A way to ride the rails from Tokyo to Tohoku while you snooze.

For many years, the Shinkansen has been time-conscious travelers’ go-to method for going from one region of Japan to the other. That doesn’t always mean that the Shinkansen is the option that maximizes your sightseeing time, though, since while it’s often the fastest point-to-point way to get around, you’re still going to be spending a period of time sitting on a train instead of seeing the sights, and if your bullet train pulls into your next destination town late at night, you’re not really going to be doing anything after you drag yourself out of bed the next morning.

So it’s good to know that East Japan Railway Company, a.k.a. JR East, is going to be offering a new way to travel between Tokyo and Japan’s northeastern Tohoku region while you’re asleep, announcing that it’s going to be introducing a new overnight sleeper train.

Though not Shinkansen-class in terms of speed, the special express train will still travel much more quickly than conventional commuter carriages, and also make fewer stops on their journey from Tokyo to Tohoku. All passengers will have private cabins, with configurations for solo travelers and parties of up to four people.

Rather than separate chairs and mattresses, the cabin interior preview images show sofa-style seats that can be reconfigured into full-flat sleeping spaces.

▼ A solo-traveler cabin configured with a seat and table

▼ The same cabin, reconfigured for when the traveler wants to sleep

The 10-car train will have a total capacity of 120 passengers, with one car serving as a common-space lounge.

The train’s exact route and timetable, as well as its official name, are yet to be announced, but JR East gives an example itinerary of leaving Tokyo at 9 p.m. and arriving at Aomori Station the next morning at 9 a.m., in time to grab/catch some scallops for breakfast.

The new sleeper train will serve as a replacement of sorts for the outgoing Cassiopeia sleeper train, which used to link Tokyo and northern Japan, but which has been out of regular service since 2016 and now is only used for special-event short-term tours. The Cassiopeia is being completely retired this summer, and the new sleeper train is slated to go into service in the spring of 2027.

Source: JR East (1, 2) via NHK News Web
Images: JR East
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