The was an overnight sleeper train service in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

operated by

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

from

Kyoto Station Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the city ...

Nagasaki Station is a railway station in Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It is the terminus of the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen and the Nagasaki Main Line. The station is connected by the ''Kamome'' Shinka ...

and return. It ran on the Tōkaido, Sanyō,

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

, and

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

main lines. From October 2005, the train ran coupled with the ''

Naha is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 persons per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). The total area i ...

'' sleeper between Kyoto Station and

Tosu Station Tosu or tOSU may refer to: Cities * Tosu, Russia, a ''selo'' (village) in Vilyuysky District, Sakha Republic * Tosu, Saga, a city in Japan ** Sagan Tosu, an association football club in Tosu, Saga ** Shin-Tosu Station, a railway station in Tosu, Sa ...

. Due to falling passenger numbers, both the ''Naha'' and ''Akatsuki'' services ceased following the March 15, 2008, timetable revision.

Schedule

Timetable of ''Akatsuki'', as of March 2008 before its discontinuation Source
Ekikara Jikokuhyō

History

''Akatsuki'', as an overnight

limited express A limited express is a type of express train service. It refers to an express service that stops at a limited number of stops in comparison to other express services on the same or similar routes. Japan The term "limited express" is a common ...

service, was introduced on October 1, 1965, by

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

. It was operated between Shin-Ōsaka and two destinations in

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

, namely Nishi-Kagoshima (present-day Kagoshima-Chūō) and

. It was connected at Shin-Ōsaka with the

Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 1964, ...

. In the 1960s, the operation of ''Akatsuki'' was increased. Its maximum operation was 14 services (7 round-trips) a day in the mid-1970s, and all of them were connected with the

. At the end of the 1970s, the number of ''Akatsuki'' services was reduced due to decreasing ridership. From November 1986, ''Akatsuki'' remains as only two services (one round-trips) a day. Due to falling passenger numbers, the service was discontinued in March 2008.

Rolling stock

Historically, ''Akatsuki'' used the following types of coaches: *20 series passenger cars *14/15 series passenger cars *24/25 series passenger cars When the train was discontinued, the train consisted of 14/15 series cars.

Schedule

History

Rolling stock

See also