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Yes, I've been to Japan again! Here's several of the Shinkansen family at Tokyo station. The train I caught was not one of these but the new W7 to Kanazawa.


Shinkansen Family by RobGeraghty, on Flickr

Shiny and new - the W7 Shinkansen by RobGeraghty, on Flickr


E5 Shinkansen at Tokyo Station by RobGeraghty, on Flickr

Rob,

Are you using a fish eye lens or are the snouts of these new trains ridiculously long? I'm inclined to think you travelled with a Pentax 10-17mm zoom.

I am, btw, off to Japan for three weeks next April. Flying into Tokyo, zip up next day to Nikko as that is roughly where the cherry blossom should be when I arrive, then train down to Kyushu and from there slowly work back to Tokyo.

As I think this through more carefully over the Xmas break, I might pick your brain for ideas, if that is ok?

Nope, the lens was a Tamron 17-50 f2.8. The nose on the E5 is very long. The panorama of the shinkansen family is a stitch of three photos.

Sounds great! You might want to see if there's a sakura report available online. They show the locations where the sakura are blooming on NHK news. I don't know if it's available somewhere on the web. In my opinion, the sakura is best toward the end of flowering, when a slight breeze releases a pink snowfall of petals. In Kashima (on the coast near Narita) it was at the end of March in 2002, which is the only time I've been in Japan for Spring. I haven't been south of Hiroshima, so I'd be interested to hear about your experience! Don't miss Himeji castle near Kyoto, which has recently been restored.

By all means! If I don't know the answer, I could ask some of my Japanese friends.

Rob, yes, there are online resources for checking the progress of the blossoming each season. I will be watching these carefully and plan to adjust the first few days travel as needed. Although the complication might be that I may need to pre book the more rural locations well in advance.

Yes, I know that problem! I'd have liked to be more flexible with my recent trip, but with a holiday weekend in the middle, hotels were booked up.

Well, a quick update. I'm in Japan and giving the Shinkansen system a good workout today. Started at Nikko this morning and ending in Nagasaki tonight. That's 1500km in round terms. Scooting west from Osaka as I type.

Caught some cherry blossom in Ueno Park last Friday in a brief layover in Tokyo after arriving from Oz. I was just a few days eayly for blossom in Nikko. It was really just coming out today as I left. Still some around Kyoto today as we zipped past. Whether there is any left in Nagasaki remains to be seen.

Cool! Looking forward to seeing the photos - I've never been to Nagasaki. Now I want to see if Deshima still exists!

Hi Mike! I believe that there's a number of factories for the various types of bullet train and general rolling stock. There is certainly a large maintenance facility in Omiya; I saw carriages for the local Tokyo trains being worked on there. I saw that while walking from Omiya station to the museum. As far as I know, most of the parts are locally made in Japan, and the Japanese make trains for use overseas as well. I also found articles saying that Hitachi has built a factory in Durham in the UK.

According to this article there's a big factory in Niigata on the Japan sea coast.

https://denshadejapan.wordpress.com/tag/train-factory/

I think Deshima and Dejima are the same thing, Nagasaki's Western trading enclave during the Edo Era? It seems to be referred to as Dejima now. It sort of exists. The original island is no longer an island, with land reclaimation over the years closing in some of the waterways. They have recreated some of the buildings apparently using old paintings of the area to determine what used to be there. There appear to be long term plans to return Dejima to an island but cost is an issue. Among other factors one of the tramway runs right alongside three sides of Dejima now. You can tour the recreated buildings although I didn't do so. I took a couple of shots from outside the complex which I will post after I return.

Spent an evening up on Inasi-yama, a local lookout spot for Nagasaki. My son and I spent ages in the cold trying for some nice night time city view photos but there was quite a gusty breeze and tripod shake was a real pain. When I get home I'll see if a few were adequately sharp.

In Fukuoka now, and in the morning off to Kagoshima at the very bottom of Kyushu from where we will catch a ferry to Yakushima Island. There is now a Shinkansen line right down to Kagoshima. I have a suspicion they might be building a Shinkansen line to Nagasaki judging by some construction work I sighted from a train window.

From something I read the last few days, I think they share out the Shinkansen manufacturing work among several of the large and well known Japanese heavy engineering companies.

The island was occupied by the Dutch during the Edo period, and it was the only place they were allowed to live in Japan. They were only allowed off the island for walks around the town (accompanied by a hundred locals) or when visiting the Shogun in Edo (Tokyo).

I hope you got a couple of nice shots - reminds me of when I photographed Paris at night in winter; there was a strong breeze and it was freezing cold.

Cool! I haven't been south/west of Hiroshima.