Transportation by Bullet Train and JR pass

I am right now inside a Shinkansen Bullet train. I am one again blown away at the efficiency and ease of their transit system. I am taking this train to Nagoya and then I will switch over to another train that will take me to Takayama. I show up the rail station via subway and then head to the ticket office. I show them my rail pass and tell them where I am going. They do the rest. They have service to Nagoya every half hour. This makes everything so easy. It is similar to a plane except it is cheaper and there really is no waiting. I get to the train about 5 minutes before it is about to leave and I get on. They always leave on time and always arrive on time. I will get into Nagoya at 2:21 (no later, no sooner). The trains are spacious and comfortable. Also it gives me a great opportunity to see the countryside of Japan since I am sitting at a window. Also, at each train stop there is a foray of different options for food. They offer Bento boxes (this is what they call them as well) that are all reasonably priced. They are around 650 yen to 1000 yen which is about 8 to 12 dollars (exchange rate is 87 yen = 1 US dollar).

The train moves fast. If I were to take the distance I am going in a standard American train it would take approximately 10 hours. In this train it is just under 2 hours. Imagine travelling from Los Angeles to San Francisco via a train in about an hour and a half for half the price of a flight. That is what this is. It is awesome.

If anyone of you ever visits Japan you need to make sure to get a rail pass. It is efficient easy and relatively inexpensive considering what you get out of it.