Great Japanese Railway Journeys

Name: Great Japanese Railway Journeys
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2026-04-13
Rating: 6.0
Cast: Michael Portillo

2026 · 1 season · 15 eps · ★ 6.0 · Documentary

Ended

Michael Portillo is in Japan for a breathtaking railway journey through the country that launched the magnificent Shinkansen bullet train.

Directed by Ben Rowland

Network: BBC Two

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Cast

Michael Portillo Self - Presenter

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Michael Portillo travels on the great train routes of Europe, as he retraces the journeys featured in George Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide.

Great British Railway Journeys · 2010

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★ 7.42010

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Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.

Great Australian Railway Journeys · 2019

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Armed with his 1913 Bradshaw's Handbook to the Chief Cities of the World, Michael embarks on six new railway journeys across spectacular Australia.

Great Canadian Railway Journeys · 2019

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Michael Portillo explores Canada, armed with his Appleton's Guidebook.

Great Indian Railway Journeys · 2018

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Guided by a century-old Bradshaw’s Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel, Michael Portillo embarks on a railway adventure across India and takes in the extraordinary variety of the Indian landscape.

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Travelling by rail across South Korea, Michael explores one of the world’s most successful modern nations, shaped by division, resilience and rapid change.

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