Landing at Haneda
So this is it! We’re finally in Japan! That was close to a 14-hour direct flight, and we’re ready to stretch and walk, ready to potty, and ready for whatever’s going to come next.
Nothing says “Welcome to Japan” quite like a bidet. 😂 I’m telling you, my son was obsessed with it the moment he discovered that thing. And all the restrooms at the airport have bidets. First real Japanese experience—bidet! Check!
We knew we were going to take the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Osaka, and we were really looking forward to that experience! But first, we had to get through immigration.
The line was long—like you’re lining up to get into a BTS concert venue. 😂 The airline had given us forms to fill out for customs and immigration, which we completed on the plane, so at least we were good in that area.
I think we spent about an hour going through immigration, and then we had to pick up our luggage. You know those Facebook reels that show you how Japanese airline employees take care of your luggage? They were not kidding at all.
Because it took us so long to get through immigration, the employees had already taken our luggage off the baggage carousel and lined everything up for us.
Okay, Japan. We see you.
We got some of our bearings straight. My husband went to the foreign exchange counter because we had read that Japan relies heavily on cash, especially in smaller areas. Meanwhile, my son and I went to the information desk to ask for directions on what train to take, where to get our tickets, and how to board the Shinkansen to Osaka.
We also picked up our rented pocket Wi-Fi from a kiosk at the airport.
Okay. We had our luggage. We had our Wi-Fi. We had some cash.
Now we just needed to find the train to take us to the Shinkansen station.
Our First Shinkansen Experience
Then we were off without a hitch!!
Not.
We got lost. A lot. 😂
And we were anticipating that this probably wouldn’t be the last time we’d get lost, but hey! Part of the journey, right?!
So we asked for directions. And then we asked again. And probably again.
We were really glad that we hadn’t bought Shinkansen tickets beforehand with a scheduled departure time because, honestly, we wouldn’t have made that train.
But through the help of the people at the stations, we eventually found our way.
Finally, we could take a breather while waiting for our Shinkansen.
And can we talk about the vending machines?
They’re awesome!
They can dispense both hot and cold drinks, which I thought was pretty cool. We grabbed something to drink and finally had a moment to just sit and take everything in.
We were actually in Japan.
And we were about to ride the Shinkansen.
When it finally arrived at the platform, we were just like, “WHOA!!!!”
And in comes this futuristic-looking train that we had never seen before in our entire lives.
I mean, we knew it was coming. We had seen pictures. We knew what a Shinkansen looked like.
But seeing it come flying into the station in person was a completely different experience.
It was one of those moments where all three of us just stood there thinking, “Okay… this is really cool.” 😂
The Shinkansen experience was really great. The Tokaido Shinkansen, which connects Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, can reach speeds of up to 285 km/h, or about 177 mph.
It was traveling at such a fast speed, but you could barely feel it inside the train. The scenery was just whizzing by.
Granted, it was nighttime when we boarded, so we couldn’t see much.
And by this time, we were wiped out.
We got ourselves and our luggage situated, settled into our seats, and pretty much dozed off.
Not exactly the glamorous bullet-train experience I had imagined.
But honestly?
It was perfect.
Arriving in Osaka and Finding our Hotel
It was way past midnight when we finally arrived in Osaka.
We found out as soon as we got there that the Shinkansen station is different from the train stations that run locally. Heh!
Oops!
Our hotel wasn’t within walking distance of the Shinkansen station, so we decided to take a cab. Thankfully, there was a taxi line just outside the station, which made things much easier.
I showed the cab driver the hotel name—Moxy Osaka Umeda—along with the hotel address.
And so began another part of our adventure.
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