Sleep on it
Japan’s fleet of long-distance sleeper trains, known as Blue Trains, used to crisscross the country. But with the arrival of the Shinkansen, night trains became less viable and the last of the Blue Trains, the Hokutosei (Northern Star), which ran between Ueno and Sapporo, was retired in 2015. Its legacy, however, lives on: the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) is putting the much-loved old train to good use by recycling its interior for a new budget hotel in Bakurocho, central Tokyo. Train Hostel Hokutosei will have 78 beds and connect directly to Bakurocho Station. The hotel will open in December and prices start at an unusually low ¥2,500 (€22) per night. That’s not all: JR East is also planning to launch a seven-storey capsule hotel exclusively for women, just one minute away from Kanda Station.