Shinkansens

I had my first opportunity to take the Japanese super express trains this weekend. The "bullet" trains are pretty famous, but I had no idea that they are basically the standard for travel in Japan. If you have to travel any normal distance, you take a Shinkansen because they go pretty much everywhere. They make Amtrak trains look like Soviet surplus. The cars are huge, there is food service in the cars and you get a ton of leg room. I would prefer to travel by train too if we could have Shinkansens. They definitely beat airplanes in size and comfort.

I have a rail pass from Japan Rail for the week that basically lets me go anywhere in Japan that the trains go and luckily most trains within city areas are also run by Japan Rail. So once you get somewhere you can still get around with that pass, with some limitations.