Shinkansen & Hiroshima Carp

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Following Himeji Castle, we were on our way to Hiroshima City, the famous city where an Atomic Bomb was dropped in 1945 by the United States to subdue the Japanese Empire and end the war with the Axises of Evil. In Himeji, we boarded the Shinkansen, Japan's fastest speed train, otherwise known as "The Bullet Train". When we first boarded the platform at the station, we waited for our train to arrive. Unfortunately I was not quick enough to record this, but, a Bullet Train sped by on the opposite tracks easily exceeding 130 mph!! You should have heard all of us. We were actually laughing at seeing a train coming in one eye and seeing it leave in another all in about 3 seconds!! It was amazing!! No wonder why they call it "The Bullet Train"!! FYI: this isn't even the fastest train in the world. After a couple of minutes another train was coming not as fast but still maintaining a hefty speed. I did manage to record this.
When our train finally came, I couldn't help but notice the shape of the engine. It is really neat looking and looks a lot different from our local trains.
I took more videos while aboard to show just how fast it was going. It can reach top speeds of 150 mph and actually lifts off of the tracks. The whole train is propelled by a magnet; opposite poles repel one another. This is essentially how it moves, however, in some areas it is eletrolyzed.
The ride, as pressumed, was very smooth and very enjoyable. It definitely was an experience to ride on this.
After arriving in Hiroshima and settling in, I asked Noda sensei if we could go to a Hiroshima Carp game. Noda sensei was thrilled at the idea and he, Chris, and I caught a cab and headed to the stadium. The Carp are a Major League team like our very own Red Sox. There are two leagues in Japan; the Pacific and Central Leagues. The Carp belong to the Central League. This game, they happened to be playing the Seibu Lions, the team that Dice- K played for here in Japan. The Lions belong to the Pacific League and hence now is Japan's interleague playing. It was cool to see a team that one of our own play for but I had to root for the Carp. We paid 1800 yen which is essentially $18.00 for the cheering section.
These seats equaled the Green Monster, they were that good! As I said this was the cheering section and it was thrilling and exciting to see all of these people yelling and chanting. They actually have a small ensemble that gets the fans going. Then there is a leader who shouts to the crowd what to say for the next chant. I took tons of video of this and it is really cool. Everyone buys plastic bats and bangs them continuously throughout the game. It was amazing! Also, the stadium is two monthes old so it was state- of -the- art. I can't wait to tell everyone about it in person when I come back!

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Comments

[Aunt Joan]

Shinkansen Hiroshima Carp
Andrew, Glad you updated your blog. The pictures are great and the info is so interesting. See you soon