Half a century has elapsed since the plan's initial conception. Finally, on March 14th, the Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train extended its service by 228 km (141.7 mi) connecting the Japanese capital, Tokyo, to the ancient city of Kanazawa. The voyage will be a feast for the eyes as the train traverses the Japanese Alps, then jetting parallel to the country's western coastline.

According to an article by the Japan Times, 934 tickets for the first service on the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line departing from Tokyo Station to Kanazawa Station sold out in an astonishing 25 seconds when they went on sale at 6 a.m. on February 14th this year.

This new service, operated jointly by JR East and JR West, runs at a speed of 260 km (160 mi) per hourand connects Tokyo to Kanazawa in 2 hours and 28 minutes, cutting down travel time between the two cities by 79 minutes.

The first 117 km section, from the city of Takasaki to Nagano, opened for service in October 1997 in time for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. In a similar vein, this new Nagano-Kanazawa branch has been completed well in advance with the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics in mind.

Once a rival in beauty to Kyoto and Tokyo, Kanazawa remains one of Japan's most beautiful cities, and is home to one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan (Kenroku-en), as well as to Myōryū-ji – the Ninja Temple. Due to its relatively minor strategic importance, it was unscathed by Allied bombings in World War II retaining much of its