Delayed train!

The little shuttle train from the port was spot on time. But the next one - 11.25 for Okayama (not pictured, to spare its blushes) - didn't leave until 11.36, making the connection at Okayama very tight.

Fortunately the driver put his foot down hard on the last stretch so people didn't miss their shinkansen connections. We made ours with a couple of minutes to spare.

Apologies for the blurriness of the first sakura pictures - my week of practice at photography from Russian trains hasn't equipped me for the much faster Japanese ones.Read more