After arriving at Narita Airport from New Zealand I had arranged to stay with some old friends who live a few hours away out on the coast of Chiba Prefecture. Rob and his kids picked me up at the airport and we hung out for a few days before heading south and to my new home in Kumamoto prefecture.
For my route south I looked at the various Shinkansen options to find which would give me the easiest and most foolproof journey and with minimal transfers. And that was the Nozomi Shinkansen from Shinagawa station in Tokyo through to Kumamoto, with only a single change, to the Kyushu Shinkansen 'Sakura' service at Hiroshima.
Booking a Shinkansen
This can be booked online nowadays, so no longer do you have to stand looking bemused in front of a ticket machine whilst a queue piles up behind you. My whole trip from Tokyo to Kumamoto on the single Shinkansen ticket would cost $300 for normal reserved seating or $400 for green car which is what I opted for, because for an extra $100 (NZD) why not?
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| Finding a Shinkansen on Smart EX |
To check and book Shinkansen trips, visit Smart-ex. You will need to create a login and from there you can book, view and manage your journeys. It has also some actually useful guides about how to use your electronic tickets when boarding. There is an app too, which is basically a web app in mobile view.
Booking really is straightforward. Simply put in your travel date and approx time, and select your seat type and hit search. If you are a tourist with a big suitcase make sure you select an oversized baggage seat otherwise you will have no where to put your suitcase and you'll annoy everyone. Once booked you can download a QR code that becomes your ticket.
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| Shinakensen search results on Smart EX |
The Wakashio Limited Express
Tokyo is a long way from the Pacific coast in the Chiba countryside. My originally and (poorly assumed) plan was to get Rob to drop me off at Chiba station and then I can take a single train through to Shinagawa. The problem with this was Rob said no way. The drive would have been a bit further and longer than I would have expected so fair enough.
The issue I then had was trying to find trains to take me from closer to Isumi right through to Shinagawa, but at best it was 3 trains - a local line through to Soga, then another train for the one stop to Chiba, then the Sobu line to Shinagawa and that just seemed too much of a hassle, and to be honest a bit of a nightmare to try and negotiate whilst stressing about not missing my Shinkansen.
But then the boys just said 'get the Wakashio mate'. The Wakashio is a limited express train that goes from the depths of the Chiba countryside all the way to Tokyo station, and pretty quickly too. My problem was that Tokyo station is not Shinagawa Station where my Shinkansen is booked from. Luckily (and surprisingly) I was easily able to change to ticket online in Smart-Ex to start from Tokyo instead and at no extra cost. It's the same train and the same seat so I would hazard a guess and say no one would take a Shinkansen for one stop in Tokyo, so my seat was basically reserved from the start of the line anyway. The booking change came with a new QR code of course.
Back to the Wakashio. I was able to book this one online too. It was about $50 for a reserved seat. Japan Travel Navitime seems to be the place to book a lot of trains and is nice and easy to use.
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| Wakashio online booking |
On my day of departure Rob dropped me at Kazusa-Ichinominoya station early in the morning to board the Wakashio. I had the QR code from my online booking and easily managed to fumble my way through the ticket machine to print my paper ticket. With paper tickets you always get two which always confuses me, and naturally the one I inserted into the ticket gate was not the right one, so used the other one and no problem.
The Wakashio is a nice comfortable train. I was very fortunately that I did not have anyone sit next to me as that space was taken up via my large suitcase. Had someone needed to sit there I am not sure what I would have done.
Boarding the Shinkansen
It only took around an hour to get to Tokyo station and I simply followed the signs (and throng) for the exit in the hope of getting some fresh air as I still had an hour to burn before my Shinkansen. Plus, Tokyo station is really quite beautiful from the outside and I wanted to see for myself. However. Once again at the ticket gates to exit I must have used the wrong ticket and the machine simply swallowed it. I decided it was probably best I just stay inside the station after all, and that it would be wise to hang out on the platform I needed to be on. I then had the realisation that I would be stuck on a train for the next 7+ hours and I hadn't eaten and would not have the change to eat - so I hastily grabbed a Bento Box and a bunch of snacks on the way through the station.
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| Tokyo station Shinkansen platform |
I really didn’t want to stress about missing my train so I straight upto the platform and basically hung out right where my car would be. If you haven’t taken a Shinkansen before, the platforms have barriers from the tracks, and these barriers have gates with the car numbers matching where the train will be, so you can queue up for exactly the right car for your reservation.
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| Shinkansen Green Car |
The Green Car
As I mentioned earlier I got a Green car ticket which is basically Business class. I’ve travelled to Kyoto before on the Nozomi in the standard car and I recall it being small and uncomfortable compared to what I'm used to on the Kyushu Shinkansen, so with a 7+ hour day on the train ahead I felt it was prudent to pay the extra and have a good seat.
And boy these Green car seats are nice. They are wide. They are comfortable. They adjust and recline including a footrest. They have 2 tray tables. They have a reading light. They have power outlets to charge stuff. They even have a seat warmer! I am over 6 feet tall and I still had at least 60cm between my knees and the seat in front! So much space I didn't know what to do with.
The oversized bagged seats are at the rear of the car as they have a very generous space behind for your suitcases, see the picture below.
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| Shinkansen Green car cabin |
You get extra service too. A staff member will bring you a hot moist towel after boarding to freshen up and you can order special snacks and drinks by scanning a QR code.
My transfer wasn't until Hiroshima, a good few hours away so I settled in to my comfy seat and just relaxed. None of the anxiety I get when flying, just nice peaceful, quiet and comfortable travel. I punctuated my peace occasionally by dipping into my snacks and eating my Bento Box, which was a Pork Tonkatsu sandwich, and it was AMAZING.
I was travelling the full length of the Nozomi route, from terminal to terminal. Tokyo station to Hiroshima. My connection in Hiroshima was just 10 minutes after my arrival - enough to make you sweat normally, but this is Japan. My Nozomi arrived bang on the expected time of 15:42, and the Sakura arrived bang on the expect time of 15:52. Perfection.
The Kyushu Shinkansen's 'Sakura' service is usually one I like because the standard car seats are not far off being as nice as the Nozomi Green Car seats. The Sakura Green Car seats on the other hand were a disappointment. Think of an old black leather couch that's cracking and that's what the seats seemed like. Probably because it's an older N700 train whereas the Nozomi I took was the newer N700S.
Just under 2 hours later I arrived in Kumamoto to be met by my Family at the Station for the drive home.
Stats
- First train 9.33am from Kazusa-Ichinominoya, arrived Kumamoto station 17:40.
- Total travel time 8 hours, 7 minutes (not including driving either end, approx 2 hours)
- Total travel distance 1,259kms
- Total prefectures Travelled through: 15
- Total Travel cost $450 NZD
Alternatively I could have flown. From Robs house it iss around a 2 hour drive back to Narita airport followed by a 2 hour flight to Kumamoto making it about half the total time. It would have been a hell of a lot cheaper too, maybe a quarter of the price. But then it would be a quarter of the comfort and experience so there’s that.
In my eyes there is no better way to travel than a train, and in particular the Shinkansen.
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