KIH
[Purist]
12044
The newly opened Bullet Train (Shinkansen) - Hokuriku Shinkansen "Kagayaki"
My trip (with mother and sister) this time was to Kanazawa, the capitol of Urushi, Maki-e and other fine crafts, as well as yummy Japanese sweets.
The main attraction we were looking for the ride in the "Gran Class" cabin of the new Shinkansen, which connects Tokyo and Kanazawa (northwestern part of Japan's main island:
Now, the New Shinkansen is well featured here:
And the Gran Class is only 18 seats per train, so it is really tough and luck to get the seats, but I managed it for both ways 
The max speed is 265km per hour, but mind you, this line goes through the Japan Alps and with lots of elevation up and down, curves, snow (not now), and tunnels. The most amazing thing is that this train doesn't "shake". You won't notice except for a little motor vibration from the floor, and when it stops at the station, that the train is really running. Thanks to something similar to VR system of Nikon Lenses, this detects the potential shake (left and right) coming up and stops it before it happens! So, far less shake left and right than Tokaido Shinkansen (Tsubasa) or airplane. Precision of the scheduling (+/- 30 sec) is as always a bonus.
So, enjoy my trip pics
Really cool front and rear end.
Gran Class
Do you know who those ladies with black vest and rolling bags?
They are the cleaning personnel and does the job in 10 minutes all the train and when they leave, they bow to the passengers who had been waiting to get on board. Ah, nice....
The seat control, just like the flight seats.
The table comes out from the side, horizontally.
Well thought out.....
Cabin from my seat. 2 on one side, and 1 seat on another. 3 seats in a row. Normal first class and second class are 2 x 2 configuration.
Roomy, eh?
Yes, they have cabin attendants who serves drink and food (not as fancy as the business class air flight) - after all, it's just 2:28 trip.
Shell seat. Not flat, but comfy 45 degrees - this is not 10 hour flight and this is enough.
Ah, the sea of Japan....
The dinner is kinda buffet... so not so fancy.
Kanazawa is called "small Kyoto" and this is the street for playing with "Gei-ko" where no "first timer" is permitted to enter and very, very expensive.
Big temple....
Very modern gate of the temple (with glass windows).
Now, this is the traditional Kanazawa lunch.....
The seat control, just like the flight seats.
The table comes out from the side, horizontally.
Well thought out.....
Cabin from my seat. 2 on one side, and 1 seat on another. 3 seats in a row. Normal first class and second class are 2 x 2 configuration.
Roomy, eh?
Yes, they have cabin attendants who serves drink and food (not as fancy as the business class air flight) - after all, it's just 2:28 trip.
Shell seat. Not flat, but comfy 45 degrees - this is not 10 hour flight and this is enough.
Ah, the sea of Japan....
The dinner is kinda buffet... so not so fancy.
Kanazawa is called "small Kyoto" and this is the street for playing with "Gei-ko" where no "first timer" is permitted to enter and very, very expensive.
Big temple....
Very modern gate of the temple (with glass windows).
Now, this is the traditional Kanazawa lunch.....
The first dish - crab, edamame, simmered radish, etc. on the crab miso sauce
Of course, Urushi and Maki-e with lots of gold used.....
The second (Owan) - Shrimp fritter, shiitake mashroom, and the flower of Yuzu, in the broth.
Please enjoy....
Of course, Urushi and Maki-e with lots of gold used.....
The second (Owan) - Shrimp fritter, shiitake mashroom, and the flower of Yuzu, in the broth.
Please enjoy....
The first place (O-tsukuri=sashimi) - don't remember which is which, but they were all fresh and great. The soy sauce and plum paste sauce are prepared.
The fourth place - (yaki mono) - young bamboo surrounded by Spanish Mackerel. In front is olive with miso in it, pierced by the pine tree branch.
The fifth place (ni mono) - mashroom, okura, beef, and special fu in the soup, on the local thick cucumber.
The sixth (su no mono) - firefly squids, pumpkin, with ground okura and mastard sauce. On the left is Wakamea in the vinegar sauce. In front is the yet-to-open flower of iris.
Forgot to take the pic, but the last place (Gohan) was young bamboo (takenoko) rice with pickles.
And then, the last sweet before the last "tea". Inside is the delicately sweetened strained bean paste and outside is the sort of mochi (rice cake) with blueish color from some kind of natural flower.
Again, on the Gran Class on our way back - urushi and painting board in the train.
My mother's birthday trip, hehe.
Cabin attendant greets when boarding.
The fourth place - (yaki mono) - young bamboo surrounded by Spanish Mackerel. In front is olive with miso in it, pierced by the pine tree branch.
The fifth place (ni mono) - mashroom, okura, beef, and special fu in the soup, on the local thick cucumber.
The sixth (su no mono) - firefly squids, pumpkin, with ground okura and mastard sauce. On the left is Wakamea in the vinegar sauce. In front is the yet-to-open flower of iris.
Forgot to take the pic, but the last place (Gohan) was young bamboo (takenoko) rice with pickles.
And then, the last sweet before the last "tea". Inside is the delicately sweetened strained bean paste and outside is the sort of mochi (rice cake) with blueish color from some kind of natural flower.
Again, on the Gran Class on our way back - urushi and painting board in the train.
My mother's birthday trip, hehe.
Cabin attendant greets when boarding.
So, that's it. Do you now want to visit Japan more? Very nice trip indeed. There are many places I don't know yet in Japan.
Thanks for reading through!
Ken
This message has been edited by KIH on 2015-05-24 04:14:57
The newly opened Bullet Train (Shinkansen) - Hokuriku Shinkansen "Kagayaki"
My trip (with mother and sister) this time was to Kanazawa, the capitol of Urushi, Maki-e and other fine crafts, as well as yummy Japanese sweets. The main attraction we were looking for the ride in the "Gran Class" cabin of the new Shinkansen, which conn...
I am adding the Shinkansen to my bucket list.
It is time to plan a trip to Japan, I have only been in the airport for a connecting flight. I have always wanted to ride on a Bullet Train. Thanks for sharing. JerryW
2014
me and my wife went to is one of the sweet things from kanazawa:-) We always had a great experience with Shinkansen when we traveled around Japan. always on time, clean, fast, just superb... Ronald ...
Kanazawa, Wajima, Noto.... the capitol of...
.. Japanese craftsmanship. I would love to visit again and get lots of Urushi/ Maki-e plates, cups, bowls, chopsticks, etc...... Ken
Train ride
Interestingly, I also took the bullet train but on the opposite shore of Japan. The chinese trains are nice and clean, but one thing that they could not match is the food on board, they provide only lunchbox. And in limited number that I could not get hol...
Comparison?
Never really set foot on to land of the raising sun (other than transiting at narita airport, haha) But I would say Shinkansen win straight out! Not jus fr the tech but the service (as seen in yr photo) as well as the passenger I guess( some of those idio...
If and when you decide to visit Japan, do let me know!
I would be more than happy to help your visit as fun as possible! Ken
Let me first
say Happy birthday to lady Hokugo This is amazing engineering feat and great looking train something as grandson of train driver I should really try Sincerely D
I haven't been to Japan yet
except airport on a layover but that doesn't count, so hopefully next year I will be able to visit there. My wife and I have been wanting to go there, and next year will be the only realistic time we can finally make the trip. The bullet train will defini...
Good! Let me know when you decide when!
.. and I would be happy to help you on anything! Ken
Amazing...
What a wonderful train and trip. I love the comfortable cabin and seats. I also saw two very beautiful trains during my visit. I think the green one is the Hayabusa Express and the white one is the Hikari Express. They look amazing. Happy Birthday for you...
Yup.
Green one is Hayabura, which is Tohoku Shinkansen running all the way up to the north tip of the main island, and also has "Gran Class". The white one may be Hikari or Tsubasa, both of which are on the original Shinkansen, callsed Tokaido Shinkansen which...
Great report Ken
On my short ride back from Mt Fuji on bullet train, impression was that its very stable. Didnt spend too much time going "high speed" though. Would love to one day try this new one out. Grand class looks awesome.
re: newly open
Happy belated Bday to your Mom! Cool you got to spend quality time with her and it seems it was a memorable trip. The cabin look great and a fun way to travel, I really look forward to returning to Japan in the near future. As for trains, we did a trip ba...
Beautiful
That food is absolutely stunningly pretty. No one, I don't think, does presentation quite like the Japanese. Any chance of a note of what the various dishes consisted of at all?
Ken, I am missing Japan already and hungry for that food!
Great presentation and as I sit here in my Aeron chair (smooth, no vibrations) I can imagine I'm on that train. Do those trains hook together like the one I rode on? Cheers, Cazalea ...
Yes, it does, but...
.. only when it's necessary - like the train got break down, because this line goes only one destination. The line you took, that goes two destinations, and that's why it got separated at somewhere and got re-connected somewhere.... :-) Yeah, Japan misses...
