Japan's most scenic train ride takes you to sakura heaven and apple pie nirvana

No trip to Japan is complete without at least one train ride. It's simply the best way to get around in a country that obsesses over its rails.

Tourists will see kids wearing backpacks painted in the colors of their favorite Shinkansen (Japan’s high-speed bullet trains), find multiple museums dedicated to the preservation of every era of railcar, and, most importantly, explore an island-spanning infrastructure that can get you wherever you need with peerless speed and reliability.

But despite all that enthusiasm, most trains in Japan have a cold, efficient feel. I've traveled to Japan dozens of times, ridden countless trains to many places, and yet never have had one pick me up or drop me off more than a few minutes off schedule. None, though, have tugged at my heartstrings like the Smile Train.

Cherry blossoms are a big deal in certain parts of the U.S. If you're in Washington, D.C., or Macon, Georgia, you can’t miss some extra tourists wandering about in late spring, but it's a fairly localized thing.

In Japan, this season is a country-wide event. Sakura, as cherry blossoms are called in Japanese, are found across nearly the entire country, and tracking the optimal time to view them is an obsession. The Japan Meteorological Corporation, or JMC, provides incredibly detailed forecasts and projections. Since the blossoms only open for a little over a week at a time, timing is key.

Visit Japan in peak season, and you'll find everything from pastel-pink, blossom-flavored ice cream to blushing, doughy bread, not to mention an endless sea of sakura souvenirs. Tourists flock in, trains get jammed and the most popular sites near Tokyo, like Ueno Park and Shinjunku Gyoen, are full of more awed onlookers than open blossoms.

This year, I decided to hunt down some flowering trees outside of the city while also getting a better taste of rural Japanese communities that are too often ignored by tourists. I thought about renting a car and driving north, but not only is fuel prohibitively priced here, but the tolls for highway driving make road tripping a very expensive pursuit.

So I started looking into train options, and that's when I found the Smile Train.

Formally called the Akita Nairiku Jukan Tetsudo Railway, it's often referred to as Japan's most scenic train. Its unofficial name, the Smile Train, was earned not only because the attendants and conductors are all so friendly, but because you can expect to be smiling as you disembark. 

And there's good reason to smile. The Smile Train starts in Kakunodate in Akita Prefecture to the west and makes it easy to get up to Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture to the north. These two destinations are rich with history and loaded with scenic spots and amazing foods. 

Your Smile Train journey will start in Kakunodate, but it's worth taking a day to explore before heading onward. About three hours by Shinkansen from Tokyo, the most futuristic city on the planet, Kakunodate is a town still rooted in the 17th century. While most of Japan's castles and residences from this period have been lost over the years, here you'll find an immaculately preserved street of Edo-period homes once owned by the area's highest-ranking samurai.

At that time, the residences of the powerful were often hidden behind walls. The wealth and status of the inhabitants within were exhibited by the size and beauty of their gates. Walk through the so-called Samurai District in Kakunodate, and you'll see those walls and stunning entryways preserved. More importantly, you can enter and explore grounds within that look like something out of a Kurosawa epic.

Most of these homes are free to explore, but two of the larger houses will set you back 500 yen. That cost, about $3 in time of writing, is more than fair to get a look inside. In one, you can even hold a genuine katana, getting a feel for the weight of the curved sword that these warriors carried into battle.

Kakunodate isn't all about fighting, though. This is also a hub for fine woodworking. Kabazaiku is an ancient art of creating beautiful objects from cherry bark. Much like tiradors in Portugal, who carefully harvest cork bark without killing the trees upon which it grows, workers in Japan meticulously strip the trunks of wild cherry trees.

The bark has a distinct, lustrous shimmer that looks better and deeper the more you examine it. It's used as a fine veneer on products like delicate boxes, game boards and serving trays. It was even used on samurai armor back in the day, appropriate since this was an art form often enjoyed by those warriors in their downtime.

The Kakunodate Cherry-Bark Work Museum also costs 500 yen to enter, and despite its small size, is well worth the price of admission. You'll not only see a rotating collection of historic artifacts like samurai armor, but you can also find local artists selling their work, which you can watch them make.

When it's time to refuel yourself, Kakunodate is riddled with restaurants serving locally made Inaniwa udon noodles in hot or cold broth. On the chilly, drizzly day that I visited, I opted for the former, following my nose to a little shop tucked between the samurai homes. A steaming bowl of soup served with a side of hot barley tea quickly thawed my frozen toes.

One note: Restaurants in Kakunodate tend to open late and close early. Very few places were open past 5 p.m., so don't wait too long to find food. 

Compared to the sleek bullet train that takes you up to Kakunodate from Tokyo, the Smile Train is a ticket from another time. It's blunt and tiny, just one or two cars long depending on the day, and while most of Japan's trains whisk along electrically, the Smile Train has a distinctly diesel rattle to it.

The train cars are even more charming on the inside. I was lucky to get the Akita car, celebrating the prefecture’s namesake dog. Instead of walls covered in advertisements for cosmetics and video games like your average Tokyo subway, this car is decorated with pictures of adorable, fuzzy dogs romping and playing and, yes, smiling for the camera.