See Japan by luxury rail

TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE for a new Japanese sleeper train launching next May. Japan Rail’s Train Suite Shiki-Shima will depart from Tokyo and run through the country’s eastern corridor to Hokkaido, taking in the 17th-century Nikko Toshogu shrine and the Shirakami-Sanchi mountains. It will have 17 rooms across six sleeper cars, plus four dining, lounge and sightseeing cars. Stops at the region’s onsen hot springs are included in a two- to four-day itinerary, priced from £1,979 per person. Tickets for a second train departing from Kyoto, Osaka and Shimonoseki stations go on sale later in the summer. jreast.co.jp/ shiki-shima/en