Trip Report: 12 hours on the Kyushu, Sanyo, Tokaido, Tohoku, and Hokkaido Shinkansen lines

I spent last Thursday the 19th traveling all day on the main Shinkansen lines, by starting my trip in [Kagoshima down in Kyushu, and ending the day in Hakodate in Hokkaido](https://i.imgur.com/KR3edlb.png). Why? I’ve visited Japan multiple times, but had never ventured out of Tokyo, Osaka, or Kyoto, so why not see other parts of the country while making an adventure out of it.

TL;DR: Do it for the adventure, but only if you don’t mind sitting on the train for 12 hours. And if you do this, I suggest making the journey during summer when you have more time to take in the scenery.

**Planning**
First order of business was to purchase a Japan Rail Pass, because buying each leg of the journey a la cart would have been prohibitively expensive. I got the 7 day green car option to be as comfortable as possible for 12 hours on a train. Another splurge was to purchase the pass directly from JR’s [official Japan Rail Pass page](https://japanrailpass.net/en/), since their site allows you to make seat reservations online rather than relying on in-station ticket machines or ticket offices. From there, it was simply a matter of inputting Kagoshima-Chuo as the “From” station, and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto as the “To” station, and to start as early as possible. Here was my itinerary:

7:03 – Depart Kagoshima-Chuo on Sakura 542
11:14 – Arrive Shin-Kobe
11:34 – Depart Shin-Kobe on Hikari 506
14:42 – Arrive Tokyo
15:20 – Depart Tokyo on Hayabusa 31
19:44 – Arrive Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto

**Day before Train Journey**
I flew down from Tokyo to Nagasaki on Wednesday the 18th to explore some parts of Kyushu. This was my first time on the southern island, and wish I would’ve spent more time there. Aside from the obvious historical significance of being the second city to be attacked by an atomic bomb, Nagasaki itself has a rich multi-cultural past with influences from Dutch and Portuguese traders. I had some great champon noodles, which are like a Japanese version of Chinese chow mein. I also had a few slices of Portuguese Castella cake. The Atomic Bomb Museum is a touching tribute to what happened to the city, and a few hundred meters away you can visit the [hypocenter of the bomb’s detonation, which is now a city park.](https://i.imgur.com/IzUALYQ.jpg). [A simple black obelisk marks the hypocenter, and memorializes those who were lost on that day.](https://imgur.com/a/0nJDXj0). Getting to and from the park was easy on the city’s [vintage streetcars.](https://imgur.com/a/hvllKnc)

To depart from Nagasaki, I rode on JR’s newest Shinkansen. The Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen just began service last September after 50 (yes, 50!) years of planning. It was a short half hour trip to the northern terminus at Takeo Onsen station. While in the city of Takeo, I stopped by the awesome [Takeo City Library](https://i.imgur.com/neM73Rm.jpg), which is about a 15 minute walk from the station. Takeo’s city library has been an excellent example of Japan’s initiative that allows public and private entities to collaborate and create services for the community. The complex isn’t just a city library, but also stationary and book store, study hall, and Starbucks all under one roof.

From Takeo, one could take a limited express train up to Fukuoka. However, I didn’t have time to do so, and traveled down to Kagoshima to rest up for the main train journey.

**The Train Journey**
Before departure, I pre-loaded my phone with music and podcasts. I also stocked up on onigiri, snacks, and coffee at Family Mart. At 7:03, I departed from [Kagoshima-chuo.](https://i.imgur.com/9ejiSuz.jpg)

I won’t describe the entire 12 hour journey at length, but here are some key points and observations:

About half of the entire journey was done through tunnels, particularly more on the Kyushu and Tohoku legs of the journey.

The Shinkansen’s Wi-Fi would kick me off after only 30 minutes of activity, no matter which leg of the journey I was on. Logging back in throughout the journey was highly annoying.

272 Cosmetics (that’s the name of the company) billboards located all along the route.

The mountains, hillsides, and villages of Kyushu and southern Honshu were beautiful.

[Shin-Kobe’s rooster clock](https://i.imgur.com/57gE719.jpg). I also bought my first ekiben of the journey at Shin-Kobe.

This was only my second time passing Mt. Fuji on the Shinkansen, and [it was covered by clouds](https://imgur.com/a/wSrtavR).

[Fukuyama Castle right outside of the train station.](https://imgur.com/a/TLcucFA)

The Kyoto rail station is a massive and impressive view from the train.

In Tokyo, the [Hokkaido](https://i.imgur.com/CWinHCv.jpg) and [Akita](https://i.imgur.com/sF8d4xm.jpg) Shinkansen trains are linked together for the journey north. They are separated at Morioka, where the Akita continues west to Akita. It was also dark when I arrived at Morioka, so there was nothing much to see outside.

By hour #11, my brain was starting to go numb.

After 12 hours, I finally arrived at the northern terminus of the Shinkansen, [Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto](https://i.imgur.com/eynRJ22.jpg), and there was snow everywhere!

Even after a long journey, I still wanted to head into [Hakodate](https://i.imgur.com/wb3C3dW.jpg) for dinner. Nothing much was open, except for [Lucky Pierrot Hamburger](https://imgur.com/a/gVubbte), where I had a fried chicken sandwich, cheese fries, and a much-needed beer.

**Conclusion**
This Shinkansen journey was the adventure I was looking for. Lazily listening to music as I watched Japan pass by was a relaxing change of pace from zig-zagging across either Tokyo or Osaka. Would I do it again? Not at all. However, if you plan to take on the journey yourself, I would suggest that you do it during summer to maximize the amount of daylight to see the passing scenery. Also, it might make more sense to go from Hakodate to Kagoshima to maximize such daylight.