Tango KURO-MATSU Train, Autumn and Winter 2026: Breakfast, Lunch and Local Fish Courses

Running to and from Amanohashidate in northern Kyoto, the Kyoto Tango Railway operates the sightseeing train Tango KURO-MATSU Train.

Beyond its polished design, it draws people as a train where you get wide coastal views and a proper meal at the same time: a restaurant train in the full sense.

This article covers the autumn and winter courses running from October 2026 to March 2027 in detail.

If you like sightseeing trains, are planning a trip to Amanohashidate, or simply want good food with a view, this is worth a look.

Three Sightseeing Trains: Akamatsu, Aomatsu, and KURO-MATSU

Akamatsu, Aomatsu, and KURO-MATSU are the sightseeing trains of the Kyoto Tango Railway.

The exterior and interior were designed by Eiji Mitooka, and the warm, wood-based atmosphere has a following of its own.

Akamatsu is a cafe train serving Tango coffee and cakes along with light bites such as Amanohashidate wine, and it takes reservations. Aomatsu needs only the standard fare, with no reservation, which makes it the easiest of the three to ride as a sightseeing train.

And KURO-MATSU is a fully reserved restaurant train where a full course is served on board.

Every six months the course changes, and some passengers ride it again and again to compare one season with the next.

Here is a quick comparison of the routes and fares for the three trains.

Akamatsu, Aomatsu and KURO-MATSU at a glance

For more on how the three trains differ, and their timetables and fares, see the article below.

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KURO-MATSU Autumn and Winter Courses, October 2026 to March 2027

The courses on KURO-MATSU change every six months. For autumn and winter, from October 2026 to March 2027, there are three of them.

Breakfast course: 6,800 yen (tax included, souvenir included)
Lunch Course: 15,000 yen (tax included, souvenir included)
Local fish course: 7,500 yen (tax included, one drink included)

The Breakfast Course arrives at Amanohashidate, while the Lunch and Local Fish Courses depart from there. Services run on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, and each course seats up to 24 people. There are days around the New Year holidays with no service.

Booking opens at 10:00 on the same date three months before travel. Popular courses fill early, so if your dates are set, it is worth booking on the day reservations open.

Here is each of the three courses in turn.

Breakfast Course: Romantic Autumn Train Journey with Chestnuts

The autumn and winter Breakfast Course puts Tamba chestnuts at the center. WILLER TRAVEL bills it as a romantic autumn train journey with chestnuts, and the Japanese name plays on the words for chestnut and romance. In the clear air of the morning, each plate follows the sweetness of the chestnut a little further.

The first dish is the gift of the earth pie, chestnuts and mushrooms wrapped in pastry, with the smell of baking and the harvest of the season in one piece.The sweet potato and chestnut potage that follows layers two gentle sweetnesses, and it goes down easily even first thing in the morning.

For anyone with a sweet tooth, there is a Tamba chestnut Mont Blanc called Tambakuri, along with chestnuts simmered slowly in their inner skins.Tamba chestnuts are large, with a deep sweetness, and the simmered chestnuts may be the clearest way to taste the nut itself.

The course closes with Tamba black soybeans and brown sugar warabimochi, served with a hojicha jelly. Alongside the chestnuts, black soybeans, the other product Tamba is known for, get their moment too.

On the way the train stops at Oe Station for about 35 minutes, so you can step off and look around. The view from the window belongs to this course as well. Fukuchiyama is a former castle town, and from there the train passes green hills and farmland until, at Amanohashidate, the scenery turns to the Sea of Japan. It shifts slowly in the morning light, so it is worth looking up between courses.

Arriving at Amanohashidate at 11:51 means you can head straight into sightseeing. Ride it as breakfast, then spend the afternoon on the matanozoki view or a sightseeing boat.

Lunch Course: A Train Journey Exploring Navy Recipes

The Lunch Course is the most substantial of the three. Its theme is the navy recipes held in Maizuru, reworked for today. The full course arrives over the roughly 1 hour 45 minutes it takes to reach Nishi-Maizuru.

Maizuru is a port town where the former navy set up a regional headquarters in the Meiji era. On board ship, cooks worked out ways to feed a crew from limited supplies, and those recipes were written down. Looking at a menu of curry croquettes, clam chowder, nikujaga and chawanmushi, you notice how close much of it is to home cooking today.

The first plate is an assortment: a jellied terrine, caponata, sweet potato kinton and marinated bigfin reef squid. Then come pork kakuni steamed buns and a roast beef bowl, with a black sauce on the wagyu hamburg steak. An egg pudding finishes the meal, and the souvenir is a tin of biscuits whose label keeps the old spelling.

This course takes in the highlights along the line in one run. The first is Nagu Coast, where the track runs right along the water and the train stops for about 15 minutes so you can get off and take photographs. The second is the Yura River bridge, crossed slowly about six meters above the water, where the river and the sea read as one surface.

Local Fish Course: A Fresh Fish Culinary Rail Journey

The last of the three departures is the Local Fish Course. The idea is simple: seasonal seafood and local sake while the Sea of Japan takes on the colors of evening. At 1 hour 20 minutes, it is also the easiest to fit into a day.

At the center is an assortment of sashimi featuring kyo-sawara, Spanish mackerel. A Kyoto Prefecture brand fish, its fat is restrained, which suits raw preparation. Miyako maguro tuna is added when there is a catch.

Warm dishes are served as well: local fish grilled with crab miso, with Maizuru burdock tempura lightly seared, and Kumihama oysters with Maizuru kamaboko fried in nori and served in dashi. The kamaboko comes from Shimashichi, founded in 1920, and there is also Tango barazushi rolled into a maki.

One drink is included, chosen from local beer, local sake or a soft drink. The dishes are built around drinking, so it also suits anyone who wants to try the sake of Tango.

The train reaches Nishi-Maizuru at 17:24. From autumn into winter, that is right as the sun is going down. Nagu Coast (a stop of about 5 minutes) and the Yura River bridge are on this run too, so the sea shows a different color than it does at lunchtime.

Which Course Should You Take? A Quick Guide by Purpose

Even on the same train, departure times and content differ. Take the Breakfast Course if you want to pair it with sightseeing at Amanohashidate、take the Lunch Course if the meal is the point、and take the Local Fish Course for a short, easy ride.

Note that both the Lunch Course and the Local Fish Course leave from Amanohashidate and arrive at Nishi-Maizuru. Walk Amanohashidate in the morning and ride in the afternoon, and the day fits together neatly.

Frequently Asked Questions

When can I book?

Booking opens at 10:00 on the same date three months before travel. Because the food has to be prepared, the latest you can book is three days before you ride.

Does it run over the New Year holidays?

There are days with no service. For autumn and winter 2026, the Breakfast Course does not run from December 21 to January 7, and the Lunch and Local Fish Courses do not run from December 28 to January 7.

How many seats are there?

Each course seats 24. With so few seats, booking early is worthwhile once your dates are set.

Can I bring my own food and drink?

No. Bringing food or drink on board is not allowed.

How often does the menu change?

Every six months. Autumn and winter runs roughly from October to March and spring and summer from April to September, and the theme and the dishes change each year.

Which station do I board at?

The Breakfast Course runs from Fukuchiyama to Amanohashidate, while the lunch and Local Fish Courses run from Amanohashidate to Nishi-Maizuru. The boarding station differs by course, so check when you book.

How to Book the KURO-MATSU

KURO-MATSU can be booked on the pages below.

Breakfast Course
Lunch Course
Local fish course

Because the food has to be prepared, the latest you can book is three days before travel.

Booking opens at 10:00 three months ahead, and popular courses can sell out quickly. If your plans are set, book early.

After booking, show at the station counter either the confirmation email on your phone or a printout of it, and exchange it for the KURO-MATSU course ticket.

Bringing your own food or drink on board is not allowed.

Three Places to Stay Near Amanohashidate with Good Food

Before or after the train, it is worth staying somewhere that offers both the food of Amanohashidate and a hot spring. Here are three places near Amanohashidate known for their meals.

Ruriha: Room for a Larger Group

Every villa has a hot spring and a private pool at Natural Hot Spring and Private SPA Ruriha。

There are 18 villas in all, including types with a sauna or a heated pool and jacuzzi, and types that sleep up to eight people.

It suits the kind of trip where you want to treat your parents to good crab, or throw a proper birthday party for a friend.

On the winter-only Kani Marche plan, live crab is served as sashimi, shabu-shabu, hot pot, grilled, or finished as rice porridge, however you prefer it.

The plan is popular, so book early if it interests you.

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Hanashobu: For Anyone Who Comes for the Hot Spring

Four groups a day, each with a villa to themselves, at the private villa Hanashobu。

Each villa has a gold hot spring, a rock salt bath and a medicinal bath in an open-air bath, so you can take your time without anyone else around.

Each villa is decorated to its own theme, and the finish is understated.

The crab plan is the popular choice, but if you book room only, nearby options include the sushi restaurant Zabo, the Japanese restaurant Tenko、and the Italian restaurant Cielo

.

Marinetopia The Suite: A Hearth to Gather Around

On high ground with a view over the landscape of Amanohashidate stands Marinetopia The Suite.

Every suite villa is rented whole, and there are 13 of them.
These also come with a private pool and a natural hot spring, so the tiredness of the trip has somewhere to go.

An irori hearth sits in the dining space, and everyone can gather around it over crab. The hearth is only at Marinetopia The Suite, which makes it the choice if you want that particular atmosphere.

If you let them know up to three days before your stay, the villa will collect you from Amanohashidate Station free of charge.
It works well for a trip with family or a group of friends.

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Summary

This article covered the autumn and winter courses running from October 2026 to March 2027 on the Tango KURO-MATSU Train, the sightseeing train that runs to and from Amanohashidate.

Tamba chestnuts, the navy recipes kept in Maizuru, and local fish from the Sea of Japan: each course is built from ingredients that belong to Tango.

The line also passes Nagu Coast and the Yura River bridge, the two best views on the Kyoto Tango Railway.

Even the ordinary farmland and villages of northern Kyoto make for a quiet, restful stretch of window.

The courses change every six months. Check the content and availability for your dates on the official reservation page before you build the trip around it.

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