Shinkansen with ekiben
On Thursday morning we headed back to Tokyo from Kyoto to pick up our hire car for the 3-hour drive to Nikko. We went on the Shinkansen again, but this time we did it properly... that is, with an on-time departure, almost no stops (total travel time 2 hours and 12 minutes), and with food!
This one IS our train. I was scrambling back to our bags before it fully stopped.
To be precise, proper train food – ekiben – specifically bento box type meals sold at train stations especially for such journeys. They come ready to eat, including utensils, in a massive array of varieties. Mine even had a pull string to activate what I assume was a catalytic exothermic reaction that steam-heated my meal in 5 minutes!
We even had the treat of getting a great view of Mount Fuji on this trip. On our way down the top of the mountain was overcast, the good viewing seat was occupied and we nearly missed it completely. But not this time!
