Arriving in Japan | Shinkansen Bullet Train from Tokyo to Kyoto
Here I will give you a more in-depth look at my arrival to Japan and experience taking the Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to the historical city of Kyoto, where we began our trip.
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Recently I had the opportunity to spend one week exploring Japan with one of my best friends. I will be splitting the trip into multiple blog posts and videos by the places that we visited because I have so much to say and show you from each location!
I also put together posts of the entire one week itinerary and the travel tips that I learned from my time in Japan, check them out to help you plan your own trip to Japan:
One Week in Japan Itinerary: Kyoto, Tokyo, Nara, Mt. Fuji
Japan Travel Guide: Tips and Packing List for First Time Visitors
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Arriving in Japan
I flew into Narita airport outside of Tokyo, Japan’s largest international airport, where I met up with my dear friend Erica (if you’ve been on this blog before you’ll know her from my trip to South Korea!). From Narita International airport, we took the JR Narita Express (NEX) to Tokyo Station. It was about a 50 minute ride.
We didn’t get to Tokyo Station until around midnight. Needless to say, I was exhausted. At this point I had been up for over 24 hours, having barely slept a wink on the 11 hour flight from San Fransisco. But we would be at our hotel, and in our beds passed out, shortly.
Our Hotel: Center Hotel Tokyo
We stayed the night in a hotel not far from Tokyo Station. Our only criteria for this first night’s hotel was that it should be relatively cheap, within walking distance of Tokyo Station, and preferably have two beds. Hotels in Japan were tiny I quickly came to find. Searching for a hotel for two people often brought up a small room with a single twin bed! Nah mate.
After some hunting, I found the Center Hotel Tokyo fit the bill! It was about a 11-14 minute walk with our luggage from the station and boasted not one but two twin beds awkwardly arranged in the small room. But it would do the trick.
Exhausted from our long day of travel, we immediately got ready for bed so that we could get up early the following day and truly begin our Japan trip. Not to mention another perk about this particular hotel – it included breakfast!
Book your stay: Center Hotel Tokyo on Hotels.com
Riding the Shinkansen Bullet Train
In the morning, we got up early to catch the short window of complimentary hotel breakfast. It was very good for your standard hotel breakfast! With full bellies, we headed back to Tokyo Station to take the Shinkansen bullet train directly to Kyoto. Along the way, we stopped at a 7/11 convenience store and picked up a few interesting Japanese snacks that caught our eye to try on the train ride.
At Tokyo Station, we went directly to the JR Ticketing Office to get our Rail Passes exchanged. Because we had bought Japan Rail Passes before our trip (which I highly recommend doing if you’re traveling around Japan), the ride didn’t cost us anything extra. And since we got them exchanged right before our ride, the workers at the Ticketing Office were nice enough to help us reserve seats on the upcoming train. Here are a few helpful links if you want to learn more about the Japan Rail Pass!
Japan Rail Pass Official Site
JR Pass (where we bought ours!)
The Shinkansen ride was two and a half hours sitting in comfortable seats enjoying the beautiful views of the Japanese countryside flash by. It was a cloudy day for us, but apparently you can normally spot Mt. Fuji on the right-hand side on a clear day! Nonetheless, the green landscapes and misty mountains were breathtaking. We enjoyed the views, sketched in our journals, and sampled the snacks we had picked up from 7/11 earlier.
Kyoto, Japan!
We arrived at Kyoto Station around midday. It was hustling and bustling with kids coming home from school and business people heading this way and that. With all of our luggage in tow, we took the Karasuma line from Kyoto Station, then transferred to the Tozai line to arrive at Sanjo Station. From the station, our hotel was a short 3 minute walk across a bridge on the Kamo River and by some cool shops. Not to brag, but I really did my research before the trip and this was apparently the area in Kyoto to stay. It didn’t disappoint.
Our Hotel: Royal Park Hotel The Kyoto
The Royal Park Hotel was our home during our few days in Kyoto. This hotel was by far the nicest hotel from our trip to Japan. Unlike our first hotel, it was rather spacious and modern. The bathroom was also large and updated and included a walk in shower.
Like near Tokyo Station, we had hunted for two beds for our time in Kyoto and got a room with two twin beds from The Royal Park Hotel, but they came pushed together almost mimicking a plush king bed. No matter, they were extremely comfortable. What more, but the room had some cute rabbit cut outs adorned the wall.
Book your stay: The Royal Park Hotel on Hotels.com
Are you planning to ride the Shinkansen bullet train in Japan?
Make sure to stay tuned for the other blog posts and YouTube videos from my trip to Japan! We did a TON of amazing things during our trip, so there are going to be a lot of videos to look forward to. I will link to the posts all below as I complete them.
One Week in Japan Itinerary & Tips
Japan Travel Guide: Tips and Packing List for First Time Visitors
Thanks again for stopping by my blog. I hope reading about my experience arriving to Japan and taking the Shinkansen bullet train was helpful for you or interesting at the least. You can use the image below to pin this post on Pinterest and save it for later! If you enjoyed the video, please be sure to give it a “thumbs up” and subscribe to my YouTube channel if you’re not already so that you don’t miss the rest of the videos about my trip to Japan! You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram for updates.
Have you ever ridden a bullet train? Where was it? Tell me in the comments below! Or let me know if you have any questions.
