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Tokaido Shinkansen: landmarks and which side of the train

Last updated: 16 Oct 2026

This is a list of which side of the train each of the 10 landmarks we cover on the Tokaido Shinkansen (Tokyo – Shin-Osaka, 17 stations, 515.5 km of track) is calculated to appear on, for each direction of travel. For an answer that matches your own section, date and time, use the tool on the top page.

Side by landmark

Seen = 2+ independent reports from the train + line of sight by calculation / Line of sight only = line of sight by calculation, fewer than 2 reports / Needs checking = reported but no calculated line of sight, cannot be judged by calculation alone, or neither reported nor in calculated line of sight (lakes and seas labelled Seen are shown as "Seen (hidden by noise barriers in places)")

Noise barriers, buildings, trees and cuttings are not in the calculation. Low features such as lakes, rivers and the sea may be hidden by barriers.

How to read it

The same landmark switches sides between trains toward Shin-Osaka and trains toward Tokyo.

Mount Fuji is calculated to appear mainly on the right toward Shin-Osaka and mainly on the left toward Tokyo, wherever there is a line of sight between Shin-Yokohama and the section between Shizuoka and Kakegawa. A few kilometres west of Shizuoka Station the track changes direction, so even toward Shin-Osaka the calculation puts the mountain briefly on the left. Travel records call this scene "Hidari-Fuji" (Fuji on the left).

Between Nagoya and Kyoto the track changes direction, so Mount Ibuki is calculated to appear on the left in some sections and on the right in others, even in the same direction of travel. Suruga Bay, Kakegawa Castle, Nagoya Castle, Hikone Castle and Lake Biwa are labelled "Needs checking" because the calculation could not confirm a line of sight from the track. For the three castles no source for the height of the keep has been confirmed, so the calculation uses the ground height (this does not show that the keeps cannot be seen). The five-storey pagoda of To-ji has a calculated line of sight around Kyoto Station, but it only grazes the terrain (less than 10 m of clearance) and there is one travel record for each direction, so it is also labelled "Needs checking". Lake Hamana is labelled "Seen (hidden by noise barriers in places)" for both directions because there are two travel records, not limited to one direction, about the short stretch where the track crosses the south of the lake (one of them describes water on both sides). The side in the table is the side of the single representative point on the water used in the calculation.

Tunnels

From the difference between the height of the track and the height of the ground, we estimate 36 tunnels, about 9.9% of the track length. Tunnel sections are estimated from terrain and may differ from the actual location and length.

Timing

Passing times are estimates that spread the fastest scheduled time between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka, 141 minutes, in proportion to distance. On trains that stop at every station the error grows. If you enter your train's arrival time in the tool, it spreads the time again between that train's departure and arrival. The details are in Methods and limits.