Great Japanese Railway Journeys

Kanazawa to Kurobe Gorge

29 min

Michael begins in the city of Kanazawa, where he goes behind the scenes of the Shinkansen operation. He discovers the history of the Maeda family and rides the exhilarating Kurobe Gorge railway.

Japanese Alps: Nagano to Narai Juku

29 min

Michael ends the first leg of his Japan adventure on a Shinkansen bullet train, heading to Nagano, the host city of the 1998 Winter Olympics and the gateway to the Japanese Alps.

Kagoshima to Chiran

29 min

Michael starts a journey in and around Japan's southernmost main island, Kyushu. He begins in Kagoshima, an extraordinary city which sits in the shadow of Japan’s most active volcano, Sakurajima.

Amakusa Islands to Shin Omuta

29 min

Michael Portillo takes the ferry to the Amakusa archipelago, visits the town where missionaries brought Christianity to Japan and meets a master swordsmith in Shin Omuta.

Yame to Nagasaki

28 min

Michael visits a Kyushu tea farm and the city of Nagasaki, the only port open to foreign trade when Japan was closed to the outside world for more than 200 years.

Arita to Fukuoka

29 min

Michael arrives in the home of Japanese porcelain, Arita, where a railway line runs straight through the town’s stunning porcelain Shinto shrine.

Shimonoseki to Hiroshima

29 min

Michael tries the deadly delicacy of pufferfish in the harbour town of Shimonoseki and visits Hitachi’s Kasado Works, where the iconic Shinkansen high-speed trains are manufactured.

Tokyo (1)

28 min

On board a sleek Shinkansen bullet train, Michael arrives in Tokyo, one of the greatest cities on earth, with a population of 37 million in the metropolitan area.

Tokyo (2)

29 min

Michael rides the 21-mile Yamonote line, an elevated railway that encircles the city, and visits the busiest train station in the world by passenger numbers.