Speed of shinkansen

Hello, I would like to do a short ride by a shinkansen. Which of the following two options is the better idea to feel the shinkansen experience (do they speed up on these short distances?):

Hakata to Shimonoseki
Yokohama to Tokio


Thanks in advance!

Asienreise2011,

Hakata to Shimonoseki would be faster.
All trains are restricted to a sedate 170 km/h between Tokyo and Shin-Yokohama, so it wouldn't be especially exciting. "Nozomi" services reach 300 km/h between Hakata and Kokura (they don't stop at Shin-Shimonoseki). If you actually have to travel to Shin-Shimonoseki, you'll need to catch a slower all-stations "Kodama" service, but I think even they may reach 285 km/h between stations now that all the old trains have been retired.

I've done the Shin-Yokohama to Shinagawa portion of the trip more than a dozen times and, while the train is running pretty fast, it's not its optimal speed as it's only about a 12 minute run and within city limits. It's not as fast as it could be. The train doesn't really open up until it leaves Shin-Yokohama in the other direction (towards Odawara)....

Great,thank you very muchforyour help. I really appreciate it!

To get an idea of the speed you have to be outside, on a platform or a bridge, looking at a train going by. As a passenger you don't really feel the train speed.

One way of "seeing" the speed is by standing on a platform, a few metres ahead of the train. It will starts slowly of course, but when the last couples of cars at the end of the train go by you they will be a blur.