Bullet Train

Anyone know anything about the Bullet Train from Tokyo to Osaka? My husband is a "train buff" and wants to take one at every opportunity. I guess he thinks it'll make a "well rounded" vacation! Car to plane....plane to train....train to ship. I know its only suppose to be a 3 1/2 hour trip...but I'm not sure.....:confused:

Yes. You can take a bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka. They run a number of times during the day. Very fast and easy to use.

There are a couple of problems, however, you should keep in mind.

1. If you are flying into Tokyo, you will have to take taxi (expensive), bus, or train from Narita Airport into town to connect to a bullet train (I think Ueno Station is probably the best transfer point). Takes an hour or more from Narita into town by car.

2. You will be jet-lagged.

3. You will have to lug your own luggage.

4. You will have to exchange sufficient money at Narita for all of this (better rate on travellers checks than cash). Japan uses credit cards less than in US. I just don't know if the RRs take credit cards.

5. Depending on the time of arrival, you will likely do a lot of the train trip at night or during rush hour.

6. There may not be the time to do a trip like this with sufficient extra time to cover any possible airline delays in getting to Tokyo.

If you really are going to go from the plane to the pier, I would recommend that you just fly directly into Osaka and use a cruise line transfer. I wouldn't try to do the Tokyo-Osaka bullet train trip if you are flying in the same day as the cruise departs.

Hope that this helps. Good luck.

Thanks for all those points that I haven't thought of. I will show it to my husband and it will be up for discussion... We might fly into Toyoko a day early, but that won't alter many of the issues...only the time element involved.... Thanks for the input!