Travel Report: Riding The Shinkansen Bullet Train, Japan.

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February 2019. After thirteen wondrous days in the Japanese capital and a cool day trip with Sunrise Tours checking out Mount Fuji, Fuji-Q Highland Amusement Park, Lake Ashi and Mount Hakone, all that was left to do was tick off one last Tokyo bucket list item before my flight back to China. Wherever you go in Japan one of the great joys of a trip here is to ride the world famous Shinkansen Bullet Train. So naturally I was delighted when I saw that that my day tour provided a one-way ticket from Atami Station in Shizuoka Prefecture back to Tokyo Station where I could jump on the subway and get back to my digs at Ginza Bay Hotel.

The Shinkansen Bullet Train about to leave Atami Station, Japan.

February 2019. Japan’s Shinkansen Bullet Trains are seen as a global flag-waver of reliability and comfort. Trains are both spacious and modern and nearly always arrive and depart on time, right down to the second. And so it proved that afternoon as our impossibly sleek train pulled in at Atami Station.

Tasha liking the Shinkansen Bullet Train vibe.

Holding my magic Shinkansen Bullet Train ticket from Atami Station to Tokyo Station.

February 2019. I jumped on the train that day with Tasha, a New Yorker who’d sat next to me on the coach tour. As with everything else connected to the itinerary that day, our tour guide Hiro had flawlessly arranged everything on our behalf. We’d been handed our tickets on the coach as we drove back from Mount Hakone and dropped off right outside the station entrance with five minutes to reach the platform.

February 2019. Japan’s Shinkansen trains zoom around the country at speeds of up to 320km an hour. But high speed doesn’t mean high danger because these bullet trains are the safest in the world. In fact, there hasn’t been a single fatal accident in its 55-year history.

Shinkansen Bullet Trains, Japan.

February 2019. The trip from Atami Station to Tokyo Station took just forty-five minutes, covering an impressive 109 kilometers. The cost of our tickets was included in the day trip with Sunrise Tours. At the time of writing I see that a standard one-way ticket booked online is priced at 7990JPY for adults (£55/€64/$71.50), 4240JPY for kids 11 or under (£29/€34/$38).

My ride on Japan’s Shinkansen Bullet Train was the final part of a day trip with Sunrise Tours booked through the online operator Viator at a cost of 109GBP/126EUR/$141 per person. For more on my experiences that day, take a look at my articles on Mount Fuji, Fuji-Q Highland Amusement Park, Lake Ashi and Mount Hakone.

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