Japan had the first bullet train more than 60 years ago.  It was 10October1964, when the opening ceremony was held in Tokyo in anticipation of Japan's first-ever Olympic Games, which began that day. The  Shinkansen,  meaning  new mainline , with a separate track, arrived when normal train traffic had reached the limit for carrying passengers and freight.   A train trip between Osaka and Tokyo dropped from 6 hours and 40 minutes to 4 hours, shortened to 3 hours and 10 minutes by 1964, and is now 2 hours and 30 minutes.  From the Shin-Osaka Station to the Shin-Yokohama Station only takes a little more than 2 hours. In 1964 the track was 320 miles long.  Today, it's up to 1484 miles.  The original itinerary incorporating Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka now carries 159 million passengers/year.  In this 6 decade period, more than 10 billion passengers have been safely handled.  CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT NOT ONE PASSENGER HAS YET BEEN KILLED IN A DERA...

There were  Odysseus   ( who Homer in Greek mythology said traveled 10 years, mostly at sea, trying to return from the Trojan War ) and   Phileas Fogg   ( that Jules Verne character played by David Niven in a 1956 film who traveled around the world ), so our five-week trip to Japan was not particularly adventurous.  While most of our journey was indeed wonderful, there were some disappointing moments.  Yet, the best part of these long expeditions is returning home. After my wife passed away 14 years ago, I traveled the world several times, partly to drop off her ashes at monumental sites.  There were  MUGA 2013  ( by click on that, you can access every day of my 51-day global adventure ) and  GAWA 2015  that were exceptional. But since early in 2019, there has been a travel partner, who makes the experience different and better.  I generally keep her out of this blog by request, but in my advancing years, I need all the help I ...