Tarto in Japan

I almost wasted one day and 10000 yen, but thankfully all ended up well. I used www.hyperdia.com, a reference site about train travel in Japan, to find out the best way to go to Fukuoka. I didn't want to spend too much, so I wanted to ride only JR (standard) trains, and not the shinkansen (bullet train). And it showed me a rather short, yet not too expensive way to get there, so I went to the station and bought the ticket: 3h30 until Kanazawa, then change train and another 30 minutes to Fukuoka. Looked really simple...I couldn't be more wrong...

This morning, I reached Nagoya much earlier than expected, so I had plenty of time and took out my map to check the itinerary...and I got really surprised! I found out that Kanazawa was located north of Nagoya, while my destination was at the south...I couldn't understand how I could ride a train to the north for 3h30, then not only go back, but go several hundred miles further in only 30 minutes...and since I had only a few minutes left, I rushed to the ticket office and learned that there are actually two towns called Fukuoka...and of course I was going to go to the wrong one...

So I changed my ticket in a hurry and since I didn't have time to consider all possibilities, and moreover my aunt was expecting me to arrive in the afternoon, I bought a ticket for the nozomi, which is the fastest shinkansen type. It was my first time so I was quite excited as I was heading toward the shinkansen area:

Here it is :

It looks like a shuttle! And indeed it's very fast, able to reach 186mph, thus one of the world's fastest trains.

On top of that, there are a few points that make it amazing. First, it's extremely comfortable, the seats can be inclined and there's lot of room to extend one's legs:

Another great feature is its punctuality, even though the traffic is very dense. It's always sharp on time, however this is not specific to the shinkansen, it's more about the Japanese culture. I've been here for 3 months and the first time I saw a train being (only 2 minutes) late was sunday evening, when I was going to my Christmas party.

And just like many things in Japan, everything is well designed and customer friendly. Look at this picture:

As you can see :

- the number of the carriage is displayed on the pilar, making it easy to find

- lines are printed on the platform to show where to queue. The security barriers also allow for easy location of the doors

- the long yellow stripe is targeted at blind people

The same goes inside, each tablet lists all available services on the train, and a digital display shows the news, weather, stations etc. Also note that all passengers are facing forward:

Upon reaching Fukuoka, I took a bus to my final destination, Hita, where my relatives live. And I eventually arrived on time! I'll tell you more in another post...