Japan has launched a new luxury rail service that compares to a cruise ship on rails, with huge compartments, deluxe meals and fittings, and even cypress bathtubs—and tickets are completely sold out for the next year.
In fact, they’re so sold out that for the opening day there were 76 bidders for the biggest suite. When there are too many requests for any of the tickets, Japan Railways East uses a lottery to decide who gets to pay as much as $10,000 for a 4-day trip from Tokyo to the scenic countryside.
Each of the suites takes up about a third of a railway car, with the two largest sharing another. There’s a dining car serving food collected from areas along the train’s route, a lounge car with bentwood sofas and luxury carpets and more. The 10-car train can hold a maximum of 34 passengers.
While Japan, like other countries, has been cutting back on its conventional overnight sleepers, there seems to be a market for luxury sleepers like this. Other parts of the Japan Railways system are also launching their own, serving the Osaka area.
