Special Feature

Travel Japan by Train

The Japanese archipelago is not very wide, but it certainly is long from north to south, and the railway network serving the islands has about 27,000 kilometers of track. Japan has lots of beautiful spots to visit and historical sites to explore, and many of these places are accessible by train. The railway network covers much of the archipelago. Come and see Japan by rail.

Written by Tsuchiya Komei and Torikai Shin-ichi
Photos by Sakurai Kan, Tsuda Nobuhiko, Matsumoto Eiichiro, Sugawara Chiyoshi and Kono Toshihiko
Other photo credits: JTB Photo, Railman Photo Office, Mashima Mitsuhide Photo Office

Landscapes and seasons

Green fields beside the JR Koumi Line, in Sakudaira (Nagano Prefecture). Some of the mountains seen from the window have a special association with some aspect of Japanese culture.

Before the rice harvest. The Super Azusa limited express on the JR Chuo Main Line.

Ice floes on the Sea of Okhotsk jostling up close to the shore. Come experience a northern winter wonderland on the Senmo Main Line in Hokkaido.

A series of islands, peninsulas and inlets make a convoluted and very beautiful shoreline along the Nichinan Coast, on the JR Nichinan Line.

Early summer. A field of tulips near Namerikawa in Toyama Prefecture, on the JR Hokuriku Main Line.