One of the pleasures of living in this country is riding Japan’s Shinkansen train. Recently, I took a trip to Osaka that was a bit out of the norm. Announcements at Shin-Yokohama Station were saying all trains were delayed due to heavy snow. It was a clear and cold day in Yokohama.
Safety First
My train departed on time and got me to Nagoya in an hour. About 15 minutes out of Nagoya we ran into the storm; a band of cold air and snow heading west to east across Japan. The train gradually slowed down from 300 km/hour to about 40 km/hour. It felt strange to be going that slow but enabled me to take in the view, which was fantastic. We crept along for about an hour until getting out of the storm and into Osaka.
As we are still dealing with the pandemic, I was a bit hesitant to travel. A friend suggested taking “the green car” because it would be less crowded. He was right. I was one of two people in the whole carriage, so it was an extremely comfortable ride. Unsurprisingly, I was a bit late for my appointment, but everyone understood. It is “safety first” on Japan’s Shinkansen train as well as all public transportation.
After the appointment, I made my way back, knowing that I was going to head into and out of the same weather. So I settled back with jazz radio in my ears, some coffee, and an eki-bento (train station box lunch/dinner). I arrived in Yokohama a bit late, but appreciated everything about Japan’s Shinkansen train and its policy of “safety first.” Anyone visiting Japan really should experience a ride on the Shinkansen.
Some years ago, Mark also wrote an article that I found interesting about Japan’s Shinkansen Train and public transportation here https://sse-franchise.com/why-i-love-japan-transport-that-works/
Thanks for reading!
Jim http://smithweb.co.jp/sagamihara/
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