Japan Launches Bullet Train to Rarely Visited Region

Japan is at the top of many traveler’s to-do lists for 2024. The destination has soared in popularity in recent years.

And just in time for this influx of visitors, the country is launching a new high-speed bullet train, also known as "shinkansen," this coming weekend to bring visitors who are interested in exploring beyond Tokyo to one of the country’s lesser-known prefectures. 

The new train, which is slated to start running Saturday, March 16, will take visitors to Japan’s picturesque and remote Fukui Prefecture, according to CNBC. Fukui is located about 185 miles west of Tokyo and the route there will take visitors through the city of Fukui, the town of Awara and several other places you’re not likely to read about in guidebooks.

The final stop of the train will be the little-known port town of Tsuruga, all of which adds about 78 miles to the Hokuriku Shinkansen’s current Tokyo-to-Kanazawa service.

The new route is expected to open up a part of the country that is far less visited by international tourists. A place known for dinosaurs, Zen meditation practices and inviting hot-spring baths, CNBC reports.

In the town of Fukui, for instance, dinosaurs are one of the main attractions. Nearly 80 percent of all the dinosaur fossils found in Japan were found here. And a top local attraction is the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum in Katsuyama.

Travelers who stop off at the Eiheijiguchi train station, meanwhile, can explore Zen Buddhist temples and monasteries that date back to the 1200s.

At the final stop on the train line, in Tsuruga, there are scenic sites of beauty to explore including beachside pine groves. The Port of Humanity Museum is another noteworthy stop.

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