#2025-08

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Best train shots of the Japan trip part 2: specials

In reference to Gôtoku-ji, a maneki-neko tram runs the Setagaya line in Western Tokyo.

One of the three One Piece Shinkansen sets (700 Series) departs Shin-Iwakuni bound for Shin-Ôsaka, with a 500 Series waiting to continue West for Hakata.

Finally, another cat-themed train: Aizu Railway's AT-551 unit is the "Nyan-tabi tetsudô" special, for the cat staff at Ashinomaki Onsen station.

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Best train shots of the Japan trip pt 1

Aizu Tetsudô's tourist train Ozatoro-tenbô departs Ashinomaki Onsen, heading South for the Aga river valley. The train's name combines the three types of seating available: ozashiki お座敷 tatami room, torokko トロッコ open wagon, and tenbô 展望 panoramic view from the raised saloon.

The Hachinohe line's highlight is getting near the sea between Samekado Lighthouse and the rocky coastline. A JR East local KiHa 130 passes in the early afternoon.

After dropping off passengers bound for Naruto, JR Shikoku's Uzushio Ltd Express from Takamatsu to Tokushima, operated by a 2600 series tilting DMU, leaves Ikenotani.

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A pause at Yuzawa

My trip to Tanigawa-dake and Doai was a day-trip from Tôkyô: Shinkansen to Echigo-Yuzawa, and a local train from there. On the return, I had some time in Yuzawa: time for some food, time for a bath in a public onsen, time for a walk around. It wasn't a long walk, but the highlight was this Kumano shrine surrounded by very red pines.

Inside the station we have more tall stuff: the world's longest skis from 1982 (beaten since). They're 3.63 metres long and each weighs 7.4 kg.

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Local train cruise: the Suigun line from Kôriyama to Mito, part 1

When transferring hotels from Aizu, Fukushima, to Tokyo, the Tôhoku Shinkansen connection is the most obvious. But check-out in one place is before 10 AM, and check-in at the next is after 3 PM, so the Shinkansen is too fast if you want to avoid lumbering around with luggage for too long. So I devised this detour via Mito, a much longer train ride which would at least let me get my luggage off my back and in the overhead racks for a few hours, with a direct connection to Shinagawa after lunch and a brief walk around the place, hopefully with said luggage in a locker - which wasn't a given, this was O-Bon Saturday.

So, with the initial hour-long trip from Aizu out the way, we start the Suigun line at Kôriyama. "Suigun" is spelled 水郡, which indicates that it connects Mito 水戸 and Kôriyama 郡山; never mind that neither of those kanji are pronounced the same as in the place names!

Kôriyama (0 km), 9:00 AM. This is a crossroad station, where the Ban'etsu line from Aizu to Iwaki and the Suigun line meet the Tôhoku main line, the artery from Tôkyô to the North. The Tôhoku Shinkansen passes above the ground-level lines giving us a view of the depot. From the front to the back: a JR Freight EH500 articulated loco, a KiHa 110 Diesel unit, and a GV-E197 ballast transport. That last one is a recent addition to JR East's track work fleet, and uses Diesel units at each end of a train of hoppers instead of locomotives. Would love to hang around (and picture the elusive H5 Shinkansen), but the train leaves at 9:18.

Between Kawahigashi (20 km) and Izumigô (27 km), we follow the Abukuma river. Above, we can just glimpse some railing between the rice paddies and the river: that's a cycle road. Below, we get the view out the front, which we can often do in Japan. Actually, after leaving Kôriyama, the train stopped suddenly, with some bloke in the carriage shouting "uso da!". Passengers gathered at the front to see what had happened, and so did I, but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. We were stopped for a few minutes and got underway again.

Iwaki-Asakawa (45 km), 10:24 AM. Below, we see the board welcoming us to the small town of Asakawa. It looks nice, and has a claim to fame as the home of pathologist Yoshida Tomizo (1903-1973), who contributed to proving that cancers could be induced by prolonged exposure to certain chemicals. It also has a big firework display on 16 August which is... tonight. Oh bo#ocks.

The last stop in Fukushima prefecture is Yamatsuri-yama (75 km), 11:07 AM. Now following the Kuji river, the train stops at a rather picturesque location, with the Ayunotsuri pedestrian suspension bridge looking very inviting for a hike in the area. But I have to decline, despite getting flashbacks to Tônohetsuri near Aizu that I'd visited the day before. I'll have to stop in the area another time!

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Best train shots of the Japan trip part 3

A rainbow over Higashi-Muroran station in Southern Hokkaidô is seen from the Hokuto express to Hakodate. The picture quality issues with my new camera aside, the windows weren't at their cleanest at the end of the day...

Also on Hokkaidô, the Suzuran express operated by a silver 785 series arrives at Shiraoi under a silver sky.

On a brighter day, the OG Kyushu Shinkansen, the 800 series (my fourth-favourite Shinkansen of all time), arrives at Kurume on an all-stop Tsubame service.

"We will soon be arriving at Ueno." During the final minutes of the Hitachi express from Mito, I'd failed to capture the skyline with the Sky Tree in view, so when we passed an E5 with tall buildings in the background, I took a shot... only for a signal block to pop out of nowhere, as they do. After a few seconds of frustration, I figured that the photo was still quite good and kept it.

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More tilting Diesels!

In a follow-up to this post, we have a look at some more tilting Diesel multiple units in service in Japan.

And we start with a cousin of the train featured in the first photo of that previous post: the ultra-rare 2600 series. Intended to be the next generation of tilting DMUs for JR Shikoku, only two were built before it was decided that their pneumatic tilting system wasn't good enough for the services they were needed on. So the 2700 series, spotted previously, was developed basically as the same train, but with a classic pendular tilting system. Both 2600 units are about to receive the Anpanman treatment and will regularly run the Uzushio express between Takamatsu and Tokushima.

JR Shikoku's first tilting DMU was the 2000 series, which we will cover in the next post, but we have already seen some trains derived from the type: the JR West KiHa 187 and Chizukyû HOT 7000. This is JR Shikoku's further development: the N2000. The resemblance, particularly in the carriage side profile, is noticeable. Pushed away from the main non-electrified routes by the newer 2700s, the original 2000s and N2000s can be seen on the extension of the Yosan line, South of Matsuyama, on Uwakai express services.

Up North now! Hokkaidô is a very large and sparsely populated region of Japan, so while the Shinkansen serves the Southern city of Hakodate and is due to reach the capital Sapporo in 2030, the rest of the island doesn't necessarily need as much intensity. So there are plenty of non-electrified lines, and the way to speed up trains in that case is by building tilting DMUs. JR Hokkaidô achieved this in 1992 with the KiHa 281 HEAT - for "Hokkaidô Experimental Advanced Train".

The original KiHa 281s were recently retired, but development had continued, up to the most recent KiHa 261 seen above. This is JR Hokkaidô's flagship express, the Hokuto, serving the Hakodate-Sapporo route that will eventually be replaced by the high-speed line extension.

And finally, we have something of an oddity. We've seen express trains and Germany's inter-regional train, but above is a commuter, possibly the slowest tilting train service in the world! Also rather uniquely, the KiHa 201 DMU can be coupled to 731 electric units. With more of Sapporo's suburban lines being electrified, I'm guessing this could be the last Diesel commuter type in Hokkaidô... and in Japan?

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Japan week 5 grab bag

From Wednesday to Tuesday:

水 The abandoned Temiya line in Otaru now serves as a park, with the old yard housing the Otaru City Museum

木 Sapporo's Olympic Big Hill, 102m inrun on top of a 145m slope

金 Back to Hell! In terms of size, Noboribetsu Jigokudani blows its Beppu counterpart out of the water

土 Statue and old warehouse on the Otaru canal

日 My best shot of the famous Hakodate night view - it was so busy, I only saw the narrow city sight from the bus going down!

月 The train deck of the former Seikan ferry Hakkôda Maru at Aomori, followed by ramen and a private gongyo prayer with Noriki and Keisuke

火 Kabushima-jinja at Hachinohe, a shrine placed on a seagull breeding ground - that white sludge isn't snow!

BTW I am bitterly aware of the image quality drop-off. I'll do a follow-up post regarding the camera. It's OK, but it has its limits, and one thing I've never had before and didn't anticipate.

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Japan week 4 grab bag

From Wednesday to Tuesday:

水 A wild praying mantis appeared! At Gifu Park, with Yuki; later also with Kazu and Asaka for tea and kakikôri at Kazu's pâtisserie in Nagoya.

木 Peaceful places in the hills above Ise, for example Kongôshô-ji, with Rena.

金 Curtains of paper cranes at Sakae no Yashiro shrine, Fukui

土 The famous Kenroku-en pond, Kanazawa

日 Echizen-Ono is one of those spectacular "sea of clouds" castles... in the early morning in November. You'll just have to use your imagination!

月 The gigantic main hall of Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum. It's hard to convey the sheer size...

火 The air starts to cool on the ferry Akashia, and not just because the Sun is starting to set - we're bound for Hokkaido, and forecast daytime highs under 30°C!