Starting October 15, a new kind of luxury travel can be experienced at Japan’s Kyushu region.

Seven Stars is an ultra-luxury train operated by JR Kyushu and designed by Eiji Mitooka. Its name comes from the seven prefectures of the island and the seven components of the cruise train.

According to telegraph.co.uk:

The Kyushu Seven Stars aims to rival luxury train journeys such as the Orient Express and the Ghan, and they’ve thrown everything at it. There’s hand-crafted woodwork and delicate art throughout. There are musicians, magicians and on-board staff who have spent a year in pre-launch training. The whole thing has cost three billion yen — around £20 million.

Here are the luxe features of the Kyushu Seven Stars:

• 12 en-suite (with bed and arm chair)
• 2 luxury suites (with fully extended bed, sofa and chairs)
• lounge car with piano and bar
• top dining facilities (all meals on and off-board are included and the menus include French and Japanese cuisine)
• rich bathroom fixtures (showers lined with aromatic hinoki cypress wood, ceramic sinks inspired by Satsuma porcelain, bamboo blinds and shoji, paper screens)
• glass wall observation area

The price?

Well it varies according to the number of days and kind of suite and it covers all specifications of the itinerary (accommodation, meals, entertainment, etc.)

The lowest range is as follows:

• 2 person suite: 155,000 yen ($1588.90) per person for a two day/one night train cruise
• 3 person suite: 227,000 yen ($2326.98) per person for two days/one night

A longer trip of 4 days/3 nights includes one night in the luxurious Wasurenosato Gajoen (a Japanese ryokan or inn).

The Seven Stars is said to be the first expedition train to bring passengers this close to Kyushu’s many tourist attractions and it is already booked until June of 2014.

Photo credit: www.canoe.ca

Photo credits: www.japantimes.co.jp