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It's a wet and windy December morning at home in France, so what better time to take a wander through the photos from my fourth trip to Japan, back in 2015?
Let's take a look.
Let's take a look.
Most folks say you should aim for Haneda rather than Narita when it comes to airports. That's probably true if you're heading for Tokyo.
But I think Narita is better for some needs: good hotels, and the Narita Express is much better if you're heading to the Shinkansen network.
But I think Narita is better for some needs: good hotels, and the Narita Express is much better if you're heading to the Shinkansen network.
Remember, in Japan people don't really carry suitcases on trains â especially local ones, and double-especially in Tokyo.
The Narita Express has luggage space, but if you're not going straight from your Tokyo station to a hotel, use the airport "takkyubin" luggage services.
The Narita Express has luggage space, but if you're not going straight from your Tokyo station to a hotel, use the airport "takkyubin" luggage services.
Let's #JapanRailPass! Truly the best value rail pass anywhere.
You exchange the voucher at the airport or a major station for the pass itself.
Then you can either travel in unreserved seating or (as I recommend) reserve seats at any booking office.
You exchange the voucher at the airport or a major station for the pass itself.
Then you can either travel in unreserved seating or (as I recommend) reserve seats at any booking office.
There's almost always a sign for where your car's doors will open on the platform.
At major stations (like Tokyo, here) you line up neatly for the 1st and 2nd train.
If it's a terminus, you'll see the "seven minute miracle" cleaning teams sprinting onto and through the train.
At major stations (like Tokyo, here) you line up neatly for the 1st and 2nd train.
If it's a terminus, you'll see the "seven minute miracle" cleaning teams sprinting onto and through the train.
Here's the Green Car (business class) on the E2 series Shinkansen, which still operates some of the slower stopping services north of Tokyo.
Very comfy, if a little *choices* on the décor.
Notably, no power sockets, unlike newer trains.
Very comfy, if a little *choices* on the décor.
Notably, no power sockets, unlike newer trains.
As you head north of Tokyo on the elevated tracks, the Shinkansen is limited to 100 km/h for noise reasons.
You have a great view of bits of the the world's greatest metropolis, though!
You have a great view of bits of the the world's greatest metropolis, though!
Once you get north of Omiya, though, the Tohoku Shinkansen opens up and you have city after town after city, with classic Japanese fields in the middle, and the spine of the mountains.
Always reserve a seat on the mountain side of the train!
Always reserve a seat on the mountain side of the train!
One of my top Japan trips is to base yourself at a major railway town: convenient for #JapanRailPass travel and surrounded by shops, dining and entertainment.
This is Sendai in northern Japan, one of my faves.
This is Sendai in northern Japan, one of my faves.
They also usually have inexpensive business hotels where some rooms overlook the train tracks, so you can see things like this E5+E6 Shinkansen heading south for Tokyo.
(They're perfectly soundproofed and the Shinkansen stops overnight; this is with window open.)
(They're perfectly soundproofed and the Shinkansen stops overnight; this is with window open.)
Right, next morning! Here's an E5 Shinkansen (green body, pink stripe) speeding me south in its comfortable Green Car.
The brown seats are some of the comfiest, and hidden under the centre armrest is a pair of AC sockets.
The brown seats are some of the comfiest, and hidden under the centre armrest is a pair of AC sockets.
Next stop: Omiya! Home to my third-favourite railway museum, it's also the Y-junction between the Tohoku Shinkansen to the north, and the Joetsu/Hokuriku Shinkansen to the northwest.
Next up: this E7 Shinkansen to Takasaki, with what I think are probably the most attractive Green Car seats.
Yes, Virginia, they're not brown!
Yes, Virginia, they're not brown!
At Takasaki, I buy my annual daruma, a traditional Japanese talisman. The temple is easily accessible by train plus a short walk from the Gumma-Yawata station.
Takasaki is also a great place to base yourself to explore this region of Japan!
Takasaki is also a great place to base yourself to explore this region of Japan!
The Joetsu Shinkansen towards Niigata sometimes features the double-decker E4 Shinkansen, the only ones in Japan! Look for a train with "Max" in its name, like "Max Toki".
Two of these E4s coupled together can carry 1,634 passengers â the most of any high-speed rail train.
Two of these E4s coupled together can carry 1,634 passengers â the most of any high-speed rail train.
Onboard your E4, you climb the stairs to the Green Car (accessible seating at entry level is also available).
Surprise: it has the most eyewatering moquette fabric of anything I have ever seen, anywhere in the entire world.
Surprise: it has the most eyewatering moquette fabric of anything I have ever seen, anywhere in the entire world.
It's very mountainous, so you spend a lot of Shinkansen time in tunnels after Takasaki.
The ski resort of Echigo-Yuzawa is en route, and is worth an explore⊠and not just because there's an onsen hot spring and a sake tasting room at the station!
The ski resort of Echigo-Yuzawa is en route, and is worth an explore⊠and not just because there's an onsen hot spring and a sake tasting room at the station!
Soon enough, you're out onto the Sea of Japan side of the country, with its flat plains and fields, and heading into Niigata.
Highly recommended: Japanese bakery pastries. Often seasonal, always delicious (if with surprising ingreditents), and frequently beautifully created.
I love the Shinkansen, of course, but in some ways I love watching the comings and goings of local conventional lines better.
It's less high-tech, but no less organised, and no less fascinating.
It's less high-tech, but no less organised, and no less fascinating.
You also get to see all sorts of interesting trains, whether that's a local electric trundler or the regional diesels that go up the rare non-electrified lines.
One of the most fascinating things about Japan is that it keeps its trains going for decades.
One of the most fascinating things about Japan is that it keeps its trains going for decades.
Let's Inaho! This Limited Express makes its way up the Sea of Japan coast from Niigata to Akita, using this fabulously bubbly E653 train.
The Green Car seats are an eyewateringly 90s orange âthough you can't see them when seated â and has these unusual separators between rows.
The Green Car seats are an eyewateringly 90s orange âthough you can't see them when seated â and has these unusual separators between rows.
And I do mean up the coast: after a brief section on the plains north of Niigata, the Uetsu Main Line hugs the coast, with beautiful coves, cypress-covered outcroppings, and the deep blue sea.
(Taking photographs of this is, as usual from trains, difficult!)
(Taking photographs of this is, as usual from trains, difficult!)
Turning inland towards Tsuruoka and Sakata, you get a great view of some of Japan's agricultural heartlands, as well as its unique field structures and arable practices: small fields, floodable, chaff burned to fertilise.
There's something so uniquely and wonderfully meditative about travelling by train.
In Japan, it's somehow even more special, rolling quietly past fields and temples, modern houses and traditional styles, greenhouses and tiny tractors.
In Japan, it's somehow even more special, rolling quietly past fields and temples, modern houses and traditional styles, greenhouses and tiny tractors.
At Akita, we pick up the Komachi, the red-painted E6. This "mini-Shinkansen" runs at 130km/h between Akita and Morioka, where it joins the Tohoku Shinkansen, couples to an E5, and heads for Tokyo at 320 km/h.
"Mini-Shinkansen" refers to the older conventional lines, where the track gauge (distance between rails) was widened to take the Shinkansen, but the loading gauge (size of train car) wasn't.
Look at the wider standard-gauge track the E6 uses, and the narrow-gauge next to it.
Look at the wider standard-gauge track the E6 uses, and the narrow-gauge next to it.
Why do all this Mini-Shinkansen bit? Well, it's so you can get a one-seat ride to Tokyo from otherwise unconnected rural northern and northwestern Japan.
Here's the Green Car and the carriage on your E6.
Here's the Green Car and the carriage on your E6.
Trundling through the Japanese countryside at dusk is such an utter delight.
(No need to zoom into the photos. They're "2015 iPhone" blurry.)
(No need to zoom into the photos. They're "2015 iPhone" blurry.)
Ohayo gozaimasu! That's good morning, in Japanese.
Here's the standard included breakfast at a Toyoko Inn, my favourite business hotel chain.
From top left: pasta salad (no really), rice with pickles and toppings, noodle and seaweed salads, franks, and tamagoyaki omelette.
Here's the standard included breakfast at a Toyoko Inn, my favourite business hotel chain.
From top left: pasta salad (no really), rice with pickles and toppings, noodle and seaweed salads, franks, and tamagoyaki omelette.
Today I (and three fellow-traveller Japanese grannies politely fascinated by the large westerner with purple hair) are taking the local 40m from Sendai to Matsushima, the islands that are one of the Three Views of Japan.
Tip: you want Matsushima-Kaigan station.
Tip: you want Matsushima-Kaigan station.
Ask at the Matsushima tourist office right next to the port which of the sightseeing boats has English anouncements.
You can sit inside, or, well, enjoy the fresh sea air of the Pacific.
You can sit inside, or, well, enjoy the fresh sea air of the Pacific.
Matsushima is a superb insight into the classical Japanese aesthetic.
It's the pattern of small islands, or groups of islands, each uniquely beautiful in its own particular way.
It's the pattern of small islands, or groups of islands, each uniquely beautiful in its own particular way.
There's a famous haiku, usually attributed to Basho, about Matsushima.
Matsushima! Ah!
Ah, Matsushima! Ah, ah!
Matsushima! Ah!
Matsushima! Ah!
Ah, Matsushima! Ah, ah!
Matsushima! Ah!
No matter where you are in Japan, keep an eye on your map app for temples (which are, disconcertingly for many of us, represented by a swastika, which apart from its European infamy is also a Buddhist symbol).
I almost literally stumbled across the lovely Entsuin in Matsushima.
I almost literally stumbled across the lovely Entsuin in Matsushima.
Right, here's our next train, an E5 running as a Hayabusa service to Tokyo!
Note how everyone is lined up at exactly where their car's door will open, and the conductor saluting the station staff from the onboard office window.
Note how everyone is lined up at exactly where their car's door will open, and the conductor saluting the station staff from the onboard office window.
For all that you're travelling at up to 320 km/h, the Shinkansen is incredibly quiet and incredibly smooth.
(You are, however, going so quickly that a 2015 iPhone finds it difficult to hold focusâŠ)
(You are, however, going so quickly that a 2015 iPhone finds it difficult to hold focusâŠ)
All change!
This is Tokyo station, where you swap trains between Shinkansen heading north/northwest (Tohoku, Hokuriku, Joetsu, etc) for the ones heading south/southwest (Tokaido, Sanyo, Kyushu).
Let's head west⊠and yes, this is a timelapse.
This is Tokyo station, where you swap trains between Shinkansen heading north/northwest (Tohoku, Hokuriku, Joetsu, etc) for the ones heading south/southwest (Tokaido, Sanyo, Kyushu).
Let's head west⊠and yes, this is a timelapse.
For all that it's the centre of Japan's rail network, Tokyo Station is one of my least favourite: it's very crowded, difficult to navigate and aesthetically⊠well, efficient.
Keep an eye out for the cleaning crew waiting to get onboard the train opposite.
Keep an eye out for the cleaning crew waiting to get onboard the train opposite.
With the #JapanRailPass, you can't take the fastest (fewest-stops) Nozomi trains west of Tokyo, so you're relegated to the #GaijinExpress, the Hikari services.
They stop a couple times more, and run less frequently, so make sure you book them well in advance.
They stop a couple times more, and run less frequently, so make sure you book them well in advance.
And here we are at the end of this Japanese journey, at the Star Gate Hotel overlooking Osaka Kansai Airport (my second favourite of the hotels here, the first being the Nikko on-airport).
See you next time in Japan!
See you next time in Japan!
