Bullet train

Can I ask where the station for bullet train in Tokyo is located please? I need to find a hotel near that area on my first night in Tokyo.

Thanks, Anthony

Anthony,

You should get used to calling it the "shinkansen", as no one in Japan calls it the bullet train.
The main terminus is Tokyo station. Depending on which direction you will be travelling in, you may find it easier to stay close to Shinagawa station (also in central Tokyo).

There are three shinkansen stations in Tokyo: Tokyo station, Ueno and Shinagawa. All three are connected by a JR loop line ( Yamanote line ) and subway. But as you say first night in Tokyo. You arrive Narita airport late and you want to continue by which shinkansen line ( direction Osaka / Hakata or Nagano or Niigata or Hachinohe ) early next morning? Give more details please.

faster than a speeding shinkansen.

Just doesn't sound right, does it? But, hey!! It's PC!!

I too will be flying to Tokyo...staying a couple of days, then wanting to take the Shinkansan from Tokyo to Osaka to board a cruise ship. I have two questions. (1) Is it better to find a hotel near Tokyo Station or Shinagawa for the mid-day train trip towards Osaka. (2) From the train schedule it looks like trains leave VERY frequently. Do I need to make a reservation before I leave the US, or make one once I arrive in Tokyo say a day ahead of the trip? If I don't make a reservation am I likely to not get on the train around mid day? Thanks for any advice.

(1) Is it better to find a hotel near Tokyo Station or Shinagawa...

Shinagawa Prince Hotel is located across the street from the Shinagawa Station. You can make reservations for the hotel on the internet.


(2) Do I need to make a reservation before I leave the US, ...If I don't make a reservation am I likely to not get on the train around mid day?

It will not be a problem to get a train to Osaka. You can catch the Nozomi or the Hikari from Shinagawa. It would be wise to purchase and reserve the seats ASAP, once you are in Japan. The Shin-Osaka Station is where you will tranfer to the local trains to get to where ever you want to go in Osaka. There is a business hotel directly outide the East exit of the Shin-Osaka Station called Hotel Shinosaka.
http://www.hso.jp/index_e.html

If your travel plans are during Golden Week, then there might be a problem getting seats.

Since you are traveling from the US, you may want to spend your first night near Narita Airport. The hotels around there will pick you up and then drop you back off at the airport the next morning so that you can take the train or bus into Tokyo after a nights rest.

Both areas have their pros and cons. The Tokyo station area is smack downtown, not far from the Imperial palace, the business district and Ginza so it is more pricey. Finding the way around Tokyo station is VERY hard the first time. Shinagawa station is much easier to navigate and there are lots of hotels there. You can go straight to Shinagawa from Narita. You can't reserve trains by internet but unless you travel at holiday time you should be OK. You will reserve your trains from Narita to Shinagawa or Tokyo station or ..and reserve your Shinkansen train to Osaka at the JR Narita station in terminal 2 on arrival. If you stay a couple of days in Tokyo you can also stay in other areas of Tokyo, like Ueno,Shinjuku (with train access from Narita) etc. and go around town by the JR Yamanote loop line (Google it). By the way why not land in Kansai airport? Osaka is a very interesting town with lots of great stores and other stuff and it is next to Kyoto (there are over 8 millions people in the Osaka-kyoto-Kobe-Nara area)

Thanks so much for your very detailed answer...it is very much appreciated. I needed to fly into Tokyo Narita for a bunch of reasons....I agree it would have been great if we could have gone directly to Osaka. Thanks again.