Partners Information: East Japan Railway Company (JR East) has added 13 new ‘Joyful Train’ services to their JR-East Train Reservation online seat reservations service to make it easier for overseas travellers to book.

In addition to the existing five services which included the Resort Shirakami, 13 new train services have been added, including the popular SL steam locomotives as well as the Koshino Shu*Kura train.

We all want one thing when we travel.Whatever our interests—food, shopping, people—we are all after genuine, authentic experiences. Right? Experiences that you can’t find in newsfeeds, guidebooks, or on travel blogs (except this one, of course), experiences that we can only dream of stumbling across once we touch down.

When many people imagine a trip to Japan, the mind turns to high-paced, modern city life. However, just an hour or two away from some of the country’s most vibrant urban centres lies an altogether different kind of experience, one that focuses on cleansing and rejuvenating the soul by offering an insight into the ancient practices of one of Japan’s major religion, Shingon Buddhism.

The beautiful spectrum of red, orange and yellow autumn leaves known as koyo will be complemented by the green and gold of the visiting Wallabies when Australia plays in the Rugby World Cup hosted by Japan in 2019.