Technology on the Way to Miyajima Island

Shinkansen: The Bullet Train
After our first night in a traditional ryokan, we spent most of the day traveling to Miyajima Island via the Bullet Train known as the Shinkansen. The Shinkansen can travel as fast as 320 kilometers per hour, or about 200 miles per hour. It is the world's busiest high-speed rain line. Also, there have been no passenger injuries due to the Shinkansen, an interesting contrast to the daily injuries that occur on the regular railways.

Shinkansen coming to a stop

It was absolutely stunning and amazing to see the scenery rush by.  The Shinkansen, like most other modes of Japanese transportation, are incredibly quiet. However, unlike trains or buses, silence is not only a product of the lack of people speaking but also the engineering design of the train itself. It has a unique shape at the nose of the train that is supposed to reduce noise.

View of houses from Shinkansen

One part was almost like the Hogwarts Express as there was a woman pushing a cart with an assortment of sweets that were so foreign looking that they might as well been magical candies.


The Myth of the Crazy-High-Tech Japanese Toilet
I know I have heard the stories of Japanese restrooms with television screens, a hundred buttons, and magical features. However, the bathrooms seem to be similar to those at home with just a few snazzy features here and there. The bullet train bathroom had a sensor to open the door as well as sensors to lower the toilet seat itself. Even public toilets can be heated and can even play music or mimic the sound of rushing water. There is a bidet feature for those who wish to use it and the public toilets also sometimes have sensors to flush the toilet.

Instructions for Airport Toilet

The sinks are usually motion sensor as is the hand dryer if there is one (rarely are there paper towels). All these features seem to be an attempt a limiting the amount of germ spreading as possible. The culture of the Japanese as a very tidy and considerate people really shine even in the bathrooms.

-Isabel N. (Class of 2016)