Have you ever wanted to ride a train completely themed to Pikachu? If so, you and I are in the same boat (or train). In northern Japan, you can do just this and so I snapped up a ticket to ride it for myself.
The ‘Pokémon With You’ train was introduced to Iwate and Miyagi prefectures to bring joy to the children in an area that was affected by the earthquake and tsunami disaster in 2011. It also brings tourism back to the area, with routes stopping off at places of interest, bringing money into the communities. Pokémon actually does this type of thing all throughout the country, most recently with a foot bath and airport decor overhaul in Noto to bring joy and tourism to the region after the New Year’s earthquake in 2024. Now, I know that it’s not just children that benefit from this, as I see adults loving it just as much as the younger generations, and these destinations have become a must visit for Pokémon fans everywhere.
The main route runs from Ichinoseki (which is also on the Shinkansen route) out to the coastal Kesennuma, which was majorly affected by the tsunami. It takes over a couple of hours to do the whole route, but there are some stops on the way if you’d prefer to break your journey earlier. I stopped at Geibikei Gorge (not to be confused with Genbikei…) for a relaxing boat ride and some pretty delicious soba. It also just so happened to have a pokélid too, if you enjoy finding those! There are a couple of other routes too, but they occur much less frequently.
Arriving at Ichinoseki, you’ll know you’re in the right place. Coming off the Shinkansen and also coming through the regular JR gates you’ll be greeted with a Pikachu statue (they’re different) with the date of travel. Just outside of the Shinkansen gates, there are also two commemorative stamps to put on a sheet or in your stamp book. You’ll also be given a stamp card when you get on the train which have the same stamps on them already and which you can continue to collect stamps along the route. The train staff actually escort everyone off to collect their stamps at the other stations before the train arrives at the final stop. The station is littered with Pikachu signs, decor and displays, including on the transfer and platform signs, window stickers along the bridge, images on the stairs and even a stand that mimics the front of the train.
I highly recommend getting there a little early to experience all of this at your leisure and without a lot of people around. If you’re connecting from a Shinkansen from Sendai, you might find you’re there an hour early unless you get the one that connects just before! There’s not a lot to do, but if you’re on a pass you can always exit the JR gates to check out Ichinoseki or just wait in the area by the shops. It’s recommended to arrive 30 minutes early as the train arrives 15 minutes before departure. This gives you time to take photos of the area, plus to have a good spot on the platform to see the train arrive. It shouldn’t be overly busy as the train only has one passenger carriage, but it’s nice to be a bit leisurely and not have to avoid people milling about to get your pictures.
Once the train arrives you can get right on, however the playroom carriage won’t open until the train starts its journey. Everyone is taking pictures outside and inside the train or getting settled, so you have plenty of time to grab photos before everyone is seated. Then you’re off and the staff will hand out your commemorative tickets and the stamp card. Speaking of seats, almost all of them are 2 x 2 formations facing each other and there isn’t a ton of space. This is perfect if you’re a family of four, but maybe less comfortable if you’re solo with 3 strangers. I didn’t mind at all, and in fact met a lovely couple who I ended up having lunch and doing the gorge boat trip with.
Once the train leaves, you can head into the playroom. As you can imagine the children race in first, but to be honest, the adults weren’t far behind and on this journey, the adults definitely outnumbered the children! There’s a huge Pikachu in the middle that the children don’t really leave and piles of Pikachu on the sofas and floor. There’s a huge pretend ticket for photo ops, plus Pikachu headbands, tails and Pokemon train driver hats. If you’re small enough, then there’s also a train driver’s jacket too! For those who only stay on for the first 40 minutes until Geibikei, you’ll want to take advantage of the time you have, plus about 30 minutes in, you’ll stop at the station before to hop off and get photos of some Pokémon “topiaries” and another chance to check out the train itself. If you’re staying on until Kesennuma then you’ll have plenty of opportunity to see the playroom and hang out in there with less of a rush, plus the children leave to eat lunch or do something else (even before Geibikei) which gives you the chance to experience it as a grown-up child!
I got off at Geibikei so I missed out on the rest of the stamps aside from that new one, but if you head all the way to Kesennuma, you can complete the rally. In terms of merch and other services, I believe there’s an opportunity to buy plushies and ice cream from the staff on board whilst travelling, but I didn’t see anything else, and most people had bought bento boxes or other food on board with them. If you’re planning the full route, definitely go prepared.
The train only runs on weekends and holidays – but do check the schedule just in case of changes – and must be booked one month in advance at 10:00am JST. I say ‘must’, because the route sells out extremely quickly. You need a basic fare ticket (or a rail pass) and then a reserved seat ticket. If you have a JR rail pass, like the Japan Rail Pass or JR East Pass, the seat ticket should be free, but if you’re going to use a pass for the ticket, you need to make sure you’ve already purchased it ahead of time to make your reservations with.
While it is a less travelled route, it’s a super easy day trip from Sendai and while the Pikachu train only runs once a day in each direction, there are other slightly quicker trains on the route too, but do check times as there aren’t a lot. If you do want to do both ways on the Pikachu train, then you’ll have about 3.5 hours in Kesennuma from arrival to departure, but obviously a lot longer if you stop in Geibikei, for example. In Geibikei this might be slightly too long, as once you’ve done the boat ride, had lunch and an ice cream, there’s not a ton else to do from what I could see, so you might only want to experience the train one way and then return on a regular one.
If you’re a Pikachu or a Pokémon fan in general, I highly recommend taking the train. It’s a ton of fun and you’ll be surrounded by people who enjoy it as much as you.
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