The Shinkansen Notebook — Ten Dispatches from Japan’s Trains

The platform as theatre

Japanese train stations are choreographed in a way that becomes obvious only after a few visits. There are footprints painted on the platform showing where each car’s doors will open. Passengers form quiet lines along those marks, two abreast, waiting. When the train arrives, the cleaning crew bows to the disembarking passengers, then sweeps through the cars in synchronised teams of two, finishing in seven minutes flat. The crew bows again to the new passengers boarding. The doors close. The train leaves on the second it was scheduled to leave.

The system works because everyone participates. Tourists who don’t know the choreography can simply observe and follow. Within a single platform visit, the pattern becomes legible: line where the painted marks indicate, wait, board calmly, find the assigned seat, settle in.

Reservations and the JR Pass

Most shinkansen trains have reserved and non-reserved cars. Reserved seats are guaranteed and slightly more expensive; non-reserved are first-come-first-served and can fill up on popular routes during peak times. For travellers visiting Japan in tourist season (cherry blossom in March-April, autumn colours in October-November, Golden Week in early May), reservations are worth making.

The JR Pass — the multi-day rail pass historically marketed to foreign tourists — became dramatically more expensive in October 2023, with prices rising roughly 70%. The pass remains a valid option for travellers planning multiple long-distance trips, but the calculation has changed: for a typical Tokyo-Kyoto-Tokyo round trip with a side trip, individual point-to-point tickets are now often cheaper. A specific itinerary should be priced out both ways before committing.

For travellers staying primarily in one or two cities, individual tickets are almost always better value than a pass. The JR Pass continues to work well for travellers covering long distances across multiple regions — Kyushu-to-Hokkaido itineraries, for example.

Ekiben — the station bento

The ekiben is the bento box sold at train stations specifically for eating on the train. Each major station has its own regional versions — Tokyo Station alone has hundreds, made by dozens of producers, with seasonal rotations and limited editions. Hiroshima Station is famous for anago meshi (sea-eel rice). Sendai has gyutan (beef tongue). Niigata does salmon roe. Hokkaido does crab.

The act of eating an ekiben on a moving train is a small but specific pleasure. The boxes are designed to be eaten without utensils beyond a pair of chopsticks. The compartments are carefully arranged. The contents are room-temperature by design, structured to be eaten cold without losing quality. A bottle of tea or beer from the station kiosk completes the kit.

For longer journeys, the ekiben earns its place. For shorter trips, it’s still worth doing once, simply to participate in the practice. The ekiben sections of major stations are typically labelled with English and operate from early morning until late evening.

Choosing the right seat

Seat choice on the shinkansen is more consequential than on conventional trains. The window seats on the south side of the Tokaido shinkansen (right side facing forward, going west from Tokyo) get the Fuji view between Tokyo and Mishima. The other side gets the bay and the Pacific. Both have merit; the Fuji side is the one to choose on a clear day.

The car-end seats with extra legroom (rows 1 and the last row of each car) are popular and book up first. The car-middle seats are quieter — the door noise from car-end seats is real. The Green Car cars (first class) have wider seats, fewer rows, and quieter clientele but cost roughly 50% more than standard reserved seats.

For long journeys with luggage, the cars at the ends of the train have larger luggage spaces. Reservations for these need to be made in advance for trips during peak season.

The Tokaido and the alternatives

The Tokaido shinkansen — Tokyo to Osaka via Kyoto — is the original 1964 line and remains the most-used. Most international visitors ride it at some point. The route runs through the heart of Japan’s most populous region, with views of Fuji, brief glimpses of agricultural land, and the urban sprawl that defines the Tokyo-Osaka corridor.

The other shinkansen lines are less visited but equally good. The Tohoku shinkansen heads north to Sendai, Akita, Aomori, and onward. The Hokuriku shinkansen runs west through the alps to Kanazawa. The Kyushu shinkansen runs south through Fukuoka, Kumamoto, and Kagoshima. Each line has its own regional character and its own ekiben culture.

For travellers with time for more than the Tokyo-Kyoto loop, a single long-distance trip on a less-trafficked shinkansen line is one of the better ways to see the country quickly. A separate dispatch in this series covers regional Japan in more depth.

The trolley service

A trolley moves through the shinkansen at intervals, pushed by a uniformed attendant who bows on entering each car. The trolley carries snacks, drinks, coffee, beer, sake, and a small selection of regional sweets. The transactions are quick and quiet. The attendant remembers what was bought and refuses change in coins when possible (a small efficiency).

The coffee is decent. The local beer (Sapporo, Asahi, Kirin) is reliably cold. The seasonal items — a strawberry confection in spring, a chestnut sweet in autumn — are worth trying. Cash works; IC cards also work; foreign credit cards work on most newer trains.

Sleeper trains, fading

Japan’s overnight sleeper trains have been disappearing for decades. A handful remain — the Sunrise Izumo / Sunrise Seto runs Tokyo to Takamatsu / Izumo with private compartments and showers; the West Express Ginga and Twilight Express Mizukaze are luxury cruise-train experiences with multi-day itineraries and chef-cooked meals.

For most travellers, the practical sleeper options are limited. The Sunrise pair is bookable through ordinary channels (JR ticketing) and remains relatively affordable. The luxury trains operate as more elaborate journeys — bookings months in advance, prices in the thousands of dollars, with itineraries that prioritise the experience of being on the train over the speed of arrival.

Sleeper trains are a different mode of Japanese travel than the shinkansen. Where the bullet train compresses distance, the sleeper expands it. Neither is better; they serve different purposes.

Regional and scenic lines

Beyond the shinkansen, Japan has thousands of kilometres of regional rail — local lines, limited express trains, scenic routes that wind through mountains and along coastlines. Some of the better-known scenic lines:

The Hakone Tozan Line climbs into the hills toward the onsen town of Hakone. Switchback engineering, dense forest, and views back toward Lake Ashi.

The Sagano Romantic Train runs through the Hozugawa gorge near Kyoto, particularly striking in autumn.

The Tadami Line in Fukushima crosses iron bridges over forested river valleys. One of the most photographed regional lines in Japan.

The Hisatsu Line in Kyushu winds through mountain country, with several preserved wooden stations along the route.

For travellers who treat the train as the destination rather than just transport, these lines repay the time. GetYourGuide lists guided rail experiences across Japan including some of the more atmospheric scenic routes.

The station as small city

Major Japanese train stations are not just transit nodes. Tokyo Station, Shinjuku Station, Osaka Station, Kyoto Station — each contains a small city of shops, restaurants, hotels, basement food halls, museum-quality observation decks, and themed underground districts. A traveller can spend half a day inside a major station without seeing daylight, and not be bored.

The depachika — basement food halls — are the most concentrated culinary experiences in Japan. Tokyo’s Daimaru Tokyo (in the station) and Shinjuku Isetan (a short walk from the station) are particularly good. Bento boxes from these are a different category of ekiben — fresh, often premium, intended for evening meals at home but available to travellers as well.

For first-time visitors, allowing extra time at major stations is wise. The walk between platforms in Tokyo Station alone can take 15 minutes. The signage is excellent but the scale is real.

Arriving by train

The act of stepping off a shinkansen at Kyoto Station, Hiroshima Station, or Hakata Station has a quality of compression that flying never achieves. Two hours ago the traveller was in Tokyo. Now they are in another city, in a region with its own dialect, its own food culture, its own quality of light. The train has done the work of distance without imposing the marker of an airport.

For travellers who treat the journey as part of the experience, the shinkansen between major cities is one of the more elegant modes of intercity travel anywhere in the world. The traveller is in their seat fifteen minutes before departure, eating ekiben twenty minutes after, settled in the destination city within hours of leaving the previous one.

The trains do not feel slow at 300 km/h because the engineering hides the speed. They feel measured, comfortable, slightly hypnotic. The mountains roll past the window. The cleaning crew bows on arrival. The trip resets.