They are called Shindaisha in Japanese. It means “sleeper train”.
A couple of days ago, in our morning Asahi Shimbun, the paper ran a front page article about diminishing ridership on these train lines. The trains which, with the exception of the opulent Casseiopea Train which runs from Ueno to Sapporo, are normally blue. Thus the name “Blue Train.”
Significantly slower than the more famous Shinkansen, or bullet train, these trains nonetheless have a certain ambiance to them and were, in earlier times, the way the working Citizen Sato saved some yen when trying to go from one end of this long country to another. The lines ran between the major cities in Japan , and as you can probably guess, ran at night. The two I have ridden on left Tokyo at 6pm and 10:30pm respectively.
The article, in Japanese, noted that ridership has dropped 80% since 1989.
(Translation of the caption–North Star line Tokyo departing trains. 1987 represents 100%. Figures from JR East….).
It was inevitable I suppose. Even though the trains are cheaper than riding the Shinkansen, they take 3 times as long. For example, when I took the train from Tokyo to Hakata (Fukuoka) it departed Tokyo station at 6 pm and arrived in Hakata at 10:05 am the next day. The Shinkansen would have only taken 5 and 1/2 hours to cover the same distance. Day trains and airfare sales are giving them stiff competition.
However for your trouble, in a basic ticket, one got a bed (always try to get a lower rack-important safety tip!) with the bed came a Yukata (cloth robe), a blanket, a sheet, and slippers. The prudent traveller loaded up on a bento or two and a six pack of beer. There are 4 berths in a compartment and the train normally has 6-8 cars. If you are willing to pay more, you can get more private accommodations. Here is what they normally offer:
Most Japanese night trains are equipped with couchettes and private rooms with beds, and some have cars with seats. Couchettes and private rooms come in two classes, A and B, with B being the more basic and less costly. In addition, some trains offer a “Special A Class” with rather luxurious suites.
All night trains are equipped with toilets and sinks, and the better ones have also public phones, showers, a restaurant and a lounge or lobby car.
- Couchettes
Couchettes are bunk beds, two or three stories high, in compartments shared by four to six people. “B class” couchettes cost around 6,000 Yen, and “A class” couchettes around 10,000 Yen. Most night trains carry at least one couchette car of either or both classes. - Private Rooms
Private rooms come in single and twin. “B class” rooms cost around 6,000-9,000 Yen per person, and “A class” rooms around 14,000 Yen/person. More luxurious suites can cost up to 38,000 Yen/person. Most night trains have some private rooms, but only a few have luxury suites. - Seats
A few night trains carry cars with seats. Depending on the train, the seats may be non reserved, partially reserved or all reserved. Seat reservations cost about 300 to 500 Yen. Seat reservations are free for Japan Rail Pass holders.
I have my own special memories of one trip on one. I had been in Japan all of about 5 months and needed to go to Kumamoto for the weekend. This was a long time ago, B.S.O. (before S.O.). I was going to see a girl-what else? We’d been doing the Internet date site thing and now it was time for the first meeting. I’d heard about the Shindaisha and thought, “Hey, it will save me one nights lodging. That way I can meet A during the daytime and if its not looking promising, I can always hop the bullet train back on Saturday!”
Now mind you, I had been taking Japanese for all of a whopping 4 months and could barely read Kanji or master basic questions or answers. However, down in Shibuya for a day’s exploring, I screwed up my courage and went into the ticket office and asked the lady behind the counter for “Ichi mai kippu, neru densha de…..” (1 ticket-neru=to sleep; densha=electric train-totally incorrect grammar and verbage). After she finally figured out what I wanted, she asked me something about upper or lower. I took upper. Not a smart idea.
Anyway, a week later I make my way to Tokyo station armed with a back pack, beer, bento’s, and books. Turns out I could have caught the train at Yokohama but what do I know.
A couple of stops later a lady with two small children got on. She came to the compartment, looked up at the Gaijin reading in the upper bunk, kind of rolled her eyes and settled in saying something long in Japanese to each child. The kids were about 5 and 8. She had bought a separate berth for the 8 year old-the 5 year old had to sleep with Okasan. She spoke no English, I spoke little Japanese so after we ran through the pleasantries and where we were from, we were both out of words and ideas.
One of the great things about the train is that people generally got comfortable by removing shirts and using the Yukata as a covering. (The men anyway….they did keep their trousers on, if you are curious). I followed suit and slipped into the slippers and beer in hand went to what looked like a club car, after looking around the train.
It only had seats and beer and coffee machines, but the windows were big and it was great place for watching the evening go by. After a an hour and a half of this I returned to the compartment. The lady had already put the kids to bed and pulled the curtains. Oh well, so much for anymore conversation. I roamed the train some more till I ran out of beer and energy. Climbed the ladder and went to bed myself. From my observation, I truly think I was the only foreigner on the train. The announcements were in Japanese only, unlike on the bullet train. As a result I was more than a little concerned about missing my stop.
Next morning the sun is up and the car is light by about 5 am. The 5 year old snuck out of the bed and climbed the ladder. He wanted to see how the Gaijin was doing. He shook me awake-much to his mother’s horror as she woke up when I said, “Ohayo gozaimasu” to the boy-and then promptly realized that I was slightly hung over. Okasan apologized profusely. However we were all awake by then.
So too, was the cute girl who had gotten on sometime after midnight. So we all kind of got up folded up the beds; we drank coffee and sat and talked. The girl was on her way to Nagasaki, spoke fluent English, and was enrolling in University of Chicago in the fall. She helped me navigate the conversation with the lady and the kids.
Which was a nice way, it turned out, to spend the morning. Because the train moves slower than the bullet train-and the day was beautiful. When you wake up in the morning the train is down in the southern tip of Honshu. The track ran along the coast and the countryside was clearly visible. Its a great way to see that part of Japan.
Thanks to the budding alumna of U of Chicago, I got off OK in Hakata.
And the weekend with the girl? That worked out just fine too. All in all, a great trip.
I hope they keep the trains on-even if in a reduced capacity. I have not ridden one in 5 years (S.O. does not like them-she’s a bullet train lady all the way!). But I sure hope to get on one again.
Maybe even fork over the Yen for the Casseopia.