JR East have recently announced that the new outdoor plaza at Shinjuku Station’s new South Gate is to be named “Suica Penguin Park” and will feature a giant bronze statue of a penguin as its central feature.

JR East opened the 2000 square meter plaza in March of this year to coincide with the opening of the JR Shinjuku Miraina Tower, a new station building which holds many shops, including NEWoMan Shinjuku and Lumine Zero, offices and cultural facilities. The new plaza is intended to be both a meeting spot and event space and it is hoped the addition of the penguin statue will make it a popular rendezvous location, as people can easily promise to “meet by the penguin”. [Read more…]

Keio Railway will open a new tourist information center in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station on July 1st. The Central Honshu Information Plaza will specialize in tourist information for the Chubu region, which is the central region of Japan’s main island of Honshu. Highway bus tickets will also be available.

Popular tourist locations such as the historic town of Takayama, and the traditional village of Shirakawa-go will be represented in the new plaza along with the prefectures of Nagano, Gifu and Yamanashi. There will also be booths from ten municipalities with informational brochures, and displays of regional crafts and specialty products. [Read more…]

JR West plan to launch a new luxury limited express sleeper train to run between Kyoto Station and Shimonoseki Station at the westernmost tip of Japan’s main island. The train which will debut in the spring of 2017, is described as a mobile hotel that will run through western Japan’s most scenic landscapes.

The “Twilight Express Mizukaze” takes its name from the famous “Twilight Express” that previously ran between Osaka and Sapporo and was Japan’s longest serving sleeper train until its retirement in 2015. Like its predecessor, the exterior of the new train will be painted green with gold trimming, and the new logo will incorporate the angels from the logo of the original Twilight Express. [Read more…]

The “blue train” overnight sleeper services of Japan were once a popular means of traveling long distances, and were much romanticized both on screen and in print. With the rise of super convenient services like the high speed shinkansen, cheap highway express buses, and affordable domestic flights, demand for the blue trains declined and the last of these services was discontinued in 2015. One such train was the Akebono, a limited express sleeper train, which ran between Ueno Station in Tokyo and Aomori Station in northern Japan for a full 44 years before being discontinued in March of 2014. The Akebono though, has now found a new role as a theme park hotel.

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JR East have announced this year’s dates for the “Hashiru Noka Restaurant” or “Traveling Farmhouse Restaurant”, a special gourmet touring service that was introduced on Nagano Prefecture’s Iiyama Line last year. The idea of this unique tour is that passengers can taste a series of regional specialities, while enjoying beautiful views of the Nagano countryside, its orchards and fields, its mountains and valleys, and the majestic Shinano River.

What’s interesting about this gourmet service is that the meal consists of four separate courses which are prepared at four different stations along the route. Each course is brought on to the train and served to the passengers when it arrives at that station. The emphasis is very much on serving super fresh seasonal dishes local to each area and made only from the very best local ingredients. [Read more…]

Izuhakone Railway have joined forces with the popular “Love Live!” anime franchise to promote the latest “Love Live! Sunshine!!” TV series.

The TV show which is due to air in July of this year features a fictional group of school girls who form an “idol” group to save their school from closure. Many scenes in the show use the city of Numazu in Shizuoka for their setting, but part of the show also features the Sea Paradise aquarium in Mishima city. [Read more…]

Here’s a fun idea from Keihan Railway. Later this month Platform 3 at Osaka’s Nakanoshima Station is to be transformed into an old-fashioned izakaya style bar!

For four nights from June 22nd, one platform and some stationary train carriages will be transformed into a nostalgic bar zone, with various food stalls, standing counter bars, and table seating. The event is intended to both advertise and celebrate the appeal and charm of the Nakanoshima area, so along with the food and drink, revelers will be able to view local historical photographs and cultural exhibits. A casual tavern-like atmosphere will be created to match the nostalgic theme. [Read more…]

For the last five years Hankyu Railway have been running a special weekend “Kyo-Train” for tourists on the regular route between Osaka and central Kyoto. The train is remarkable for the fact that its interior design mimics the typical machiya style of an old fashioned Kyoto townhouse.

Machiya are the traditional long wooden townhouses of Kyoto city, renowned for the fine craftsmanship and simple grace of their construction. Once common, sadly in recent years they have become increasingly rare as private developers knock them down and replace them with utilitarian concrete blocks and parking lots. There is a counter movement however, that appreciates the nostalgic appeal of machiya, and seeks to restore, renovate, and reinvent their image as attractive modern locations for shops, cafes and restaurants. By remodeling their “Kyo-Train” in the image of a machiya townhouse, Hankyu Railway too are seeking tap into this touristic appeal of old Kyoto. [Read more…]

JR have released details of course routes and prices for their new luxury cruise train “Train Suite Shiki-Shima.” The exclusive sleeper train will begin excursions between Tokyo’s Ueno Station and northern Japan from May 1st 2017.

This 10 car excursion train features observation cars at front and rear, one lounge car, one dining car, and six cars devoted to private suites including one car that holds a Deluxe Suite and a maisonette style “Shiki-Shima Suite.” [Read more…]

The Setouchi Area Pass is five day discount pass for overseas visitors offered by JR West and JR Shikoku to promote travel in western Japan. The pass currently gives unlimited access for unreserved seats on JR trains between Kansai Airport, Osaka, Okayama, Hiroshima and Hakata as well as select buses, and ferries to islands of the Setouchi area. From July 1st of this year the pass will become more inclusive and the services it covers broadened to include JR trains in the Kyoto and Nara area, JR buses in the Chugoku region (including the Hiroshima sightseeing loop bus), Setouchi sightseeing steamboats between the ports of Hinase and Obe, and Okayama Electric Railway Trams.

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