Eastern Japan

TRAIN SUITE SHIKI-SHIMAGeometric glass at the front, suites behind

Curved glass, Japanese materials and private suites make a moving hotel on rails. Shiki-shima leaves Ueno for different parts of eastern Japan by season, and the hours off the train bring in local craft, kitchens and old buildings. Places are allocated by application, not by buying a seat.

Departures are mainly from Ueno Station in Tokyo. Courses run by season into Tohoku, Koshinetsu and southern Hokkaido, and places are allocated through an application and lottery system.

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PlaceEastern Japan

TypeCruise train

SuitsRail, design, food

StayOne to three nights

Glass at the front, track running north

Eastern Japan — Luxury cruise train.

Train Suite Shiki-shima was designed by Ken Okuyama, and its observation cars use geometric glass to join the carriage to the track ahead. Lounges, a dining car and suites each hold their own space, so the light and the terrain change in front of you rather than past a single window.

Courses leave Ueno and head into a different part of eastern Japan depending on the season. Local chefs, workshops and historic sites make up the content off the train, so choose by the specific departure rather than by a general idea of a Tohoku route. Two departures in one month are not the same trip.

This suits people who follow Japanese railways, architecture and cooking, and who want to go deeper into Tohoku than a city stay allows. Applications are competitive and you cannot get on and off where you like. Some of the visits off the train ask for a reasonable amount of walking.

Inside a suite, a low sofa and a small round table sit against a wide window with soft daylight coming through. — A sofa and a round table by the suite window

The white arched nose of an observation car, its interior lined in pale wood behind curved glass. — The white arched observation car and its wood lining

The dining car at night, low lamps above laid tables and warm light along the polished ceiling.

The line ahead, seen through glass

Both ends of the train carry observation cars, and their geometric windows put the direction of travel and the passing light in front of you. Compared with a suite window, this is where you watch the train swing into a valley or edge into a town. Sit here as the course changes terrain.

A lounge with floor-to-ceiling curved windows, low sofas turned toward the view, wood and pale fabric throughout.

Tohoku craft inside the carriage

Furniture, tableware, woodwork and metal detailing answer the industries along the route. The craft arrives before you leave the train, in the grain of a table and the weight of a plate. Watch those details and they connect to the workshops visited later in the day.

A red carpet runs from a station platform to the open door of the white train, staff standing to one side.

Getting off to meet people

The course uses breweries, workshops, historic buildings and performances to tie the train to communities in eastern Japan. The same number of days does not mean the same content, because each season brings different stops. The value sits in those hours on the ground, as much as in the suite.

A white vaulted carriage interior with tables and seats set for a meal, light falling from above the windows.

Route

Two to four days placed after Tokyo

The course usually runs from two days and one night up to four days and three nights, depending on the season. It works as the main leg after Tokyo: take a night near Ueno beforehand, then carry on to Tokyo or elsewhere in Japan once you are back.

Holding a place on a course that is drawn by ballot

Apply first and wait for the result, because nothing else in the trip should be fixed before the departure is confirmed.

Stay

Courses run from two days and one night to four days and three nights. The schedule is published season by season.

Getting there

Meet at the dedicated guest space at Ueno Station. Application deadlines and payment terms are strict, so confirm the place before booking anything else.

Season

Each season runs different courses. Spring blossom, summer green, autumn colour and snow country each come with their own routes.

Watch out

Applications are competitive and the route does not allow free boarding and alighting. Some visits off the train involve a moderate amount of walking.

Plan this into a journey

Tell us when you are in Japan and we will look at which courses are open for application, then build the Tokyo nights around the result.

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