my vacation in Japan gave me a couple of opportunities to hop aboard the sushi trains, so to speak. Not that I made it a point to do any research on kaiten sushi places, but rather stumbled upon them while sightseeing - one in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and the other in downtown Kyoto.

During my initial conveyor belt sushi experience, it took me a few moments after sitting down at the counter to figure things out, like where the tea cups were and how to get water from the nearby spigot. Everything is truly self-service, although the staff is happy to assist if you wish to ask the chef for a custom order.

Watching the sushi rolling merrily along the train tracks proved quite entertaining, though the signs puzzled me since I don't speak any Japanese. Sushi plate prices are clearly indicated on a chart and start at around $1.50 for two pieces of fish (e.g. tuna, salmon), and increase for more special items (e.g. eel).

Sushi Train video

I found the conveyor belt sushi dishes to be quite fresh and delicious, contrary to some people's dismissive attitude towards kaiten sushi places as being "fast food sushi". Since they're part and parcel of Japanese culture, some of the world's most meticulous consumers, I wasn't surprised about the high quality standards though.

On each occasion, empty plates 8 or 9 deep were stacked up in front of me at the end of the meal. The self-service aspect also meant lunch took less than half an hour, leaving more time for on-a-full-stomach post-meal contemplation: why aren't conveyor belt sushi restaurants more common in New York City (or the USA in general)?