Skip to content

Menu

All themes
Tsugaru Railway's Stove Train in the snow

When the ride is the trip

Kotatsu & stove trains

Sit at a heated kotatsu table and watch the sea, grill dried squid on a coal stove, ride beside drift ice. These trains only run in winter.

Travel tips

  • They run roughly from December to March. Operating days and times change every year, so check the official information before you go.
  • Snow and strong wind can cancel services. Leave some slack in your schedule.

5 places to go

Tap a pin to jump to that place's description.

  1. 1

    Morioka

    Station

    Sanriku Railway's Kotatsu Train runs between Miyako and Kuji, mainly on winter weekends. Reservations are required. Reach Miyako from Morioka by train or bus.

    Go hereDetails
  2. 2

    Shin-Aomori

    Station

    Tsugaru Railway's Stove Train: old carriages with coal-fired pot-belly stoves, from Tsugaru-Goshogawara to Tsugaru-Nakasato. Goshogawara is about an hour from Shin-Aomori.

    Go hereDetails
  3. 3

    Kushiro

    Station

    JR Hokkaido's SL Fuyu-no-Shitsugen: a steam locomotive across the snowy Kushiro wetland, on selected winter days only.

    Go hereDetails
  4. 4

    Abashiri

    Station

    JR Hokkaido's Ryuhyo Monogatari runs along the Sea of Okhotsk between Abashiri and Shiretoko-Shari in the drift-ice season.

    Go hereDetails
  5. 5

    Nagoya

    Station

    Akechi Railway's dining car “Jinenjo Train” serves wild-yam dishes between Ena and Akechi in winter, by reservation. Ena is about an hour from Nagoya.

    Go hereDetails

From people who went

Tips about the places in this theme, most helpful first.

I went — write a tip

Event dates, operating days, reservation rules and opening hours can change. Please check the official information before you go.

Photo and data credits

Tsugaru Railway's Stove Train in the snow TheoryJ (CC BY-SA 4.0) / Nagoya Castle keep topped with golden shachihoko Base64 edit by Noodle snacks (CC BY-SA 3.0). Cropped and resized.