What this article covers
- What Gran Class actually costs (our real fare, Morioka to Tokyo)
- What you’re given, and what’s done for you, across a 2 hr 15 min ride
- What you can and can’t fit into an 89-minute connection at Morioka
- A useful thing to pick up while changing trains at Tokyo Station
Kakunodate to Morioka: 51 Minutes on the Komachi
The final leg of the trip began at Kakunodate, boarding the Komachi for Morioka. Watching the Tohoku summer landscape slide past the window, our thoughts were already on Morioka’s jajamen noodles.
Our journey Komachi No. 20, Kakunodate 12:57 → Morioka 13:48 (51 min) Seats: Car 12, seats 2A and 2B (reserved) ¥6,060 for two adults = ¥3,030 per person (fare included, as of August 2025)
Kakunodate is a beautifully preserved castle town, often called “the Little Kyoto of Michinoku.” From the Komachi’s windows the view is green hills and rice fields — the sort of scenery that makes you forget the city for a while.
An 89-Minute Connection at Morioka — and No Jajamen
13:48 Arrive Morioka (Komachi No. 20)15:17 Depart Morioka (Hayabusa No. 26)Eighty-nine minutes between trains. That looks generous on paper. In practice it was an awkward length.
Morioka is famous for jajamen, thick wheat noodles served with a rich miso-based sauce. Pushed along by the mascots, we made straight for a well-known shop — and found a very long queue. An hour and a half isn’t enough to queue, eat, and get back to the platform with any margin.
If jajamen is the goal, allow yourself more than two hours in Morioka.
Next Door to the Queue: Tsukemen Kazu
Still, boarding a Shinkansen having eaten nothing seemed a waste. What caught our eye was Tsukemen Kazu, sitting immediately next door to the shop everyone was queueing for.
The menu board outside carried several award badges, which was encouraging.
Tsukemen Kazu — menu (August 2025)
- Plain tsukemen (regular, 200 g): ¥1,100
- Tsukemen (regular): ¥1,250
- Special tsukemen (regular): ¥1,500 — the most popular choice Small, medium and large portions are available at similar prices.
Tsukemen is a style where the noodles and the broth arrive separately, and you dip the noodles as you eat. It turned out to be exactly the right decision. There was an excellent restaurant with no wait, directly beside the one with the queue. When your connection time is tight, it pays to look one door further along.
As for the jajamen itself — we bought a take-home set at the station, which lets you recreate the trip at your own kitchen table.
Riding Gran Class on the Hayabusa No. 26
And now the main event: Gran Class, the highest class of seating on the Shinkansen. The previous year we’d ridden Gran Class for the first time, on the Hakutaka No. 560 — but only for the 22 minutes from Kanazawa to Toyama, and on a service configured as seat-only, with no food or drink. We learned what the seat was like and nothing else. This time it was two hours and fifteen minutes, with the full service.
→ Typhoon Travel Turned Luxury Adventure! Gran Class, Green Car & an Unexpected Meitetsu Bonus
Our journey Hayabusa No. 26, Morioka 15:17 → Tokyo 17:32 (2 hr 15 min) Seats: Car 10, seats 5B and 5C (Gran Class) ¥54,160 for two adults = ¥27,080 per person (fare included, as of August 2025)
For comparison, the ordinary reserved seat from Kakunodate to Morioka earlier the same day cost ¥3,030. What follows is what the difference buys you.
The Seat
The powered recliner goes back close to flat, and the spacing between seats is generous — the effect is much like a first-class airline cabin. There’s plenty of storage around the seat, so you can spread out and organise your luggage without difficulty.
Ten Minutes After Departure, It Begins
Service started roughly ten minutes after we pulled out, with a hot towel. The attendant then brought the menu round for us to choose a drink from.
We chose sparkling wine and a Yebisu beer — one each. Being able to order different things is part of the pleasure.
The glassware carries the Gran Class emblem. A small thing, but details like that are what the price is made of.
What Came With the Drinks
Alongside the drinks came Aomori apple and nuts. The pairing worked far better than we expected — the sharpness of the apple and the salt of the nuts carry both the sparkling wine and the beer along nicely.
Inside the small white box was a pound cake. We couldn’t manage it on board, and were able to take it home with us.
An Honest Regret: We Should Have Arrived Hungry
A confession. We had just eaten a full bowl of tsukemen in Morioka.
Because it was a mid-afternoon departure, we’d assumed the service would amount to a light snack. In fact there was considerably more than that. We rather wish we’d turned up hungry.
So, advice for anyone about to do this: keep the meal before your Gran Class ride light. What’s waiting on board is more substantial than you’d guess.
A 30-Minute Delay at Tokyo — and Toyoken’s Black Curry Bread
Heavy rain caused a delay of over thirty minutes. As it turned out, this worked in our favour: it gave us time to hunt down Toyoken’s Black Curry Bread, something of a Tokyo Station speciality.
Crisp bread around a spiced black curry filling — an excellent travelling companion for the Tokaido Shinkansen leg.
Toyoken Black Curry Bread is sold at GRANSTA inside Tokyo Station. It does sell out, so it’s best attempted when you have time in hand.
Finishing on the Tokaido Shinkansen N700S
Once aboard the Tokaido Shinkansen, the mascots were asleep almost immediately — the satisfaction of the trip written across their faces. The drinks on the previous leg may have helped.
The final train, incidentally, was a JR West N700S set. Ending the journey on the newest generation of Shinkansen was a small bonus for the railway fans among us.
Summary | What ¥27,080 Buys
| Section | Train / class | Times | Per person (fare included) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kakunodate → Morioka | Komachi No. 20, reserved | 12:57 → 13:48 (51 min) | ¥3,030 |
| Morioka → Tokyo | Hayabusa No. 26, Gran Class | 15:17 → 17:32 (2 hr 15 min) | ¥27,080 |
What Gran Class included
- A hot towel about ten minutes after departure, followed by the drinks menu
- Drinks — sparkling wine and Yebisu beer, chosen individually
- Glassware carrying the Gran Class emblem
- Aomori apple and nuts
- A pound cake, which you may take away with you
- A powered seat reclining close to flat
Gran Class has a reputation for being an indulgence too far. But on a journey of two hours or more you receive the service in full, and on the way home at the end of a trip, when you’re genuinely tired, we thought it earned its price.
Parts ① and ② of this trip are covered in separate articles.
→ Tohoku Summer Trip 2025 ① | We Just Made the Sendai Tanabata Festival → Tohoku Summer Trip 2025 ② | Akita Shinkansen Komachi & Kakunodate