This Is What Elderly Millionaires Spend Their Cash on in Japan
- Retirees last year received one-time bonuses worth $210,000
- Japan has more millionaires than China and Germany combined
A dining car inside the "Twilight Express Mizukaze" luxury train in Osaka.
Photographer: STR/AFP via Getty Images
The president of Kyushu’s biggest railway had a problem: too few people were riding his trains. The population was getting older, and since retirees don’t commute to work, the trick was getting people to want something they didn’t necessarily need. One answer: ultra-luxury trains.
It was such a hit that two of Japan’s top rail companies copied it. In May East Japan Railway Co. debuted its version, a 10-carriage sleeper that whisks its 34 passengers around in absolute splendor. A modern re-imagining of the old Orient Express, it has walls and ceilings that look like a glass honeycomb, a lounge pianist and menus by Michelin-starred chefs. Despite ticket prices as high as $8,400 for a three-night trip, it’s fully booked through March.