We took the bullet train from Hakone to Nagoya a distance of about 200 miles in just over an hour. The speed was 300 km/hr which is 180 mph.
Inside of the train:
The following are a few video clips of our ride:
After the bullet train we took a much slower second train from Nagoya to Takayama which was about 200 miles and almost 3 hours. 
Here are a few video clips of that trip:
As you can see we are up in the mountains with large masses of bamboo along the stream banks. Here are a few photos of the area:
This last photo is of tea (a type of Camellia) that is grown in rows for easy harvesting.
Tea Ceremony
We stopped at the Tea House Zuiun-an to participate in the classic Japanese tea ceremony.
The tea ceremony started in Japan about 1200 years ago but didn’t become popular until about 450 years ago. The purpose for the ceremony was to create peace between warring factions. The leaders of the factions would come into the tea house and be required to leave their weapons outside so they could drink tea without any threat.
The ceremony starts with sweet cake or cookie before the tea.
The tea is drunk from tea bowls which were created by craftsmen. There is a certain ritual about the pouring out of the tea that creates a peace with the participants.
This bowl is worth over $25,000.00. Every bowl is different from the next and their value adds to the care and peace that is shared with the participants.
Tea Master
