The trains in Japan arrive on time, stop for a few minutes and then depart on time with little warning. We were travelling on Shinkansen Sakura 558, which covers the 341.6 km in 89 minutes - the timetables are that precise. Our train was run by West Japan Railways, and the Sakura has 8 carriages - 3 unreserved standard, half a green car carriage and the remained reserved standard. The green car seats are like old fashioned airline business seats (2-2), with great leg room, very comfy and a decent amount of recline. The only slight problem is that there isn't a lot of luggage space on the trains.
Shortly after leaving the cabin attendant comes through the green car and you get a pre-packed wet towel and a small menu for the trolley service. There are some magazines but these are all in Japanese and at seat radio. During the journey, the trolley comes through regularly and it is clear that there is much more on it than on the little menu handed out. Everytime an attendant passes through the car, they stop at the doors on leaving, turn around and bow towards the passengers. Throughout the journey, as always in Japan, there isn't a lot of English spoken and often there is a whole conversation at you in Japanese which you have no chance of understanding!!
We had a can of Asahi from the station to enjoy and sat back to watch the countryside flash by and enjoy some TV on the iPad. The Shinkansen trains run on track which goes through lots of long tunnels, so not always that much to see! The train ran perfectly to time, and announcements were made in both Japanese and English, meaning the travelling was relatively simple. Our train terminated in Shin-Osaka (the Shinkansen station which like many cities is away from the main train station in the city), which meant we had longer to get off the train - if it was an intermediate stop you need to be ready when the train pulls in or you'll never get off in time.
On arrival in Shin-Osaka, we were back into the usual busy Japan rail station, trying to navigate ourselves across to the right platforms for Osaka station - not that easy with the number of people, the signs in Japanese mainly and us with luggage!!
Would really recommend travelling around Japan by rail - you can cover long distances in comfort. The Japan Rail Pass is good value - train travel here is really expensive (not as expensive as flying) and a return journey costs more typically than a week travel pass. You can also rely on trains arriving and being on time and the staff on board are friendly and polite, even if you can't understand a word of what is being said.
that the hire car chap kindly programmed at NRT).We also used the rail/ metro system out of Tokyo when we returned and despite making several gaffes (purchasing wrong tickets) found the Japanese people incredibly helpful (very few people speak any English so it was interesting to say the least lol 
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