My first experience with regional trains was riding the bullet train, or shinkansen, from Tokyo to Kyoto. I rode the fastest bullet train, called the Nozomi, which goes up to 186 mph. We went from Tokyo to Kyoto in two hours and 15 minutes, when it usually takes five hours 30 minutes! Looking out the window, everything that was nearby was blurry. The only object we could see clearly were the mountains or houses that were far away. Yet despite going so fast, inside the train it's quiet enough for people to take naps. By the way, everything about this train is a bullet, even how long it waits at stations! I once missed a stop because I waited until the train slowed down before getting up. When I reached the door, the train had started moving again!
My first experience with local trains was also in Tokyo. I was meeting a friend for dinner and needed to transfer trains at Shinjuku station. Little did I know that Shinjuku station is the busiest train station in the world. Since dinnertime is during rush hour, which is when many people return home from work, the station was crowded. In the train, there was literally no space to move, not even to bring my hand up to cough. Then, when I got to Shinjuku, I was pushed out of the train by the flow of people. I had to be careful to read all the signs, because otherwise I would be pushed into the wrong train. Eventually, I found the train I was supposed to transfer into and made my way inside. When I turned around to see the platform across from where I was, there was a conductor pushing people inside so the doors could close.
After that experience with the train, the buses were much smoother.
