We travelled to Osaka from Odawara after our few days in Hakone. We took the bullet train to Shin-Osaka station. Although we had been on the Shinkansen (the proper name for the bullet train) from Tokyo to Odawara, this was a much longer ride (2.5 hours) and it was the first time we had experienced the train getting up to full speed. Everyone says how smooth the ride is on a bullet train and they are right - you would never know that you are going as fast as you are. Of course the landscape outside rushes past, but inside it is hard to accept that you going at 170 mph (270 kph). I had thought that there would be displays in the carriages giving the speed as I have seen in (much slower) Italian express trains, but there was nothing - so you just have to have faith!