JR Shinkansen E5, GranClass Car

On March 5, 2011, the Tohoku Shinkansen extended its line to Shin-Aomori. Along with this expansion, the new Shinkansen Series E5 debuted. The Series E5 Shinkansen has the newly developed GranClass Car, which is considered to be the first first-class carriage in Shinkansen history. Yet this new carriage is not well known in Japan, probably due to the Tohoku/Kanto Earthquake and Tsunami which hit East Japan a week after the debut of the carriage. Right now, the Tohoku Shinkansen is the only Shinkansen Line where you can enjoy the GranClass. In the near future some of the Shinkansen cars on the Hokuriku and Nagano Shinkansen Lines will introduce this class. For further information please refer to the Homepage of JR GranClass or my article on Japan Travel.