Service set to debut on shinkansen between Tokyo and Fukuoka from fiscal 2026.
Some of Japan’s newest shinkansen bullet trains will be equipped with private rooms starting in fiscal 2026, Central Japan Railway announced Wednesday, looking to tap demand from business and leisure travelers who value maximum privacy.
“We have to respond to the diversification of transportation needs,” JR Central President Shunsuke Niwa explained in a news conference.
JR Central operates the Tokaido Shinkansen, which links Tokyo with Osaka. Trains with the rooms are expected to operate over the area from Tokyo to Fukuoka on the southernmost main island of Kyushu, a section including the Sanyo Shinkansen operated by West Japan Railway.
The private rooms will be set up on the latest-model N700S trains and will feature dedicated Wi-Fi, adjustable lighting and airflow, and reclining seats with leg rests.
Each train will have two such rooms, with the rooms holding one or two passengers apiece.
