Hakone to Tokyo Romancecar Ride
Front-window cab view on Odakyu's Romancecar, from Hakone's hot-spring hills into Shinjuku.
Moving camera: its position on the map is approximate.
About this view
The Romancecar is Odakyu's limited express between the Hakone hot springs and Shinjuku, famous for observation seats set ahead of the driver; this gives you that front window for the full run, some 88 km of it, with a calm piano over the rails.
The ride is Japan compressed: mountain gorge and forest out of Hakone-Yumoto, then castle-town Odawara, then an hour of suburbs thickening station by station until the train slides into Shinjuku, the world's busiest railway station, moving several million passengers a day.
Live from the past, and best watched end to end as ambience: the rhythm of passing loops, station jingles and level crossings is the point. Real-world tip: on the actual train, the front seats sell out first. Book ahead.
