The Tsugaru Line
Tsugaru Railway Aomori (Wikimedia commons)
The four seasons of northern Japan as seen by train
The small private company Tsugaru is the most northerly of all, with the attraction of trains that adapt to the seasons to offer a spectacular journey every time.
To get to this end of the world in northern Honshu, you'll need to take the Tohoku Shinkansen to Shin-Aomori, then a local JR train on the Ou Line to Tsugaru-Goshogawara station. Here, you're at the departure station of this small private Tsugaru company. Here you can visit the museum of the traditional Tachineputa festival (August 4-8).
At the station, climb aboard a train and let yourself be carried away on a journey into the deepest rurality of ancestral Japan. 20km of Line, 12 stations, some of them so lonely (Bishamon, Kawakura, Fukoda) that you wonder why they're there, lost in the great nothing that is everything to clear your mind. For those who want to get back in touch with themselves. Countryside, rice paddies, forest, big sky. Variations in nature, the progress of crops, or incredible masses of snow in winter - we're here in one of the snowiest areas in the world!
The Tsugaru Line runs due north to the Tsugaru-Nakasato terminus between mountains and natural wonders.
Trains like no other
The Tsugaru company offers trains with different atmospheres to connect with the seasons. With little 'furin' bells made of local pottery tinkling all summer long, and haiku poems for fans. Crickets 'suzumushi' sing on the train to mark the end of the summer heat, and the arrival of the beautiful autumn colors that you can admire through the train windows over the mountains on one side of the Line.
In winter, Tsugaru Tetsudo (Japanese for railway company) offers an original ride that will plunge you into a past you've probably never experienced, with an old train pulled by a 1957 locomotive and two carriages from 1948 and 1954 whose only heating system is an authentic antique wood-burning stove.
Tsugaru Railway Stove Ressha (Densha Otaku 365)
The atmosphere of another era is guaranteed aboard the 'Stove Ressha' , the old wood-burning train. The train even grills dried squid, which you can enjoy piping hot. The train staff, dressed in traditional Tsugaru garb, offer you their specialties, food and drink, as well as souvenirs made by local craftsmen. We laugh, we wonder, we marvel, we almost fraternize. Here's the fabulous train that everyone loves so much it disconnects you from your daily routine. And all that immaculate white, rolling gently between great plains and high mountains.
In spring, it's the famous cherry blossoms that draw the crowds, especially to Ashinokoen station. In the middle of April, the spectacle is guaranteed, and you won't be alone as you take photos and videos of the trains arriving in a 'Sakura tunnel', the traditional image of the Tsugaru company, which is known beyond the region. Afterwards, take a stroll along the shores of Lake Ashino, with its many other attractions, not forgetting to sample the region's great specialty, apples.
Where to see the cherry blossoms in Tohoku?
The full 45-minute trip from one end of the Tsugaru Line to the other will cost you 870yen (€6) on a normal train. The Japan Rail Pass is not accepted here.
The old wood-burning train runs every day from December 1 to March 31. 500yen per reservation.
Departure times from Tsugaru-Goshogawara: 9:35 am, 12:00 pm and 2:40 pm.
Departures from Tsugaru-Nakasato: 10:53 a.m., 1:37 p.m. and 3:54 p.m.
