Japan loves trains. Many stations have a jingle or a melody that plays as trains arrive and depart. There is a culture of tetsudou (train) otaku – people so obsessed with a hobby that it defines their personality – in this case, trains. There are shops where you can exchange your yen, dollars and rupees for model trains, model tracks, even model people for your model train stations. Trains are everywhere, train stations are destinations and trains are indeed a major part of Japanese life.
No surprise then that the first high-speed rail line ws built in Japan in the 1960s. The technology behind most trains is ancient, as is the Shinkansen – the bullet trains. Riding them is quite the experience, especially for the North American tourist, where the populace famously traded public transit for “freedom” in the form of manly, testosterone-fuelled, pickup trucks the size and weight of Sherman tanks. Japanese people travel more kilometres annualy by train than even a country like India with some ten times the population. Surprisingly, Japan transports relatively little freight by train – something obvious in hindsight. Less than 1% of Japanese domestic freight travels via rail. I recall seeing one freight train in Hiroshima and people were out in force taking pictures. In contrast, the USA and Canada move enormous quantities of train freight – almost a quarter of the world’s total between them. The North American train isn’t a symbol of freedom, it is a necessary evil, an unwelcome rumble ruining the rustic, rural peace of the countryside. Japanese trains, meanwhile, are literally routed through buildings – see the photo below from Akihabara station in Tokyo.
The Japanese train is planned around the human experience and every step is made as easy as possible. Exits from train stations are numbered and all signage indicates these numbers. This makes finding the correct exit for your destination a breeze. On the subway, cars are numbered on the platform floor and most stations have a map showing you which car to board in order to be close to an escalator or lift at your destination station. The cherry on top is that all this info is in your favourite mobile navigation application!
The Shinkansen experience is similar – whizzing along the Japanese islands at nearly 300 km/hr makes the country so much smaller but also more accessible. Tokyo to Kyoto is around 450 km and takes around five hours by car. In contrast, it is about three hours by the Shinkansen and transit. At the end of your train journey, you arrive in the city centre and connect to a robust local transit network and can reach pretty much anywhere in either region. Why bother with the hassle of a car, insurance, driving and traffic when you can catch Pokemon on your cellphone as someone else pilots the train? This is a strong incentive that drives up transit usage, creates demand for better transit and allows transit operators to maintain and invest in the system. In stark contrast, Guelph to Toronto (both in South West Ontario, the most populous region of Canada) is about 95 km by road and takes around 80 minutes by GO Train running with old, diesel locomotives. Depending on traffic, the same journey is anywhere between one and two hours by road. The GO Kitchener line running through Guelph is yet to be electrified. Once you are in Toronto, the transit system is decent by North American standards. The Shinkansen trains are clean, modern and many have on-board catering. It’s just a nicer experience and having the option is freeing – a notion that many North Americans profess to desire. On a more positive note, GO train service in SW Ontario is expanding and is expected to be two-way, all say service by 2025. Hopefully.
And then there is the Japanese train meal – the ekiben or the “station bento” boxes containing carefully selected foods designed to be enjoyed on board your train. I sampled several varieties and grew to love them. The selection is wide, the quality high and the cost relatively low. Of course, Japan is not a developing country so “low cost” is a relative term but compared to a restaurant meal, an ekiben is affordable. These are not designed for consumption on local trains but rather on longer distance trains – the Shinkansen for example. Most long-distance trains come with a tray at your seat – surprisingly large, I must add – where you can enjoy your ekiben meal. I often chose the varieties without fish although seafood is hard to avoid completely. I sampled Kobe beef, stewed beef, grilled pork, sticky rice, eel (reluctantly), fish roe, lotus root, assorted veggies, different eggs, and many other items. Ekiben are self-contained, complete meals – chopsticks are included and your meal is neatly partitioned. Of course, you provide your own serviettes and trash can. Japan is notorious for having few public bins but not to worry – your long-distance train has several.
Then there is the branding. There is a Hello Kitty Shinkansen featuring bold branding using the famous mouthless feline. Also in existence is a Pikachu train where parents and kids alike can catch Pikachu. Oh and did i mention the novelty trains? There is the FruiTea Fukushima Train with local Fukushima (yes, that Fukushima) produce, the art gallery Genbi Shinkansen, the rural house-themed Oykot train in Nagano… I could go on but you get the idea. Even Finland’s Moomin have a special train in Japan. There is no equivalent train in Finland, the land where the Moomin were created by Tove Jansson.
In all, the train experience in Japan is enjoyable and most importantly, convenient. It beats road traffic, is quite, reliable and calming. Totally would recommend and I hope more train systems around the world learn the best from this island nation.