This was my departure day from Kyoto, and I was sad to leave but looking forward to finding out what Tokyo had to offer. I did book my seat on the bullet train, but you can get some unreserved seats on the day; and if you don’t want to drag your luggage along with you then you can use a luggage forwarding service, but you’ll need to pack an overnight bag because the luggage may not arrive the same day. I only had a small bag and so just took it with me. There is quite a lot of room on the overhead baggage areas and there is a large space in front of your seat so that you can easily fit a bag in front of you without compromising your legroom, as long as your case isn’t too big.

You will need a rail pass for the bullet train, and this can be purchased by exchanging your rail pass voucher for an actual rail pass. You will need to go to a main station and have your passport with you to make the exchange, and if it is busy the process could take an hour or more. I was lucky that it wasn’t busy when I got my rail pass, and it didn’t take long at all – there are plenty of people around at the station to help you with the exchange. The rail pass can be used for various journeys on the Japan rail network as well as the bullet train and can be used in conjunction with the IC card.

I had a last wander around the shopping district of Kyoto before jumping on the subway to Kyoto station. My train was booked for the afternoon and the journey took about two and a half hours. It was an enjoyable trip; another fine sunny day and I got another great view of Mt Fuji from the left-hand side of the train. I had to get off the bullet train at Shinagawa station, which is before Tokyo, and then board the JR line to Shinjuku, as my hotel was virtually next door to Shinjuku station - this was extremely handy for travelling around Tokyo.

When I arrived in Tokyo, the first thing I noticed was how much busier it was than Kyoto, and without the backdrop of the mountains in the distance, but I was certainly looking forward to spending the next week there and seeing all that it had to offer…