Tokyo to Tono

Japan's Shinkansen ('bullet') trains are a marvel. They provide the country with safe, energy-efficient transportation, and were only recently surpassed as the fastest trains in the world by France's TGV (to the chagrin of the Japanese railway engineers - in the last couple of days they have announced tests on one of the lines that would push their speed up to 360km, putting them back on top). The number of people they move each day is amazing. During the morning and late-afternoon rush hours, trains leave Tokyo station every couple of minutes to the southwest on the Tokaido line, to the north on the Tohoku line, and across Honshu on the Joetsu line. Yesterday we traveled on the Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo station to Shin-hanamaki station, about a three-hour trip. Then we changed to a tiny three-car diesel train and chugged up to Tono where are friends, the Tokuyoshi's live.

Rumi and Leh on the platform of the Tohoku Shinkansen train in Tokyo Station.

The 'Max' Shinkansen at Tokyo Station; this relatively new version of the Shinkansen is a double-decker.

The departure board on the Shinkansen platform at Tokyo Station.

You-know-who aboard the 'Yamabiko' bound for the deep north.

Two locomotives nose to nose in a Shinkansen train at Tokyo Station.

Nose of the train we rode up to the Tohoku area of Japan.

Rails of the Tohoku Shinkansen line. The Shinkansen trains run on 'standard' guage rails, the same as trains in North America, but larger than most other Japanese trains. To achieve the speeds that they do, the rails have to be perfectly aligned, and after even minor earthquakes the trains are stopped and the rails checked. After a quake last year they suffered their first derailment since they went into operation in 1964, and though nobody was seriously injured, there was an outcry that more must be done to ensure that the Shinkansen's perfect safety record be maintained. This article in the Japan Times last year talks about the issue; I think they are being kind of hard on themselves; compare 40 years with a perfect safety record with any other form of transportation - any major highway on a holiday weekend looks like a slaughterhouse by comparison.

Lots of sections of the Shinkansen lines are elevated and there are lots of tunnels. The tunneling is obviously expensive, but then land here is pretty pricey too. As well, they suffer the same 'nimby' phenomenon as other forms of transportation; though widely loved, nobody wants them in their backyard because of the considerable noise.

The latest cars are considerably quieter and more comfortable than the original models. At over 250km/hour they are remarkably smooth and quiet, much quieter for instance, than inside a passenger airliner. And freeway travel in a car can't touch it; compare the noise, pollution and stress of car travel on a freeway with dozing off with a newspaper on your lap and a beer on the table...

Barriers on the platform of a station. On stations where Shinkansens go through without stopping, they have these barriers to prevent people from being swept off the platform and onto the tracks in the wake of a train. I have stood on one of these platforms when a train blasts through at speed and its a pretty awe-inspiring sight; a whole train hurtling by at speed, about five or six feet from your nose!

A couple of hours travel and we were in snow country...

From the sleek speed of the Shinkansen, suddenly were standing on tiny platform in snow country, waiting for a three-car diesel train.

A view of snow country from the train...

The little Tono train in the station at Tono.

This little diesel train chugs up a surprisingly steep grade to get to Tono. It is called a 'one-man' train; one driver, no conductors.