In preparation for next year’s debut of the luxury sleeper cruise train “Twilight Express Mizukaze” JR West have announced a major upgrade for one of the stations on the new train’s route.

An artist’s impression of the renovated station

Kinosaki Onsen Station serves the popular hot spring spa town of Kinosaki in Hyogo Prefecture. This small resort town on the Japan Sea coast is famous for its beautifully preserved streets, and willow-lined rivers, and over the next few months Kinosaki’s formerly modest station is to undergo a thorough makeover thanks to a joint project by JR West and Toyooka City Government. [Read more…]

This autumn Kintetsu Railway will launch a new excursion train that will run on their Minami Osaka and Yoshino Lines.

The Blue Symphony excursion train and its stylish logo

Decked out in deep blue livery the elegant new train is to be called the “Blue Symphony” and is meant to provide a superior level of comfortable travel for adults. The “Blue Symphony” will run between Osaka Abenobashi Station in central Osaka City and Yoshino Station in Nara Prefecture. Mount Yoshino is a popular scenic spot which is especially celebrated for the beauty of its cherry blossoms in the spring. Along the route of the train are other sites of cultural and historical importance such as the ancient town of Asuka which is the site of an ancient imperial capital, or Kimpusen-ji Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the head temple of the Shugendo mountain sect. [Read more…]

This month saw the launch of a new gourmet restaurant train “Izu Craile” by JR East. The Izu Craile is a special excursion train which will run mainly on Saturdays and holidays between Odawara Station in Kanagawa Prefecture and Izukyu Shimoda Station in Shizuoka Prefecture. The route follows the coastline of the Izu peninsula, so passengers can view the scenic beauty of the mountains and sea while eating their specially prepared gourmet lunch boxes.

The all new Izu Craile gourmet restaurant train

The Izu Craile is a four carriage train with 1st class reserved seating throughout. The exterior design in pink and gold represents sakura petals floating on sea breezes and rippling waters. The interior is laid out in an elegant “Japanese Modern” style with carpets patterned to look like flowing rivers, and the illuminated ceiling designed to appear like the morning sun shining through bamboo. [Read more…]

JR West together with Osaka Station City will hold the “Fun Fan Festa 2016” summer festival in Osaka Station from Friday July 22nd.

A stage will soon appear on the “Toki no Hiroba Plaza” of Osaka Station City

The festival will be held on the “Toki no Hiroba Plaza” on the 5th floor of the Osaka Station building. A high stage decked out with paper lanterns will be set up on the plaza for live music and dance performances, Bon Festival dancing, and accessory making workshop events. [Read more…]

JR Central have announced plans for their next generation shinkansen prototype the “N700S”. This new train will be developed from the existing N700 series design, with the “S” standing for “Supreme” and is intended for the Sanyo and Tokaido shinkansen rail lines. The prototype will be a 16 car set built for testing purposes, and will be ready to undergo trial runs by March of 2018.

The “Aero Double Wing” design of the N700A series shinkansen (left) is contrasted with the new “Dual Supreme Wing” design of the N700S (right) in this image from JR Central

The N700S will incorporate both energy saving and advanced safety features. The nose of the new train has been enhanced to a “Dual Supreme Wing” design to reduce wind resistance, and the use of silicon carbide semi-conductors for cooling a new light-weight drive system will also reduce energy consumption.

It is believed that the new model train will use 7% less energy than the current N700A series shinkansen. In addition the automatic train control (ATC) and the braking system will be reformed to increase response time and emergency braking speed in the event of an earthquake. [Read more…]

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.

Artist’s impression of the new penguin statue

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.

The Central Honshu Information Plaza is located in Shinjuku Station’s Keio Mall

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.

An artist’s rendering of the Twilight Express Mizukaze

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.

The Blue Train Akebono. Picture by Rsa

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.

A brochure for the “Hashiru Noka Restaurant” tour

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…]