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Learn Japanese travel phrases with Japanese Survival Phrases! A little Japanese can go such a long way! Today we cover another high frequency Japanese phrase sure to be of use on your trip, travels or vacation to Japan.

Today, we’ll go over getting tickets for Japan’s high-speed inter-prefectural Bullet Train system called the “Shinkansen.” What are the ticket options and what are the advantages of each ticket? Tune in to find out! And be sure to comb through Japanese Survival Phrases before setting out on your trip to Japan!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Survival Phrases Season 2 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

12 Responses to “Survival Phrases S2 #24 - Riding the Rails 2”

JapanesePod101.com says:

Mina-san! Have you ever ridden the shinkansen (bullet train) before? What was your experience?

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Craig Bourne says:

I take great exception to your use of the phrase “riding the rails” in a maner that trivializes the experience of the great army of the unemployed in the depression of the 1930s. Among them were a quarter of a million youn men in their teens for whom there was no work. In one year alone 6500 of them were killed by railway bulls.

To begin to repair your ignorance of this significant era in the history of America and the larger world you might have a look at this:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rails/

My Old Man road the rails. It was not just a train trip.

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Ron says:

For those who have never taken the Shinkasen, please do not let the size of the train station overwhelm you. It can seem quite confusing at times. If there are any questions that you may have, look for a station map posted on walls throughout the station. Find the location of the information booth and simply ask, “Eigo hanashimasuka”? Most people can help you out and you will learn a lot in the process.

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kabukiguy says:

Hey, Craig, take it easy big fellow. If you’re old enough to have had a father who rode the rails, you should be aware that “riding the rails” has become a standard expression. No one is denigrating the folks who did so in the Great Depression when they use it; most people haven’t the slightest idea of its origins. Start worrying about every phrase that once had a specific meaning and now has a general one and pretty soon you’ll end up watering down the language as a whole.

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indiana23 says:

I took the Shinkansen to Tokyo once, and yes it is fast and comfortable. However, it’s really expensive–at least for most of us poor English teachers who have spent most of our money on sake and karaoke.

I recommend taking a night bus, which is very popular. (jp101, have you done a night bus episode?) You’ll get where you’re going a little tired and stiff, but you won’t be broke. And maybe you’ll meet some cool people too. It takes about 8hrs from Osaka to Tokyo, which sounds like a lot, but the theory is you’ll sleep through it–that’s why it leaves at night.

Indiana23 :smile:

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Dach says:

If you don’t live in Japan, you can get a Japan Rail Pass that will let you ride on every JR train (with only a couple of exceptions) for 1, 2, or 3 weeks. It’s a really good value. But, you can only get it with a “temporary visitor” stamp on your passport. Then, you can go all over Japan, and see what the rest of the country is like.

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Subbaraman Ramamoorthy says:

私 は 新幹線 に 旅行 は したこと 経験 は ありません

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Raymasaki says:

Thank you this picture fits the Lesson.
新幹線 is my Favorite Kanji.

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Salivia Baker says:

I was wondering of there is an alternative to a shinkansen? It seems to be pretty expensive from what indiana23 writes.
In Germany we have the ICE (=shinkansen) and RE/RB (local trains) and if you are willing to ride a bit slower and maybe change trains a few times you can get there cheaper. I was wondering if you could do that in Japan as well.

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Naomi says:

Salivia Baker -san
Yes. We do have local trains!
Actually, we have a ticket called 青春18きっぷ(Seishun Ju-hachi kippu) which gives you 5 tickets of one-day ultimated rides on local trains of JR(Japan railways group).And it only costs 11.500yen (So…2300yen per one-day pass which gives you ultimated train rides. It’s not so bad, is it? But the trick is you have to buy 5 tickets. 5 tickets is one set! )
I actually took a trip using that ticket with my friends when I was in college. Though it took much longer than taking Shinkansen of course, I felt like that I was really traveling. (You know what I mean? Like… stopping at small rustic station in the middle of no where. Middle-aged super friendly oba-chans (or ladies) gave us oranges… ) We had so much fun. :grin:

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Salivia Baker says:

Naomi-さん
ありがとうございます for the quick answer.

I think I would prefer the local trains then. I don’t really like bullet trains. Or maybe it is just because I have bad experience here, they are normally so late anyway, that you can take local trains and be there at the same time *lol*

I think it would a cool thing to go on a local train and just travel ad if you like it somewhere get off, have a look and then get back on a train travel a bit further. That way one would see more of Japan :)

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Skyzz says:

Snappoint…

Great blog post, saw on…

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