Another day of self-travel awaits...

Personally, I still can't get over the fact that I can wake up before 7 am in Japan. But then again, a combination of a little morning nosebleed and a minor earthquake can do that to me anyway (if you are not aware, Japan is extremely prone to earthquakes).

Anyways, I decided that I would travel on the shinkansen bullet train for the first time. The only problem was where to go. I had three choices:

• Morioka: In the northern part of Honshu (the main island of Japan). This is the sister city of Victoria.
• Shin-Fuji: I do not know anything about this shinkansen stop, but I guessed I could get a much better view of Mt. Fuji than yesterday (stupid clouds).
• Yokohama: The second largest city in Japan after Tokyo. Also, it was home to a curry museum that I wanted to burn down. Curry is EVIL!!! (However, I hear that Japanese curry is a little different from other types of curry, but I ain't willing to try it just yet...)

In the end, I decided to spare the destruction of the curry museum for another day and go to Shin-Fuji. Morioka would have been a 3 hour train ride one way, and I did not want to spend so much time on the shinkansen for just one day. As I stated before, I didn't know much about Shin-Fuji... also, the Lonely Planet guide I had did not state anything about the Shin-Fuji stop. Instead, it just had articles of other places around Mt. Fuji that were recommended for good views (but none of them had a shinkansen stop). It made me wonder for a bit, but I didn't care too much... I just wanted to get some good shots of Mt. Fuji.

	Welcome to the waiting area of the JR Shinkansen line in Tokyo.
	A shinkansen train pulls in. Janitors are waiting to board the train to clean up any mess and make sure the train ride is as clean and safe as possible.
	Hi. My name is Patrick Kwan. I am sitting in a shinkansen train.
	My view of the compartment in front of my shinkansen seat. Anyways, I am taking the Hakata train line, which goes from Tokyo to the southern tip of the main island of Honshu. There are three different shinkansen involved on this line: Nozomi, Hikari, and Kodama. Nozomi is the fastest train since it stops only at the major cities; also, Nozomi is not accessible with the JR Pass. The other two trains are accessible with the JR Pass, but the Hikari makes less stops than the Kodama. I am on the Kodama train.
	Another compartment view in front of my seat.
	A shinkansen seat view of Mt. Fuji in the background.
	Another shinkansen seat view of Mt. Fuji.
	And another.
	And another...
	There! No more shinkansen pic views of Mt. Fuji! Are you happy now?!? *j/k* Anyways, this is the Shin-Fuji terminal.
	An outdoor view of Mt. Fuji. No more window glares involved! Anyways, Mt. Fuji is very beautiful to see first-hand.
	This is Shin-Fuji. After walking around this area, I know why the Lonely Planet guide did not say much on this stop - it had the feel of an industry town. Not much attractions that are within the area. If one tries to look for a really picturesque view of Mt. Fuji, you will want to head somewhere else.
	Another pic with Mt. Fuji dominating the background.
	First off - I'm not here to promote child pornography! Anyways, I saw this statue setting outside the Shin-Fuji station. You got yourself a naked mother, a naked son, and a naked daughter. Also, you see the mother pointing at the son's cheek, and the son is doing that to himself - personally, I do not know the meaning of this gesture, but I think it's pretty well known within Japan.
	Ok, so it's VERY blurry... I apologize yet again. Basically, these were the two tickets for the shinkansen - the top one was for Tokyo to Shin-Fuji; the bottom was for Shin-Fuji to Tokyo (which I just bought at the time). The time of departure from Tokyo to Shin-Fuji was 8:23 am (arriving in Shin-Fuji at 9:37). The ticket for departure from Shin-Fuji to Tokyo was for 10:11 am (arriving in Tokyo at 11:23). Basically, I just spent 24 minutes in Shin-Fuji taking some pics of Mt. Fuji and that naked family statue. But it was definitely great to see Mt. Fuji at a much closer distance, so I would say that it was worth it.
	A mural at Shin-Fuji station.
	This is the Shin-Fuji boarding area. I expected a big tumbleweed to roll right by this picture. Anyways, if you see a shinkansen about to speed right by you, protect your ears if they are sensitive. They are EXTREMELY loud.
	Back in Tokyo. This is an underground mall right next to the Tokyo train station. Almost all train stations around Japan in general has some mall placed adjacent to them. Quite convenient.
	One of the billions of cell phones I saw while in Japan. Man, they are so much more advanced than the cell phones in North America. Damnit, many of these cell phones have the cool sound effect of a Japanese sword drawn out of the scabbard... it makes my eyes so watery when I hear that sound...

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