Travel basics
Rail travel
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Can you eat on trains in Japan? Shinkansen, commuter trains and what to do with the box
Eating at your seat is normal on the Shinkansen and limited express trains, and bad manners on commuter trains. What the seats have, what is sold on board, and where the trash goes. -
Ekinaka: the shops and food halls inside Japan's train stations
Ekinaka is the shopping and dining space inside a Japanese railway station, past the ticket gates. When it began, what it sells, how to get in, and where the ekiben are. -
What is the Green Car on Japanese trains? Seats, the clover mark and Gran Class
The Green Car is the first-class car on Japan's JR trains, marked with a green four-leaf clover. What its seats add, what ticket it takes, where the name came from and what ranks above it. -
The Hokuriku Shinkansen: from Tokyo over the Usui Pass to the Sea of Japan
The Hokuriku Shinkansen runs from Tokyo to Tsuruga by way of Takasaki, Karuizawa, Nagano, Toyama, Kanazawa and Fukui. Its route, its three openings and its four train names. -
A history of Japan's railways: from Shimbashi in 1872 to the JR companies
Japan's first railway opened between Shimbashi and Yokohama in 1872. How private companies, the nationalization of 1906, the national railway and the 1987 breakup shaped the network. -
Local, rapid, express, limited express: how Japan's train categories work
What futsū, kaisoku, kyūkō and tokkyū mean on a Japanese departure board: how many stations each skips, which need an extra ticket on JR, and how private railways differ. -
Railway heritage in Japan: what has been kept, and who protects it
Brick bridges on a closed mountain line, stations of 1914 still in use, a Kyoto roundhouse and Locomotive No. 1: what Japan has kept of its railways, and how. -
Station soba in Japan: the standing noodle counters on the platform
Station soba is a bowl of noodles in hot broth, eaten standing at a counter in the station. What is in the bowl, how to order by ticket, and how it began at Karuizawa. -
Station stamps in Japan: the free souvenir kept by the ticket gate
Japan's station stamps are rubber stamps that travelers press into a notebook for free. What they show, how they began at Fukui in 1931, and where to find them. -
Steam locomotives in Japan: where they still run, and how they came back
Japan's national railway ran its last steam passenger train in 1975, and steam was back within a year. Which locomotives run today, and the steam train to Yokokawa. -
What is the Shinkansen? Japan's high-speed railway, its lines, trains and seats
The Shinkansen is Japan's high-speed railway, built apart from the older lines on wider track. When it began, where it runs, and what the train names and seat classes mean.