Hotels in Japan
The high-speed Shinkansen is the pride of Japan Rail, and the core of its entire railway system. Even so, it has its own hierarchy. Though it serves all Japan's major cities, its newest, sleekest, fastest version is reserved for the Tokaido/Sanyo Shinkansen. Powered by the 300-km-188-mph Nozomi Super-Express, it's the · Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka-Hiroshirna-Hakata service, connecting the capital with the beautiful coastal region of Sanyo, the southern half of Honshu Island's panhandle, facing the Inland Sea. The Sanyo Shinkansen runs extra serviceon its section of the route, between Osaka and Hiroshima. The region is a mixture of fruit trees and pasture, backed by wooded hills full of craggy ravines and tumbling streams, but with a fretwork of bays, promontories, coves and offshore islands to further embellish its popularity.
The Shinkansen runs on a route parallel to the much older Sanyo Railway, celebrated for over 100 years as one of Japan's most scenic routes. Much like a dragon on old porcelain, the silver starship of the Shinkansen snakes through the traditional Japanese landscape of ancient, historic towns and villages, and of woods, water and arched bridges. It's a mighty metaphor for Japan's ability to synthesize the : future with the past.
As metaphors go, both Osaka and Hiroshima are equally powerful - Osaka, because its history is that of Japan's greatest internal dynastic struggle between the Toyotomi and the Tokugawa; and .Hlros'tdma because of its importance as a symbol of resurrected humanity. In Osaka, the huge castle is a colossus of war, though beautiful and compelling; in Hiroshima, even Peace Park and the Torii Gate on Miyajima reinforce visitors confrontation with desolation - if only of the mind and common memory. On the Shinkansen between the two cities, you have time for these thoughts.
HOW
By train
WHEN TO GO
Year-round
TIME IT TAKES
Around two hours (Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima Station)
HIGHLIGHTS
The 16th century Ujo ('Raven') Castle of Okayama.
The 17th century Koraku-en Garden, one of the three'Major Gardens of Japan, it took 14 years to built.
Peace Park in Hiroshima.
Miyajima ('shrine island'), about 40 minutes by loca' train-and ferry from Hiroshima - a profoundly moving memorial of consummate Japanese style.
YOU SHOULD KNOW
Talking on mobile phones is forbidden on aH Japanese trains, except in the entrance sections of Shinkansen carriages.
