Latest news with #JRCentral
Japan Today
2 days ago
- Japan Today
What to do if you forget your camera or other belongings on the shinkansen
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24 'Ahhh, that was fun!' said our Japanese-language reporter Natsuno Futon, sitting down at her desk the morning after coming back from a research trip for her upcoming project. As she fired up her PC and got ready to start putting the article together, she grabbed her backpack and reached in to pull out her camera, so that she could transfer the photos she'd taken while in the field. And it was only then that she realized she'd lost her camera. Yes, Natsuno's fancy new mirrorless camera, which she'd just bought the other day and was so excited to get to use, was gone, and since its list of features doesn't include an autonomous free-roaming mode, that means that she'd left it someplace. Thinking back, she clearly remembered using during her shinkansen ride home, but couldn't recall touching it again after that, meaning the most likely scenario was that she'd forgotten to stick it back in her backpack before she got off the bullet train. Now that she was pretty sure what had happened, the next step was to figure out how to get her camera back. Generally, there are two places you want to report your lost property to: the police, and whoever manages the facility or location where you think you lost it. For the police, Japan's National Police Agency website has a list of links to prefectural police lost and found departments, in English here and Japanese here. There's also additional information about the process, in English, on their website here and here. Since Natsuno had gotten off the shinkansen at Tokyo Station, she filled out a report with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, following the link from the NPA page and providing information about what she'd lost and where/when she thought she'd lost it. Next, Natsuno needed to contact Japan Railway Company, the shinkansen operator. However, here's something important to remember: while most JR lines in the Tokyo area are operated by JR East/East Japan Railway Company, the Tokaido Shinkansen, the shinkansen line which connects Tokyo with Kyoto and Osaka, is an exception. The whole Tokaido Shinkansen is administered by JR Central/Central Japan Railway Company (also known as JR Tokai), so they're who you need to contact about lost property on that part of the bullet train network, and their lost property forms can be found in English here and in Japanese here. Meanwhile JR East's English guidance page for passengers with lost items can be found here, JR West's here, and JR Hokkaido's here. JR Kyushu doesn't appear to have an English lost and found page, but its Japanese-language page is here and directs users to its Line chat. Natsuno filled out and submitted her report to JR Central, and about three hours later, she got a politely worded email response regretfully informing her that, at the present time, her camera had not been found. However, it did leave a sliver of hope, telling her that they would continue looking for it and contact her if it turned up. As Natsuno kept her fingers firmly crossed, she took solace remembering the time she'd found a child's bag that had been dropped on the sidewalk in front of an elementary school, and turned it in to office. She thought back about the time she'd turned in a 100-yen coin someone had left behind at a coin locker, apparently not realizing they'd get their money back when they returned the key. She even reminisced about the time she'd found someone's grocery shopping list wedged between two books on a library shelf, and had turned that in to the staff. After doing so many good deeds herself, surely Natsuno had built up enough karma to be rewarded the same way, right? And sure enough, later that day Natsuno got a second email from JR Central, this one telling her that the camera had been found. JR Central can mail recovered property back to owners, with the owner responsible for paying shipping fees on delivery. They also have a lost and found office at Tokyo Station, though, located outside the ticket gates of the Yaesu-chuo entrance, so Natsuno opted to pick it up there. You'll need to bring some form of photo ID with you, and you'll also need to provide a six-digit confirmation code that JR Central will provide you with when they contact you to tell you they've found your stuff. After waiting for the staff at the counter to reunite someone else with a bag that they'd left on the shinkansen, it was Natsuno's turn. After showing her ID, giving her confirmation code, and filling out and signing some paperwork, Natsuno and her camera (still inside its spiffy carrying case) were at last together again. So while it's never a good thing to realize you got off the shinkansen with fewer items than you got on with, don't panic if it happens to you. Photos ©SoraNews24 Read more stories from SoraNews24. -- Shinkansen bullet trains adding semi-private booths on most popular travel route【Pics】 -- Tokaido Shinkansen ending in-train food/drink sales for all non-first-class-passenger cars -- Nozomi Shinkansen bullet train abolishes low-priced unreserved tickets during peak travel seasons External Link © SoraNews24
SoraNews24
5 days ago
- SoraNews24
What to do if you forget your camera or other belongings on the Shinkansen
We get an unexpected lesson in bullet train property retrieval procedures. 'Ahhh, that was fun!' said our Japanese-language reporter Natsuno Futon, sitting down at her desk the morning after coming back from a research trip for her upcoming project. As she fired up her PC and got ready to start putting the article together, she grabbed her backpack and reached in to pull out her camera, so that she could transfer the photos she'd taken while in the field. And it was only then that she realized she'd lost her camera. Yes, Natsuno's fancy new mirrorless camera, which she'd just bought the other day and was so excited to get to use, was gone, and since its list of features doesn't include an autonomous free-roaming mode, that means that she'd left it someplace. Thinking back, she clearly remembered using during her Shinkansen ride home, but couldn't recall touching it again after that, meaning the most likely scenario was that she'd forgotten to stick it back in her backpack before she got off the bullet train. Now that she was pretty sure what had happened, the next step was to figure out how to get her camera back. Generally, there are two places you want to report your lost property to: the police, and whoever manages the facility or location where you think you lost it. For the police, Japan's National Police Agency website has a list of links to prefectural police lost and found departments, in English here and Japanese here. There's also additional information about the process, in English, on their website here and here. Since Natsuno had gotten off the Shinkansen at Tokyo Station, she filled out a report with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, following the link from the NPA page and providing information about what she'd lost and where/when she thought she'd lost it. Next, Natsuno needed to contact JR/Japan Railway Company, the Shinkansen operator. However, here's something important to remember: while most JR lines in the Tokyo area are operated by JR East/East Japan Railway Company, the Tokkaido Shinkansen, the Shinkansen line which connects Tokyo with Kyoto and Osaka, is an exception. The whole Tokkaido Shinkansen is administered by JR Central/Central Japan Railway Company (also known as JR Tokai), so they're who you need to contact about lost property on that part of the bullet train network, and their lost property forms can be found in English here and in Japanese here. Meanwhile JR East's English guidance page for passengers with lost items can be found here, JR West's here, and JR Hokkaido's here. JR Kyushu doesn't appear to have an English lost and found page, but its Japanese-language page is here and directs users to its Line chat. Natsuno filled out and submitted her report to JR Central, and about three hours later, she got a politely worded email response regretfully informing her that, at the present time, her camera had not been found. However, it did leave a sliver of hope, telling her that they would continue looking for it and contact her if it turned up. As Natsuno kept her fingers firmly crossed, she took solace remembering the time she'd found a child's bag that had been dropped on the sidewalk in front of an elementary school, and turned it in to office. She thought back about the time she'd turned in a 100-yen coin someone had left behind at a coin locker, apparently not realizing they'd get their money back when they returned the key. She even reminisced about the time she'd found someone's grocery shopping list wedged between two books on a library shelf, and had turned that in to the staff. After doing so many good deeds herself, surely Natsuno had built up enough karma to be rewarded the same way, right? And sure enough, later that day Natsuno got a second email from JR Central, this one telling her that the camera had been found! JR Central can mail recovered property back to owners, with the owner responsible for paying shipping fees on delivery. They also have a lost and found office at Tokyo Station, though, located outside the ticket gates of the Yaesu-chuo entrance, so Natsuno opted to pick it up there. You'll need to bring some form of photo ID with you, and you'll also need to provide a six-digit confirmation code that JR Central will provide you with when they contact you to tell you they've found your stuff. After waiting for the staff at the counter to reunite someone else with a bag that they'd left on the Shinkansen, it was Natsuno's turn. After showing her ID, giving her confirmation code, and filling out and signing some paperwork, Natsuno and her camera (still inside its spiffy carrying case) were at last together again! So while it's never a good thing to realize you got off the Shinkansen with fewer items than you got on with, don't panic if it happens to you. Photos ©SoraNews24 Screenshot: National Police Agency ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
CNA
15-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
Japan's Shinkansen high-speed rail faces surging passenger demand, ageing infrastructure
TOKYO: Japan's iconic Shinkansen bullet trains are seeing a surge in passenger numbers, driven by record tourist arrivals and the World Expo in Osaka. The Tokaido Shinkansen, which links Tokyo and Osaka, is the oldest high-speed rail line in the world, and remains one of the busiest. During the recent Golden Week holiday season from Apr 25 to May 6, ridership on the Tokaido Shinkansen rose 5 per cent from a year ago, with nearly 4.4 million passengers. Even on regular days, ridership is rising as inbound tourism booms. The Tokaido Shinkansen saw 158 million passengers in 2023, more than double the 64 million recorded in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. MAINTAINING AGEING INFRASTRUCTURE But the ageing Shinkansen is under pressure to reinvent itself amid an ever-growing demand. Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), which operates the Tokaido Shinkansen, is contemplating using technology to modernise its network. 'We are looking at cutting-edge technologies such as AI or robotics that are emerging every day now,' said Tomoyuki Minami, general manager of the rail operator's technology planning department. 'We are working to incorporate them into our Tokaido Shinkansen system for efficiency.' He added that JR Central is currently developing automatic train operation and automated inspection systems. The company hopes such efforts can alleviate a labour crunch and cut costs by as much as US$550 million over the next 10 to 15 years. Rising maintenance costs linked to ageing infrastructure, including replacing components and reinforcing structures such as pillars and tunnels, have added urgency to these efforts. CHECKING FOR ISSUES At Tokyo's Oi Depot, trains that ply the Tokaido Shinkansen line - which began operating more than 60 years ago - wait to undergo maintenance or to be dispatched for service. The operations hub is one of four owned and run by JR Central. About 160 staff carry out routine inspections on the signals, electricity circuits, brakes of the trains, among other things, every two days. Transport authorities perform a similar inspection every 45 days. They also dismantle some parts, including wheels and brakes, every 20 months for a detailed examination. All components are inspected thoroughly about once in 40 months or after the Shinkansen has travelled 1.6 million km. A team of two ground staff is deployed when a Shinkansen arrives at a depot. Each train has 16 cars that need to be checked. 'I inspect a set of train cars in 50 minutes. In one day, it's 12 sets,' said Mizuki Inokoshi, a senior maintenance staff at Oi Depot. 'Within a limited time, I need to inspect points that can wear out. I need to detect any malfunctions. So, during the inspection, I cannot be off guard one bit.' Meanwhile, there are ambitious plans for the future of Japan's rail network. Japan is pushing ahead with its Superconducting Maglev, known as the Chuo Shinkansen. It aims to halve travel time for the 515km journey between Tokyo and Osaka to 67 minutes. The first phase of operations between Tokyo and Nagoya was set to begin in 2027, but has been reportedly delayed to 2034 or later due to environmental objections. Estimated costs for the first leg have ballooned to US$48 billion. JR Central said that even though the Shinkansen already plies the route, Japan would still require the maglev train system. The dual system between Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka is necessary in the event of ageing infrastructure or major earthquakes, it added.
Japan Today
11-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Today
Bullet train users up 5% on year over Golden Week holidays
The number of people using the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet trains between Tokyo and Osaka during the country's Golden Week holidays was up 5 percent from a year earlier amid booming inbound tourism, the operator said. During the period from April 25 to May 6, a total of 4.4 million passengers used the shinkansen bullet trains connecting the nation's capital and the commercial hub of Osaka in western Japan, according to JR Central. A rise in visitors to the World Exposition in Osaka, which surpassed 1 million late last month, may have also encouraged more travelers to use shinkansen bullet trains, a company official said. The number of international flight passengers, meanwhile, increased 14 percent from the previous year to 682,000, Japanese carriers said. © KYODO
The Mainichi
08-05-2025
- Business
- The Mainichi
Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train users up 5% on year over Golden Week holidays
NAGOYA (Kyodo) -- The number of people using the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet trains between Tokyo and Osaka during the country's Golden Week holidays was up 5 percent from a year earlier amid booming inbound tourism, the operator said Wednesday. During the period from April 25 to Tuesday, a total of 4.4 million passengers used the shinkansen bullet trains connecting the nation's capital and the commercial hub of Osaka in western Japan, according to JR Central. A rise in visitors to the World Exposition in Osaka, which surpassed 1 million late last month, may have also encouraged more travelers to use shinkansen bullet trains, a company official said. The number of international flight passengers, meanwhile, increased 14 percent from the previous year to 682,000, Japanese carriers said.
