Finding this adorable train can feel like an RPG sidequest, but when the reward is this cute, we’re game.
Tottori Prefecture’s biggest claim to fame is its beautiful seaside sand dune, and knowing that, you might not be surprised to hear that Tottori also has a “Sand Train.” You also might not be all that impressed, though, because generally most people prefer for their public transportation to have as little sand, dust, dirt, and other forms of grit as possible.
But where things start to get compelling is if you know that “Sand” is the name of Pokémon Sandshrew in Japanese-language releases of the anime and video games. Sandshrew is also Tottori’s official Pokémon goodwill/tourism ambassador, and so the Sand Train is, actually, a Sandshrew Train!
The Sandshrew Train has a shockingly complicated route/timetable, and we’ll break the whole thing down for you at the end of this article. For now, though, the important thing to know is that while it runs on both the Sanin Main Line and Inbi Line, regardless of the route it’s running, Tottori Station is always either the Sandshrew Train’s first or last stop, so that’s the station we headed to in order to ride the train for ourselves.
A word of caution for those used to train/subway travel in Tokyo, Osaka, and other big Japanese cities: Tottori is a pretty rural place, and a lot of residents use cars and buses to get around, so trains are pretty infrequent here. Again, we’ll have the complete Sandshrew Train timetable for you later in the article, and checking it before you go will help prevent what happened to us, when we showed up to Tottori Station an hour before the next Sandshrew Train and ended up sitting in a cafe and killing time while we waited for it.
However, you won’t want to cut things so tight that you arrive at Tottori Station mere moments before the Sandshrew Train departs, either, because it turns out the place is decked out in special Sandshrew artwork and photo spots.
Sandshrew is there to greet you right away at the ticket gate, and we were reminded that Tottori is in the enviable position of having two Pokémon representatives, both the regular and Alolan Sandshrews.
Inside the station are cutouts you can pose behind, and giant Sandshrew pairs on the pillars directing passengers to the platforms for lines 1/2 and 3/4.
We were planning to hop on the 12:32 p.m. train bound for Chizu Station (in the town of Chizu, which has its own Sandshrew manhole cover). When we got up to the platform, our train had yet to arrive, but we still had some anime excitement waiting for us…
…since the Detective Conan Train was there. The manga/anime’s creator, Gosho Aoyama, was born in the Tottori town of Hokuei, which is now nicknamed “Conan Town” (much to the tongue-in-cheek annoyance of Conan O’Brien).
In time, though, the Conan train pulled away, leaving space for the arrival of…
…could it be…
…yes, it is…
…the Sandshrew Train!
The Sandshrew Train has two cars, one primarily focused on the standard version of the Pokémon, and the other shining the spotlight on the Alolan variant. Technically, it would be possible for the cars to run as totally separate trains, but we’re glad they were linked together, since they’re both so adorable we wouldn’t have been able to pick one over the other.
Since this is the first stop on the line, the train sits for a while at the platform before its departure time. This is great for fans, since it gives you time to snap photos of the exterior.
Speaking of the exterior, this brings us to another charming quirk of some rural trains in Japan, which is that the doors aren’t automated. Because of the small-population routes rural trains run on, there usually aren’t so many people getting on or off at any one stop, so to help keep the interior climate-controlled, the doors stay shut unless someone needs to open them, which you do by pressing a button near the door on either the inside or outside of the train.
▼ In this case, it also gives us a convenient excuse to give Sandshrew a little pat hello.
Stepping aboard, we saw adorable Sandshrew tracks on the floor and portraits of the Ground-type replacing the advertising usually seen inside Japanese trains.
We also spotted a few more retro/rural train features, such as a collection box for passengers to use if they’re getting off the train at an unmanned station…
…and a button passengers themselves press to activate the overhead fan if they’re feeling too hot.
Passing through to the Alolan Sandshrew car, the color palette was cooler, but the vibe was still very heartwarming.
Though it was a Sunday, the train wasn’t crowded at all, further proving that Tottori is pretty far off the most crowded tourist itineraries in Japan. With no jostling, we were able to snap photos to our heart’s content and still had time to sit back and enjoy the ride.
The irregular schedule for the Sandshrew Train can make catching it a bit tricky, but we’re very happy we made the effort. It’s scheduled to run until the end of March 2028 too, and if you’re looking to slot it into your plans between now and then, we’ve got more detailed information below.
● How to ride the Sandshrew Train
Like we said, the timetable for the Sandshrew Train is startlingly complex, but this was probably unavoidable in order to make the promotion accessible to the largest possible number of fans in an area that doesn’t have trains come by that frequently.
The Sandshrew Train schedule changes monthly, with links to the newest timetables posted here on the official Shimane Prefecture website. Let’s take a look at the timetable for this month, September.
For each day on the calendar, you’ll see two letters, one written on a yellow background, and one on a blue. The yellow-background letter designates that day’s route for the regular Sandshrew Train, and the blue-background one is the route for the Alolan Sandshrew Train. You’ll also notice, though, that the two schedules are exactly the same for every day on the calendar. That’s because, as we mentioned above, the regular and Alolan Sandshrew cars generally run linked together as a single train. This might change in the future, but at least for this month, they’re always running as a set, so there’s really only one timetable for each day.
You’ve probably also noticed that there are a lot of letters. The Sandshrew Train has no fewer than 14 different timetables this month, but the routes themselves are:
〇 Between Tottori and Hamasaka Stations on the Sanin Main Line
〇 Between Tottori and Tomooka Stations on the Sanin Main Line
〇 Between Tottori and Yonago Stations on the Sanin Main Line
〇 Between Tottori and Nagi Stations on the Inbi Line
〇 Between Tottori and Chizu Stations on the Inbi Line
However, the train doesn’t run all of those routes every day, and even if the route is the same, departure times might be different on different days. So to be sure of riding the Sandshrew Train, you’ll need to find the letter for the date, then check the corresponding timetable, and because we love our readers, we’ve organized all of this month’s timetables below:
A
Tottori to Hamasaka: 6:13., 8:06 a.m., 12:15, 5:28, and 8:32 p.m.
Hamasaka to Tottori: 7:10, 9:41 a.m., 3:18, 7:07, and 9:31 p.m.
B
Tottori to Hamasaka: 5:23. a.m., 7:01 and 9:52 p.m.
Hamasaka to Tottori: 6:27 a.m., 8:07 and 10:26 p.m.
Tottori to Toyooka: 1:33 p.m.
Toyooka to Tottori: 4:07 p.m.
C
Yonago to Tottori: 5:54 a.m.
Tottori to Yonago: 9:06 p.m.
D
Nagi to Tottori: 6:50 a.m., 7:38 p.m.
Tottori to Nagi: 6 p.m.
E
Tottori to Chizu: 7:19 a.m., 12;32, 3:20, and 7:08 p.m.
Chizu to Tottori: 8:27 a.m., 1:33, and 5:24 p.m.
F
Tottori to Chizu: 7:19 a.m., 10:11 p.m.
Chizu to Tottori: 8:27 a.m.
G
Nagi to Tottori: 6:50 a.m.
Tottori to Nagi: 10:11 p.m.
H
Tottori to Hamasaka: 6:13, and 8:11 a.m., 12:15, 5:28, and 8:32 p.m.
Hamasaka to Tottori: 7:10 and 9:41 a.m., 2:18, 7:07, and 9:31 p.m.
I
Tottori to Hamasaka: 5:23 a.m., 7:01 and 9:52 p.m.
Hamasaka to Tottori: 6:27 a.m., 8:07 and 10:46 p.m.
Tottori to Toyooka: 1:33 p.m.
Toyooka to Tottori: 4:07 p.m.
J
Yonago to Tottori: 5:54 a.m.
Tottori to Yonago: 9:06 p.m.
K
Nagi to Tottori: 6:50 a.m.
Tottori to Chizu: 6 p.m.
Chizu to Tottori: 7:38 p.m.
L
Tottori to Chizu: 7:19 a.m., 12:32, 3:20, and 7:08 p.m.
Chizu to Tottori: 8:27 a.m., 1:33 and 5:24 p.m.
M
Tottori to Chizu: 7:19 a.m., 10:11 p.m.
Chizu to Tottori: 8:27 a.m.
N
Nagi to Tottori: 6:50 a.m.
Tottori to Chizu: 10:11 p.m.
Note that these letter designations may or may not remain the same for future months. Currently, though, the website still has last month’s schedule posted, and the designations match with this one’s (i.e. August’s A schedule was the same as September’s A schedule, and so on). And as a silver lining, the Sandshrew Train is classified as a regular train, so there’s no additional fee or reservation required to ride it.
Related: Sandshrew Train website, September 2025 schedule
Sandshrew Train September 2025 schedule image: Tottori Prefecture
All other photos ©SoraNews24
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