Our latest trip took a total of 10 days and 2 of them were literally spent inside different types of shinkansen to get to Sapporo and Fukuoka from Tokyo. The photo you see above is the latest train to be added to the list of many bullet trains in Japan and it is called the Hokkaido Shinkansen. This train takes you from JR Tokyo to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto station in approximately 4 hours. But from Shin-Hakodate, you need to transfer again to another train to get to Sapporo and it takes another 4 hours. So how was the experience like? F-U-N!
Here's our itinerary as mentioned in my previous post. I know there's an option to just hop on a plane and fly to northern or southern Japan but where's the fun in that?! Naddaaa.
Riding the shinkansen will always be a fun experience and I'm loving the vibe on this new train.
The train feels very much new since it was launched last March 2016. And did I mention spacious too?
So how does one survive almost 10 hours inside the train? Snacks of course! Load up! Haha. It is best to buy food in train stations (better if you get it outside the station since it's cheaper) instead of buying one inside the train. My usual meal? Tonkatsu with rice siyempre!
Here's my boyfriend looking very comfortable in his seat. See the grocery bag on the right? ;) It's our survival bag filled with Japanese food from the grocery. It's a hassle to carry excess baggage but trust us, you'll need food to survive. HAHA.
The standard one-way shinkansen fare from Tokyo to Sapporo will cost you ¥31,520 but since we have a JR pass (that we got for ₱13,682), it practically costs nothing. The goal of the trip anyway is maximizing that JR pass and I believe we nailed it! So if you've ever thought of train hopping in Japan I say go for it! ;)
