Travelling on the Shinkansen avoids the lengthy and complicated procedure of air travel such as having to arrive early to check in baggage, and go through security screening. What you need to do is simply buy a ticket and choose your seat and then wait on the correct platform and step on board. I boarded the Nozomi Shinkansen train in Hiroshima at 14:53 and expected to arrive at Shin Yokohama station at 18:34. Yes! Train arrived sharp on time. The Nozomi category meant that it was the fastest of the three train types and wouldn’t stop at any stations other than major ones. The seat tray tables were large and sturdy which was great for holding a laptop as well as a meal. Some food and snacks are available on board which are reasonably priced and the staff are friendly and helpful. In all of my travels, this was definitely the easiest, most convenient and most comfortable way to get between two cities. I highly recommend taking the Shinkansen should you go to Japan! However, it is more expensive than a plane.

Shinkansen in Japan is very convenient but expensive. The only way to buy a JR Pass. The Sagno line was the most problematic for us in July 2018. First, a terrible flood that claimed more than 200 lives blocked Shinkansen. Well, of course, floods are rare - bad luck. We didn't expect anything bad on the way back. And indeed from Fukuoka (Hakata station) to Hiroshima everything was fine. However, we learned the next day that Shinkansen can be stopped not only because of rare floods, but also because of suicides. Quite frequent in Japan, by the way. On railway tracks. We`re waiting in Okayama for two hours while the police dealt with the suicide, The section between Okayama and Himeji was blocked, so we took the local train, because the suicide happened on the Shinkansen tracks, and the local trains run on other tracks/ We arrived in Osaka late in the evening. All plans were crashed... Here's a quick Shinkansen...