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Most of my trip reports are about getting to a great place, but in the case of the Shiki Shima, the trip itself is the destination. The trip was, in a word, amazing . Seriously, 11 out of 10. They took Japanese omotenashi hospitality and added an extra helping of "surprise and delight". It's that surprise part that I'm worried about writing this. I don't want to chronicle every little thing because then each of those surprise moments is robbed of its delight. I'll do my best to walk the line between telling too much and too little. Background The gorgeous, Ken Okuyama-designed train is relatively new and it's still so popular that there's a quarterly lottery for who gets to buy tickets. The website to enter the lottery is in English and Japanese, and service onboard the train is only available in those two languages. (Tour operators in Thailand and Hong Kong occasionally do full buyouts of the train and offer all-Thai/all-Chinese options,...

Japan has a number of fun, tourist-oriented excursion trains – vintage steam locomotives, open-air summer trains, Sanrio and anime-themed trains, and high-end luxury "cruise" trains. Anpanman train! Vintage steam locomotive! A couple years ago, the latest and greatest version of the latter was announced – the four seasons Shiki Shima cruise train. Rather than relying on vintage looks, the Shiki Shima is boldly modern. There are two "cruises" you can take – a 2 day and a 4 day. There's a view car, a gorgeous restaurant, a bar, and the entire train only holds 34 passengers! UPDATE: our trip report from this amazing journey is here ! View car Given that Japan is a nation of train nerds, demand was insane despite the sky-high prices. They implemented a lottery system for people hoping to buy tickets. With both of our 50th birthdays coming up, I decided to enter for a shot at this amazing experience. I've been on pins and needles for the ...