CultureGuest Userjapanese, subculture, original, culture, japan, tokyo, ambient, countryside, toreiyu tsubasa, footbath, leisure

The Fastest Footbath On The Planet: Toreiyu Tsubasa

CultureGuest Userjapanese, subculture, original, culture, japan, tokyo, ambient, countryside, toreiyu tsubasa, footbath, leisure
The Fastest Footbath On The Planet: Toreiyu Tsubasa

The Japanese railway system is internationally known and praised for its comfort and punctuality.

 
 

The flagship of this perfected system is the shinkansen [Japanese: 新幹線, lit. ''new trunk line''], often referred to as the "bullet train." While the average shinkansen is designed like most high-speed trains, there are also some with special features or relatively uncommon car layouts. One of them is the Toreiyu Tsubasa that connects the cities of Fukushima in Fukushima prefecture and Shinjō in Yamagata prefecture. 

 
 

The Toreiyu Tsubasa is one of 16 "Joyful Trains" operated by railway company JR East. Its "joy" is the unique interior design partially inspired by Yamagata prefecture and makes you forget that you are on board a train.

 
 

While passengers in the standard reserved seating car [for shinkansen, you can book tickets either for a reserved or non-reserved car] can enjoy reclining seats equipped with movable pillows, the real deal is riding one of the Japanese-style reserved seating cars. Here the arrangement of seats is nothing like in a standard train. The usual rows of seats are replaced by spacious tatami mat seating and large birch tables.

 
 

However, the highlight of Toreiyu Tsubasa are cars number 15 and 16. Here, JR East offers a hot spring-like experience, including foot baths and a post-bath lounge. For an extra charge, you can soak your feet while enjoying the scenery through the large windows. After that, passengers can cool off in the yuagari lounge and try locally brewed Yamagata sake or juice from Yamagata-harvested fruits. 

 
 

The bespoken scenery is also name-giving for the train, combining the Japanese word for train [torein] and the french "soleil" [sun], while Tsubasa means “wings” in Japanese and is the name of the standard Yamagata shinkansen cars.