Japan's BUSIEST Bullet Train · TOKAIDO SHINKANSEN 🇯🇵 Tokyo 🚅 Fuji 🇯🇵 Better Green Car vs. Ordinary!

[@MrTomcat104]

Excellent presentation of your Tokaido Shinkansen trip. This is the iconic Shinkansen line that started it all. Just to add several interesting facts about the Tokaido line: 1. When it opened in 1964, it was the very first modern high speed rail line anywhere in the world. The Tokaido line was the pioneer for all high speed rail to come. It inspired France's TGV, Germany's Intercity ICE trains, Spain's AVE, Italy's Trenitalia and NTV, Korea's KTX, Taiwan's THSR and China's CRH series of high speed trains. While the TGV might have faster top speed or China's high speed rail network might be (much) more extensive in track length, nothing beats the Shinkansen for punctuality and on-time performance. More than anything, the Tokaido line proved high speed rail travel was competitve economically with airlines up to a certain fix distance. 2. Most Shinkansen line and trains, including the N700 series on the Tokaido line, uses the wider standard gauge (gauge being the distance between the two steel rails of a track) than the narrow gauge found on regular non-Shinkansen rail lines in Japan. The standard gauge confer greater stability for high speed travel and is the standard track width used by the UK and the US. 3. Being pioneers of modern high speed rail, the Shinkansen engineers had to overcome several design challenges. One big obstacle was "hunting oscillation", the train began to sway from side to side once it reaches a certain speed, damaging the track and train, potentially causing derailment. To stop this oscillation, the Shinkansen engineers built less conical wheels and new suspension systems for the train carriages. This engineering innovation was copied to various extent by all subsequent high speed trains around the world.

[@tfft]

Thanks very much for all of that! Didn’t know about #3

[@Teo95sero]

TW HSR is, funny enough, a literal N700 trainset slightly adapted to work with European signalling system.

[@MrTomcat104]

@@Teo95sero Yup, the Shinkansen was exported around the world, including Taiwan. The Shinkansen E2 trains was also exported to China to become the CRH2 trains. The first generation of Korea's KTX trains by contrast, were from France's Alstom TGV.

[@konadora]

Japan's bullet train (and the train system in general) is the best in the world without a doubt.

[@tfft]

Agreed.

[@petek5523]

The rest of the world has much to learn about train travel from the Japanese. Thanks for the very informative video 🎉😊

[@tfft]

Agreed!

[@natk426]

Unless you filmed this video in late January '24, your ekiben must have passed its expired date of 2024/01/31. Really enjoy this Shinkansen video. Thanks.

[@tfft]

January 2024 is correct lol

[@hungo7720]

You never cease to amaze and stun me with your fascinating contents & narration Kevin! Nonetheless, Japan's train network is ubiquitous and so convenient for visitors to zip across the country.

[@tfft]

Thanks very much for that and yes, it most certainly is!

[@dinokyriakopoulos3814]

Kevin, as always, another great video. A note here though. The literal translation of Shinkansen is new trunk line, not bullet train. Bullet train was given to the first set of rolling stock when the Tokaido Shinkansen first opened in October 1964. The car where the driver sat looked like a bullet. Today's cars, with their elongated nose, do not look like bullets. Thank you for taking us along for the ride.

[@tfft]

Thanks for sharing ✈️

[@samanli-tw3id]

The fronts of ICE3 do look like bullets.

[@ayaka1]

Just a little note on the "Buy on Board in Green Car", it is only avaliable in Hikari and Nozomi service, and are omitted in early morning and late evening Hikari service, and must be done on mobile app.

[@tfft]

Very straight forward of them 😅

[@vietkhoa5916]

Love how clean and comfortable these seats are !

[@tfft]

Same here!

[@shakesnbake]

I love Japan transport! Thanks for the review Kevin.

[@tfft]

Thanks for watching 🩴

[@berkeleyfuller-lewis3442]

Terrific video Kevin. Your clear, clean and articulate narration is "tops." And of course, I must ask if such an incredible train system would work in a country like the USA, where SO many people (being poorly brought up) are undisciplined, rude and/or entitled, rather than "Team Spirited."

[@tfft]

The US aviation market is the largest on earth and still functions well despite 'so many people being poorly brought up' so I reckon, with investment, high speed rail would do just fine in the US in the limited capacity it could actually be useful.

[@MattNav]

So many fun memories of bouncing around the network back in November on a JR Rail Pass. Love Japanese rail and that's coming from someone living in France with its own fantastic TGV network. Great job as always @tfft

[@tfft]

Speaking of France, I wanted to take the train from Paris to Berlin in the spring... until I realized yesterday it's nearly 10 hours lol

[@MattNav]

@@tfft hehe, well I guess at least you get to sleep through that time... given it's a sleeper train 😅 Alternatively you can always take a TGV or ICE from Paris Est to Frankfurt then an ICE up to Berlin Tri cut down on journey time a bit. Fun fact I'm writing this whilst onboard a TGV lol

[@normanmcleod7169]

"A resounding......Maybe" 🤣🤣🤣

[@tfft]

I love enthusiastic ambiguity 😂

[@DeniseSommerRoque]

All the background information you’re giving is fascinating! And the footage of the Shinkansen pass the station at full speed is absolutely amazing 🤩 🚅💨💨 Thank you for this wonderful review, can watch this all day long 🎉

[@tfft]

I could ride it all day long! haha. Thanks as always for watching 🙏

[@moraimon]

Because of existence of very convenient Shinkansen trains, those who choose to fly between Tokyo Haneda and Osaka Itami are mostly frequent flyers. What is particularly weird is that at airport gates for HND-ITM flights Oneworld Emerald or Star Alliance Diamond lines are way longer than Sapphire and Gold lines.You won't see that at gates for LGA-DCA or JFK-LAX flights.

[@tfft]

Yeah did notice that flying JAL domestic. Was in the wrong boarding line bc I assumed the shorter one was Group 1 lol

[@ryshabh11]

Thanks

[@tfft]

Thanks very much for the support ❤️

[@NANICU]

Just some observations: you should arrive at the platform earlier at about 20 minutes prior to departure time to queue if you have a non-reserved seat ticket and hope to snag a seat. A seat reservation is essential (in fact, JR makes it mandatory) during super-peak periods like Golden Week and you should secure your reservations ASAP as they sell out quickly. For cheaper but still good quality food, get your bentos at konbinis (convenience stores) instead.

[@tfft]

Thanks for sharing ✈️

[@FlyingAsia]

Nice bullet train review Kevin. I am looking forward to the Scoot review!

[@tfft]

Ah, just looking at your handle- I remember some time ago I posted on my community tab asking for advice about cruise video production before I made my first one and someone recommended your Genting Dream video. Small world!

[@rasferrastfarian739]

A bucket list trip - thank you Kevin for the trip!

[@tfft]

Thanks for watching 🩴

[@tacodias]

I’ve been watching you for months and normally getting to the video on the release day, but only today I realized I wasn’t subscribed! I’m now subscribed and bell buttoned! Keep doing what you do

[@tfft]

That is a scary situation in deed! Thanks for fixing it so fast! 😉

[@stevene465]

Always great to see these train videos - having just returned once again - we did have seat service on the Nozomi from Tokyo to Kyoto in Green Class - loved the video-I only have to use my iPhone when passing through the Shinkansen gates after booking on EX - it just shoots out the ticket ( one)

[@tfft]

Great to know! Glad you enjoyed your trip

[@RealGaryGibson]

Japan looks so clean!

[@tfft]

Well that's for sure lol

[@Unazaki]

$4 extra for a class upgrade is so worth it!!!

[@tfft]

Certainly is!

[@da480]

I think you forgot to mention that if you travel in a group of 4 or 8, you can turn seats and be facing each other. Thanks for the video

[@tfft]

A rogue couple could do the same in the unreserved car 😅

[@mt_xing]

Worth noting that if you buy a ticket via Smart EX, you can also load the ticket onto an IC card and use that to board the trian instead of printing a ticket at the kiosk.

[@tfft]

Ah yah, fair enough- but that takes all the romance out of the very Japanese process haha

[@mt_xing]

@@tfft Imo it's still pretty cool with an IC card; when you tap your IC card on the fare gate to enter the Shinkansen fare zone, the gate itself prints you a receipt with your seat number on it. It's kinda fun; I don't think I've ever seen a fare gate with a printer anywhere else before.

[@TheMaartian]

Still traveling with the Voyageur when you shot this. 😎

[@tfft]

You'll be seeing the Voyageur in videos until March of next year haha. Filmed a lot in the beginning of this year.

[@vontaylor472]

Hey Kevin. Love your videos. Be safe❤❤❤

[@tfft]

Thanks very much 🙏🏻

[@ramairturbine]

Just a heads up: the Tokaido Line is a separate, cape gauge line running parallel to the Tokaido Shinkansen (Tokaido New Trunk Line).

[@tfft]

Thanks for sharing ✈️

[@jimmyjames6492]

Thanks for the info + video!

[@tfft]

Thanks for watching 🩴

[@memeranglaut]

It's always enjoyable to see a video by you, and a video about Japan. Maybe in the future you can do a maglev comparison between China and Japan maglevs

[@tfft]

Well, the Japan maglevs are many years away from actually operating... so... yes? lol

[@chavandposh]

It runs more like metro rather than what we know as intercity train

[@tfft]

Sure does!

[@MattBlankenshipPhotography]

Always until the end!

[@tfft]

Thanks very much 🙏🏻

[@losofia3748]

Great video as always! Thanks Kevin! 👏🏼👏🏼 A micro-suggestion: your Japan videos thus far have rather Chinese-sounding music. Maybe you could choose something that uses the Sakura pentatonic scale for authentic ambiance. Really a micro-problem.

[@tfft]

I am limited to the royalty free music that is available, within that- I do the best I can lol

[@tonybrise6524]

I press the like button when the video starts! Sue me!!!

[@tfft]

No need! Judge Judy approves 😂

[@toniblackmore3016]

😳 10:27 I was expecting a train. I’m nowhere near a train but 😳🙂

[@tfft]

😅

[@JordCA]

Nice video. Love Japan!

[@tfft]

Thanks for watching 🩴

[@jonathanfurtado2191]

Lovely video as always man. But hey, one bit confused me. You mentioned that you can walk into the train station and get your ticket immediately as there's always seats on the frequent number of trains. However towards the end of that piece, you mentioned that you can only buy your tickets one month in advance. Just wondering if you meant that ticket bookings open one month prior to the journey or if I missed something there. I know you're a busy guy and replying (as you always do, big ups for that) is time consuming. So apologies in advance if this question seems a bit irrelevant, it just got me a bit curious, couldn't sleep in peace without letting it off my chest..lol

[@tfft]

Up to one month in advance. 30 days out, tickets are available for sale.

[@soumyonath911]

Do you have any plans on coming to Bangladesh?

[@tfft]

I do 😉

[@charliebrown5]

Thank You ✈️

[@tfft]

Thanks for watching 🩴

[@jakesonaplane_]

500,000 pax a day isn't too crazy when you consider WN alone carriers about 500K people just in the US per day.

[@tfft]

But you're talking about one of the largest airlines on earth flying between over 100 US cities... this is just one 350 mile train line 😅

[@jakesonaplane_]

@@tfft its a train line in between extremely highly concentrated population centers. Probably more people than those 100 cities lol especially when you consider convenience and lack of competition. Btw love the videos!

[@LibertaliaExplorer]

Thanks Kevin! I am taking notes for my planned trip next year. Do you know exactly how early do they release Shinkansen tickets with discount? Is it 31 or 28 days?

[@tfft]

If memory serves me right is 30 days at 10:00 Japan Time.

[@jakesonaplane_]

Blows my mind that there isn´t a Gran Class on the Tokyo-Nagoya-Kyoto-Osaka route. However I did the regular 2-3 car all the way from Tokyo to Kagoshima for 7 hours and it was fine lol

[@tfft]

I'm sure the new Maglev cars will have it- for now, I think it's a matter of them not being able to "afford" to give up all of those other green/ordinary seats- similar to lots of airlines these days.

[@jakesonaplane_]

@@tfft they have plenty of seats, sooo many trains run empty

[@druiz012]

I see your next 5 videos includes 0 Japan hotel stays... is that going to change in the 5 after that???

[@tfft]

Nope, this was just a transport series.

[@samanli-tw3id]

Are the any airports in Japan that are accessible by Shinkansen?

[@tfft]

Not to my knowledge, no.

[@hoangminhluu8851]

are you planning to make any other Video about trains from other countries besides Japan ?

[@tfft]

Yupp, everything coming up is in the "More" section (formerly About) of my page.

[@soumyonath911]

The survey link does not open for me

[@tfft]

Hmm... it's worked for nearly a thousand others 😬 bit.ly/tfft_cs3

[@soumyonath911]

@@tfftmaybe for my country, I used a vpn and it opened

[@tommykay7427]

I clicked all the buttons, which resulted in puting the video in 'watch later', reported the video, and unsubscribed. 😢 ooops. So I clicked all the buttons again. So now I can enjoy my favorit travel blogger again! 😊

[@tfft]

I've amended my instruction in future videos 😂

[@tommykay7427]

@@tfft LoL. Sorry mate. Didn't mean to make you work harder. Your vids are TOP-NOTCH!

[@sarangraj9568]

Mumbai to Dubai on AI A350?

[@tfft]

❎

[@IndianGeek5589]

Any future plans for Chinese High-Speed Rail?

[@tfft]

I have 2 of them on my radar

[@IndianGeek5589]

@@tfft Shame the Shanghai Maglev doesn't run at 431kmph any more