Sunny-Go Train Guide in English: 2026 Schedule, Tickets & How to Ride

The Sunny-Go Train is a real train painted as the Thousand Sunny. It runs on the Minamiaso Railway through the green Aso caldera in Kumamoto, Eiichiro Oda's home prefecture. The official info is only in Japanese and the timetable is hidden inside an image, so we translated all of it here.

Last checked: October 24, 2026. Details are from the official ONE PIECE Kumamoto Revival Project site and the Minamiaso Railway website.

What is the Sunny-Go Train?

The Minamiaso Railway was badly damaged in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake and only fully reopened in July 2023. To celebrate, the ONE PIECE Kumamoto Revival Project turned one of its trains into the Thousand Sunny, covered in Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and the rest of the crew.

Three things make the ride worth it:

• Hidden characters along the line. One Piece characters are hidden in the scenery you see from the window. Some are hard to spot, so the official site jokes that you'll need to ride more than once.
• Photo spots at both ends. Tateno and Takamori stations each have a Sunny-Go photo spot.
• The Franky statue. It stands in Takamori, the end of the line. It's one of the ten Straw Hat statues across Kumamoto.

Route

The train runs the whole Minamiaso Railway line, about 17.7 km:

Tateno (connects to JR) ⟷ Takamori (Franky statue)

The ride takes about 40–50 minutes each way.

2026 running days (September – November)

The Sunny-Go Train only runs on certain days, and there are two kinds of runs:

• Unreserved runs: every seat is first come, first served. No booking needed, and you pay the normal fare.
• Reserved runs: every seat is reserved. You must book in advance and pay the fare plus a seat fee.

Days still to come this season:

• October: Fri 30 (unreserved only) · Sun 25 and Sat 31 (unreserved + reserved)
• November: Fridays 6, 13, 20, 27 (unreserved only) · Sat/Sun and holidays 1, 3, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 (unreserved + reserved)

On Fridays the train makes one round trip (unreserved only). On weekends and holidays it makes two round trips, one of each kind. The season's last day is Sunday, November 29, 2026. Dates from December on haven't been announced yet.

Timetable

Unreserved run (no booking)

• Takamori 8:50 → Tateno 9:21
• Tateno 12:00 → Takamori 12:40

Reserved run (booking required)

• Takamori 13:40 → Tateno 14:29
• Tateno 15:35 → Takamori 16:25

The railway says days and times can change, and you may not be able to board if the train is too full. Always check the official page the week you go.

Fares (adults)

• Unreserved run: the normal fare, ¥550 one way between Tateno and Takamori
• Reserved run: ¥550 fare + ¥510 seat fee = ¥1,060 one way
• Children (ages 3–11): half the normal fare, rounded up

Fares went up on October 1, 2026, so the official One Piece site still shows the old ¥490. The railway also plans to raise the seat fee to ¥550 (booked ahead) or ¥650 (same day) from March 2027.

Paying: IC cards (Suica and similar) don't work on the Minamiaso Railway. When you board, take a numbered ticket from the machine by the door. Pay in cash into the fare box when you get off.

How to book the reserved run

• Booking opens 30 days before the ride, at 10:00 a.m. Japan time
• Book on the railway's official reservation site, yoyaku.travel (Japanese). Weekend seats go fast, so book on day one
• No reservation? Ride the unreserved run instead. On weekends, line up early at Tateno for the 12:00 departure

Getting there from Kumamoto City

By train (easiest): Take the JR Hohi Line from Kumamoto Station towards Miyaji and get off at Tateno. Then cross over to the Minamiaso Railway platform.

• Buy a paper ticket to Tateno. IC cards only work as far as Higo-Ōzu. If you use one, you must get off at Higo-Ōzu and buy a ticket for the rest of the way.
• A JR Kyushu Rail Pass covers the JR part to Tateno, but not the Minamiaso Railway.

By bus: The Sanko Bus Kaisoku Takamori-gō or Tokkyū Takachiho-gō runs from Kumamoto Sakuramachi Bus Terminal to Takamori Chūō. It takes about 2 hours and costs ¥1,030, then Takamori Station is a 10-minute walk. From Aso Kumamoto Airport the same buses take about 50 minutes (¥1,010).

By car: From Aso Kumamoto Airport it's about 25 minutes to Tateno or 40 to Takamori. From Kumamoto IC it's about 40 minutes to Tateno or an hour to Takamori.

A simple day plan

1. Morning JR train from Kumamoto to Tateno, and snap the Sunny-Go photo spot
2. Board the 12:00 unreserved Sunny-Go and look for the hidden characters
3. Reach Takamori at 12:40. Have lunch, see the Franky statue and the second photo spot
4. Head back on a regular Minamiaso train (or the trolley train) to Tateno and JR to Kumamoto. Or take the bus from Takamori Chūō

Got a car? You can add more of the Aso-side statues on the same day. See our Kumamoto statue hub and how to get to Kumamoto.

Before you go

• Check on the day. Weather can stop trains (there was a typhoon notice on October 24), so check the Minamiaso Railway news page first. After the July 2026 earthquake, the railway reports it's running normally.
• Bring cash. Coins and ¥1,000 notes are easiest for the fare box.
• Make it a double header. Ride the ONE PIECE Shinkansen bullet train to Hakata on the way.
• Sit on both sides. Characters hide on both sides of the line, so take turns at the windows.

Official sources: ONE PIECE Kumamoto Revival Project – Sunny-Go Train · Minamiaso Railway timetable · Fare change notice