Originally published at: Watch: what it's like to take a sleeper train in Japan | Boing Boing
…
9 Likes
Seems like a great way to get somewhere during overnight “down time”.
6 Likes
I was refreshed.
5 Likes
beats 12hrs in a plane seat, thats for sure.
7 Likes
I’m curious to know if “shower clean” button means some solution is automatically sprayed in the compartment, or if it means an attendant is alerted and they come to clean the compartment. 
4 Likes
It’s Japan, I’m sure it’s automated! I think the button was on the outside of the shower and it may have locked him out?
4 Likes
This accommodation is similar to the now extinct American Slumbercoach.
4 Likes
After using the bathroom on an old Soviet train, I’m not really picky about it. 
Maybe it’s a “do not enter” mechanism? The only thing I think that comes close is when I took a shower at a truck stop in Oklahoma. The cubicle doors had keys like a hotel, so nobody could mess with your things if you had to step out for a moment before checking out.
3 Likes
That was mainly very relaxing and interesting; though 05:25 on a cold station platform gave me some anxious and bilious flashbacks.
The section around 13:10 when we are wandering the corridors had a touch of the “Backrooms” about it; stairs leading off from bare, clean corridors.
2 Likes
Mentally, physically and spiritually. 
2 Likes
5 Likes
Why do I know each cabin is spotlessly clean and free of any odor?
Why do I know that the [Japanese] passenger who uses the cabin themselves do everything to keep it that way? (eg, they won’t consume some dirty or oily type of food and then get it smeared everywhere.)
In the US, this type of compartment would be ruined by the first passenger on the first trip.
6 Likes
That was utterly lovely, and I’m adding it to my bucket list. Thanks!
4 Likes
Amtrak in the US just doesn’t measure up to this. I know there are new trains coming, and hope they will be better, but other countries probably will have leapfrogged us by then. Why can’t America have nice things??
Probably because half of the country thinks trains are a communist plot… Sigh!
4 Likes
In the US, some kid would be trying to run the clean cycle with someone still in the shower.
The Shiki-Shima train suite in Japan blows my mind. Of course it’s about $15K for a ride and has a multi-year waiting list.
3 Likes
I loved taking the night train in China.
Certainly not anywhere as luxurious as this Japanese one.
No problem sleeping, the motion probably helped quite a lot.
Plenty of room.
Was super nice to watch leaving the city you are in, fall asleep, and then wake up near your next city without all the rigamarole through the airport.
You get to see some countryside up close. Even though big cities often had airports very far away, most of the highways were very desolate areas. But the train goes through normal areas, and you can see things like family history steles, farms, funeral wreaths, etc. that the airport highways don’t have.
4 Likes
This video makes me think people would love a game that was just real video and you choose what you want to do at certain points. It would be like the old Dragonslayer video game, except actual video and all mundane tasks like buying a ticket and taking a train. Very low level mental activity, very relaxing, just choose from 2 or 3 options every 5 minutes or so.
And by “people would love…” I guess I mean “I would love”
Tried the bus version (Osaka/Tokyo). It was a great way to avoid the waking hours in transportation terminals. But the drawbacks are:
- Even a sleeper bus seat is not easy to get comfortable in
- You get to your destination pretty early in the morning. (Around 6:30-7:00 AM) and not many places are open at that hour, even in Tokyo.
Bullet train is a lot more fun and they have those distinctive bento boxes for the given station/line.
2 Likes
Number one on our bucket list is the Canadian Snow Train from Vancouver to Toronto in a luxury sleeper cabin.
We know one couple that did it, they said it was amazing.
4 Likes
