By SHINYA MATSUMOTO/ Staff Writer
May 31, 2022 at 07:00 JST
An artist’s rendition of a salon to be added to the remodeled Nanatsuboshi luxury sleeper ((c) Don Design Associates)
Luxury comes at a price and Kyushu Railway Co. (JR Kyushu) is not stinting on creating lavish interiors for the renovated Nanatsuboshi (Seven Stars) sleeper train that will operate on new routes from October.
The attention to detail is commensurate with the prices.
Charges will start at a healthy 1.15 million yen ($9,000) for a four-day, three-night tour, up from current rates. An overnight trip can be had for 650,000 yen.
It is the first time for the popular luxury sleeper to be renovated since it started running across the Kyushu region in October 2013.
JR Kyushu said the renovations are aimed at bolstering appeal to wealthy passengers.
“We take pride as the leader (of luxury sleeper trains), but we can’t afford to remain idle by keeping things the same,” said Hiroyuki Fukunaga, a managing corporate officer, at a news conference in Tokyo. “The Nanatsuboshi will keep evolving.”
The train continues to be almost fully booked. In 2014, there was only a 1-to-37 chance of securing reservations on average.
With the pandemic still a concern, the company is anticipating demand mainly from small groups of tourists. It will reduce the number of guest compartments from 14 (for a total capacity of 30 passengers) to 10 (20).
The vacated spaces will be taken over by a salon for passengers to mingle together, a tearoom and a gallery shop that sells crafts.
Two routes will be available for the four-day tour, depending on the season.
The Kirishima Course will see the Nanatsuboshi traveling through each prefecture in the Kyushu region, with passengers staying at an onsen inn in Kirishima, Kagoshima Prefecture, and elsewhere.
The Unzen Course will allow passengers to visit destinations mainly in northern Kyushu, including hot spring resorts in Unzen, Nagasaki Prefecture, and Beppu in Oita Prefecture. A ferry will be used during the trip.
JR Kyushu previously operated the Nanatsuboshi on a fixed route for nearly three years at a time, except when services had to be suspended due to a natural disaster.
The renovation work that will start in June is expected to take about three months, during which time the train will remain out of action.
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