The bullet train so-called "Shinkansen" will be the most common and important for inter-city movement in Japan.
If you are planning a Japan trip and would like to visit multiple cities, you will experience a bullet train ride in most cases.
But, is it safe?
Can I fully trust to ride on?
Let's take a look at how safe the bullet train in Japan is.
What is a bullet train?
The Bullet train is called "Shinkansen" in Japanese and it runs between the major cities.
The most popular line "Tokaido-Line" runs as the below route if you get on the fastest "NOZOMI super express".
Tokyo - Shinagawa - ShinYokohama - Nagoya - Kyoto - ShinOsaka - ShinKobe - Okayama - Hiroshima - ShinYamaguchi - Kokura - Hakata
(By the way, I was born and raised in Kobe so ShinKobe bullet train station is kind of nostalgic to me.)
Technically, the bullet train "Tokaido-Line" covers pretty much the major and popular cities so getting on Shinkansen to go to another city would be the very easy way, and most Japanese people do so as well.
If you do not know how to buy the cheapest ticket for the bullet train, please refer to the article All you need to know about Japan rail pass ticket -Do I need a reservation? Does it cover bullet trains? Is it cheap?.
If you follow the steps as written in this article, you will save a lot of money.
Were there any crash accidents of bullet trains in the past?
However, I need to put some caution on this topic.
Some records say that crashes against the bear and humans ( I will explain this below.) have occurred in the past.
Regarding the crash against the bear, the research for writing this article was the first time I knew there was this type of accident in the past.
I feel like it can happen because some parts of the lines are in the wild.
It is very sad to tell you that commenting suicide by jumping into the rail line can be seen often here in Japan including on the Shinkansen line...
Every time I see the news like that, I become extremely deeply sad.
Based on my research, no accident affects the passengers inside the car.
This means that if you are in a bullet train car safely, the risk of getting injured is extremely low.
Bullet train is absolutely a safe way to move inter-city
I'm 29 years old and I think I have used Shinkansen more than 20 times in my life as far as I remember, and I have never felt that Shinkansen is something scary.
Personally, I feel that Shinkansen is the safest domestic transportation ever.
Here are some tips that I can share with you about Shinkansen.
When you get on the Shinkansen, you want to pay attention to...
- get in the car right after the safety bar opens
- be seated while the car is running except for the lavatory
Shinkansen stops only for a few minutes ( literally 2 to 3 minutes!!! ) at every station, and it is always on time.
I do suggest you wait for your train 10 to 15 minutes in advance at the platform.
If you are unsure about something related to Shinkansen, please leave a comment and I will help you to know about it!