Shinkansen to Kyoto

Kyoto. The ancient capital of Japan, and home to many temples of historical and cultural significance. The first time I came to Japan I spent about a month near Kyoto, and had tons of fun going to the city every day and exploring. Since it is the last three day weekend before the winter break, I decided it would be fun to hop a train down to Kyoto and enjoy the changing seasons. It just started to get cold, so I’m not sure how many red trees I will see, but all I have to see is one and I will be satisfied. Well, I’m happy that I came at all actually, I almost didn’t. But in the end I thought that I would have fun going, as I always did when I visited before. No one else could come with me this time… So it’s back to touring alone. Although that way no one will hear me when I talk to myself ^^’.

I caught the train from Nishiwaseda (西早稲田) station, and changed at Shinjukusanchome (新宿三丁目) to the Marunouchi line for Tokyo. I’m sure there is a better way to get to Tokyo station, but this was the easiest because I had luggage. When I got to Tokyo station, I bought tickets with my special student discount certificate (which saved me about ¥3000 on my shinkansen ticket) and then headed off to the platform to wait for the train. I actually didn’t have to wait at all for the train, it was waiting for me at the platform. I made sure to get a N700 train, as JR central has started using these brand new trains on their long-haul routes from Tokyo to Hiroshima and beyond. The N700 trains are non-smoking only, save for four smoking compartments that are extremely well sealed and vent to the outside only.

0326

I took the train that had the 16:50 departure. I arrived in Kyoto at 19:11, which isn’t too bad considering it’s a 450+km drive (I’m not sure how long the Shinkansen route is, as it does not follow the highway exactly.

0327

These ticket gates are sort of tricky. When entering the Shinkansen you have to put both tickets that you are given (or more if you are given more than two for a journey on one day) into the ticket gate. If you don’t you won’t be let through the ticket gates.

0328

One of the attendants waiting for the train to depart, showing those passengers who have green car (1st class) tickets to their seats. These seats are not worth it in my opinion, as you get tons of room in the regular shinkansen seats, with lots of room for baggage.

0329

It’s always wise to check the digital display by the doors to the shinkansen, to make sure you are on the right train, going in the right direction. The train I got on stopped at Shinagawa, Shin Yokohama, and Nagoya before arriving at Kyoto Station.

0330

The seating in the regular cars is 3×2, with about 21 rows in each car. The front and rear cars have less rows due to the driver’s room taking up a large portion of the car.

0331

My seat was car 4 row 12 seat A, so I got a window seat. There wasn’t tons to see other than lights whizzing by extremely fast as it was dark outside. No one sat next to me the entire journey, and I ended up falling asleep between Shin Yokohama and Nagoya.

0332

When on the Shinkansen, what could be better than a Shinkansen sandwich? Well, a lot of things actually. I forgot to buy food and was rather hungry. So I shelled out ¥680 for a mediocre sandwich. But it says Shinkansen on it. So that made up for the not-so-yummyness.

0333

For those interested, here are pictures of my shinkansen tickets. The ticket gates eat them, so I had to take this on the train before I arrived in Kyoto.

0334

And after about 2 hours 20 minutes, I arrived in Kyoto. I snapped this right before the train departed. It was sad leaving such an incredible piece of technology behind. I’ll just have to ride the Shinkansen again. Oh, wait. I get to do that on Sunday!

0335

And the obligatory Kyoto Station sign. After leaving Kyoto station, I walked to a ryokan (very modern looking) that was about 6 minutes North of Kyoto station. I called earlier before leaving and made a reservation. They have free wifi, and shared or private bathrooms depending on the room rate you would like to pay. They only had no-bathroom rooms (there are shared showers, bathrooms, sinks, and a large bath for each sex) left, so I didn’t have much of a choice. Not that it matter that much, seeming as the bathroom is 2 metres from my door… Tomorrow will be adventure day. Who knows what I will do. (Well, I do.)