Osaka is the second largest city in Japan. And Osaka has much longer history than Tokyo. It's around 0 a.m. now. I'm in front of Osaka station. I'm going to take you the journey of the Sunrise, which runs from here, Osaka to Tokyo every day. This train will depart Osaka station at 00:33 and will arrive at Tokyo station at 7:08.
It is very interesting place in Japan that surrounding area of the station has both gorgeous buildings and dready streets. The Shin-Umeda Shokudogai, which is located under Osaka station was originally built for soldiers who went back from the WW2 to give their jobs. It still has more than 100 eating shops in this small area. If there had been no COVID-19, many stores would have opened until at around 12p.m. The Sunrise is very useful train however there is a very important precaution if you take the Sunrise from Osaka station.
The train departs Osaka station at 0:33a.m. but the ticket office is not opened at that moment. It is closed. So you have to go to the ticket office as fast as you can before take the train. People who don't have the proper ticket can't take the train. Now I am at Osaka station, which is always crowded. But last commuter trains to all directions have already departed so there are few people at the station.
The last train for this station is the Sunrise. It will depart 5 min. later. In Japan, it is decided few months ago that from which platform will the train depart. It is rarely changed.
The Sunrise departs from platform No.11 every day for last few decades. The train approaches and the warning for passangers is announced. This is the Sunrise for Tokyo. It has already decided that which car will I use. Mine is the car No.11. You can walk through the cars so you can onboard from any cars.
I reserved the first class ticket this time. This is the most luxurious one of the all tickets. I'm the great fan of railways and I've traveled from Tokyo to London by only a ferry and railways, such as the Trans-Siberian Railway and many sleeper express trains in Europe.
Of course I've taken the Sunrise many times. I think the Sunrise is the 2nd best train after the Orient express. This is today's inn, the room No.26.
The Sunrise consists of the 14 dubble-decker cars. The first class compartments are of course on the second floor. As soon as you turn off the lights, you can enjoy the night travel that you can't do on the commuter trains. This is the central station of the second biggst city, Osaka station. You can see how Osaka huge is by using the Sunrise, which run into the night.
The window to the ceeling is so wide that I can see the sky. The train is gradually increasing speed silently. There are some people who are watching this train from their apartments. For many Japanese, the sleeper limited express is very rare. Once many sleeper trains were running in Japan.
But many bullet train lines were built and the plan to build bullet train lines is almost completed. So it is becoming not gerenal to travel with overnight trains in Japan. The train starts crossing Yodo river. About 400 years ago, when Osaka was the largest city in Japan, Yodo river was used as an important defense facility to guard Osaka castle.
A big station is near after crossing the river. There is a big station, which is named Shin-Osaka. Shin-Osaka means New Osaka. It was built as the station of the bullet train, to access to the city. It is like an airport. It was impossible to built the station of the bullet train in the central area of the city because of the geographical factors but many trains depart from and arrive at this staion, which is one station away from Osaka station.
Today's operation of the bullet trains have already ended. The Sunrise is the only train that pass through Shin-Osaka station, one of the most important station that even all bullet train stop. You might notice that the train runs silently. The first class cars of the Sunrise don't have motors under the compartments. In addition, the cars are good in cutting down on noise.
The last train to Osaka and the Sunrise has just passed each other. There are no other trains running around Osaka. Please wait for a while. I'm sorry. Thank you in advance. After I take the train for a while, a conductor came to check my tickets and stamped on them.
These stamps are not for memory, but for checking wheather the passangers have paid fare or not. You can't ignore this because this is the formal procedure. A conductor must come soon after you onboard because conductors do understand that if they don't check compartments soon, passangers may fall asleep. At this moment that the train is passing through a station quickly, I would like to introduce you the equipments of the compartment.
After the ticket check, I was given this amenities which has a Sunrise Express logo. This is what the passangers only on the first class can get. Some people who like sleeper limited express cherish this as a souveneer I show you what's inside.
Shoes polishing paper, a soap which has JR logo, towel, shampoo, conditioner, shaving gel, shaving cream, shaver, toothbrush, tissue, shower cap, Like this, it has many things for bathing. This is a shower car of the Sunrise. The Sunrise has shower rooms.
Though the shower rooms are shared with other passangers, they are divided into 2 types, for first class and for second class. It is written "for first class" on the back of the card. The Sunrise passes through stations quickly. The maximum speed of the Sunrise is 130km/h (80mph).
I continue introducing you the compartment. There is a comfortable desk and a chair. When I have to do my job on the Sunrise, I use this chair and a desk, which are really useful. There is an outlet on this compartment.
This is an outlet of air conditioner. You can close it if you feel hot or cold. And, it is the big feature that the first class has a bathroom sink in the compartment. You can use both hot and cold water by pressing the button. There is a big mirror in front of the sink. It's useful to get dressed.
For your information, I, who is introducing you the Sunrise is Suit. I might be the most famous man of the all passangers of the Sunrise. The first class compartment has too enought width and it is by far the most luxurious compartment. This compartment is for single use.
The price is about $150 for 1 night stay. In fact, I have to pay a base fare (based on the distance) and a express fare. So the total fare is $200~$220 at least. The bed is set from the bigginig. It is very luxurious. Even the Orient express has only bunk, which is a seat during the daytime and is a bed at nighttime. But on the Sunrise, a chair is a chair, and a bed is a bed. They are completely other things.
The first class of the Sunrise is the most luxurious of the public transports taht Japanese gererally use. There is a control panel. You can arrange your room as you like. Let's see how it works. First, lights on the compartment.
You can make it brighter or darker, or you can turn off the main light. You can turn the dial to make the light brighter and darker. You can set the brighness as you like. My favorite is to turn it off completely. You can enjoy the scenery that you can see only on this train. It's like the night and the train are blended. The train that you can do such things is only this, the Sunrise.
The train is passing through Mukomachi rail yard. This is where the trains that run Kyoto area are parked. Much of the trains are parked here because it's midnight.
The Sunrise, on the other hand, is running hard at the high speed, taking a side glance at those parked trains. Many trains parked here support the operation of the trains in Kyoto and Osaka area, which are the central of the west Japan. The train is now crossing Katsura river. As the river goes north, the river changes its name, and it’s called Hotsu river. Kawakudari (river rafting), which is very famous tourist attraction in Kyoto. I want everyone in the world enjoy it. The center of the rail track over there is lighten sharply, They are staffs in affiliates of JR, who are working at night for maintaining the rail tracks.
Bullet train is the best railway in Japan but it’s unable to be operated from 0a.m. to 6a.m. During these time, JR checks rail tracks. Please look at the right side. You can see the world heritage site, Toji temple. You can see the top of the five-storied Pagoda.
The train decrease its speed and pass through Kyoto station. This is the scenery of Kyoto station at 1a.m. You can see the local train to Nara over there. I’m sorry. This isn’t the train to Nara. Some people are still in the station and working till late.
It’s a really important station that Kyoto station is where even all bullet trains stop. The Sunrise, the overnight train, is the only train that passes through Kyoto station. This is a precious experience.
The lights at the station are still turned on. The station of Kyoto is not considered for passing through, so trains that pass through the station have to slow down to pass. It reminds me that Kyoto station is an important terminal. It is also the interesting point that I can see people who’re working for maintaining rail track midnight, on the track next to where we’re running. The train soon enter a tunnel after a while we left Kyoto.
Kyoto is a land where surrounded by mountains. The train soon enter a tunnel after a while we left Kyoto. If the palace was attacked, Kyoto was easy to guard. It might had such a geographical advantage. Long ago, when you enter Kyoto, you have to go over mountains. But Tokaido Main Line, where we are running, pass through mountains to Kyoto by tunnels. They’re really long tunnels.
I can feel how hard people in ancient time were to enter the town of Kyoto. As you pass this tunnel, we enter Yamashina, which is located in Kyoto city, but a bit away from the old-metropolitan area. I close the blind because it’s too bright outside. This blind is too good for sleeping. It blocks the light surely. We now came out the tunnel.
Yamashina was definitely not the metropolitan area, but it’s the important area as a part of Kyoto city, where 1 million people live. The view of the town from Tokaido Main Line is amazing. Houses are built all around. The train is passing through Yamashina station.
It’s also an important station in Kyoto area but all lights at the station were turned down because no passenger use the station during midnight. We go over mountains again after Yamashina. Mt.Osaka, which is known for more than 1000 years as the famous place for mountain pass. The Tokaido Main Line also passes through the pass quickly by a tunnel.
The Kosei Line, the railway line to the Sea of Japan branches off at the point where just before enter the tunnel. It is Yamashina that the branching point to the 2 important areas, which used to be called Front Japan (areas along the Pacific Ocean) and Rear Japan (areas along the Sea of Japan). This is also a long tunnel. Kyoto Pref. Ends at this tunnel. The train is now went through the long tunnel and entered Shiga Pref. This is the most important land in Shiga Pref. , Otsu.
The largest lake in Japan, which is called Biwako is near here.Long ago, supplies were transported from here, Otsu to many areas. The Tokaido Main Line, where we are running now was originally developed as a route 400 years ago, at the era of Samurai (warrior), from Edo, which is now called Tokyo to Kyoto (it was the metropolitan at that time) and Osaka. Such a historical route, Tokaido is now very important as the Tokaido Main Line.
But the train which run the historical route, Tokaido Main Line, between Tokyo and Osaka is only the Sunrise. Not only the Sunrise is the sleeper limited express, which is only remaining in Japan, but also the only train which run the whole line of the Tokaido Main Line. The Sunrise not only follow the line, but also follow the precious history. The train is now crossing the Seta-No-Karahashi bridge. Samurais thought that how to protect bridges was important thing. If they didn’t let enemy cross the bridge during the war, it became easy to guard Kyoto.
Well, even it’s too late, I start the adventure out of the compartment. When you go outside of the compartment, it’s necessary to wear a mask. Many of Japanese don’t hesitate to wear masks and they think that people who oppose wearing masks are mad. But it becomes famous in Japanese that there are some people overseas really hate wearing masks. You can set a passcode you like to the compartment to lock the door.
You can enter 4 numbers like this and press # to lock. If you want to unlock it, just enter the number. The scenery from this passage is pretty good. The passage lights are turned on all the time so the window reflects the light inside. But the scenery let me feel that I’m taking the journey of the sleeper limited express Sunrise. The car I’m taking, the car No.11 is the most luxurious car in the Sunrise.
The 2nd floor is the first class (A sleeper). And the 1st floor is the 2nd class. But they are quite large compartments for 2 people.
There are few compartments for 2 people so it’s known that it’s hard to get the ticket for the compartment. Well, this is the deck of the Sunrise. Such a bathroom sink is there, which is for shared. Passengers on the 1st class might use their compartments’ one but a bottle of liquid soap is put here. If you like to use liquid soap, you should come because the compartment only has a solid soap. For your information, this liquid soap smells very good.
In addition, there’s no bathroom in your compartment even in the first class, so you have to use this bathroom for shared. Toilets are basically western style. It may has a Japanese style toilet, No, I think the Sunrise doesn’t have. So you don’t need to worry about using bathroom. I’ve come to the next car, car No.10. There is a vending machine here but it’s all sold out.
In fact I’ve seen all sold out for the first time in life. It’s always possible to buy something. It will be trouble, right? Because it may happen that it will be unable to buy anything until tomorrow morning. Well, the vending machine sells something in most case but it’s better to buy something to drink before onboard. Here’s the mini lobby in car No.10.
It must be more comfortable in my first class though. When you take the Sunrise with some people and want to gather with them, it might be good coming here. But 2nd class compartments (B sleeper) are near here. So you have to speak in low volume not to annoy passengers on the second class. I think it’s okay to speak in this volume. Let’s see the 2nd class. This is the cheapest second class, B bed solo.
The stairs to the second floor is in the room. It seems that this room is just for sleeping. But this room is comfortable enough. It’s $55 per one night. You might notice that the noise is bigger than that of the first class. This car, which has second class B bed solo, has motors under the floor.
This noise is substantially carried to the compartments. Passengers who are accustomed in the noise, such as me don’t min Such a thing is also a big advantage of the first class. By the way, there is a vending machine for shower card. If you would like to take a shower in the car, you have to buy this shower card with 330 Japanese Yen, equivalent to 3 dollars per person. But it’s sold out today.
The Sunrise is not from Osaka, but from hundreds of kilometers away. So it could happen that passengers who take the train earlier buy tickets. If the shower cards are unsold, enter the shower room, lock the door, take off your clothes, and insert the card. Then you can use the shower. I was found by a conductor when taking photos. But he gently said “you can take photos anytime”
The conductors of the Sunrise changes several times during I’m taking. It’s everyone who’s working at Osaka conductor station that people making the most of their excellent hospitality power. By the way, there is a shower room here, too. This is for the first class. It says “please use in 30 min.per person.”. As you know, any passengers who’re taking the first class can use. You can use the room by just following what is written here. First, lock the door. Next, insert the card. This is for the first class passengers.
This is given from the conductor. In case of the first class, it can’t happen that it isn’t given. You can use the shower freely after insert the card. But you can’t use the shower anymore if you unlock the key after insert the card. You have to be careful. The inside of the shower room is like this.
Can you see a timer over there? This is the number for countdown. We can use hot water for 6 min. It sounds like it’s short but time is counted only when using water. When you press “STOP”, the water stops and it’s free to use a soap or shampoo during this time.
And when you press “START” to wash away your soap, the time is counted again. You will have much time than you’re expected after take the shower. You can adjust the water temperature freely by turning the knob.
You can use the amenities that were given from the conductor, or you can use shampoo in the shower room. OK, I finished taking a shower. It still remains 1 min 38 sec. Well, I think it will remain such time even if you take a shower slowly. This shower room is for the first class, but for shared.
There might be some people who mind to use the room after someone use. But there is a cleaning button here. Each passengers will press the button once after they take shower. You can’t use shower anymore after you push it. You can find the water flowing from the ceiling. It’s cleaned with strong water power. You’ll hear the big noise later.
The strong wind blew and the towel has blown off. This strong wind and the water make the room clean for the next person. Ah, you can still take a shower.
The timer remains in 1 min 38 sec. But it’s terrible discourteous to use the shower after cleaning the room. You can clean the room only once. The button doesn’t work anymore after you clean it. You might think that Japanese are so diligent because I’m wearing a mask even after I take a shower. But honestly not. Most Japanese are just concerning about what others think. You can’t use the shower anymore after I unlock the key. You can find that the timer signs 0.
For your information, you can get a thin towel for bathing if you’re taking the first class. Passengers on the second class can’t get a towel. Ah, you can still take a shower. It’s good to prepare your towel before onboard. You can’t buy it on the train.
There might be people who aren’t enough with this towel actually. If this case, you have to prepare more. This towel was blown off by the wind a while ago and I put it on the floor so it looks not clean. So I wash this well. The bathrobe of the Sunrise is Japanese style, which the rope and the clothes are separated.
It’s like Kimono, but this is called Yukata. This is Japanese traditional pajama but we often use it. During rain, the train has arrived in Sekigahara. There was a big samurai fight in history there.
It’s going to be downhill from here. The Sunrise is applying the break to run steep downhill. It’s a hard rain though, we still have 400 kilometers to Tokyo. The climate might changes tomorrow morning. It’s raining hard now. I’m going to sleep because it’s late at night.
Before I sleep, I introduce you another thing. If you declare when you reserve, you might be able to use a smoking compartment. This room has an ashtray. It’s only the Sunrise that the JR train that we can smoke on the car. But you can’t smoke while using a bed. Railway company are careful for fire. It looks like that the wall of the Sunrise was made of woods but it just looks like, and it’s actually not made of woods.
This is also to prevent the fire. You can adjust the lights in the compartment as you like by using the control panel. But in fact, you have to use this switch to turn off the light on the desk only The train is approaching to the third largest city in Japan, Nagoya. The big station, which we’re passing now is Gifu station. Gifu is not as large as Nagoya, but it’s the central area of Gifu Pref. It’s a big city and there are no trains pass through the station except for the Sunrise. The train is running at almost 120km/h.
The maximum speed in this section is 120km/h so the train is at the top speed. 120km/h is a quite high speed for Japanese railways except for bullet trains. If the train run at 130kmh in Japanese conventional line, it’s regarded as very high speed. There was a train which passed each other in the darkness.
It’s the Sunrise, which left Tokyo station at 10p.m. last night. That means that the train is the outbound one. There are 2 trains, for Tokyo, and from Tokyo. The outbound train, which comes from Tokyo station, passes through Osaka station and its first stop in the morning is at Himeji station at 5:25. It’s a station famous for a castle.
And it continues to Okayama, which is also famous for a castle. It means that you can use the Sunrise from Osaka to Tokyo but you can’t use it from Tokyo to Osaka. For your information, we call trains from Tokyo “Kudari (, which means going down)” and we call trains to Tokyo “Nobori (, which means going up)”.
This is because the Emperor lives in Tokyo. We call the Emperor’s house “Ue (, which means up)” About 200 years ago, when the Emperor lived in Kyoto, we called “Kudari (, which means going down)” to go from Kyoto to Tokyo, which is opposite from current use. By the way, you can see the white body of the bullet train over there. Bullet trains are parked like this during the night, without moving. The train will soon pass the Nagoya station.
Nagoya station is the central station for JR Central and it’s the largest station in the company. Of course all bullet trains stop at Nagoya. Nagoya has the head office of JR Central. It is only the Sunrise that the train passes through this huge Nagoya station.
Nagoya is a city where roads are significantly developed, and the number of highways is large. It is famous for the width of its road. It’s well-known for the traffic manner is not good. The headquarters of TOYOTA, famous in the world is around here.
It’s about to sleep because it’s too late though I want to see the scenery of the Tokaido, which I want to see forever. It’s 2:25. The train will arrive at Tokyo at around 7. It’s a seductive problem what time am I going to get up.
I want to get up early when I take such a special train. I’m going to sleep for about 3 hours because it might be tough to get up such early. There are variety of way to enjoy the Sunrise, it’s good to stay up all night to enjoy the night itself, or it’s good to go to bed as soon as you take the train and pursue the comfortable sleep.
This time I let my sleeping time as less as I can on purpose and showed you the night of the Tokaido, the important route in Japan. Anyway, good night. See you tomorrow. Later that, I woke up by the noise of the train applying a brake again and again.
It’s 4:30a.m. now. It’s bad weather today. The fantastical scenery is wonderful though, I rarely experience such a terrible weather. I think the river that I crossed now is Oi river. This train might be behind schedule. As I expected, the river that I crossed a while ago was Oi river.
Oi river used to be the rough spot that ancient people walked the river. It was impossible to cross the river when the water floats a lot like today. But the government of Samurai (Tokugawa Shogunate) ended up not allow to build a bridge over Oi river. The train might be late for few minutes but it’s not a significant delay. The train is running almost on time. The train enters Shizuoka station. It’s the first stop in the morning for the Sunrise.
And also, this train is the first train for Shizuoka station. Shizuoka is the prefecture which has Mt.Fuji. Originally the train depart the station at 4:40 but it’s already 4:45 now. Probably it’s 6~7 min. behind schedule now. But it isn’t a big problem if you think of the bad weather and the distance of operation.
Shizuoka station is also the station for the bullet trains. Not many trains stops, but this is where many passengers use. It’s thick fog.
The delay time of the train may be larger because there are some sections that had damages because of a disaster that happened recently. There’s Shizuoka Cargo station on your right side. Many cargo trains, which couldn’t run from here because of the damage to the rail tracks, caused by the heavy rain the day before yesterday occurred, had stopped here yesterday Many trains have gone today. There is another. Oh, the train to refresh the rail tracks that we’re using is stopped this side, And the train used in Tokyo subway was in the back. To be exact, this beautiful train parked in the back have never used and it’s going to be used in Tokyo.
This train was made in the west of Japan and it’s taken to Tokyo now. I could see very rare thing. Rare trains were stopped side by side. In addition, I saw this train when I was running around Kyoto by a bullet train. This train should be arrived at Tokyo the day before yesterday but it’s extremely late, and the train is now still in Shizuoka and head to Tokyo step by step. The train is running the section closest from the sea that we ever ran.
Now we’re in a tunnel. There are some roads on your right like this but it was the coastline here about 200 ~ 300 years ago, during the Samurai era. In 50 ~ 60 years, the coastline was reclaimed and the road was built. And also, an elevated bridge for a expressway was newly built. It was impossible to walk step by step here during the Samurai era, so they climbed up the steep mountain on the other side. You can sometimes be able to see such a concrete walls. This is the remaining of the breakwater and it signs that there were coastline here. Until just before the WW2, the trains were running the coastline.
Now crossing Fuji River. You can see Mt.Fuji beautifully on the other side of the river. But it’s only when it’s sunny.
Japan has a rainy season from June to July every year so it’s almost impossible to see Mt.Fuji during the season. If you would like to see Mt.Fuji, please come in winter. The alarm has rang at the time that I supposed to get up. I woke up much earlier than I’ve expected. The train is now passing Hakone, which is the last, most difficult point in the Tokaido Main Line Hakone is the tourist attraction where everyone in the world knows. But trains couldn’t go over mountains because it was too steep. So about 90 years ago, before WW2, the tunnel was built to go over the mountains. This tunnel is Tanna tunnel, and it took a significant roll in Japanese history.
Some of the steep mountains around here are volcano, and it’s known for hot springs. Atami, which we will arrive after go through this tunnel, is the town of hot springs. Atami is approaching. The window fogs up because of the long tunnel. Normally we can see the sea from here but today we can’t see it because of the fog. You might not see well, but we’ve arrived at Atami station.
The train is on time. This train was late a little a while ago but it was recovered. The clock on the train was ahead of time a little. There are so many tunnels around Atami. It’s the place where only have steep cliffs and the sea around here. A big landslide had occured a few days ago here, and many of Japanese are concerning about Atami. The landslide occured just near here, So the train run this section very slowly.
It’s terrible. Japan is the place where has so many mountains and the sea, so the numbers of disasters caused by mountains and the sea every year in the end of the rainy season. It’s around 6, isn’t it? We’re running the area where we can see the sea the best in the Tokaido Line. If you would like to see the sea carefully, it might be good waking up at around 5:50a.m.
The limited express to carry commuters ran away outbound to welcome them. I think that the rash hour in Japan is worse than others. So the limited express to avoid rash hour is operated. ［Announcement］We will arrive at Yokohama in 10 min.The arrival time is 6:44. The train entered the urban area. It’s metropolitan area here.
The conductor announced that each lines in the metropolitan area are operated almost on time. It’s normal in Japan that the train announcements are done every time before arriving at a station. But the Sunrise, on the other hand, didn’t do announcements from midnight to early morning for passengers sleep well. So this is the first announcement that I, who is taking this train from Osaka have heard. It’s raining in Tokyo also today.
The train is now passing through Fujisawa station. This is the station where many commuters use. There aren’t so many because it’s early morning.
［Announcement］Attention please. We will soon be arriving at Yokohama. ［Announcement］Please change here for the Keihin-Tohoku, Shonan-Shinjuku, Yokosuka, Negishi, Yokohama, Keikyu, Tokyu-Toyoko, Sotetsu, Minato-Mirai, and Yokohama Subway Blue Lines. ［Announcement］Please be careful not to leave anything behind. ［Announcement］Thank you very much for using the Sunrise Seto and the Sunrise Izumo. ［Announcement］After leaving Yokohama, we will be arriving at the Tokyo terminal. The train will arrive at Yokohama shortly.
In fact, Yokohama is the 2nd largest city in Japan. Many people lives there. Until now, I have said that the largest city is Tokyo, the second is Osaka and the third is Nagoya. But actually, Yokohama is the second, Osaka is the third, and Nagoya is the forth. But Yokohama is very close to Tokyo and most of Japanese think that Yokohama is Tokyo.
So there are hardly people who think that Yokohama is the 2nd largest city in Japan. So many railway lines come to Yokohama. The station which comes the largest number of the railway companies is Yokohama station. The local train in the city is stopped there. The best part of the sleeper train is to show others my Yukata style.
Many people are also on the platform. After Yokohama, we’ll arrive at Tokyo terminal in 20 min. It’s time to prepare for getting off. The elevated bridge passed over the rail tracks is Shuto Expressway (, which means metropolitan expressway).
It’s easy to get dressed in the morning because I can use my compartment’s sink. I don’t need to go to a sink for shared, which I may have to wait to use. Tokyo station is the terminal of this train. But you can’t feel at ease that you will have too much time to get off the train. As this train arrive at the terminal, the cars will checked soon to turn back to the railway yard.
So I might be scolded if I don’t get off as soon as the train arrives at the station. In Japan most of the customer service worker act polite attitude to customers. The job of station staffs and train conductors are not customer service, but safety check. So they may be not so polite, and we have to accept it. Now the train is passing through the huge terminal Shinagawa, which is located in the west in Tokyo. This station was opened in 1872 as the oldest station in Japan.
The Samurai era has ended and the first railway line opened to adopt overseas’ technologies. When the railway line opened, this place was still the sea but the railway line was built after reclaim the foreshore. That’s because the new government had to avoid the Samurai’s lands because some of the Samurais suspected new overseas’ technologies The day of JR lines has already begun. A bullet train departs from the railway yard near the Tokyo bay.
I saw the bullet train going to Tokyo station to pick up passengers. The elevated line approaching is the Tokyo monorail, which is the fastest transportation to Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport). You can see the buildings in Shiodome on the right side. Shiodome is one of the oldest station in Japan. It’s the place where Shinbashi station used to stand, but it finished the role and it became commercial use land.
From the right side, the bullet train Kodama overtakes this train. Like this, the Sunrise is overtaken by a bullet train before arriving at the terminal. But if you take the first bullet train form Shin-Osaka station, you will arrive at Tokyo station at 8:30a.m. This Kodama is not from Osaka.
The fastest transportation from Osaka to Tokyo during the night is definitely the Sunrise. For passengers on the bullet train, the Sunrise is a rare train. There are many people who turn their camera and take photos. Many passengers are staring at the Sunrise. ［Announcement］We will arrive at Tokyo terminal shortly. The arrival platform is No.8 and the doors on the left side will open.
Just before arriving at Tokyo station, the speed of the Sunrise has decreased. It seems that many trains are stopped at Tokyo because of the rash hour, so it may be hard to handle trains. But we will arrive shortly. The bullet trains, which started operation an hour ago. It is operated in 3 min. interval, at 285km/h from Tokyo to Osaka as the busiest time. I’m going to introduce you the bullet train next time, so please watch it.
The train arrived at the Tokyo terminal. On time, at 7:08a.m. But it’ll take a while so it’s 1 min. delay today. Japanese railways are operated almost on time though they transports the most people of the world. It’s also the great thing that the platforms for the trains are decided in March every year and they are not changed.
It’s the big event to arrive the Sunrise at Tokyo station. People who aren’t take the Sunrise gets up early and come to Tokyo station to take photos of this conspicuous body. The Sunrise arrives at the Tokyo terminal at 7:09, 1 min. behind from the schedule.
Thank you for watching. We arrived at the Tokyo terminal. The train signs out of service. The Sunrise is operated with long 14 cars but it is actually coupled 7-car the Sunrise Seto and 7-car the Sunrise Izumo. This is the coupling part of 7-car the Sunrise Seto and 7-car the Sunrise Izumo. The journey from Osaka is just a part of the whole journey of the Sunrise. The Sunrise Seto, which I took comes from Takamatsu, the largest city in Shikoku island, which is far away from Osaka. It’s located in Shikoku island, which you have to go over bridges.
The train that I didn’t take this time, the Sunrise Izumo comes from Izumoshi station, which is known for the origin of the Japanese myths, which is related to the deification of the Emperor. It takes about 12 hours from Tokyo to Izumoshi station. It is very useful because you can go to San-in, which has less transportation without changing trains from Tokyo. It has many steep mountains on the way. You can see the second class of the Sunrise from outside. This is the second class B bed single compartment. It’s about $65 for a night.
You may think this is narrower than the first class but I think it’s enough to spend a night. Office workers are interested in this train. You have to be careful that it’s not possible to bring a big suitcase to the second class compartment. You don’t need to concern about that if you take the first class. And there’s a seat called Nobi-nobi seat, which you can stay a night with less money though it’s like a dormitory. It’s very cheep that costs only $5 for a night. At the back of this curtain , there are landscape two steps shelves, which carpets are laid. And the shelves are divided into many sections, and you can use a section and lay on it.
They are not compartments but very cheep. It’s more comfortable to stay a night in comparison to night buses. The departure light has turned on and the Sunrise is about to turn back to the railway yard. This train will be cleaned and will depart at 10p.m. as the Sunrise Seto for Takamatsu and the Sunrise Izumo for Izumoshi. The operation of such overnight trains are very annoying. It’s my imagination though, JR doesn’t want to operate such trains. So there may have less chances to take this train.
I hope you’ll take the Sunrise Seto and the Sunrise Izumo and go anywhere you like when you come to Japan. When you take the Sunrise, you’ll use basically 2 tickets. One is the fare ticket and the another is express fee and sleeper fee. When you exit the ticket gate, this fare ticket is collected on the other hand, the express fee & sleeper fee ticket, which is printed “the Sunrise” here is not. So you can take it home. Of course you can take the fare ticket home, too if you declare the station staff if you want. This Tokyo station is the entrance of the metropolitan and the closest station to the most famous office town in Japan.
The buildings in front of you is Marunouch, the largest office town in Japan. Many Japanese who have an old sense of value longing for working in this area. But each buildings in Marunouchi are definitely splendid so I also want to work here. It is JR Tokyo station that take a roll of the entrance. It was opened in 1914 and it’s 107th year.
It’s history is shorter than that of other countries though, the station was built to be the station for the Emperor, to be the representative station of Japan, and to be the station which has a dignity . To be sad, the station was attacked and destroyed some parts during the WW2. But it was restored in 2012. The reason why the color of the street in front of Tokyo station is changed is because the Emperor use this street to use Tokyo station.
We can’t run here by car but when the Emperor and the ambassadors from overseas use Tokyo station, these fences are taken, and a limousine or a carriage run here. It’s around 7:30 and the rash hour is becoming the peek. Tokyo station is not only the terminal from many directions, but also the big shopping center that represents Tokyo. There are few shops opened from early morning though, I’m going to eat breakfast here. Oops, there are almost no shop opened because of the COVID-19. Most stores changes the opening hour to 10a.m.
This store is really good. I’ve expected to introduce you interesting food but I will come to Tokyo station again soon so I would like to introduce it on that video. Anyway, it’s all for the video. Thank you for watching.
2021-07-31