What it’s like to ride the world’s most luxurious train

Seven prefectures of Kyushu, seven cars and seven-star service. Christopher Hooton boards Japan's Seven Stars train

Seven Stars (Photography Alan Schaller)

Experiencing luxury at speed is a curious human fixation, and a kind of final frontier for the uber rich.

But more decadent than hurtling through the sky eating sliced kiwi off a black slate is rolling through the countryside as a piano and violin duo serenade you.

This is what’s on offer on the Seven Stars Kyushu, a luxury train that carries passengers along a perpetually jaw-dropping route through Kyushu, Japan‘s southernmost island. The train is operated by Japan Railways Group, the company behind the ubiquitous JR trains that web the entire country.