Japan boosts tourism with luxury train service

Japanese localities could get a much-needed boost through the introduction of luxury cruise tours.

Interior image of a Japanese luxury train service cabin. (Source: bloomberg)

As Japan’s local railways and communities come under pressure from declining ridership and a shrinking population, the government and private companies are looking for ways to encourage foreign tourists to visit lesser-known destinations, Kyodo news agency reported. These tours include those on Tokyu Corp.’s luxury Royal Express trains, which operate in various parts of Japan.

Tours in Shizuoka Prefecture in November and December 2024, jointly operated by Tokyu and Central Japan Railway Co., will see Mt. Fuji and local eel dishes, among other dishes, and will take passengers on three days and four nights in the central Japanese prefecture in November and December 2024. Tickets are expensive, ranging from 750,000 yen ($4,800) to 820,000 yen per person, but all six tours have already sold out.

In western Japan, the Twilight Express Mizukaze of West Japan Railway Co. takes passengers to less populated routes and helps preserve local traditions.

At Higashihama Station in Tottori Prefecture, locals volunteered to perform regional folk songs to welcome passengers. Masuo Hamaguchi, one of the dancers, said the trains had “brought more tourists and made the town come alive.”

Takeshi Sakimoto, a sociology professor at Edogawa University, said there was “significant growth potential” in the country’s underdeveloped tourist destinations. Luxury train tours could potentially act as a powerful catalyst for struggling local railways, while also helping to draw foreign tourists away from urban destinations like Tokyo and Kyoto, which are struggling with overcrowding, Sakimoto said.

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