Autumn 2025. We – Sam and Danny, Michel and Wille, and Timothy – are travelling to Japan for a quite classic tour of the Land of the Rising Sun. We are flying separately as we used miles. On the planning: Tokyo, Kanazawa, Shirakawa, Osaka, and Expo 2025, Hiroshima, Himeji, Miyajima, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Hakone, and back to Tokyo. Three weeks plus some extra days.

JR East has The Railway Museum in Saitama, near Tokyo; JR West has SCMaglev and Railway Park in Nagoya (which you’ll read about at a later date. JR Central has the Kyoto Railway Museum. Obviously we visited.

Kyoto Railway Museum

The Kyoto Railway Museum (京都鉄道博物館, Kyōto Tetsudō Hakubutsukan) is located in Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto. It is owned by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) and operated by the Transportation Culture Promotion Foundation. The museum originally opened in October 1972 as the Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum (梅小路蒸気機関車館, Umekōji Jōkikikansha-kan) and was significantly expanded and modernised in April 2016, reopening under its current name.

Covering approximately 30,000 to 31,000 square metres, the museum presents a comprehensive history of Japanese railways, from early steam locomotives through diesel and electric trains to modern Shinkansen bullet trains. 

It features interactive exhibits, simulators, a large diorama of railway operations, and a working roundhouse and turntable dating from 1914, which is designated an Important Cultural Property as Japan’s oldest reinforced-concrete car shed.

Exhibition zones are organised around several key areas within the museum. The Promenade zone displays exterior rolling stock. 

The Main Hall is a three-storey building completed in 2016 and serves as the core interior exhibition space. The Twilight Plaza presents long-distance and premium trains. The Roundhouse houses many preserved steam locomotives and includes the adjacent working turntable. The Former Nijō Station building, relocated to the site, serves as an entrance building and houses the museum shop.

Among the museum’s visitor highlights are the massive model railway diorama on the second floor, which spans roughly 10 metres by 30 metres and presents 1/80-scale trains in a detailed landscape of stations, tunnels and yards. 

There are state-of-the-art train driving simulators where visitors can experience driving a train (and even dress up in a driver’s cap), and a steam train ride on a short track outside the roundhouse—typically a one-kilometre loop lasting about ten minutes—that allows a tangible experience of Japan’s steam-era railways. 

Additionally, the museum’s Sky Terrace on the third floor offers panoramic views of Kyoto city, including passing Shinkansen lines, Kyoto Tower and Tō-ji Temple in the background.

Access is very convenient: the museum is about a three-minute walk from Umekōji-Kyōtonishi Station on the JR Sagano Line, or approximately a 20-minute walk west of Kyoto Station. Bus services also stop directly at the museum.

Typical admission fees are around ¥1,500 for adults, and the museum is generally open from 10:00 to 17:00, with final entry around 16:30. It is closed on Wednesdays, except during school or national holiday periods, and between 30 December and 1 January.

A visit

Its architecture and layout are perhaps more conventional than The Railway Museum, but the collection is vast. Apparently there are more exhibits in Kyoto than in Saitama. 

On the day we went, it was crowded. It was National Sports Day or something like that. We saw how locals rushed to buy a Shinkansen-shaped bentō box. 

Doctor Yellow being especially popular. Doctor Yellow (ドクターイエロー, Dokutā Ierō) is the nickname for a series of high-speed maintenance of way trainsets that are used on JR Central’s Tōkaidō Shinkansen and JR West’s Sanyō Shinkansen lines.

A huge amount of rolling stock, including many steam locomotives, but also a ‘real’ level crossing and a draisine, a bike-like rail vehicle. 

Outside The Roundhouse features Thomas The Tank Engine‘s Japanese cousin. And you can go on a shirt steam train ride. It doesn’t go far, maybe 500 metres, but it’s a nice little ride. 

We spent quite a while at the museum, even if we barely read any panels, as most are in Japanese only. And we’re not fans of audioguides or downloading apps for translations. 

While we slightly feared Kyoto’s would be a let-down compared to Saitama, this was absolutely not the case. 

Railway and transport museums 

• REVIEW | Mazda Museum in Hiroshima.
• LITHUANIA | Railway Museum and Rail Park in Vilnius.
• REVIEW | Forney Transportation Museum in Denver.
• RIGA | National Library of Latvia and the Latvian Railway History Museum.
• REVIEW | The Railway Museum, Ōmiya, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture.
• REVIEW | ‘Belgian Railways Under Occupation: Between Collaboration and Resistance’ at Train World in Brussels.
• REVIEW | Conservatoire National de Véhicules Historiques & Musée d’Histoire de la Brasserie de Diekirch car and beer museums in Diekirch, Luxembourg.
• A visit of the Flemish Tram and Bus Museum – Vlaams Tram- en Autobusmuseum (VlaTAM) in Antwerp.
• MONTREAL | Exporail – Canadian Railway Museum in Saint-Constant.
• REVIEW | Motion and emotion at the London Transport Museum.
• BAVARIA | Lokwelt – Locomotive World in Freilassing .
• REVIEW | Orient-Express exhibition at Train World, Brussels’ railway museum.
• REVIEW | Train World exhibition ‘From Peking to Hankow: a Belgian adventure in China’.
• PHOTOS | Train World railway museum in Brussels.
• Railway and transport museums (not) to visit.
• Nuremberg Transport Museum / DB Museum. 
• Slovenian Railway Museum in Ljubljana. 
• VIDEO | Mail Rail and The Postal Museum in London. 
• Plans for a steam train heritage service between Brussels and Mechelen shelved.
• PHOTOS | Museo del Ferrocarril de Madrid Delicias railway museum.
• VIDEO | Museu del Ferrocarril de Catalunya – Catalonia Railway Museum in Vilanova.
• REVIEW | Romanian Railway Museum ‘Muzeul CFR’ and Bucharest.
• PHOTOS | UK’s National Railway Museum (NRM) in York.
• PHOTOS | Swiss Museum of Transport Verkehrshaus in Lucerne.
• PHOTOS | Het Spoorwegmuseum – Dutch Railway Museum in Utrecht.
• VIDEO | Return to Spoorwegmuseum Utrecht for the dining car exhibition ‘Tosti’s, truffels, treinen’.
• VIDEO | Stoomtram Hoorn – Medemblik steamtram light rail in Holland.
• Visiting Odense and the Danish Railway Museum.
• Deutsches Museum’s Verkehrszentrum or Transport Centre in Munich.

2025 Journey Across Japan

1. Japan’s Superconducting Maglev train breaks world speed record at 603 km/h.
2. Japan’s maglev bullet train delayed to 2035 or later as costs rise to ¥11 trillion.
3. QUESTION | Should you be stressed about travelling to Japan, and fear of missing out?.
4. Brussels Airport to Milan Malpensa with Brussels Airlines, operated by Air Baltic, ft. the 2025 check-in and boarding software hack.
5. REVIEW | Sala Montale Exclusive Lounge and Sala Gae Aulentin Premium Lounge at Milan Malpensa Airport, extra Schengen.
6. REVIEW | All Nippon Airways (ANA), Business Class, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to Tokyo.
7. REVIEW | Toei Animation Museum in Nerima, Tokyo.
8. JAPAN | Tokyo Station, its Character Street and Pokémon Store.
9. REVIEW | Onyado Nono Asakusa Hotel in Tokyo.
10. TOKYO | Asakusa ft. Sensō-ji Temple.
11. JAPAN | The Odoriko train from Tokyo to Ito on Izu Peninsula.
12. PHOTOS & REVIEW | The Izu Teddy Bear Museum in Izu-Kōgen.
13. JAPAN | A visit to Ito on Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture.
14. REVIEW | Japan’s Saphir Odoriko in Premium Green Car from Ito on Izu Peninsula to Tokyo Station.
15. GAY TOKYO | 24 Kaikan in Asakusa (+ Ueno and Shinjuku).
16. TOKYO | Sawara in Chiba Prefecture, ‘Little Edo’ beyond Narita.
17. TOKYO | Omotesandō in Shibuya – AEON Shinonome –  Uniqlo – Muji.
18. PHOTOS | The Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum in Koganei Park.
19. JAPAN | Solo in Tokyo.
20. REVIEW | Brussels Airport The View lounge.
21. REVIEW | Qatar Airways Business Class Brussels to Doha.
22. REVIEW | Qatar Airways Al Mourjan The Garden Business lounge.
23. REVIEW | Qatar Airways Q-Suite Business Class Doha to Tokyo.
24. REVIEW | Pullman Tokyo Tamachi.
25. REVIEW | The Railway Museum, Ōmiya, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture.
26. TOKYO | Imperial Palace East Gardens – Akihabara – Tamiya flagship store – Skytree.
27. JAPAN | Kanazawa Castle – Kenrokuen Garden – Higashi Chaya District.
28. REVIEW | Daiwa Roynet Hotel Kanazawa Eki Nishiguchi.
29. JAPAN | Road trip to Hida no Sato, Takayama and Shirakawa-go from Kanazawa.
30. OSAKA | Namba Parks – Dōtonbori – Glico Man – Shinsaibashi.
31. REVIEW | Swissôtel Nankai Osaka.
32. Experiencing Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai Japan.
33. KANSAI | Osaka Castle ft. Toyotomi Stone Wall Museum.
34. OSAKA | EGDE store – Umeda Sky Building – Grand Front – Namba Parks – Daiso – Luscious.
35. REVIEW | Mazda Museum in Hiroshima.
36. REVIEW | Candeo Hotels Hiroshima Hatchobori.
37. JAPAN | The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, the Peace Memorial Park and the Peace Memorial Museum.
38. JAPAN | Himeji Castle.
39. JAPAN | Itsukushima Shrine on Itsukushima aka Miyajima.
40. REVIEW | Miyajima Seaside Hotel.
41. REVIEW | Spending a night in a couples’ or love hotel: ホテルCOO玖 男塾ホテルグループ in Okayama.
42. KYOTO | Nishi Hongan-ji Temple.
43. KYOTO | Nijō Castle.
44. KYOTO | Kamo River – Takase River – Pontochō.
45. REVIEW | Mercure Kyoto Station.