The Least Useful Guide to Fukuoka

Shinkansen’s cleaning staff is often picked up on TV for their efficiency and professionalism. This time I had a chance to watch them in action with my own eyes.

Even before the train they are going to clean, they wait where the door of the train they are in charge of is going to open.

Once the train stops, the ladies take a bow to the passengers getting out from the door and start their jobs.

They have only several minutes before the train run back to Hakata to complete cleaning tasks including (as long as I could see from the window):

Collecting rubbish,

Wiping the arm rests,

Vacuuming the floor

Cleaning the toilets, and

Changing the headrest covers,

absolutely no matter how terrible or tough the condition is (such as loads of rubbish on the isles, extremely clogged toilets, flooded washrooms, soiled or sticky tables, or all the them).

When I sat my seat, it was spotless, as if no one had used it since the train was built (sorry, I was a bit exaggerating…).

Cleanliness is one of the reasons (along with the fabulous ekiben

and comfortable seat arrange )why we prefer travelling on Shinkansen to air travel from Tokyo despite the longer travelling time (around 5 hours at the fastest).

In fact, I have heard that our government was trying to export Shinkansen. I hope everyone in the world enjoy a comfortable Shinkansen ride.