Handpicked experience · Kyoto
Kyoto, Japan
The line survives because it was made obsolete: when the main railway was straightened through tunnels in 1989, the old riverside track lost its job and reopened two years later as the scenic route.
Get to enjoy a wonderful journey between Saga and Kameoka aboard the Sagano Romantic Train!
As you move along the tracks, you'll discover many of Kyoto's natural gems and lush landscapes.
Make sure to bring a camera so you can take pictures of sublime nature, especially the Hozugawa River.
A route whose inefficiency is precisely what makes it worth taking
Wooden benches and a slow pace rather than a modern commuter interior
One carriage where nothing stands between you and the ravine
River rapids visible below with craft working through them
Blossom or maple banked on both slopes in the right weeks
Collection handled at the main station rather than left to you
A ticket for the Sagano scenic railway, the open-sided train that runs along the Hozugawa gorge west of Kyoto, with collection arranged at Kyoto Station. The ride itself is about twenty-five minutes over roughly seven kilometres, between the stations at Saga and Kameoka, and it is one of the few sights in the city where the appeal is entirely a matter of what the window is not.
This is the part worth knowing. The track was not built for tourists. It was a working section of the San'in main line, and it followed the river because that was the only way through — every curve in the route is a curve in the gorge.
In 1989 the railway was rerouted onto a faster, straighter alignment driven through tunnels, and the old riverside section became redundant overnight. Rather than lift the rails, it was reopened in 1991 as a sightseeing line. The exact feature that made it inefficient — refusing to cut through anything, going the long way round every bend — is the whole reason to ride it now. Nothing on the new line is visible at all.
Five cars are pulled by a small diesel locomotive, all with wooden benches and an unhurried pace. The last of them, car five, is open-sided: no window glass, no barrier between you and the ravine, just the air off the water and the noise of the train against the rock. It is markedly colder, considerably louder and worth planning around if the weather allows.
Steep wooded sides, the river running green and fast below, occasional rapids with boats working down them, and — in the right weeks — either cherry blossom or maple colour banked up the slopes on both sides. Autumn here is genuinely exceptional and busy in proportion. In between seasons the gorge is quieter, greener and a good deal easier to get a seat in.
The train does not run every day: it closes on Wednesdays and through the winter, and services are subject to weather on the day. Many people ride one way and return down the river by boat, which takes considerably longer and is a separate arrangement. Seats are assigned in the enclosed cars; the open car is different in that respect and worth asking about when you collect. Bring a layer heavier than the city needs, because the gorge runs cold and the last carriage runs colder.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
About twenty-five minutes, covering roughly seven kilometres between the two ends of the line.
Because it was laid as a working railway before tunnelling made a straighter path possible.
The main line was moved onto a faster alignment driven through the hillsides, leaving the riverside track without a purpose.
In 1991, as a sightseeing service rather than a scheduled passenger route.
It has no glass in the openings, so nothing separates you from the ravine.
No. It closes on Wednesdays and through the winter months, and weather can affect services.
Many people do, by boat down the gorge, which takes far longer and is booked separately.
More than the city calls for; the ravine is cold and the open car colder still.