I found by chance, while checking my old iPhone. That I did record a commemorative Shinkansen series 700 on its last days of operation at Shin-Osaka station. What I do remember about this video, is seeing plenty of people at the platform across while I was waiting for my train to Tokyo.
I noticed on few of the video frames, that the side of the Shinkansen had the following wording: SHINKANSEN Series 700, ありがとう LAST RUN 2020.3.8.
The actual last run did not occur because of the COVID-19 outbreak. I took the video on Feb 29th 2020.
Shinkansen Series 700 Last Run at Shin-Osaka station
My second 10+ minutes video into YouTube. A window point of view of the ride between Kyoto and Maibara stations. No music no dialogue. It is just like if you were riding the train and watching the scenery from your seat.
The train set is a N700A series (N700系). The train service is Hikari (ひかり), that is the second fastest. This ride was around noon on a sunny summer day. This trip takes 18 minutes. Mostly with views of suburban and rural areas and two tunnels. It shows about five or six trains in the opposite direction passing by at full speed during this trip. By the end of the video there is a train passing by at full speed while while waiting for passengers to disembark.
The train is very quiet with a smooth ride. Only the sound of the wind when going at 300 km/h and the occasional sound of wheels passing on a bridge or switch. I love the catchy tune before the train announcements.
Please comment if you like to have more videos like this one. Or things you will like to have improved.
I just added my first 10+ minutes video into YouTube. It is just a window point of view of the ride between Shin-Osaka and Kyoto stations. No music no dialogue. It is just like if you were riding the train and watching the scenery from your seat drinking some green tea or your favorite drink.
Train set is a N700A series (N700系). The train service is Hikari (ひかり), that is the second fastest. This ride was around noon on a sunny summer day. This trip takes a little less than 15 minutes. We passed by a depot full of Shinkansen trains being serviced along the route. Mostly views of urban and suburban areas as the Hyogo-Osaka-Kyoto region is densely populated around the cities of Kobe, Osaka and Kyoto were this train runs.
The train is very quiet with a smooth ride. Only the sound of the wind when going at 300 km/h and the occasional sound of wheels passing on a bridge or switch. I love the catchy tune before the train announcements.
Please comment if you like to have more videos like this one. Or things you will like to have improved.
The Hello Kitty Shinkansen is a series 500 Shinkansen (500系, 500-kei) that runs almost daily between Hakata (Fukuoka) and Shin-Osaka station. The train is the slowest service Kodama that makes all stops during the trip. It departs from Hakata station at about 7:00 AM, arriving to Shin-Osaka station by 11:25 AM. Roughly 4 hours and 20 minutes. It stays in the station briefly for about 10 minutes before returning. The return trip departs at about 11:35 AM. Arriving back to Hakata by 3:50 PM.
In this video, I was waiting at Himeji station to make the a trip from Himeji to Shin-Osaka. Some children can be heard greeting the train as it pulls into the station.
The train set consists of eight cars. Car 1 is named Hello Kitty Plaza where there is a seating area for small children with special reservation and a store with exclusive merchandise.
Car 2 is called the “Kawaii Room”. Here there is a special area for the memory photo with Kitty-chan, space for luggage with themed colors on the seats. The window shades are also themed.
Kitty-chan on car 2Do you see Kitty-chan hiding by the seat side?
Cars 3 to 8 are the “normal” cars although they have their dose of cuteness with colors and small details on the car for the expert eye to spot.
Car 8 at the other end of the train has a replica of Shinkansen controls were children can sit down and pretend to drive the train. This car is almost ignored all the time but it is fun to check out.
This train can be reserved as any other Shinkansen. Just make sure to reserve the Kodama 730 (Hakata to Shin-Osaka) or Kodama 741 (Shin-Osaka to Hakata). On a low ridership day and if you have a JR Pass, you just can hoop on the non-reserved cars.
Captured a couple of old tram sets passing by the Peace Park. These are fun to ride and enjoyable to see along more modern vehicle traffic. Very well maintained.
