Following on from “List of local railways with less than 1,000 daily passengers,” we will be compiling a list of all express trains in Japan, from JR Hokkaido to JR Kyushu, in sequence.

The greatest pleasure of train travel is enjoying the scenery from the train window. In particular, express trains have long intervals between stations so that you can enjoy beautiful landscapes continuously for a long time. Travelers can enjoy the beautiful scenery because most limited express trains have seats for two people or box seats, unlike the long seats common on regular trains.

Eating and drinking are also easier on express trains, as they are two-seaters or box seats. It is a pleasure to eat “Ekiben (train lunch)” and drink sake (locally brewed sake), Japanese wine, or craft beer with a view of the countryside on train travel. You can never experience this pleasure when driving a rental car.

Limited express train stations are often relatively large towns, even in the countryside. It is fun for travelers to get off the train on the way and stroll the local shopping streets.

Furthermore, rail travel is a practice of sustainable tourism. According to 2019 data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, the CO2 emissions per kilometer traveled by one person are 98 g (75% of car emissions) for airplanes, 57 g (44%) for buses, and 17 g (13%) for trains, compared to 130 g for cars.

We feature JR East’s limited express trains this time. JR East has long operating distances like JR Hokkaido. For example, the distance between Tokyo Station and Shin-Aomori Station is approximately 710 km. The Tohoku region (e.g., Miyagi Prefecture) and Koshinetsu region (e.g., Nagano Prefecture) in which JR East operates are blessed with attractive nature. We encourage you to take the JR East limited express train and visit these wonderful places.

※The Google map route display may be incorrect

A list of limited express trains