The Sunrise Izumo Overnight Train

Where it goes

The Sunrise Izumo leaves Tokyo at 10 pm and arrives in Izumo at 9:58 am the next day. Along the way, it stops in Yokohama, Atami, Numazu, Fuji, Shizuoka, Hamamatsu, and then doesn't stop until Himeji a little after 5 in the morning. After that, it stops in Okayama, Kurashiki, Niimi, Yonago, Yasugi, Matsue, Shinji, and finally Izumo.

Accommodations

There are several seating/sleeping arrangements available. Berths, or sleeping cabins, are available in single or "twin" (meaning bunk beds). There are also nobinobi areas, train cars with carpeted flooring, not private but slightly sectioned off to lay out a futon. There is no food on the Sunrise Izumo, but there is a shower room, where 300 yen will get you a timed 6-minute shower.

Riding with your JR Pass

Reservations are mandatory to ride the Sunrise Izumo with your Japan Rail Pass. Take your pass to any JR ticket office ("midori no madoguchi"). Please note that the basic ticket fee is covered by your pass, but the "limited express fee" and the lodgings fee (prices varying depending on your choice of lodging) are extra. Note, however, that nobinobi lodging is free with your pass!

The Sunrise Izumo is also connected to another overnight train, the Sunrise Seto. These two night trains are the same train until Okayama, where they separate, and the Sunrise Seto instead heads south to Takamatsu in Shikoku. These trains, some of the last remaining overnight trains, are a unique throwback to the past that celebrates Japan's 100+ year-old rail system and gets you across the country in style.