It's mid-winter in Japan. Even if it's mild during the daytime, it gets cold in the morning. The lowest temperature is less than 5 degrees Celsius in Tokyo these days. Japanese people want to go to hot springs in this climate. Needless to say, hot springs are effective for warming the body and relaxing.
In this season, JR East operates a special train, "Yunotabi Kusatsu-Shima (Hot spring tour to Kusatsu and Shima)", between Ueno in Tokyo Metropolis and Naganohara-Kusatsuguchi in Gumma Prefecture. It's of course convenient for tourists, but in addition, very popular among rail-fans. Why? Because, this special train has bodies with nostalgic "JNR limited express colors". JNR, which stands for Japanese National Railways, was once Japan's largest railway operator. It was split into seven railway companies, and privatized as the JR Group in 1987 due to financial difficulties. During the JNR era, plenty of limited express trains had two-toned bodies of red and cream, which was frequently called "JNR limited express color". It fitted into any kind of scenery in Japan from urban business centers to mountain forests. After privatizing, all the JNR's limited express trains were ceded to each JR company. Since then, these trains were gradually scrapped or modified, and lost the original color designs, but many rail-fans are still boisterous about this coloring.
The JNR limited express-colored train of yesteryear is back using set K70 of the EMU JR East E653 series. Let's go to hot springs riding the special train, "Yunotabi Kusatsu-Shima"!
