In a press release earlier today, Japan’s JR East introduced a new overnight express train that will service the northern Tohoku region from Tokyo starting in spring 2027. The company aims to capture the roaring inbound travel demand and encourage travel to its rural regions.
Spring 2027 is actually less than a couple of years away; we’re not talking about the far-off future here. Overnight trains have mostly faded away in Japan, so this one will no doubt be popular among both Japanese residents and foreign travelers.
Here are some of the operating details of this train:
- The train will begin service in spring 2027.
- The train will offer service between the Tokyo area and the Northern Tohoku region. In Japan, Northern Tohoku refers to Aomori, Iwate, and Akita prefectures, so these are the areas that JR East is probably looking at. They do note that service patterns will differ based on season, and this will not be a regularly scheduled service.
- JR East is going to use the current E657 series train and remodel it into an overnight train. The train will consist of 10 cars, and all tickets fall under the “Green Car” umbrella, and will all be private rooms. Each room will be able to accommodate 1 to 4 passengers, and the whole train will carry about 150. More details on the train’s interiors are below.
The above photo is a rendering of each train car and its class of service. Cars 1 and 10 will have Premium Green rooms, a separate class of service from the rest of the train. Car number 5 will be a lounge car, and the rest are noted as Green, the standard level class on this train.
Premium Green Rooms
We don’t have a huge amount of details on the seats yet. But the company did note that these Premium Green rooms will feature an L-shaped sofa and a bed measuring 190cm x 200cm. The rooms themselves seem much larger than the others, and I wonder if passengers in these cars will be offered elevated amenities.
They also ensured that each room would have ample storage space.
Green Car Rooms
The standard level Green Car Rooms will have 1-person, 2-person, and 4-person rooms. Each room will come with seats that recline into a bed.
The single-person room (above photo) will have a bed measuring 90cm x 195cm.
The 2-person room seems to be a similar concept, with seats facing each other that turn into a bed. The bed will measure 185cm x 200cm. It does seem like this will be one single bed, not two separate beds like you sometimes see on other overnight trains.
A couple of these 1 and 2-person rooms in car 6 will be wheelchair accessible.
The 4-person rooms will have one large sleeping area spanning 325cm x 195cm. This seems ideal for families and groups of friends.
Lounge Space
A lounge area will be located in car 5. Not a lot about this space has been shared yet, but the company is planning to have food and beverage services located here, kind of like a cafe car.
A Relic of the Past
Overnight sleeper trains used to be all over Japan. One of the most common services was the Blue Train, which connected many destinations in Hokkaido and Western Japan from Tokyo. But with the rise of the Shinkansen and air travel, these overnight trains struggled. They were losing money for JR, and more and more of them ended service. Today, the only regularly scheduled overnight train is the Sunrise Express by JR West, which is also rumored to end service in the near future.
JR East seems to have a different approach with these trains. They’re going to run seasonally and will not have a regular schedule, and they seem to be promoting the overnight train experience. They even noted that the design of this new overnight train is a throwback to the days of the Blue Train service.
We’ll have to wait and see for pricing and scheduling details. Either way, this is exciting stuff for both Japanese residents and those traveling to Japan. I grew up in Tokyo myself and frequented Iwate prefecture as I have a lot of relatives there, and I still visit fairly frequently. I’ve never taken an overnight train in Japan, but this new train might be a good opportunity to try something different from my usual Shinkansen trips.
All photos by JR East.
