While I’m not a HelloKitty fan (I really have no idea what the whole craze is about), I do still find myself lucky to be able to ride the HelloKitty shinkansen (bullet train) for only 300 yen ($3).

Under normal circumstances, a ride on a shinkansen bullet train while empty your wallet – but that wasn’t the case for me!

Hakata, located in the center of Fukuoka city is a thriving area with a large train station. Here, there is also a shinkansen train station that connects you to southern Kyushu, Osaka, and you could even go as far as Tokyo if you have the money.

However, the train I rode was a simple 8-minute journey to a station called Hakata-Minami (Hakata South). This is the place the shinkansen trains go to ‘sleep’ after a hard day’s work. Fortunately, JR decided to allow passengers to board the bullet trains just as you would a normal train while they make the journey between the two stations. Because of this, you never really know which shinkansen you’re going to get – this time I was lucky enough to get the HelloKitty version.

Here are a few pics I hastily shot.