In December 2022 we took a family trip to Japan, visiting relatives and seeing things and shopping… My kids and I took an overnight trip to Nagasaki and as part of that we rode the new Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen N700S, as well as a JR West/Kyushu N700A (I think that’s what it is), and a Kyushu Railway Company Series 885.

We also saw some JR Freight flatcars with containers in Amagasaki and Kobe.

In 2025, despite being out of work, we’d already planned and paid for airfare to Japan, some hotels, etc. and we stay with relatives there so we were able to go as a family again in summer of 2025, and the wife and I went again in November 2025 to get our son, who had been living in Japan for a year and a half as a missionary in Hokkaido.

Here are a few trains we saw and/or rode in May and June 2025. An H100 and another local in Hokkaido, greater Sapporo area, an E235 in Tokyo, and a Hankyu train in Kobe.

Here are some of the trains we saw in November and December 2025. We didn’t ride the Hokuto in Sapporo on this trip but did ride one on another Japan trip prior. We saw the Hello Kitty JR 500 Series Shinkansen again but did not ride it this time. We had ridden it previously. It has since been discontinued, the last run being on May 17, 2026. The red train from Tokyo Metro is one we rode many times, though this particular one was just a shot from across station.