Specifically, the N700 Series. It may be wrong to love a train, but this piece of machinery is astounding. Capable of reaching speeds up to 300mph, the N700 series can travel between Tokyo and Osaka is a mind blowing 2 hours and 25 minutes. They are rarely, if ever, late. They transport millions of people each year — in fact, I’ve read that the Tokyo –> Osaka route transports more people in a year than ALL of the other trains in the world combined. Let’s compare:
Ferrari: 0 – 60 mph 4.2 seconds, weight about 4000 pounds
Shinkansen: 0-60 mph 37 seconds, weight about 1.5 million pounds
Which means it essentially accelerates 42.57x faster than a Ferrari Scaglietti.
That’s pretty amazing. What’s also amazing is that when I show up to the station I can be on a train and on my way in less than 10 minutes. And be nicely seated in a comfy reclining chair, being served cookies, candies, coffee, drinks, while happily listening to my Ipod, with tons of leg room. Better still – in the entire history there’s been ONE accident, which was during and Earthquake, and no one died. Pretty darn fantastic, wouldn’t you say? Why is such a thing not possible between New York and Boston, or San Francisco and Los Angeles???
The best ramen in Japan so far, and I’ve at a lot, is in Dotomburi in Osaka. There’s a shop on the right, one the main drag just past the karaoke buildings, that will make you want to literally throw yourself in the bowl and bathe. Ramen in Japan is a serious food, and is not what you’re thinking – in American we get the watered down, craptastic version. The real version is much different than the 10 cents kind favored by impoverished university students. The Dotomburi ramen shop is fascinating, not just because the food is great, but because you order it from a machine.
