Hi all. The above website is a fab tool for rail trip planning, however there are a few anomalies I've noticed by accident. e.g. we want to travel Tokyo to Takayama but cannot use the Nozomi as we are travelling on a 14 day JR pass. If I input Tokyo to Takayama without Shinkansen option it takes 7 hours to get to Takayama. Instead one can travel to Nagoya by shinkansen Hikari then catch the Limited Wideview Hida. The trip time is 272 mins (4.5 hours). It's more than a little confusing! Anyway part of the fun, I guess!

We are travelling Kyoto to Nagasaki on Shinkansen Kodama 531 10.41 May 23. The transfer time at Shinosaka is 3 mins. Is this easy to do or should I be looking at other options? I'm a little frightened my 3 minute transfer times!

I use www.jr-odekake.net for time table. They have a search function "shinkan-sen EXCEPT Nozomi". But I don't know if it has English page. I have not paid attention. Hyperdia does not have this function?

The station map shows that the Hakata bound shinkansen use tracks 20, 21, and 22.
https://jr-central.co.jp/eng.nsf/english/shin-osaka

The 3 minute connection would PROBABLY be a matter of crossing the platform from 22 to 21 or vice versa. You can get your seat reservations for Nagasaki when you arrive in Kyoto or earlier and the JR person should be able to explain the situation. There is a Hikari train from Kyoto to Shin Osaka that leaves 20 minutes earlier. You could catch that if you are nervous.

My current plan is to leave Nagaski on May 23! We will probably be in Hakata station at the same time.

tks very much,kappa & mrwunrfl for info.

mrwunrfl- I am a Amazon Aussie female and I'll be with a big bearded bloke who'll be carrying most of the luggage! Come up and say g'day!

Lyndie, A 3 minute connection time would be a disaster anywhere else, but in Japan, it will be enough time. Japanese trains are ALWAYS on time, even the subways in Tokyo. If the schedule says a train will arrive (or leave) at 10:57 it will--not 10:56 or 10:58, but at 10:57 on the dot. We spent two weeks in Japan last Spring and every train from the Shinkansen to the subways were exactly on time. Living in NYC,where nothing runs on time, I was overly impressed.