Faster Than a Speeding Bullet

A rainy day is a good day to travel, and we were fortunate to have a travel day while it was raining. After a really awful breakfast, we were not terribly sorry to leave our Hakone hotel behind.

Our motor coach drove us back to Tokyo, with another stop at the massive rest area/shopping mall filled with holiday travelers. At Tokyo station, we had some extra time to buy a sandwich or bento box to take onto the train for lunch.

Mark had an urge for an ice cream cone while we waited for the train. We walked around a bit until we found a food vendor with a big, plastic ice cream cone out in front. The cone was at least 36 inches high and prominently displayed. We walked up and pointed to the big cone and said we'd like some ice cream. The girl working at the front desk looked at us like we were crazy for asking. "We don't have that here." Truth in advertising?

Though the rain was coming right down, we were dry standing on the platform. When our bullet train pulled into the station, there was little time to waste getting aboard. They don't wait long. There is an attendant for each car of the 12 car train. Once everyone was aboard their car, they stood at attention, holding a red flag in the air. Once all 12 flags were raised, the attendants all bowed in unison before stepping away, and the train was off.

Flags not yet raised.

The ride was smooth and quiet. There were only five or six stops and the journey of more than 300 miles took only a little over two and a half hours.

Japanese countryside flashing by quickly.

We walked to our hotel, which is only about two blocks from the Kanazawa Station. After checking in and getting settled, our tour leader took us on a brief orientation walk. Primarily, we walked through a lot of very high-priced shops in the train station.

The group took a city bus to the downtown area where we had time to visit the Can Do store. This is the equivalent of a dollar store in the United States. Every item costs just 108 Yen (about 68 cents U.S.). There was an amazing assortment of stuff!

Our included dinner was in a nearby restaurant, after which we rode the city bus back to the train station and walked the short distance back to the hotel.