Is the Sunrise Express Worth It? A 2026 Review of Japan's Last Sleeper Train
- Albert Yasuda
- Mar 21
- 8 min read
Japan's last overnight sleeper train departs Tokyo Station every night just before 10 PM. Fourteen cars roll out as one train, cutting through the dark along the Tōkaidō corridor before splitting at Okayama the next morning -- seven cars head south across the Seto Ōhashi Bridge to Takamatsu on Shikoku, and seven turn north through the mountains toward Izumo-shi in Shimane Prefecture.
The Sunrise Express, made up of the Sunrise Seto and the Sunrise Izumo, has become one of the hardest tickets to get in Japan. In 2025, over 90% of departures sold out within minutes of going on sale. Tickets are released exactly one month before departure at 10:00 AM JST, and unless you're physically in Japan at a JR ticket office the moment they go on sale, your chances are slim.
But is the Sunrise Express actually worth the effort? We talked to three groups of travelers who rode Japan's last sleeper train this year, each with a completely different reason for being on board.
Dave & Linda — Montana, USA
Sunrise Seto: Tokyo → Takamatsu
Dave and Linda are in their mid-60s and came to Japan with one goal: walk the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage, the 1,200-kilometer Buddhist circuit known as the Henro. They chose the Sunrise Seto to get from Tokyo to Takamatsu, where they'd catch a train to Tokushima Prefecture to begin at Temple 1.
"We could have flown, but that felt wrong," Dave said. "We were about to spend six weeks walking. Starting with a flight felt like skipping the prologue."
They booked a Sunrise Twin, the first-class twin cabin with two beds side by side. There are only four of these rooms on the entire train, making it one of the hardest reservations to secure on an already hard-to-book service. For Dave and Linda, it was a deliberate splurge.
"We're not new to sleeper trains," Linda said. "We took the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco years ago. We've done overnight trains in Europe -- the one from Paris to Barcelona, the Nightjet through Austria. When we heard Japan still had one running, it wasn't even a question."
Dave said the Sunrise reminded him most of the European trains. "The scale is similar; compact, efficient, everything has its place. The Zephyr is a different beast, much bigger, the observation car, the long-haul American thing. But the feeling is the same. You're lying in a bed, watching the dark go by, and there's this rhythm to the tracks that you just don't get any other way. We've always loved that."
Linda admits she barely slept. "I kept peeking out the window. You pass through all these little stations in the dark, and then at some point, you're crossing the bridge over the Seto Inland Sea, and the sun is coming up. I'll remember that for the rest of my life."
They arrived in Takamatsu at 7:27 AM, had a bowl of Sanuki udon near the station before it was even 8 o'clock, and caught a train to Tokushima that afternoon.
"Shikoku doesn't get nearly enough attention from foreign visitors," Linda said. "Everyone goes to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka. But the people on Shikoku -- the osettai, the kindness you get as a pilgrim -- it's a completely different Japan. Taking the Sunrise Seto felt like a proper entrance to the island. You don't just arrive. You cross the sea at dawn."
Daniel, Michelle & Ethan (age 10) — Singapore
Sunrise Izumo: Tokyo → Izumo-shi
Ethan likes trains. He's liked them since he was small, and when his parents started planning a family trip to Japan, the Sunrise Express was at the top of his list. Daniel and Michelle were happy to oblige, especially once they started researching what was waiting at the other end of the line.
"We'd never heard of the San'in coast before planning this trip," Michelle said. "Everyone talks about Kyoto and Tokyo. Nobody talks about Shimane. But the more we read, the more we thought, this is the Japan we actually want to see."
The family booked three Single cabins, second-class private rooms each with a bed, a small desk, and storage for luggage. Compact but private, with a door that locks.
"I wanted something with a door," Michelle said. "Ethan needed his own space, and honestly, so did we. The Singles were the right call. Not huge, but you have privacy, and Ethan felt very grown up having his own cabin."
They arrived in Izumo-shi just before 10 AM the next morning, the terminus of the Sunrise Izumo's nearly twelve-hour journey from Tokyo. From there, they spent the better part of a week exploring the San'in region, the Sea of Japan coastline that most foreign tourists never reach.
Their first stop was Izumo Taisha, one of Japan's oldest and most important Shinto shrines, believed to be dedicated to the deity of relationships and matchmaking. Daniel called it one of the most striking places they visited in all of Japan. "It's enormous. And it's quiet. Not the way temples in Kyoto are quiet because it's 6 AM and you beat the crowds. It's quiet because not many people come out here. It felt like we had the place to ourselves."
From Izumo, they took day trips along the coast. They rode the Ichibata Electric Railway, the charming local line that connects Izumo and Matsue along the shore of Lake Shinji, and made their way east over several days to Tottori Prefecture to see the sand dunes, the vast stretch of windswept coast that feels more like another country than Japan.
"The San'in coast was a revelation," Michelle said. "We had this image of Japan being all neon and crowds, and then you're standing on a cliff above the Sea of Japan and there's just... nothing. Wind and waves and empty coastline. The kids in Ethan's class didn't believe the sand dune photos were from Japan."
But the undisputed highlight of the entire trip, for Ethan and, as Daniel and Michelle both admitted, for them too, was the hands-on train driving experience on the Ichibata Railway. At Unshu-Hirata Station, the railway lets visitors drive an actual Dehani Type 50, one of Japan's oldest half-steel carriages built in 1928, along a 150-meter closed course inside the station's rail yard. The experience includes a classroom briefing, an introduction to the controls, actual driving time, and a certificate at the end.
"Ethan was shaking when they handed him the controls," Daniel said. "Not from nerves. From excitement. He drove that train forward and back on the track, and when it was over he looked at us and said, 'Can I do it again?'"
Michelle's eyes lit up talking about it. "I did it too. We all did. You're sitting in the driver's seat of a train that's almost a hundred years old, and you're actually moving it. It doesn't matter how old you are. It's thrilling."
When asked to sum up the Sunrise Izumo and the San'in region, Daniel put it simply: "The Sunrise Express got us there. The Ichibata Railway was the highlight. And everything in between, Izumo Taisha, the coastline, the soba, Lake Shinji, was the Japan we didn't know we were looking for. We only found it because the train goes there."
Lukas, Anna, Jonas & Leonie — Germany
Sunrise Seto (eastbound): Osaka → Tokyo
Four friends, first trip to Japan, last night before flying home. They'd spent two weeks bouncing between Osaka, Hiroshima, and Kyoto, and someone (Jonas claims credit) suggested they take the Sunrise Express back to Tokyo on their final night instead of the Shinkansen.
"We almost didn't do it," Anna said. "The train doesn't leave Osaka until half past midnight. We thought, we have an evening flight the next day, is it really worth staying up that late?"
It was. And the late departure time turned out to be the best part.
"That's the thing people don't realize," Jonas said. "The train leaves Osaka at 00:34. That means your evening is completely free. We had dinner in Dōtonbori around 8, walked around Shinsaibashi, got drinks in America-mura. We were out doing stuff until maybe 11. Then we walked to Osaka Station, hung around for a bit, and got on the train. You don't lose your last night in Osaka. You get to use it."
On the eastbound journey, the combined Sunrise Seto and Sunrise Izumo stop at Osaka Station around 00:34 AM, having already departed from Takamatsu and Izumo-shi earlier that evening. The four friends booked Solo berths, the most compact private cabins on the train. Essentially a bed in a capsule with a sliding door. No desk, minimal space, but crucially: private and cheap.
"It's like a Japanese capsule hotel, but moving," Lukas said. "We'd actually done a capsule hotel in Kyoto earlier in the trip, so we knew what to expect. Honestly, the Solos are a little more spacious than that capsule hotel was."
By 1 AM they were asleep. By 7:08 AM, they were pulling into Tokyo Station. They stashed their luggage in coin lockers, grabbed coffee, and had a few final hours in the city before heading to the airport for their evening flight.
"That's the other thing," Anna said. "If we'd taken the Shinkansen the morning of our flight, we would've spent the morning on a train and then gone straight to the airport. Instead, we slept on the train, got to Tokyo at seven, and had the whole morning. We went back to Shinjuku, walked through the park, bought last-minute omiyage. It felt like we squeezed a bonus half-day out of the trip."
Leonie described the moment of boarding: "We were standing on the platform at Osaka Station at midnight, and the train just pulled in. This long, warm, golden train. It felt cinematic. Jonas was holding a konbini bag full of beer and onigiri. It was the perfect ending to two weeks in Japan."
When asked if the Sunrise Express was worth it, Lukas gave the most concise answer of anyone we talked to: "We spent two weeks in Japan. We did temples, castles, street food, bullet trains, everything. And the Sunrise Express is the thing we talk about the most."
So, Is the Sunrise Express Worth It in 2026?
Three trips, three completely different reasons to ride Japan's last sleeper train, and the same answer from everyone: yes.
A few things to keep in mind, though. The Sunrise Express is not a luxury cruise train. It's a working sleeper service, and it's been running since 1998. The cabins are cozy and well-designed, with wood-paneled interiors and everything you need for a comfortable overnight journey. But there's no dining car and no food service onboard, so make sure to grab dinner and snacks before you board. Shower cards are available from a vending machine on the train, but they're limited and tend to sell out quickly after departure.
The biggest hurdle is getting tickets. The Sunrise Express sells out almost immediately when tickets go on sale, one month before departure at 10:00 AM JST sharp. Most room types are gone within minutes. And here's the catch: tickets can only be purchased in person at a JR ticket office in Japan. There's no way around it. If you're not physically standing at a Midori-no-Madoguchi counter the moment tickets are released, you're unlikely to get one. For travelers planning a trip from overseas, that's essentially impossible.
None of that changes the fundamental appeal. The Sunrise Express is the last regularly scheduled overnight sleeper train in Japan. Every night, it leaves Tokyo, crosses the country in the dark, and delivers people to places that most visitors never reach. The udon shops of Takamatsu. Izumo Taisha and the San'in coast. The quiet countryside of Shimane and Shikoku. Going the other way, it picks you up from the far edges of western Japan and drops you in the center of Tokyo by breakfast.
It's not the fastest way to get anywhere. It's not the most comfortable. But it might be the most memorable way to travel in Japan.
If you're looking to ride the Sunrise Express, we can help. At Sunrise Express Tickets, we go to the ticket office on your behalf, secure your preferred cabin type, and ship the physical tickets to your hotel in Japan or to you internationally. No need to be in Japan a month early, no 10 AM scramble, no uncertainty. Just tell us your date and room preference, and we take care of the rest. Make a reservation here today.