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About Madogawa

Last updated: 16 Oct 2026

Madogawa is an unofficial, independently run tool for checking, before you board a Shinkansen, which side of the train a landmark such as Mount Fuji appears on, roughly how many minutes after departure, and whether your train passes it while it is still light. It currently covers the Tokaido, Sanyo, Hokuriku and Tohoku Shinkansen (78 stations).

Why this tool exists

Landmarks seen from the train swap sides depending on the direction of travel. By calculation, Mount Fuji is on your right toward Shin-Osaka and on your left toward Tokyo. Whether you can see a mountain or a castle also depends on the terrain in between, the time of sunset in each season, and the time of your train. Madogawa puts these together and gives an answer for the section you are riding.

Editorial policy

• Answers combine calculation and reports. A landmark is labelled "Seen" only when there is a calculated line of sight and at least two independent reports from the train that match the direction of travel. With fewer reports it is "Line of sight only"; with no calculated line of sight, or when calculation alone cannot decide, it is "Needs checking".
• No rankings of landmarks. We do not say which view is better or which landmark you should look for.
• No seat numbers or letters. Seat layouts differ by train and formation, so we only answer in terms of left and right as you face forward.
• No timetables. We use only the published travel times of the fastest trains (confirmed in railway company material or in news articles reporting them); passing times are estimates spread in proportion to distance.
• Methods and limits are public. Formulas, parameters and known limits are on the methods page.

How to read the answers

Unofficial, independently run. Results are estimates from terrain data and calculation; weather, timetable changes, rolling stock and noise barriers change what you actually see. Even in clear weather, some stretches are hidden by noise barriers, buildings, trees or cuttings. Low features such as lakes and the sea can be hard to see even when the calculation finds a line of sight, so they stay "Needs checking" until enough reports exist.

Updates

The route comes from the latest edition of the National Land Numerical Information railway data published by Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), and is replaced when a new edition is released. Travel times are recorded with their source and the date they were checked and reviewed after timetable revisions. Versions and dates are listed on the data and sources page.

Operation and advertising

Madogawa is an unofficial site run by an individual and is not affiliated with any railway company, local government or tourism body. It shows ads from Google AdSense, which pay for running the site. How ads and cookies are handled is described in the privacy policy. We do not provide a contact point for enquiries.