The Seven Stars in Kyushu is a luxury sleeper train which winds its way through one of Japan‘s four main islands, but the exclusive experience is enjoyed by only 20 passengers at a time. Seven carriages long, the train includes a lounge bar with live piano, a salon car, Japanese tea room and a range of sumptuous suites.
Readers of magazine Condé Nast Traveller voted the Seven Stars in Kyushu the best train trip in the world last year, beating 19 others, including India’s Palace on Wheels, Venice Simplon-Orient-Express and Britain’s Pullman experience.
Justifying its top position, the same publication said train lovers consider the “opulent” Japanese locomotive among “the most spacious and comfortable” of them all.
It added: “The service is simply exquisite, with each journey limited to a positively intimate twenty passengers.”
Condé Nast Traveller also hailed the train’s circuit around Kyushu, with stops at the island’s “best” shrines, hot spring baths and porcelain studios.
Passengers on the train have to follow a strict dress code at certain times with gentlemen expected to wear jackets, shirts, dress trousers and blazers on arrival.
Ladies have to wear one-piece dresses, collared shirts, jackets, or a casual suit.
When dining on board, gents must don a tuxedo, suit or blazer while ladies can choose from a one-piece dress, basic suit or “dressy” pant suit.
The service itself runs three routes around Kyushu, each highlighting different aspects of the island’s history, ceramics, culture and natural world.
Unsurprisingly, trips on the Seven Stars of Kyushu do not come cheap, with a two day journey in a single suite room for two priced at almost £3,500 (¥650,000). A deluxe suite for one would set you back a whopping £8,000 (¥1,500,000).
But tickets also don’t come come easily as potential passengers have to apply for places on the train, which has wifi but no TV.
For the money, the Seven Stars of Kyushu Company promises to give travellers an “ultimate” train journey “never experienced before”.
It hails the service, which was launched in 2013 as Japan’s first luxury sleeper, as a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience.
