JR East will launch a new limited express sightseeing service, called the “Saphir Odoriko”, on March 14th this year. The new train will run between destinations in Tokyo and Izukyu-Shimoda Station on the Izu Peninsula passing through Yokohama and Atami on the way. This train will replace the current Super View Odoriko service. All of the Odoriko trains are named after a famous short story by Yasunari Kawabata called “Izu no Odoriko” or “The Dancing Girl of Izu”. However, the new train’s name and exterior coloring is inspired by the sapphire blue of the ocean and sky in Izu’s popular seaside spa resorts.

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This spring Kintetsu Railway will introduce a new limited express service called the “Hinotori” which will offer unprecedented levels of comfort for passengers traveling between the cities of Osaka and Nagoya. Hinotori means “phoenix” in Japanese, a name which reflects the new train’s combination of speed and elegant refinement.

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JR Hokkaido have introduced two new sightseeing trains called the “Sanshi-Suimei” series on local lines. The trains are renovated Kiha 40 series trains, which have been thoroughly refurbished both inside and out.

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As the year draws to a close let’s take a look at some of Japan’s outstanding train designs in 2019. Japan Institute of Design Promotion have selected two beautiful railway vehicles for this year’s Good Design Awards: the Sotetsu 12000 series and Hiroshima Electric Railway’s “Green Mover Apex”, along with Seibu’s Laview express train for a Gold Award.

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Tokyo Metro have announced that the new station building and platform for the Ginza Line at Shibuya Station will open for business on January 3rd 2020. First opened in 1938, the Ginza Line Shibuya Station is a busy transportation hub with around 220,000 passengers per day in 2018. Work to relocate the station building has been ongoing since 2009 and is just one part of the ongoing redevelopment projects in and around the Shibuya Station complex. In this case, the Ginza Line stop’s new location should make transfers easier with the other multiple rail lines that make use of the Shibuya Station complex.

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Imagine taking a trip through some of Kyushu’s most beautiful scenery in an old fashioned steam train. A plume of smoke flows from the engine as the train runs through the forested countryside and the haunting pipe of the steam whistle echoes through the Kuma River valley.

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JR East recently introduced a new sightseeing train, called “Kairi”, that runs along the coastline of Niigata and Yamagata prefectures. The Kairi runs between Niigata Station and Sakata Station on the Hakushin and Uetsu Main lines taking in views along the way of the Echigo and Shonai plains, the Sea of Japan, and the sacred Three Mountains of Dewa. The scenic beauty and culinary bounty of this region is expressed in the name Kairi (海里) whose two characters mean “sea” and “country village”.

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To celebrate the opening of a new museum in Arashiyama, Kyoto, the Keifuku Randen Line is currently running a special “Museum Train” which is decorated both inside and out with images from some of Japan’s most famous paintings.

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Kyoto’s Eizan Railway will illuminate part of the Kurama Line route this November so that passengers can view the glorious autumn colors at night. The Kurama Line runs from Demachiyanagi Station in north Kyoto to the scenic villages of Kibune and Kurama.

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The end of October, 2019 will see the retirement of the railcars currently running on the monorail service at Ueno Zoo. The big question is, will the Ueno Zoo Monorail run again?

The Ueno Zoo Monorail (properly called Ueno Kensui-sen or Ueno Suspension Line) connects the east and west sides of the Ueno Zoo, and has been running since December 1957. It is of some historical significance as it was the very first monorail to run in Japan. At the time it must have seemed quite futuristic, but today the colorful railcars provide an attractive 90 second alternative to walking the ten minute route between the two halves of the zoological gardens. An added advantage of the monorail’s elevated route is the pleasant view it presents over the western garden’s Shinobazu Pond. [Read more…]