THE SHINKANSAN...and other train matters

Amazing bullet trains zipping through the country at up to 200 mph!  With the JR pass, we can ride the Shinkansan and all JR transportation for free and even reserve free seats in special cars.  It's possible to reserve seats right before you ride, but sometimes there are lines or availability issues, so we often stop at the train station ticket counter the night before to get printed seat assignments.  Save the ticket with the seat reservation, as an attendant may ask to see and punch it.  Look for the JR prominently displayed on signs and trains for JR transportation.  If you don't reserve a seat, you can sit (or possibly be stuck standing) in non-reserved cars.

The Shinkansan trains are nicer and roomier and definitely cleaner than airplanes and no security check-in.  Ample leg room to stretch out or store you luggage in front of you or you can use handy luggage racks.  And the bathrooms are clean with Toto washlet toilets.  When the Shinkansan train pulls into the station, janitors are standing at each door, nodding to departing travelers....they rush in and totally clean the cars, moving seats to clean and washing the windows.  It is wonderful.

Before you leave for Japan, definitely get the (free for a month, then $2.99) Hyperdia app.  Remember you need wifi for the app so also rent a pocket wifi.   You get complete schedules for any trip you need, including train numbers and track numbers, by typing your start and finish destinations by hour.  Everything is timed perfectly.  Also, while little English is spoken, it is enough for the attendants to help you get reserved tickets and to direct you to appropriate tracks.  Everyone is very polite and they all wear suits and ties and often white gloves.  Attendants bow when they enter or leave a car.  When you go through the station with your JR pass, you must show it to the gate attendant coming and going and of course, when you reserve seats.  If you take a non-JR train, you can buy individual tickets which you insert in the turn style coming and going.  With an IC card like Pasmo, you scan it coming and going.  Fares on local trains and buses are approximately $2.30 for most destinations, although in the big cities you are charged by distance.  Many towns also have day passes for the non-JR transportation, available at stations and 7-11 stores.