Summer Tour - Japan - Typhoons, bullet trains, Castles and Sushi - Tokyo to Kanazawa

 So, back to our Japanese Summer adventures, having explored Tokyo we were heading 450km across Japan to the city of Kanazawa and our slumbers on the morning of our departure were interrupted by various weather warnings on my Japan Travel App predicting much travel and transportation disruption. 

Our arrival in Tokyo had been heralded by much talk of earthquakes and tumult following tremors in the North of the country (in fact Japan is very much prone to earthquakes and in earlier days, the fires that accompanied them as a result of the use of fuel to light and heat buildings had regularly caused extensive damage - hence the reason why a significant number of the key buildings - Palaces, Temples, public buildings in the major cities  had been built and rebuilt over the years).

 We had avoided any earthquakes (rather like San Francisco, there is frequent speculation as to when the next “big one” will be in Tokyo and our arrival coincided with intense speculation that a large ‘quake was imminent). Fortunately, we avoided serious tremors but we had been warned that a major typhoon was heading our way and the previous day had been wet and windy. Whilst it was certainly somewhat overcast as we peered out of hotel window it did not seem to be raining so we headed to breakfast in good spirits. 

In fact as breakfast progressed, the outside aspect grew increasingly gloomy and rain spattered, and by the time we presented ourselves to the front desk for checkout it was absolutely hammering it down. Fortunately the excellent front desk team at the Pullman were able to rustle up a taxi and we embarked upon our journey to the railway station through gusting winds, torrential downpour and lakes of ground water. 

Whilst the streets were relatively car free, there were a number of hardy souls braving the elements presumably to walk to work - it certainly could not have been for pleasure or exercise as the flimsy umbrellas and plastic macs that were being deployed were absolutely no match for the elements and all the pedestrians were looking extremely bedraggled.

We made it to the Station  - in fact we were quite early and were  able to transfer our Shinkansen (bullet train) tickets to an earlier departure and  notwithstanding the dire prognostications of delays and cancellations - we were soon being whisked through the suburbs of Tokyo and surrounding landscapes (although having to admire the views through rain-streaked windows).

Those who have talked to me since our visit to Japan will know that I am a massive fan of the Shinkansen - truly an engineering masterpiece but also  very comfortable (our seats in the “Green” carriage which was only around $25 more expensive than the standard class seats were wider and much more comfortable than some aeroplane business class seats I have been in); extraordinarily punctual (one stat we were given is that the average delay of the bullet train is something like 45 seconds - over the 60 years that they have been running……) and off course very, very fast (200kmh +). A and loved it and for our 3/4 hour journey we enjoyed some snacks (see picture below) and arrived in the ancient city of Kanazawa much relaxed.

Our hotel was 10 minutes from the station next to the fish market which made for a convenient location to get our Dinner and orientate ourselves for some exploring.