having a shower on a moving train yeah amazing  not gonna lie it really does look like a desert  

uh tokyo an absolute concrete jungle and a  million miles away from the nearest desert  

or is it take a look at this if i were to show  you this photo where would you think it is take a  

guess maybe egypt dubai tim is yeah it is in fact  here in japan that's right you've missed it the  

entire time the great japan desert just south of  tokyo well no not quite it is in fact a gigantic  

sand dune in the prefecture of tottori about  500 600 kilometers south of tokyo now i've  

always wanted to go to tottori but it's not an  easy place to get to there is no bullet train  

there is a night bus but that's a fate worse than  death itself however i recently discovered that  

there is in fact a sleeper train the night train  won the last remaining night trains in japan and  

say i've got two tickets one for me and one for  japan's most eccentric man train leaves in about  

two hours from tokyo station so let's go and  see if the sand dunes of tottori live up to the  

hype and if the sleeper train is actually any good  let's do it i've never been in tortoli and a camel  

hotel in train train in hotel reach well natsuki  debates the powerful philosophical question of  

whether it's a train or a hotel i run off to  stock up on snacks for our 11 hour journey and  

one that will take us from the heart of tokyo 600  kilometers west to the sea of japan coastline to  

the secluded region of tottori a prefecture famous  for being the least populated in all of japan  

in recent years thanks to high-speed rail links  and low-cost airline carriers traveling japan  

has never been quicker cheaper or easier though  sadly it means the many sleeper trains that once  

roamed the country have all but disappeared in  fact there were just two regular sleeper trains  

remaining one of which is the one we're riding  tonight the sunrise express what a romantic name  

this is it guys this is the train we're gonna  call home for the next 11 hours it arrives at  

about 9 30 a.m in tottori looks really nice  you can see inside you can see the room

look how smug he looks

boarding the train nats can i split off to our  separate cabins as i put my feet up in the comfort  

of my spacious twin room well guys here we are my  twin room uh natsuki there's no natsuki in sight  

thankfully he's got his own special room and  i say he's special he's got a deluxe room  

natsuki decided to splash big uh because  he's treating this like a whole holiday i'm  

so gonna go and see that skin a minute he keeps  rubbing it in my face that he's got the good room  

and in fact he's actually above me he's upstairs  on the higher floor so we're going to see him in a  

minute but first things first it's a cool room um  even though the rooms are fairly close together i  

can't hear anybody else at all because the noise  the train sort of drowning it out but the sound  

of the train is really relaxing it's kind of like  an asmr experience like i think if i lay down i  

could probably fall asleep pretty quickly so here  we have the panel as you'd get in any hotel room  

by your bed right light controls and things so  we've got lights here one two listen to the radio  

copyright claim uh and uh a heater as well which  i strongly advise you not to use because the room  

is already like a mini sauna it's very very hot  and that's my only criticism of the room so far  

it's pretty pretty unpleasantly hot  uh there is a fan going but it's doing  

absolutely [ __ ] up you'd get better  results if you just face the warmth  

blew against it apparently there's also showers  on board the train which i'm going to test out  

in a minute but first things first let's  go and see natsuki in his luxury deluxe  

fantastic accommodation i know he's  going to rub it in my face bastard

relax time this room's massive king  nesque palace king natsuki's palace  

and only is that ham how you've got  beer you've got ham and the beer  

this is what the one percent looks like you're  lucky oh thank you yes please description

it's a sync time it's come on

not

why is that good because don't fall down nice  idea okay yeah strong well ask your cheers  

thanks for having me in your deluxe  palatial room very nice very chestnut  

it's sitting by the window enjoying his ham  and beer please hammer to you thank you asking  

so all good journeys demand a snack  and before we get on the train i spent  

probably a hundred dollars but about 10 000 yen  on snacks for nascar night me for you for me

a there's a place called the japan rail  cafe the tokyo station and there you can buy  

loads of kind of local dishes interesting foods as  well as get help in english if you need it if you  

ever get lost or you don't know what you're doing  or you want some advice on traveling around japan  

japan rail cafe but i've got various things first  things first senbei crackers cracker yeah i think  

they're sending what are they hanging mama hague  this is like a number hug is kind of like a creepy  

god of akita prefecture they use it to scare  kids it's great the thing i'm most excited about  

is this basically sausage is made out of cow tung  gutum i like it and it's won an award so it must  

be good thank you that's that morning we've got  10 kinds of rice crackers and finally we've got  

edamame rice crackers oh famous from yamaha  that's right all these kind of local food tohoku

it's like salami stick but better quality it  hasn't got that kind of oily taste to it but

all fueled up on sausages and beer we  leave a sleepy king natsuki to his luxury  

room while i return to my standard twin  room for a bento and an evening shower  

there's something kind of romantic about going  on a sleeper train like my favorite james bond  

film from russia with love half of the film is  set on a train and um i think i've done it in  

about 10 years but i don't know just the the  sound of the train moving the scenery going by  

it's just a platform it's kind of creepy  being below the platform but i know something  

quite pleasant about it unfortunately they are  going out of fashion in japan there used to be  

a sleeper train that went from tokyo to hokkaido  but they got rid of it in favor of a bullet train  

because you can do it much quicker i think it's  probably only a matter of time before this one  

goes as well so if you come to japan  and you want to ride a sleeper train  

do it while you can obviously the the crossbar is  depending on the size of the room like natsuki's  

big spender room is about 140 whereas this one i  think it's more like 80 or 90. but if you've got  

the jr rail pass you can actually ride this train  for free and kind of stay in the communal area uh  

where there's lots of free beds that you can go in  kind of like almost a bit like a dorm i guess so  

pretty good value for money the  comfort of a business hotel and the  

excitement of being on a train i'm gonna  finish this bento and then it's time for  

a shower on a train something i don't think  i've ever done before how is this going to work

it's pretty difficult having a shower on a  moving train like everything just keeps shaking  

it's like some sort of roller coaster ride  but the shower works so the clock is ticking  

you've got about four minutes to remain

i'd next to say that shower  exceeded all expectations  

apart from the fact that i only broke my  leg three times it's rather good recommend

good morning how are you

good sleep yeah um holiday sleep holiday sleep  the best kind of sleep yeah look at the scenery  

looks super relaxed super relaxed and a  good beauty it's good isn't it nice morning  

whoa how did you sleep on a scale of uh one  to ten natsuki maybe nine nine maybe four  

four four good bit it's a good  bet the bed's comfortable actually  

um but the train every time it stops at a  station there's a big announcement it's like  

good morning well i could ask it out it's amazing  it happens like every five for 10 minutes and  

it's really annoying so just as i'm falling  asleep again that happens and it uh woke me up  

not a problem no japanese people are so good at  sleeping and i have earphones that'll be white

many royal so many empty rooms yeah  it's roman names solo solo rooms

for little little size for child for a child

i'm not staying

oh just oh nice it's nice yeah funny  open window oh it's a good view good view  

yeah maybe many stuff at night it's great  nascar made a good point from these kind  

of smaller rooms you can actually look up  at the stars and at night it's probably a  

really nice view in fact just during the  daytime the view itself is pretty stunning  

like i like the way they put the scenery front  and center in the train not one possible not one

it's pretty cool going to sleep in tokyo  and waking up in the middle of the japanese  

countryside one of the most remote places in japan  with just the most incredible scenery seriously  

the rice fields the luscious forests traditional  houses it's a beautiful place it really is  

well guys it's 902 and the train  arrives at 903 so better get going but  

thoughts on the train in terms of how i actually  slept i probably had three or four hours sleep  

yeah and we better get going god this is  our stop but yeah thoughts of the train  

didn't sleep that well would i do it again yes  now let's go look at some sand dunes quickly

as we wave the sunrise express goodbye at  yanago station in tottori neither natsuki nor  

i am prepared for the impressive site that  awaits us along the prefectures coastline

i hate sand

bloody hell i have to say they are pretty damn  big this is 50 meters high this sand dune and i  

don't think the camera can really do it justice  nor the drone but it is quite damn big what do  

you think natsuki let's go let's go it's cool  like my there's expectations reality a lot of um  

japanese attractions often they look a lot  better in the photos than they really are but  

this is one of the few places that i've seen  photos of and come to and actually felt like  

it's the real deal it's really quite  impressive 1-10 10 10. nice japan park  

at 50 meters high and stretching 16 kilometers  along the coastline tottori's naturally occurring  

sand dunes took thousands of years to form  although nature's work is being undone as the  

sand dunes are shrinking as a result of tsunami  sea walls that have gone up along the coastline  

affecting the very sea currents that have  deposited the sand still for now the dunes  

remain a towering presence and having recently  rode a horse on journey across japan natsuki  

set his sights on another form of four-legged  transport well come on camel come on oh my god wow

yeah amazing silk road still cried i experienced  

serious style well guys we've seen the sleeper  train we've seen the tottori sanjins i have to  

say i think they live up to their reputation they  are pretty damn impressive like it is bigger than  

i thought it would be and uh i'd love to come back  here and make like a parody film natsuki of arabia  

or something natsuki arabia yeah it's the film  that you neither need nor want nor deserve but  

what was your highlight of the trip natsuki was  your favorite memory from the sleeper train to  

the sand dunes yeah only six minutes show  our time the six minute shower more shower  

i want more shower why is that your favorite  memory and not towel you had no towel i forget

you didn't have a towel in the shower no oh my  god so a six minute shower and then no towel how  

did you dry yourself pandora with his hands  oh my god on that note ladies and gentlemen  

i think we'll end it thank you as always watching  abroad in japan check out the orange band patreon  

for more behind the scenes stuff but for now  back to tokyo let's go let's go bye everyone  

natsuki very bravely or very  stupidly decided to go down the sanju  

it's taking him like half  an hour to get back up now  

five sec five seconds to run down it and half an  hour to get back up come on ashley you can do it