TLDR
Japanese trains and train stations are the best
I enjoyed the books Convenience store woman and Meditations
One of my favorite things about Japan is it's incredible system of trains and subways. While I have had experience with inter-city train travel (in India) and intra-city train travel (in a handful of US cities), nothing has comparedto my Japan experience. No surprise that 46 of the top 51 busiest stations in the world are in Japan. I thought I would do a post on trains in Japan for anyone else who finds this as fascinating as I do.
Background
Japan built its first railways in the late 1800s - pretty late compared to the rest of the world. By this time the steam engine had already been around for almost 100 years. Japan’s delay in adopting railways was directly tied to its isolation policy towards the rest of the world. This ended with the fall of the shogunate in the late 1800s. This was a critical time for Japan when it took the leap towards engaging with the west and moving towards rapid industrialization. The battle between tradition and modernity was portrayed most elegantly by Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai (IM JOKING. HA HA).
Japan's railways had a pretty complicated history going from public to private to public to finally private with government support. Today there are a handful of large railway companies which work in cooperation across the country with in addition to others which run the subways.
Personal experience with the train system
Spoiler alert: it’s amazing.
All signs and announcements are in Japanese and English. No google translate needed.
Trains are super punctual with delays being pretty rare overall
If trains are late, workers can ask to get a “delay ticket" so their employer knows it wasn’t their fault. Such is the high expectation of train punctuality
Inside many trains, there are video monitors which not only tell you about your route, but also which car you are in and how to get to the right exit from your specific car when you leave the train
As with the rest of Japan, every train is clean, comfortable and there is a complete absence of breakdance battles
Of course I can’t talk about japanese trains without talking about Japanese train stations. While most stations seem nice but unremarkable, the biggest train stations are a sight to be seen. Hub stations like Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo central, Shinjuku are mega structures that somehow combine the features of the nicest airports with the fanciest megamalls and hotels.
The larger train stations have a huge number of restaurants, and many actually integrate directly with very nice shopping malls with multiple floors. Some stations like Kyoto station are actually listed as a “sightseeing destination” with their own unique architecture features and art exhibits.
Trains and stations aside, the thing most people associate with Japan is the bullet train.
Known as the shinkansen locally, these trains are such a pleasure to travel on. Comfortable seats, extremely smooth ride at a very high speed for land (up to 200mph). Pricewise these aren’t cheap to travel on but the frequency and comfort make these more popular than short hop flights in japan. It's definitely our favorite way to travel between major regions of the country.
Overall, moving around by train has been a highlight of Japan. I’m optimistic I will have similar warm feelings when we end up in Europe.
Bonus: Book report
I’ve been trying to read more while traveling. While I have not had as much down time reading at home or in cafes, train travel has offered a pretty good set of time blocks to catch up on reading. Here are two books I enjoyed recently
I was searching for a recent Japanese novel that people loved and this one was on a lot of people’s lists. Convenience store culture is not something we’ve spoken about on the blog yet but is HUGE in Japan. This book is set in a convenience store but it is really about Japanese society today, the pressures to conform and challenges of living life on your own terms. Heavy topics but it was not that heavy of a story. It was a quick read and I really enjoyed it.
An odd choice perhaps, but I’ll explain. While I was doing my research for this trip, many people who had undertaken long travel recommended doing something like “studying the stoics”. I knew stoicism was a philosophy of some kind but since I never got around to taking PHIL 101 (preferring instead to get my philosophy from Calvin and Hobbes), I thought it might be worth looking into. This book (or rather a personal diary) by Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius is apparently a fan favorite of many including folks like Bill Clinton and Wen Jiabao. It only took me a few pages to realize that this book is pretty great. Written in very plain and short prose, it's better than most self help books I have come across. It's full of quick lessons on how to be a good person and live a good life. Much easier to absorb than other titles in the same vein. I wish I had come across it sooner.
Loved this! And I'm not even Raymond Kaka! :)
Liked this vlog, breezy and easy to read with interesting reflections. For me what makes a travelogue interesting is when what the eyes see is flavoured by the mind.