I Took a Sleep Capsule Train Across Japan

If I told you there was a sleeper train that could take you across an entire country with breathtaking views, but you had to sleep in a tiny little pod next to two completely random strangers, would you take it? But the journey doesn't start here in America. It all starts right here, ladies and gentlemen, in Tokyo, Japan. First I gotta find the train station. Okay, guys, it's about 9.15 or 9.20 here at Tokyo Station, and I am waiting on my train to come. The train is basically like a moving hotel, so I'm gonna go to sleep in Tokyo and wake up in a completely different part of Japan, basically. Oh, I think it's just arrived. Just like that, it was time to board the Sunrise Express. I was feeling really excited, and then I saw the sleep pods and how close quarters they are, and to be honest, I started to get a little bit nervous, because I've never slept this close to a stranger before. I was also super thankful I chose the upper level, because I'm pretty claustrophobic. Turns out Japanese is kind of hard to read. I booked the lower level. My sleep pod is called the Nobi Nobi Pod, which is just an awesome name. Nobi Nobi. Oh, and by the way, you guys would be so proud of me, because I finally mustered up the courage to talk to my neighbor using my translator app, and we had a great conversation. So this is where we're gonna be sleeping tonight. Okay, so it wasn't much, but I did feel a little bit better after breaking the ice with my next-door neighbor, and that's when I noticed that the train had officially departed. We were leaving Tokyo and headed for ... Wait, I just realized I haven't told you guys where we're going yet. Let me explain. See, all of this started with my little brother, Carlos, who recently took a trip to Japan and told me ... Bro, I promise you, I went to Japan and I had the best noodles in the world. To which I responded ... Bro, there's no way they're the best noodles in the world. And then he proceeded to tell me ... One of my favorite parts was the snacks. Like the 7-Eleven Japanese snacks were so good. You gotta meet the people, because everyone is super friendly and just so nice. And then at some point on the trip, just make sure to catch a sunrise. But I'm telling you, bro, just the noodles alone is worth the trip. I have to try these noodles for myself and accomplish the other things he recommended me to do along the way. And maybe, just maybe, if Carlos is lucky, bring him back a snack from Japan, since he's my brother and I love him. You know what I mean? But that's still a maybe. I'm going to go ahead and get my bed and room all set up, and then I'll show it to you guys. So let's do it. It's very cozy in here. This was the blanket that they gave all of us, which kind of felt a little bit more like a sheet. And I'll be honest and say that all of the movement that went into making my bed in this tiny little space just made me even more claustrophobic and hot. This is going to be my bed for the night, and this is going to be my pillow. Yeah, that's a bag of clothes. We did it. Okay, I'm not going to lie. It took me just a second to get comfortable there when I first walked in. It was pretty hot, and I realized it was just because I was wearing a ton of different layers. And I also felt a little bit claustrophobic. I'm also not just sitting uncomfortably close to a stranger, but I'm laying uncomfortably close to a stranger. This is the moment I realized just how much trust is going to be required to sleep next to two people I've never met before. But alas, ladies and gentlemen, we are off. And I was headed to find those noodles Carlos told me about. First of all, the pod I'm in is a seven foot by three feet tiny little space, just enough for my six foot two self to lay down and be cozy. Look how cozy I look. Also, why did this animation give me this much gray hair? I'm 27 years old, for goodness sake. There's no curtain separating you or your friends could be kind of nice now that I think about it. But there is a curtain that separates you from like the hallway outside. I wanted to make a friend, but the people on both sides of me were asleep at that point. Who knows? Maybe I can make a friend in the morning. Imagine I just wake one of them up and I'm like, will you be my friend? That's really creepy. Above my head, there was a cozy warm light and then there was a singular cup that I guess I could use for water. There was a reading light and there was a nice vent that was pointed right down on my face, which made me feel better because I was scared I was going to get hot. And then let's talk about what I'm laying on. Well, it's basically carpet on hardwood. Feels like I'm laying on hardwood. And then on top of that hardwood was a very thin blanket that I was using as a mattress in this situation. And we can't forget you guys. There you are. There also isn't like a spot for your luggage. I just kind of had to cram the luggage in there with me and use it as a little bit of a barrier between me and my neighbor friend. Look, I'm just being safe, guys. It's just in case. Just in suitcase. I've slept in a lot worse and the rumble of the train tracks and the cool air on my face. I mean, I could fall asleep just talking to you guys right now. It's very cozy and I'm very excited to see the views from my window in the morning. Before I let myself go to bed, I kind of want to explore the rest of this train. Let's go do it. By this point on my journey, I was making some great progress towards those life-changing noodles. But before getting there, I had to cross some things off my brother's must-see list. And I think Japanese snacks might be next. I wanted to be a good neighbor slash roommate, so I snuck out as quietly as I possibly could. And I also heard that there was a cafe car and some showers on this train. So I set off to explore to try to find both. On my way, I passed one of the other rooms and tried not to get jealous of how spacious it was. Shortly after that, I did find the cafe car that had the vending machine in it with tons of drinks. But unfortunately, I didn't see any snacks there. And then I met this kind conductor and asked him about the showers. After following him for what seemed like a really long time, I unfortunately found out. Okay guys, well, I made it to the bathroom and this bathroom, just like everything else in Japan, is futuristic as heck. It is so weird being this old, I mean, it is so weird being this young and discovering something for the first time like I've never experienced before. I love this feeling. It's a little bit intimidating. It's a little bit exhilarating. But experiencing new stuff where you're totally out of your comfort zone is just like crazy. I'm literally sleeping in there next to two strangers. They could be tickling my eardrums while I'm asleep. Let's hope they don't do that. During that tour of the train, one thing I did find was a vending machine. Unfortunately, it only had drinks, but not to worry. Your boy brought his own snacks. A few hours earlier, that was my impersonation of the guy from Spongebob. It's not a Tonio video if I'm not stopping at a gas station, even in Japan. And I hear incredible things about Japanese convenience stores, including Japanese 7-Elevens. Snacks, like the 7-Eleven Japanese snacks are so good. So I want to go in here and get some snackage so that future me, hi future me, can thank me because I don't think that there's going to be food on the train. So if I don't bring any, then I'm kind of cooked. So let's go explore 7-Eleven and see what kind of snack options it has to offer. I'm honestly so overwhelmed right now. There is such an assortment of goods. I don't really even know where to start, but I'm just going to start picking stuff. Wish me luck, guys. After that incredible experience at 7-Eleven, I got my snacks and now I just needed a friend to share them with. So I made my way on over to the cafe car to see if I could meet anybody. And boy, am I glad that I did. But before I introduce you to my new friend I just made, I have to say this, that traveling across the country like this is pretty awesome, but to truly find money freedom wherever you are, you need the right tools. That's why I'm partnering with Revolut. And right now, users can get a $40 bonus by signing up using the link in my description. See, Revolut is a financial app that gives you total control, whether you're traveling or just managing your everyday money. Let me explain. See, with Revolut, you can exchange, hold, and spend in over 25 currencies with no foreign exchange fees during market hours. You can even send or receive money in over 140 countries at competitive rates and low fees. You can spend right away with a prepaid debit card, and their standard plan has $0 monthly fees. And for my international viewers, get it? Like, it's a map, international. Well, if you are one of those international viewers and you're currently living in the U.S., without an SSN or an ITIN, you can sign up in minutes using just a government ID and a valid U.S. visa, and even get your paycheck up to two days early. That'd be nice. At the end of the day, it's about managing your money whatever way works for you. So join over 70 million customers worldwide, and be sure and use the link down below to get your $40 bonus and start your journey to money freedom. Thanks again to Revolut for making this whole video possible. Let's get back on that train. What's your name? My name is Chun Byung Kwan. Chun Byung Kwan. Is that good? Kind of close. So, where are you from? I'm from Korea. Korea! That's awesome. Yeah, I'm traveling by myself. At first, I traveled with my friend. My friend went back to Korea, and I'm traveling with the rest of my itinerary. Oh, you want to try my snacks with me? Yeah, sure. Thank you. Okay, sweet. Okay, so I got a bunch of stuff. I don't know what it is, so I'm just going to try. Do you speak Japanese? Not really, but... I don't speak it either. I'm so bad at it. You're good at English. Yeah. I don't speak Korean. I speak Spanish. Chocolate waffle. Looks pretty good. Oh, have you seen these? Yeah. I heard these are good. You like these? Steamed cheesecake, yeah. Hi-Chew. So, you pick three, I'll pick three, and we can taste them. I'll pick the chocolate waffle. I'll try the cheesecake. You want that? Okay, awesome. Okay, I'll take this. Nice. What does it taste like? Tastes like, how do you say, steamed bun with custard cream, but it is really nice. Like, really sweet, but not too sweet. You know what? I'm going to try the cheesecake. It tastes like fluffy cake. Nice. Wait, I'll get one too. It's nice. Salty. Tastes kind of like a chocolate donut. Oh, I love those. I already know what those taste like. Nice, that's good. Awesome. We have one last thing to eat. Egg salad sandwich. Oh, this might smell a little bit. Cheers. This is really good. Creamy. Creamy and a bit salty, and I like the eggs, so this is kind of perfect. Perfect. I love eggs too. I buy these things a lot when I travel by train. When there is like, you know, no equipment shops near the station, or maybe in some cases where I cannot find a restaurant to get breakfast or lunch in some extreme cases, because I'm running on a packed schedule now. So are you going to sleep or stay up all night? I'm not sure. I was thinking of sleeping because I didn't sleep much last night, but I can stay up all night because I'm quite young. That's awesome. Yeah, I haven't slept much either. I'm excited to sleep tonight. Well, now you have another friend. Yeah. Well, Jongpyeongwon, thank you for eating this delicious spread of gas station snacks with me. My pleasure. We sat and ate together for a little while longer before bed, and I couldn't help but think about how proud my little brother Carlos would be of me for making a friend. And he even subscribed to the channel because I told him about my crazy goal of trying to hit a million subscribers before the end of this year. Now's a good time to subscribe too if you're enjoying this adventure. And after that, it was time to say our goodbyes. Everyone should go comment, I will never forget Jongpyeongwon, because he'll probably see this video. I think it'd be a nice surprise. My little brother was definitely right about the people here. They're pretty great. That was just awesome. I'll go grab my toothbrush and let's get ready for bed. If I'm honest, this was the part I was putting off a little bit because I was a little bit nervous to sleep on this train next to complete strangers and also a little bit claustrophobic. Surprisingly enough, as soon as I put my sleep mask on, the rocking of the train was kind of weirdly soothing, and I started to fall asleep really quickly. Good morning, guys. Our train is about to arrive at Okayama Station, and I'm not getting off here, but this is a really cool part of the journey where this train actually splits in two. So they split the train, and one train goes to Izumo, which is another part of Japan, and the other side of the train, which I'm on, goes to another part of Japan. So the train actually splits. So we're going to go get off the train really quick and see if we can catch the split. I think that's where my two roommates have gone off to. I could be wrong. Let's go try to see. My mobility was certainly being put to the test after crawling in and out of this space so many times. The train was stopping for just a few minutes, allowing just enough time for me and the other passengers to get off, catch the split, and get right back on either train, depending on where we were going. And just when I thought this moment couldn't get any more fun, my boy Chung Pyung Won was right there with me the whole time. The good news is that train split was both awesome and slightly anticlimactic, but the sad news is this split meant my friend was going to be on the opposite train as me, headed to another city, and we had to say goodbye. Goodbye, Chung Pyung Won. You are a great friend, and I have a mission to finish. And now I could go back to sleep, or I could stay up just a little bit. There's the sunrise. I think I'm going to stay up because I want to see the sunrise over the ocean. I was getting closer to my destination, and I was just excited that I made it through the night on this claustrophobic train. The sun is slowly rising, and I think here in just a little bit, we're going to be on a bridge over the ocean, and we'll be able to see the sunrise, I think. We'll just have to see what happens. But I was reflecting on my sleep last night, and it's crazy how comfortable I felt despite being next to two strangers. The special part about Japan is that it's a very high-trust culture. There was a guy last night charging his phone out of the hallway while he was asleep in his room. I love that part of Japan. I actually slept surprisingly good last night, and I think the hardwood floor helped straighten my back out. I'm not even kidding. I think I'm like an inch taller now. And I was worried about being hot, but this vent right above me kept me nice and cool. And neither of my friends really snored. I probably did, though. This is so beautiful. I can't stop thinking about the fact that I'm going to have some of the best noodles in the world. We were about to arrive, and I was going to try those noodles, but not before catching a sunrise over the ocean. Carlos is going to be stoked. Watching the sunrise over the ocean on a Japanese sleeper train was not in my bingo card for 2026. But I will take it. And I haven't even had my coffee yet. Unfortunately, I don't think there is any coffee on this train. But who needs coffee when you've got some of the world's best noodles on the way? Imagine I pull up to this noodle place, and they just serve me ramen noodles from Costco. Like the little orange packets. Look, I didn't get that much sleep, okay? And after a long overnight journey, we made it to Takamatsu. I think that's how you say it. And instead of saying goodbye to my neighbor, I accidentally said thank you. We've made it, guys. Let's go get some delicious noodles for breakfast. All right, guys. We made it here to Takamatsu. Takamatsu. And your name? Haruki. And? Takumi. You guys were up all night taking pictures on the train. Yeah. Are you tired? Yeah. Yes. Well, we made it. I'm so excited. And I'm going to go get some udon noodles. Same. Yeah. Let's do it. Nice. Thanks, guys. See you, guys. Man, I love this place. Everybody is so kind. Yeah. I'm really cold right now. So I'm going to put my gloves on. And let's go find some noodles. I have to tell you right now, my friends. This is going to be a good bowl of noodles. We're taking an overnight train. Well, guys. I guess it turns out that my little brother wasn't lying. Those were the world's best noodles. And because of that, I couldn't go back to America without bringing him a snack from one of his favorite countries. Snacks from Japan. Cassie. What did they tell you about us?