Sunrise Izumo Express Night Train
My wife and I has been planning this trip to Japan for a year now. We wanted to bring our 2 sons along on this journey for the experience of riding the night express train in Japan. This Sunrise Izumo Express Night Train and it’s sister train the Sunrise Seto which run on the same rail for half of it’s journey is the only night express that remind in service for the Japan commuting public. All the other night have been only preserved for the tourists trade now. The Sunrise Izumo and the other long distance night train in Japan has been on a steady decline since 2009. Mostly due to the lack of time of the busy Japanese business and the switch to the Shinkansen or The Bullet Train. I was thinking that the discount airline would have something to do with this decline in business as well, but according to my wife, the discount airline didn’t get into Japan way after the rest of the world had already tasted it’s effect. She also mentioned that the Japan Railway system usually repair and maintain the railroad over night so to run a train at night it would conflicted with the night crews work schedule and the labor cost would go up for the train crew during the night. We also asked one of our Thai friend (Nuch) to come along and very fortunate for us, she obliged to join us on this tour. So, we had a total of 3 adults and 2 kids for this night-train adventure to the western part of the Honshu Island. It started out with my wife who have a nostalgia for sleeper train travel in Japan. She missed the time in the 90’s when she was still studying in the California, that was the golden age of sleeper express train travel in Japan. It was the time when Japanese air travel was still quite expensive. Low cost airlines were still have not started their war of attrition on the national airline carrier yet. One could book a ticket and pack and get on the local subway to the city center main train station and quickly switch to an express night train that can cover up to 900 km in just 12 hours. This is a journey that is much more comfortable than car or bus, and to compare to an air option; would beat it in term of trying to get to the airport.
Maybe this graph have something to do with the decline of the Night Trains
How we were able to get our train tickets
So, once we decided to go I got the cheapest possible air ticket from Airasia direct from DMK (Don Mueang International Airport) to NRT.(Narita International Airport) My wife (Sacha) and my oldest son (Shinto) were already in Yokohama to have Shinto go to summer school there. So the plan was to fly in to meet her with Nuch and My second son.(Taito) That was the easy part or so I thought, the first obstacle was to get the elusive ticket for the Sunrise Izumo night train. From my wife research regarding this one of the last night express train to be board from Tokyo. It turned out that the night express train have become so popular with Japanese domestic tourist to the point that we were unable to get a ticket online via the JR (Japan Rail) West website any more. The only way to get the tickets now was to go into a certain JR station in person and pay for the ticket in person with cash in this case the person paying is not going to come along for the ride as well, since you have to show the physical credit card to get on. Her plan was simple enough. We just have to ask her father to go to get the ticket with cash in hand, and get the tickets in our names.
Our journey begin…
Every went smoothly from leaving Bangkok to Narita airport. But by the time we got on the airport limousine bus to get to my father in law, which took more than 2 hours form Narita airport. I have already fallen to sleep a few times and when I left the the bus and meet up with my wife, Shinto and my father in law at the local bus depot in Aobadai area near my father in law condominium, I had just realized that I forgot my messenger bag on the airport bus. So the next day my father in law end up have to take multiple trains to get to their office to pick it up for me. Which make me feel bad for having to trouble him with such a long journey to pick up my bag, even through I didn’t have anything important inside the bag. But what happen also make me realized how safe Japan is. Even if I have put money or valuables inside of the bag, no one would take it. That can’t be said with most places in the world.
We were staying at my father in law place for just a night, and the next day we went to see Sachiko’s grandmother at her apartment. She was already 82 years old when we met her. She was still as sharp as a pen, with very good memory. Kind of opposite of us, we always forget all the important things at the most inappropriate time. Sachiko’s grandmother had already packed food for us to take with us on the this adventure which will last more than 13 hours journey until we get to our first destination. Her grandmother was one of those people who are very thoughtful, and remember the right things to do at the right time.
Her apartment was just a stone throw from the Toritsu-Daigaku Station on the Tokyo Line which is only 20 minutes from the Shibuya Station. Shibuya is a major Landmark where all the picture of the huge crosswalk, the famous one that is always on most travel magazine about Tokyo and Japan, the photo or the video that gave the impression of what life in Tokyo Megalopolis is like in a single moment is from. Her apartment was a short 150 meters from the exit. It was in an old renovated apartment building from the 60’s.
We got into the building very old elevator and waited 4 minutes before the door closed and it started to move after a few minutes more. By the time we got to her grandmother 6th floor, It has already took 10 minutes)
I mentioned to my wife, “I swear this is the slowest elevator I've ever been in, in my life.”
All the doors were made of steel with painted blue that would look like it was from a merchant marine ship paint. If a squad of SWAT team was trying to break in they probably give up before the any of these doors give way.
Once we got into her place there was already a huge tray of colorful sushi waiting for us. It’s arrange very beautifully and look like a million bucks to me. But according to Sachiko, it was about $50. Still it was the best sushi I have ever tried, but that seems to be true of most of the sushi I tried in Japan at every shop. Even if it doesn’t have raw fish in it, some time just pickle vegetables with a little bit of some sweet fish-roe. From how they prepare the rice and the good quality seaweed, it is already more than satisfy my taste buds. Trust me, I have tried a lot of sushi in California, but over there the thing that get are mostly seafood, without much of the wide variety of all the other ingredients in Japan. And I have to credit the Japanese people for the careful selection of the ingredients and the meticulous preparation that can be encounter everywhere in Japan.
At 82 years old, she is still chatting up her friend on her pc and always ever so thoughtful. She ordered deliver-sushi which is the norm in Japan, but hardly something one can do in California or anywhere else in the world. This is one of those little thing you start to notice if you where staying in Japan for some good amount of time. Small things that are really amazing once you have tasted or experienced them here in the Land of the Rising Sun. And of cause everything tasted and the city is so neatly arrange and well taken care of for every square inch.
After the visit during the day and all the food that will keep us full for the rest of the journey, we headed to board our at Shinagawa Station to board the Sunrise Izumo at 10:20pm. We got the stretch seats which are called Novi-Novi. The look like a little Japanese style room with carpet and a little privacy curtain and a little window for you to laid down and sleep in relative comfort. We settled into our train, and the kids soon fall as sleep under the cover of blankets. My wife and I was very curious about the token operated shower room, and went walking around to explore other trains’ compartments. We were planning on showering together in the shower room and tried to get a token to operate the shower. There was a tokens machine where we can put in Yen coin to exchange for the shower room tokens. We got into the shower room locked the door and put our tokens into a slot right on top of a big red button, once it’s operational the red button light up and if you press it, hot shower come out, while a red lighted digital counter start to count down from a total of 6 minutes. So that’s all the time you got for the hot water, and we had to rationed our water carefully. I told my wife, “We got to do this the Navy style," which is by wetting ourselves first then stop the water while you leather up the soup. Rinse at the end to get rid of the soup sud quickly and efficiently, this give us about 3 minutes each person. By the time we got out of the shower it was already midnight. So we were all soon fall as sleep.
Next morning, we woke up the loud sound of the train decoupling,
Very loud, “Khaching,” like the sound of heavy metal hitting on metal.
This was exactly at 6:27 which was the schedule time for this decoupling of the Sunrise Seto and the Sunrise Izumo happen in Okayama. It was all happened in 3 minutes, and then both trains split up and start heading their own way. The one heading to Seto left at 6:31 and our train leave at 6:34 exactly on the dot. The train operation in Japan is actually measure in centisecond, so a minute late was a serious consideration.
We arrived in Matsue at 9:30.
We head to see the famous castle which is one of the few original Samurai era wooden Fortress Castle of Matsue. It was build in 1611 which was after the Sengoku period, where many castles were distroyed during that time. It was nicknamed “the Black Castle.” It is one of the very few Medieval castle left in Japan after the second world war. We walked up from the town of Matsue that the castle was supposed to protect during time of war. The first impression is of the stone wall by the moats and your imagination just tell you that it would be very difficult to get in side of the castle. We walked up to the top of the keep and on the way you can see and feel the wooden quality of the castle. It is something to marvel at how traditional wood construction technique using only joinery system. We can see the vista from the top of the look out tower and see that it was a strategic place that one can survey the surrounding area 360 degree as far out to maybe more than 10-15 miles away. Giving you plenty of time to prepare for an attack from any direction. After looking around the castle we went down into the town of Matsue to see some of the preserved samurai house and garden. It was informative and at every turn we can see the uniqueness of Japan handcrafted culture of the past with very careful attention to every small details.
After a full day of exploring Matsue old town we walked back to our Airbnb room. The place we stayed at was just 3 minutes from the Matsue station and it was very convenience for us to get around town. This is a great old town for a walking tour around the historical section. You can see many old traditional houses and little family run shops all around town. We walked around and tasted traditional fish cake called Kamaboko in Japanese, at one of these old shop house. Obviously It was one of the best tasting fish cake we have ever tried. We also drop by a beautifully kept traditional Japan garden. When I wander around the garden, the image of Zen monk meditating came to mind right the way. It has rock garden in with, the simplicity and dignified vibe make you contemplate the meaning of peace and tranquility. In the garden there was a little cafe and traditional tea with hand crafted sweet place that we just have to sit back, relax, and enjoy our time in this garden.
By the time we started to walk back to our place my middle son, Taito needed to go to the toilet. So as we walked on the street we stumble on a building that let us use the toilet, but it turn out to be a huge casino of source. This was a small boat racing casino. It was a huge building, from my guesstimate it would be at least 10,000 sqft. Equipped with the latest big screen TV boardcasting live small boat race from the ocean to this hall. People can place bet, and when we were there there was not that many people, mostly old people since it is a workday, but I would guess that it would not be too many during the weekend as well. You just have to wonder how much money was being gamble here everyday. We saw a small race boat being display in the hall and went right up to take a picture with my second son, Taito. It make a good memory shot of this casino.
Next stop is the Izumo shrine, famous place for Japanese girls to come and ask for a suitable life partner. The Izumo Grand Shrine, officially called Izumo Ōyashiro, is one of the most ancient and important Shinto shrines in Japan. We don’t really know exactly when it was first build. Located in Shimane Prefecture, and one of the most popular tourist site for Japanese domestic tourists. It is home to two major festivals. It is dedicated to the god Okuninushi famous as the Shinto deity of marriage and to Kotoamatsukami, distinguishing heavenly kami. The shrine is believed by many to be the oldest Shinto shrine in Japan, even predating even the Ise Grand Shrine, in Mie Prefecture.
A style of architecture Taisha-Zukuri takes its name from the main hall of Izumo Grand Shrine. That hall, and the attached buildings, were designated National Treasures of Japan in 1952. According to the ancient tradition, the hall was originally much taller than at present. The discovery in the year 2000 of the remains of enormous pillars has given some credit to this.
Several other buildings in the shrine compound are on the list of Important Cultural Properties of Japan as well.
Good thing was that I was already happily married so, I was in no real need to ask for the god favor. In case you are in dire need of a mate then here would be a good place to ask for a good match.
After we paid respect to the god, and wandering around the Shrine and the Museum we went to look for the famous Izumo Soba. There were many shops and restaurant dotting the street leading up the shrine and it was easy to just stroll around and take a look at different places until we found one that we would like to try. We just look at the place with lots of people already eating there. The soba was delicious, and we just gobbled up so many small bowls that they were served in. It was served with soup on the side with other ingredient on top.
After Izumo area is done we went onward to Okayama where it was Sachiko’s friend from college in Oxnard hometown. They have not seen each other for a long time but it was just like seeing her brother. He pick us up with his car and give us a tour of Okayama countryside. But first we stop at a sushi restaurant. He pick out a place that was reasonable priced, and the food was very good. We were all full of sushi after lunch and ready for the long drive to the peach farm. These are places in the country of Japan where you can go and “pick your own fruit” kind of place. It was a big tourist thing to do in Japan, where people would head out of the city into the countryside and go fruit picking. Mind you, we never really get to pick anything, we were just given the tour of the orchard and they let us climb a ladder that they prepared ahead of time for you to get some photos with your camera then you can sit down in a shaded area to enjoy your peach. It was actually one peach per customer.
Okayama is very famous for the white peach, known in all over the country as the “best flavor in Japan,” Okayama’s white peaches are juicy and fresh with an elegant sweetness that unlike other area’s peaches. Every summer visitors are invited into these peach orchard where they can pick their own peaches and eat them on the spot. A variety of options is available, including the limited time all-you-can-eat plans or the plans that allow visitors to take the peaches they pick home as souvenirs. Some place require a reservation ahead of time so make sure you call them first.
The next city on our little tour is Kobe.
We got into Kobe with another train and we booked an Airbnb place, which was a 2 bedrooms condo. We give one of the bedroom to our friend Nuch and the other bedroom to our 2 sons. For ourselves we got to try the sofa which was able to fold out to be a nice bed for my wife and I. The next day we planned to hike mount Rokko which was right next to the city. It was an easy train ride to the base of the hill and we can easily proceed up by a cable car. Nuch legs were not good enough to hike up the mountain so we have Nuch help us watch the 2 kids in the morning and my wife and I would be free to head up the mountain by ourselves. It was very scenic from the cable car and also the station at the top of the mountain with spectacular view of the whole city of Kobe. We found a trial map and routes that have clear marking for us to walk down back to the station. It was a fairly good hike coming down, Sachiko was telling me that many older Japanese hiker would actually hike up all the way to the top. This would be quite an extenuated exercise for anyone unless you have been practicing and doing these hike frequently. To my surprise I did spotted many old people on the trails and some look like they were seriously would attempt to make it all the way up from the way they dressed and how they faces looked.
After we made it back from the hills, we took everyone to the historic part of the city. There were houses that have been preserved from the turn of the century that used to belong to some of the expatriates who have move to Kobe more than a 100 years ago and make an interesting walk with some pay houses that the city have turned into museums. By night we met up with Sachiko’s Japanese friend who moved back to Japan after she had been living in Thailand for more than 7 years. We met up and went out to eat the famous Kobe beef at a Japanese style steak restaurant. The beef was really good in Kobe!
We walked around after dinner and went to shopping district by the waterfront of Kobe and missed an art museum that was closed on the day we visited it. It was a nice warm summer time in Kobe city. Which make traveling a much more enjoyable experience especially with kids.
Some of the information I got from wikipedia about this train.
The Sunrise Izumo runs daily between Tokyo and Izumoshi in Shimane Prefecture, taking approximately 12 hours for the 953.6 km (592.5 mi) journey. The service operates in conjunction with the Sunrise Seto service to Takamatsubetween Tokyo and Okayama. From Tokyo, the combined 14-car train departs at 22:00, and stops at Yokohama, Atami, Numazu, Fuji, Shizuoka, Hamamatsu (final evening stop), Himeji (first morning stop), and arrives at Okayamaat 06:27, where the train splits. Between Okayama and Izumoshi, the 7-car Sunrise Izumo train stops at Kurashiki, Niimi, Yonago, Yasugi, Matsue, and Shinji, before arriving in Izumoshi at 09:58. The return working from Izumoshi departs at 18:55, and is coupled with the Sunrise Seto from Takamatsu at Okayama Station, departing together at 22:33, and arriving at Tokyo Station at 07:08
Trains are formed of dedicated 7-car 285 series Sunrise Express electric multiple units (EMUs) owned by both JR Central and JR West. They are formed as shown below, with cars numbered 8 to 14 in the down (westbound) direction, with car 14 at the Tokyo end, and 1 to 7 in the up (Tokyo-bound) direction, with car 7 at the Tokyo end
• Car 2/9 has a wheelchair-accessible compartment
• Each car has toilet facilities at one end
• Smoking is permitted in car 6/13, and some compartments in car 4/11
The Sunrise Izumo consists of type "A" (Single Deluxe) and type "B" accommodation. A flat fee is charged for all compartments, regardless of starting or ending point. The other fares, the basic fare and limited express fare, are based on distance. For tourists using the Japan Rail Pass, the basic fare does not have to be paid. A shower is located in car 3/10. Passengers using the type "A" Single Deluxe compartments can use the dedicated showers in their carriage for free.
The Sunrise Izumo consists of type "A" (Single Deluxe) and type "B" accommodation. A flat fee is charged for all compartments, regardless of starting or ending point. The other fares, the basic fare and limited express fare, are based on distance. For tourists using the Japan Rail Pass, the basic fare does not have to be paid. A shower is located in car 3/10. Passengers using the type "A" Single Deluxe compartments can use the dedicated showers in their carriage for free.
The Sunrise Izumo services were introduced together with the Sunrise Seto on 10 July 1998 Previously, the Izumo operated as a separate "Blue train" service connecting Tokyo with the Sanin region. However, these trains were becoming less popular as equipment became outdated, and air and bus services attracted more passengers. The Sunrise Izumo was intended to attract more passengers to train transportation by introducing newly designed trains and by reducing the journey time.
Following the introduction of the Sunrise Izumo, the original Izumo locomotive-hauled "Blue train" service was reduced from two return workings daily to one return working, serving the Sanin Main Line between Kyoto and Tottori Prefecture, most of which was not electrified and thus inaccessible by the electric Sunrise Express trains. The Izumo was ultimately discontinued on 13 March 2006 due to continuing decline in ridership, leaving the Sunrise Izumo as the only overnight train service between the Sanin region and Tokyo.
Ridership on overnight trains in Japan continues to decline, and from March 2009, the Sunrise Izumo and Sunrise Seto became the only overnight sleeping car trains to operate west of Tokyo via the Tokaido Line.
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