International Railroad Discussion > Seven Stars in Kyushu (Japan)

Currently, "Nanatsuboshi" or Seven Stars in Kyushu is the most luxurious train you can ride in Japan. JR Kyushu calls it a "Cruise Train," a potentially derogatory term on TO's Passenger Board, but not so over there. The fact that most, if not all of the trains have been sold out since its debut in October of 2013 (even after a 10-20% price hike) should speak for itself.

In order to get a seat on the October runs, I had to have made a reservation 8-9 months in advance between January 4 through February 28 of this year, and according to media reports, I didn't have a chance as all the seats were sold out in a few days, nevermind the fact that I didn't have spare $1600 lying around - the least expensive option would have cost me 180,000 yen (~$1600) for the 2 day option. The 4 day option would have cost me 430,000 yen ($4000). FYI, the most expensive option is 700,000 yen ($6500) onboard the most luxurious suites on the train for the 4 day option, but it does include a personal butler.

Since I couldn't ride it, I was determined to at least chase it! Originally, I had planned to hop on the Sunrise Limited Express sleeper Monday night in Tokyo, take the Shinkansen from Okayama to Hakata (a.k.a. Fukuoka) Tuesday morning, so I could catch the Seven Stars depart Hakata around 11 am for the 4 day "cruise."

Typhoon #18 changed my plans (as mentioned in my other threads), so I was going to miss Seven Star's Tuesday departure. After visiting the Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum in Kyoto, I explored my options. I realized that if I headed west on a Shinkansen as soon as possible, I could catch the last local train out of Kagoshima, so I could arrive in Miyazaki around midnight, then wait for Seven Star's 2nd day cruise Wednesday morning. I hopped on the next Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka, borrowed a WiFi connection to make a hotel reservation in Miyazaki, then hopped on Shinkansen Sakura #567 for a 4 hour 20 minute ride to its terminus, Kagoshima-Chuo in Kyushu.

- Series 713 "Sunshine Miyazaki" in a unique red paint scheme near Takanabe. Series 713 is rather rare, as only 8 cars of this type were manufactured back in 1983.

- Seven Stars in Kyushu near Takanabe Wednesday morning.

- Video of the Seven Stars chase, to be described next.

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After de-training from the Shinkansen in Kagoshima, I hopped on the last train to Miyazaki (a local), checked into the hotel (about 50 yards from the station exit), and quickly went to sleep.

I still had jet lag and woke up hours before dawn, so I utilized valuable time by studying the Kyushu's southeast coastline on Google maps, since hotel's breakfast wasn't ready yet. My original plan was to catch the Seven Stars running along the mountains between Kurumi and Oita in Northern Kyushu Tuesday, but the typhoon ruined that plan, so I had to look for an alternative - how about catching the Seven Stars with a view of the water?

Once I found what I wanted on the map, I quickly hopped on Limited Express Nichirin #2, and went north to Takanabe. I shot the first clip about a 1/4 mile north from the station, where a Series 787 EMU running as southbound Limited Express Hyuga #3 crosses the bridge over a large lagoon. FYI, Nichirin #2 I was onboard was also using the Series 787 EMU.

I was joined by a railfan few minutes later, and he promptly set up 3 tripods, 3 digital SLRs, and had a 4th one he was going to shoot handheld. Ah, a major league tori-testu! We exchanged greetings, but didn't chat, as he was focused on preparing his 4 cameras for the Seven Stars. About 20 minutes later, the Seven Stars showed up, second clip, slow-rolling across the bridge, so the high rollers onboard could enjoy the ocean view. You can't see it from the clip, but there's a beach to my right, about 100 yards out. After the train rolled by, the railfan and I exchanged huge grins as we were satisfied with the shots we got.

I catch a Series 783 "Hyper Saloon" EMU running as Limited Express Nichirin #4 in the third clip, as the Seven Stars is stopped on a controlled-siding away from the station platform, which is a rare sight for a passenger train in Japan. If you look carefully, there's a butler serving breakfast to a couple seated right next to the rear window. I decided to be polite, and instead of waving, I did a Japanese bow to greet them, and the couple smiled and bowed back.

The Seven Stars spent about 50 minutes at the controlled-siding, primarily to let all the locals and limited express trains pass unhindered, so the commuters and students could go to work or school without delay. In the fourth clip, you see another 787 Series EMU, this one running as Limited Express Hyuga #7.

I was thinking of hopping on Hyuga #7 to return to Miyazaki ahead of the Seven Stars, but not knowing how the rest of my chase was going to turn out, I stayed at Takanabe, and shot the Seven Stars departing precisely at 8:12 am, fifth clip. Couple of local folks showed up to watch the train depart, and you can see me pan across one guy waving a Seven Stars flag. The other person was an older lady, who was fascinated that I came all the way from Tokyo to catch the Cruise Train - I didn't have the nerve to tell her that I was from the U.S.

- Seven Stars crossing a lagoon near Takanabe, which is located on the southeastern coast of Kyushu.

- Seven Stars parked at the controlled-siding at Takanabe Station. While stopped, the high rollers were having a very fancy breakfast, I presume.

- View of the rear observation car at Takanabe, where the passengers were having breakfast.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/14 22:46 by cchan006.

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I tried to get a reserved seat using my JR Rail Pass on the next available limited express train, Hyuga #9, but the young station agent at Takanabe tried to tell me something, but had trouble saying it. He summoned his boss, who had a better command of English, and told me I had to sit in an unreserved seat. I replied in Japanese that the reserved seats must be all taken, and both of the agents smiled in relief and responded in Japanese that this is a popular train with the 9:18 am arrival into Miyazaki.

So I decided to goof off a bit and hopped on the next southbound train that showed up, which was a local full of students, standing room only. After a couple of stations, I detrained at Sadowara, took some photos of a Kiha 40 DMU set that had just arrived, then hopped on Hyuga #9 back to Miyazaki, where I had the free hotel breakfast then checked out.

The Seven Stars had a planned ~2.5 hours stop at Miyakanojo, which is a town about midway point between Miyazaki and Kagoshima. This stop allowed the high roller passengers to do a little touring, but more important, allowed me to catch up to the Seven Stars again. I hopped on Limited Express Kirishima #9, but did NOT detrain at Miyakanojo, realizing that there wasn't a clean shot with good light near the station, and I didn't want a boring road crossing shot of the train when it departed.

I rode onto Hayato, detrained, had lunch, then scouted couple of locations to my liking. In the sixth clip, you see the Seven Stars take the switch and crossover next to me as it arrives in Hayato. The background here represents typical Southern Kyushu: Scattered houses, lots of vegetation from sub-tropical weather, and mountains in the distance.

I had slim hopes that I could get a quick tour of the inside of the Seven Stars, but the attendants closed all the doors, and didn't even give a hint that "kenbutsu (to look around)" was allowed by non-paying passengers. Oh well. After getting some stills, I walked to my second location, right where the tracks started converging, and got a low angle view of the Seven Stars departing Hayato, seventh clip.

- Seven Stars parked at Hayato. With the JR Rail Pass, I was able to enter and exit the station with impunity, but unfortunately for the locals, they had to pay an entrance fee ("nyujo-ken") to get this shot, which some of them did. Many others stood to my left and shot from above the fence.

- Well-dressed and mild-mannered lady attendant of the Seven Stars.

- Special bus in Seven Stars paint scheme to take the high roller passengers to hotels and tourist destinations during the cruise. There was an overnight in a hotel Wednesday night, so the "Seven Stars Thruway Bus" was here at Hayato to pick them up.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/14 23:47 by cchan006.

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Really interesting report, look forward to more. You're videos are always good as well.

Very nice and bet it is luxurious inside that train. What is the dark gray EMU set seen twice in the video.

Sharon Evans
Glen Allen, VA

RNinRVR Wrote:
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> Very nice and bet it is luxurious inside that
> train. What is the dark gray EMU set seen twice in
> the video.

Here's the official English link:

https://www.cruisetrain-sevenstars.jp/en/index.html

In general, JR Kyushu loves wood interior, and the Seven Stars is no exception to that taste. Click on the "Train introduction" from the official site for some photos and drawings of the interior.

As for the 787 Series EMU, it was designed by industrial designer Eiji Mitooka, who also designed the Seven Stars. The 787 originally ran on the Limited Express Tsubame, which ran between Hakata and Kagoshima. Tsubame is translated swallow, so the ends of the train resembles a bird face. Tsubame name was transferred to the Kyushu Shinkansen and discontinued as a non-HSR limited express train, so the spare train sets have scattered all over Kyushu, and remains unique to the JR Kyushu system.

- Limited Express Kirishima #9 also used the Series 787 EMU. This is at Miyazaki.

- Facing the vestibule when you enter from the right. The booth to the left is for cell phone yappers. Sounds familiar?

- Interior of the First Class or "Green Car" cabin, 2x1 seating. I sat in the regular reserved section (2x2 seating), since I had the ordinary JR Rail Pass, but I have sat in the Green section when I last visited this area 8-9 years ago.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/14 00:40 by cchan006.

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GettingShort Wrote:
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> Really interesting report, look forward to more.
> You're videos are always good as well.

Glad you've enjoyed my videos. Here's a few more photos to add to the story:

- Kiha 40 DMUs at Sadowara. While these are not rare yet, I took a photo in case they become discontinued before my next visit. They were manufactured between 1977-1982, so they are more than 30 years old.

- Close up of the "Seven Stars" logo (at Takanabe).

- Tried to get a shot of the interior of the front observation car, with a reflection of the DF200 diesel-electric. If you saw my video of the Luxury Sleeper Cassiopeia, the "Red Bear" diesel-electric pulling tank cars at Higashi-Muroran is also a DF200.

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Great reporting! Beautiful looking cruise ah, er... I mean train.

Nice report about an unusual train. Thanks for posting it.

Ray

Great post CC . The trains colours remind me of the British Royal train!
Andy

westernking Wrote:
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> Great post CC . The trains colours remind me of
> the British Royal train!
> Andy

It's probably not a coincidence. Japan's Imperial Train ("Omeshiressha") currently uses a unique Series E655 EMU called "Nagomi" and the colours are very similar:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E655_series

I've been told by friends from Japan, that many of them feel there's a cultural connection between them and Great Britain, primarily since both are industrialized island-nations. The fact that railroad was invented in England, and how the Japanese have integrated it deep into their culture has a lot to do with that, too.