Japan has a rich railway history that continues to this day. From the futuristic Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) trains and the new dedicated rail line currently under construction from Tokyo to Nagoya, to the current pioneering and continual evolving Shinkansen train and rail network that sets the worldwide standard for high speed rail travel, and finally to the everyday electric and diesel passenger and freight trains that form the backbone of the Japanese rail transportation system, it should be no surprise that a strong culture revolving around trains has developed in Japan. Train spotting, where rail fans (or fanatics) make an effort to photograph and record train lines, rolling stock, and/or train stations, is an active and accepted practice whenever a new train line is opened, new train engines or cars are introduced, or a train station opens or closes.
The Railway Museum (鉄道博物館, Tetsudō Hakubutsukan), run by the non-profit affiliate of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), one of the regional successor companies formed after the break-up the Japan National Railway (JNR), recounts the history of railways in Japan, exhibits many previously used train cars, teaches train operation using interesting simulators, and explains railway technology as it evolved over the years. The museum's big collection of formerly used train cars includes steam and diesel locomotives, and retired shinkansen, passenger, and freight cars. Many of the historical rail cars can be entered and the undercarriage of some can even be viewed from below. The museum further showcases one of Japan's largest (model train) dioramas. In another section, railway concepts, science, and systems are explained through models and hands-on activities. [1]
Please continue reading the rest of the article to find out more about my visit to The Railway Museum on 02 Nov 2018 and to see more photographs. I went to The Railway Museum after visiting the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum (大宮盆栽美術館), which is nearby. You can read about my visit to the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum by clicking here.
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| Take the New Shuttle from Omiya to Tetsudo Hakubutsukan Stations |
The Railway Museum in Saitama is one of the three major railway museums affiliated with Japan Rail (there are other JR and private railway museums located throughout Japan) and is easily reachable after a short train trip from Tokyo. The other two major JR railway museums are:
- Kyoto Railway Museum, Kyoto.
- SCMaglev and Railway Park, Nagoya.
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| Covered promenade from Tetsudo Hakubutsukan Station |
From Tokyo, it takes approximately 30-minutes by JR train to reach Omiya Station in Saitama, which is northeast of Tokyo. Omiya Station is also a stop on the Shinkansen lines that go to the northern part of Japan from Tokyo Station, so you could conceivably use that train if speed is of the essence and cost is no object to get to the museum, but for most people (including myself), taking a regular train is sufficiently fast and cost efficient. At Omiya Station, you need to change trains and transfer to the private line, New Shuttle, run by Saitama New Urban Transit. It is a short walk at Omiya Station to the New Shuttle platform and The Railway Museum route is well signed to take the shuttle one stop to Tetsudo Hakubutsukan Station. The Railway Museum is a short 3-minute walk from the Tetsudo Hakubutsukan Station, just follow the covered promenade, where you will pass by the D51 steam locomotive smokebox embedded in the museum's outer wall. The locomotive's cab (containing the controls, and where the engineer and fireman work) is located in another part of the museum's interior and is used as a steam locomotive train simulator that visitors can use after entering and winning a lottery (more about this later).
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| D51 steam locomotive smokebox on the covered promenade |
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| Museum ticket machines mimics JR station ticket machines |
When I visited, entry to the museum closely mimicked entry to JR stations when you want to buy a ticket and take a train. Not only did the museum ticket machine work like a JR station ticket machine, but entry to the museum was through ticket gates that resembled and operated like the automated gates at JR train stations. You could also use your JR East Suica electronic money IC card, rather than buying a paper ticket, to enter the museum. Again the experience closely mimicked taking a train without having to get a paper ticket, but unlike taking a train you do have to stop at the museum ticket machine to electronically load the entry ticket onto the Suica card. To enter the museum you insert your paper ticket or place your Suica card over the ticket wicket sensor to open the gate, and unlike taking a train, the admission fee is immediately deducted electronically from the Suica electronic money card (normally train fares are deducted from the Suica card when you exit the ticket wicket at your destination station).
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| The stationary Lunch Train where you can eat your ekiben, railway lunch bento box, which can be purchased at the museum from the same vendor found at train stations. |
The museum consists of two, three-story buildings, organized into five "stations". Between the two buildings is a park-like setting with places for children to play, more rolling stock, stationary rail cars to eat your ekiben (駅弁, railway lunch bento boxes), which can be bought at the museum from the same vendor found at train stations, and train-themed rides for both children and adults. The museum borders the main train and Shinkansen lines that connect cities to the north of Tokyo, so you can watch the trains go by as you eat, stroll, and play between the museum buildings.
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| Main Building (l. to r.: Kuha 181 type train, Kumoha 455 type train, Kuha 481 type train; C57 type steam locomotive on the turntable) |
The main building, which is the largest and originally built in 2007 contains:
- Rolling Stock Station
- The Rolling Stock Station has the largest exhibition area of any station in The Railway Museum. 36 different rolling stock are on display, from Locomotive No. 1, the first locomotive to run when Japan opened its first railway in 1872, to the Shinkansen. [3]
- Science Station
- At the Science Station, you can enjoy learning all about the principles and mechanisms that keep trains running through interactive exhibits. [3]
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| South Building (l. to r.: 400 Series Shinkansen, E5 Series Shinkansen Mockup, Series 209 Train Conductor Simulator) |
The newest building, the South Building, was opened in 2018 and contains:
- Job Station
- Railway professionals keep passengers safe and trains running on time. In this exhibit, you can experience how precision teamwork done by these professionals keep railways running safe and on time. [3]
- History Station
- The first railway in Japan started operation in 1872. In the History Station, the museum shines a light on the nearly 150-year history from the start of operations until today. [3]
- Future Station
- In this creative exhibit room, all visitors have a chance to imagine the future of railways. Make your avatar and go to the world of the future of railways. [3]
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| No. 1 Locomotive Japan's first locomotive, manufactured 1871 in the United Kingdom |
After entering the main building through the ticket wicket, the largest and main attractions of the museum are available to you, namely the historical collection of Japan's railway rolling stock. The exhibition area's centerpiece is a working rail turntable surrounded by vintage rolling stock. The first locomotive, No. 1 Locomotive, dating from 1871, was imported from the United Kingdom and ran on the first Japanese rail line from Tokyo to Yokohama in 1872. The locomotive was designated as a national important cultural property, a first for a railroad vehicle, in 1997.
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| Type 9850 steam locomotive, manufactured in Germany in 1912 |
One of the more interesting exhibits is that of the Type 9850 steam locomotive, which was manufactured in Germany in 1912. The locomotive was intended for use on the steep mountainous sections of the Tokaido Main Line and Shin-Etsu Main Line. [4] There is a pit constructed below the locomotive accessible by a set of stairs. Once you descend the entrance stairs, you get to walk under the locomotive before walking out on the opposite side exit stairs. Below the locomotive, the undercarriage has been cutout and each internal part incised, so that you can see the complex internal structure that caused the early retirement of this engine.
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| Underneath the Type 9850 steam locomotive |
The Type 9850 steam locomotive is not the only rail car in which you can see beneath the undercarriage. There is also a Type 222 Shinkansen train (200 series train), manufactured in 1982, that offers a similar view. The car was manufactured for the Tohoku / Joetsu Shinkansen. The maximum speed was the same as the Shinkansen used on the Tokaido Line connecting Tokyo to the major cities on the main island of Honshu, but because it ran in cold and heavy snowfall areas, it has a body mount structure, a snow-cutting room, a snow plow, and the body is made of aluminum alloy. [4] As you can probably surmise, there's a big difference between the inner workings of a 1912 steam locomotive and a 1982 Shinkansen, which is apparent once you view the cutaway undercarriages of both rail cars.
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| The original "Series 0" Shinkansen, 1964 |
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| "Series 0" Shinkansen squat toilet and water dispenser |
An original "Series 0" Shinkansen, which was the first-ever Shinkansen, is on exhibit at the Railway Museum. Shinkansen service started on 1 Oct 1964, traveling from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka with a top speed of 210 km/h (130 mph). The Shinkansen inaugurated the era of high speed rail travel first in Japan and now worldwide. This exhibit is in an annex attached to the main building and visitors are allowed to walk through the original car, sit in the seats, and see the original installed fixtures (e.g. no Western-style toilet). If you have ridden on a current Shinkansen, you will immediately notice the differences between the current and the original. The exterior panels, located just above the rails, of the "Series 0" Shinkansen are also open, so you can see the drive and electronics bays that are usually hidden behind the aerodynamic outer skin. There is also a replica of the plaque commemorating the inauguration of Shinkansen service on the Tokaido Main Line, together with exhibits on the history of the service's development.
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| D51 steam locomotive simulator |
There are many opportunities for hands-on experiences at the museum. Many of these experiences are suitable, and some are targeted, for children. There are many train simulators, where both young and old can drive a train that reproduce the sights (using image projectors), sounds, and feel sometimes using the equipment that actually trains rail employees. The steam locomotive simulator, which reproduces the vehicles body motion and vibrations, uses the D51 steam locomotive cab section of the D51 smokebox that you walked passed on the promenade before entering the museum. You can also drive the simulator for a regular electric train on the Yamanote Line, which is Tokyo's loop line rail line and where trains can arrive at stations every 90 seconds, and practice driving an E5 Shinkansen which simulates traveling at 320 km/h (200 mph). There are many more train and job (e.g. train conductor, ticket reservation) simulators that can be experienced at the museum. As you can guess, demand to use the simulators exceeds the time available. When I visited, a lottery was held every couple of hours, now there's an app for the lottery that you download to your phone, in order to sign-up and, if you win, use the simulators. Some experiences also require the payment of an addition fee. Consider yourself lucky if you get chosen to use one of the simulators! The museum's Japanese website has all the simulator details and app link, but the English website has an easier to find link to download the app.
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| Attended Gate Exhibition: Before train station gates were automated |
There is an exhibit to remind people of the recent past before the advent of automated gates. Throughout Japan today, entering to use and exiting a station after traveling on a train involves using automated gates whether or not you have a paper ticket or are using an electronic IC money card. The automated gates are extremely fast to handle the high volume of daily customers taking trains, so when the gate reads a paper ticket or electronic IC card, you can almost not break your stride when entering or exiting a station gate. If you've ever used the automated gates for BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) in the San Francisco Bay Area in the USA and compare the gate speeds, you will be left wondering why you have to stop, wait, and what is taking so long for the BART gate to open.
Before the advent of automated gates, a station gate required two people: one standing at the entrance and one for the exit. For large stations with multiple gates, that represented a large number of people. The job was especially difficult for the exit gate attendant because the attendant needed to examine the paper ticket to determine if the correct fare was paid (determined by the entrance station), and if the fare is incorrect, collect the difference between the ticket value and the correct fare, and make cash change if necessary, all before allowing the passenger to exit. So the exit attendant needed to memorize the fares from the most likely entrance stations for the station's train lines and refer to a fare table only when an unusual entrance station ticket was presented in order to keep the passengers from crowding the exit gate.
The use of attended station gates has not been eliminated entirely. At many small, low passenger usage stations, it is not unusual to hand a paper ticket to a station attendant. Also if you ever need help, there is always at least one attended gate at every station (of course, not using the old gate hardware). As recent as 2007, when I visited Takamatsu Station on Shikoku (the smallest of Japan's main islands), the exact attended gate hardware on exhibit was in use. Recent pictures of the station shows that the gates are now fully automated. Takamatsu Station is a terminus station for trains coming across the Seto Ohashi Bridge from the main island of Honshu, as well as the origin of numerous local trains, so the station handles many train lines with many passengers and is definitely not a small, low volume station. While the volume is nothing like that of a train station in the big cities of Tokyo or Osaka, the passenger flow is still impressive and there were still many passengers using paper tickets that the gate attendants had to handle manually.
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| Teppaku Line Train Ride |
Finally, what would a visit to a train museum be without a train ride? The train rides are suitable for both children and adults; some require an added fee, and entering the lottery (app) and winning. There are actually three ways to have this experience:
- Minature Train Driving Experience
- You get to drive a three-seater miniature train around a 300 meter (about 1000 feet) course consisting of four "stations". The driver gets to experience starting and precisely stopping a train, obeying train speed limits, and reacting to changing signals due to a preceding train. The driving experience is suitable for elementary school students, and requires winning a lottery and paying an extra fee. This is actually quite an extraordinary opportunity for an elementary school age child since most (if not all) have never driven anything before!
- Mini Hayabusa Ride
- Children and/or one preschooler with one adult gets to ride on this miniature replica of an E5 Hayabusa Shinkansen on a small circular track with the payment of an extra fee only on weekdays. On weekends, you must also enter and win the lottery to ride.
- Teppaku Line Train Ride
- The Teppaku Line is a mini train that goes back and forth on approximately 230 meter (750 feet) track between two stations and can be boarded free of charge. The train is modeled after the E2 Series "Hayate" Shinkansen and can accommodate up to 28 people.
When I visited the museum, the Teppaku Line train ride was the most popular of all the ride experiences, with the wait time being 60 minutes on a weekday. Not only is the ride free and does not require winning a lottery, it is also just outside on the other side of the building, opposite the museum's entrance. So if I were traveling with children, this would probably be the first place to go right after entering the museum after it opens at 10:00. The ride opens at 10:20.
The Railway Museum (鉄道博物館) Information and Access
Name:
- The Railway Museum
- 鉄道博物館
Address:
- Japan, 〒330-0852 Saitama, Omiya Ward, Onaricho, 3 Chome−４７
- 〒330-0852 埼玉県さいたま市大宮区大成町３丁目４７
Access:
- Japan Rail Pass (7-, 14-, 21-day):
- Valid for travel throughout Japan on Japan Rail (with some exceptions).
- Purchase outside of Japan. Must show passport and have a short-term (90 day) visitor's stamp to redeem at selected airports and rail stations. (This is changing)
- Once activated, must be used on consecutive days (i.e. cannot skip days).
- Website: https://japanrailpass.net/en/.
- Plan your rail trip using Hyperdia: http://www.hyperdia.com/en/.
- Omiya Station is easily reached by Shinkansen or train (recommended) from Tokyo.
- Approx. 24 minutes from Tokyo Station via the Asama, Nasuno, or Toki Shinkansen.
- The cost of the trip is fully covered by the Japan Rail (JR) Pass, otherwise the cost of the Shinkansen trip is:
- Unreserved: ¥1660
- Reserved: ¥3180
- Green Seat: ¥3700
- Approximately 32 minutes from Tokyo Station via the JR Ueno-Tokyo train line (recommended):
- The cost of the trip is fully covered by the Japan Rail (JR) Pass, otherwise the cost of the train trip is:
- Unreserved: ¥570
- No Reserved seats
- Green Seat: ¥1350
- Transfer at Omiya Station, follow the signs for The Railway Museum to the private line New Shuttle platform, and take the New Shuttle one stop to Tetsudo Hakubutsukan Station.
- Approx. 2 minutes from Omiya to Tetsudo Hakubutsukan Stations via the private line New Shuttle.
- The New Shuttle trip is not covered by the JR Pass and the cost of the trip is:
- ¥190 (All seats unreserved)
- Cash or electronic money IC card (e.g. JR East Suica) can be used to pay the fare.
- At Tetsudo Hakubutsukan Station, follow the signs to The Railway Museum exit for the 3 minute covered promenade walk to The Railway Museum.
- Information and prices are accurate as of the published date of this article and are subject to change.
Hours and Admission:
- 10:00-17:00 (last entrance 16:30).
- Closed Tuesdays, year end, and New Year's holidays.
- Admission:
- Same day: ¥1330.
- Not available for purchase during the pandemic.
- Must use advanced purchase option (see below).
- Advanced purchase: ¥1230.
- Must use this method during the pandemic.
- Available for purchase from Japanese convenience stores.
- Information and prices are accurate as of the published date of this article and are subject to change.
Websites:
- Plan your rail trip using Hyperdia:
- Japan Rail Pass (7-, 14-, 21-day):
- The Railway Museum (鉄道博物館) Japanese website:
- The Japanese website has more information than the English website.
Map:
References
[1] Japan Guide. "The Railway Museum". Last modified: 15 Jan 2021. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6527.html.
[2] Japan Station. "Kyoto Railway Museum Now Has its Own Station (Umekoji-Kyotonishi)". Last accessed: 13 Jun 2021. https://www.japanstation.com/kyoto-railway-museum-now-has-its-own-station-umekoji-kyotonishi/.
[3] The Railway Museum. "The Railway Museum". Last accessed: 27 Jun 2021. https://www.railway-museum.jp/e/.
[4] The Railway Museum. "Floor map 1F Floor guide around the vehicle station", Last accessed: 4 Jul 2021. https://www.railway-museum.jp/map/1f_station/.
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