Hello from Tokyo
Welcome to our latest Japan Rail Enthusiast Updates.
Since our last update the cherry blossom has come and gone and at the time of writing much of Tohoku is enjoying the Sakura. Hokkaido will probably be enjoying during the Golden Week holidays.
Talking about Golden Week, when planning a trip to Japan we recommend that you use our Japan Calendar which shows not only the holidays but also the busy travel periods. You can see the 2025 calendar here: TS Japan Rail 2025 Holiday Calendar (the 2026 calendar will be out soon). Our calendar is different to others as we not only mark the official holidays, but the dates around those holidays that railways (and air and roads) and the one big holiday that is not an official holiday (Obon).
We have lots of Japan rail and news updates this month so please read on.
Stephen Turner
Oigawa Railway News
This month we have two pieces of news from Oigawa Railway in Shizuoka Prefecture.
First the bad news. Oigawa Railway has announced that it will suspend its Steam Locomotive services between 2nd June and 9th October due to locomotive inspections. Days out with Thomas days are still scheduled to take place during this period. Oigawa Railway also has some vintage Electric Locomotives that are also used to haul trains.
Which brings us on to the good news. Oigawa Railway has repainted one of its ED31 (ED34->ED31-4) locomotive that originally was used to haul freight trains on the Seibu Railway into the JNR blue and cream electric locomotive livery carried by EF65 locomotives, or has been dubbed by some a “mini EF65”.
Although Oigawa Railway (Daitetsu) is famous for its steam locomotives, it also has a fleet of electric locomotives dating back to the 1960s and some old electric multiple units that are used in regular service.
Currently the Oigawa Main Line is not fully operational, but the company expects to reopen sections with the full line being operating again in 2029. The Ikawa Line is fully operational.
[The Thomas days require a special ticket and currently services are running on and out and back basis]
JR Kyushu raises fares from 1st April
JR Kyushu raised the cost of all basic fares from the 1st April 2025. The average fare increase is 14.6% and the minimum fare (shortest distance fare) rises from Y170 to Y200. Shinkansen fares (paid on top of basic fare) were increased by 12.4% on average.
The per KM basic fare for journeys over 100km rose by Y2, but for journeys over 301km there is no change.
As reported last month, the prices of JR Kyushu Passes have also been increased. Other passes (those not just available to foreign visitors) have also increased in price.
JR East to retire its Cassiopeia luxury sleeper train
JR East has announced that its luxury sleeper train Cassiopeia (officially E26 series) will be retired in June (2025).
The train was introduced in July 1999 and ran between Ueno and Sapporo via the Tohoku Main Line and Hakodate Main Line. It was a locomotive hauled train, usually by EF81 and later EH500 electric locomotives between Ueno and Hakodate and DD51 from in Hokkaido between Hakodate and Hokkaido.
It is a luxury train with only private rooms, including suites, deluxe suits and twin rooms all with ensuite bathrooms. As there is only one unit it would operate 3 days a week in each direction, operating alternate directions on alternate days. Despite this and the fact it was expensive, it was a very popular train with births selling out very quickly when they became available.
Regular services ended in 2016 as preparation for the Shin-Aomori ~ Shin-Hakodate Hokuto section of the Hokkaido Shinkansen in the Seikan Tunnel restricted Honshu ~ Hokkaido services through the tunnel.
Since 2016 it has been used for occasional charter train services between Tokyo and destinations in Tohoku.
As the train is aging and JR East also wants to retire its main line locomotives the decision was made to retire the Cassiopeia.
JR Tokai – Iida Line “Iida Line Hikyo Eki Express” An unusual Limited seasonal express train that calls at “secluded stations”…
In Japan there are many stations that are basically in the middle of no where and very few passengers (average less than 10 a day, often 1 or no passengers most days). The Japanese term for these stations is Hikyo Eki (秘境駅).
The JR Iida Line is famous for the many Hikyo Stations on its route between Toyohashi (Aichi Pref) and Tatsuno (Nagano Pref).
Hikyo Stations are often located in areas of natural beauty with little settlements or roads nearby and often a great place to take photographs. The Iida Line is no exception.
JR Tokai runs an occasional special express train that stops at some of Iida Line’s Hikyo Stations for an extended period to allow passengers to take picture of and around these stations.
The Iida Line Hikyo Eki Express 『飯田線 急行飯田線秘境駅号』will be running on the following dates and times
- May 24, May 25, May 31, June 1 & June 7
- Departs Toyohashi at 9:50 (for down service)
- Departs Iida at 13:05 (for up service)
- All seats reserved – book at JR stations or on line
For more information, including stopping information see the JR Tokai press release (Japanese) https://jr-central.co.jp/news/release/_pdf/nws004235.pdf
To learn more about Hikyo Eki and the Iida Line see our article on our main site JR Iida Line – “Hikyo Eki Heaven”
Isumi Railway to retire its KiHa52 DMU
Isumi Railway has announced that its KiHa52 diesel car, which it acquired from JR West in 2010. This card had been used on the JR West section of the Oito Line between Itoigawa and Minami Otari. The Kiha 52 built for JNR and is similar to the KiHa20 but has two engines to give it extra power on those lines with steep gradients.
Isumi Railway used it as one of two cars on its tourist train. This is the last KiHa52 in operational use.
Although the whole of the Isumi railway line is currently suspended a special event will be held on 12 May at Otaki Station.
Two Railway companies “disappeared” on 1st April 2025
- Shin-Keisei was absorbed into its parent Keisei Electric Railway. Shin-Keisei operated one line between Matsudo and Keisei Tsudanuma, with many trains running through to the Keisei Chiba Line. There is no change in services or fares.
- Semboku was absorbed into its parents, Nankai Electric Railway. Again the company had only one line which ran between Nakamozu and Izumichuo with many services running through to Nankai’s Osaka terminal at Namba. Services continue to run to a similar timetable and fares are now integrated.
JR West’s “One piece” shinkansen
JR West on 12th April 2025 introduced a themed Shinkansen train based on the One Piece anime series. The train is a 700 series shinkansen operating on the Sanyo Shinkansen (Hakata ~ Shin Osaka). It will be used on Kodama services (currently which services is not specified).
The blue colour is the so called “Setochi Blue” representing the colour of the Seto Inland Sea.
JR Yamanote Line and Keihin Tohoku Line partially suspended for Haneda Airport Access Line construction
To prepare for the construction of the JR Haneda Airport Access Line, work to move the Yamanote Line and Keihin Tohoku Line tracks was carried out on the 19th and 20th April. The work involved moving tracks over to where previously there was a retention / reversal siding, to make space for the new line to exit a tunnel and join the Tokaido Main Line.
In Japan it is fairly rare for daytime track possessions to take place except for very major work like this. Most engineering work has to be carried out in the 3 or 4 hours at night between the last and first trains.
The JR Haneda Airport Access Line will connect with the Tokaido Mainline at Tamachi allowing trains to run to Tokyo Station, Saitama, Tochigi & Gunma prefectures and potentially later, via the Rinkai Line connections to Chiba Prefecture and Western parts of Tokyo.
The line which is utilising some of the old and current freight lines is due to open in Fiscal 2031 (April 2031~March 2032)
From this edition we have decided to add a section of quick updates. If you want any more information, please feel free to contact us:
Choshi Electric Railway
Choshi Electric Railway, which operates a single line in the city of Choshi, Chiba Prefecture has renamed its line Inubo Gakeppuchi Line as of 1st April 2025. The name roughly translates as “Inubō Cliffside Line” and is part of a campaign to attract more visitors to Choshi and the area along the line including Inubo Cape.
Choshi Electric Railway is an interesting railway with a very innovative president. The railway sells its own brand of rice crackers (sembei) and reputably makes more money from the sale of these that from railway operations.
JR East to trail Facial Recognition on shinkansen gates on Joetsu Shinkansen
JR East is to trail the use of facial recognition on the Joetsu Shinkansen. The trail is being aimed at commuters who use the Joetsu Shinkansen between Niigata and Nagaoka and is part of its ongoing project to expand the use of its IC Suica Card and in particular the smart phone “Mobile Suica”.
Where as some smaller railways are looking to stop accepting IC cards due to cost of maintaining the required infrastructure, JR East (and JR West) are both looking to expand the use of their IC cards. JR East is planning to make all of stations and lines lines as IC card usable lines.
Tohoku Shinkansen disrupted by Typhoon strength winds…
The Tohoku Shinkansen has had a string of problems in recent months. On the 26th March, typhoon strength wind gusts blew across the Tohoku region bring disruption to public transport. The Tohoku Shinkansen was suspended for several hours due to strong winds in the Fukushima and Sendai areas
Kumamoto Trams collide…
On the 25th March two trams on the Kumamoto Tram system collided at the Kumamoto Castle / City Hall stop. 6 people were injured in the accident.
The cause of the accident initially appeared to have been a break failure causing one tram to run into the back of the tram ahead at the tram stop. Further investigation however found that the second tram was travelling at 26km/h instead of the required 15km/h when it was 100m behind the first tram and 17km/h at impact.
Kumamoto’s city transportation bureau is going to install speedometers in its older trams that currently do not have.
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