Blog posts

Arriving for your shinkansen journey is not like getting to the airport. It's not even like getting a train back in your home country, it's such an efficient process

Confused by the numbering on Japan's train stations? It's actually an ingenious and super helpful system for helping you get around and distinguish one station from another - and we can teach you how to use it.

Do Japanese Trains Have English signage and guidance? Yes, the majority of Shinkansen trains, major city train lines, and larger stations provide bilingual signs, English screens, and announcements. Read on for more information.

When planning your train travel across Japan, there is one essential question you may be shy about asking. However, you need not worry - Japan's famous shinkansen (and almost all of its trains) have some of the best train toilets in the world.

Japan has an interesting relationship to smoking in public spaces having not completely outlawed it as many countries have, but can you smoke on trains, including the famous Shinkansen? Find out here.

Priority seats, called yūsen-seki, are set aside by social courtesy rather than law for specific groups of passengers. Read on for everything you need to know.

Do Japanese trains have power outlets? What kind of sockets do they use? Find out everything you need to know including how to keep your devices fully charged while on the go in our new guide.

For a rail-based trip through Japan, where you sleep is almost as important as where you go. Read our latest article to find out more.

There's something almost improbable about a working steam train in a country that gave the world the Shinkansen. Yet Japan still runs several heritage steam locomotive services on scenic regional lines. Find out more here.

For most of its history, the JR Pass offered a flat fee covering most of Japan's rail network, including the Shinkansen, at a price that barely moved for decades. That has now changed and you can find out more here.