Transportation

Rahm Emanuel’s ‘Train Geek’ Diplomacy Is a Hit in Japan

The former Chicago mayor, now US ambassador to Japan, has been taking public transit on official trips, winning over local rail fans with his enthusiasm for train travel.

Rahm Emanuel walks through an automatic ticket gate at Yokosuka Chuo station in Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan, on Feb. 17, 2022. — Rahm Emanuel walks through an automatic ticket gate at Yokosuka Chuo station in Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan, on Feb. 17, 2022.
Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Isabella Steger, Yasutaka Tamura, and Isabel Reynolds

June 14, 2022 at 10:00 PM UTC

Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, is trying a more diplomatic tack by eschewing the standard armored BMW and choosing to take trains and subways as he traverses the country.

Since he assumed the job in January, the former Chicago mayor has been using his Twitter feed to share photos of his official travels aboard Japan’s rail network. He raved about his first trip aboard the famed shinkansen high-speed trains, and has also been seen walking to meetings with Japanese officials rather than going by car.