I’m hardly the first to say it, but public transport in Japan just can’t be beat. Shinkansen, express trains, local trains, subways, buses, ferries and street cars – we tried them all! Always on time, we were utterly gobsmacked that one single line in Tokyo would have 11-car trains at your stop every 4 minutes.
In Tokyo, we stayed about 3 minutes subway ride from Shinjuku Station — the largest station in the world. Simply mind-boggling, there are over 200 exits! Needless to say we got lost very easily, but there was always someone offering to point us in the right direction
We took the N’EX from the airport to Tokyo – passing many rice fields and towns
In Wellington, this train would be considered full. In Tokyo: still plenty of space!
Just one of the many exits to JR Shinjuku
Tokyo Station is the main shinkansen stop for Tokyo and boy does it get busy!
The signs in all the stations switch between Japanese and English so getting around is a cinch
Despite the chaos of the lower floors, the platforms are very orderly
The Hayabusa is currently the fastest shinkansen – a whopping 320 kph! with 1600 seats, this is definitely the best way to get around
You can’t have fast trains if they’re climbing over hills all the time, so tunnels it is. This train also went through the Seikan tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaido!
And finally we make it to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto in Hokkaido
Onuma Koen, a tiny wee town in Hokkaido, is served by this quaint station
The Super-Hokuto to Hakodate was an odd train: the only diesel we came across, it also sounded like it was changing gears?!
On the Snow Monkey express train, the workmen just wandered away when trains came through – you wouldn’t get away with that here!
The hydrofoil to Yakushima was very calm. The hydrofoil back… not so much!
I think we could do with a few of these in Wellington – how great would that be!
