A Journey on the Luxury Train 'Deccan Odyssey' – Snapshots from a TV Program

A Journey on the Luxury Train "Deccan Odyssey"
Snapshots from an Indian TV Program

Early this year, I traveled to India with actor Koji Yamamoto for a location shoot for "Mokku-Supa," a variety show on the Nippon TV network. The program's theme was "World Railway Journeys." Here, I'll share some off-the-record photos that couldn't be featured on the show.

Broadcast Date Decided
April 10 (Thursday) 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Nippon TV Network Program: "Adventure! Emotion! Wild Journey! Let's Go on the World's Most Luxurious Trains!"

Finally, I Was Called to India

India is a railway powerhouse. The "Deccan Odyssey," which we boarded for the program, travels through Western India, departing from Mumbai (formerly Bombay), heading south along the coast to Goa, and then visiting the World Heritage sites of Pune, Ellora, and Ajanta. While the "Deccan Odyssey" may not be well-known in Asia yet, it's incredibly popular in Europe, with tickets reportedly hard to come by. The onboard experience was, in a word, luxuriously pampering.

This was my first time in India, of course. I'd heard from friends that "India is a country that calls to you," so I felt I had finally been summoned (laughs). It's not a destination I would choose for a private trip, so I was intensely curious in that sense.

I had been acting until the end of the year, and while travel shows like this involve a lot of moving around, the ease of not having to memorize lines helped refresh my mind.

I Saw Both Wonderful and Surprising Things

What moved me on this trip were the "Cave Temples of Ellora" on the slopes of the Deccan Plateau's rocky mountains. Here, 34 rock-cut caves house temples of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism, and their magnificent stone-carved art was registered as a World Heritage site in 1983.

I also wanted to see more of the Church of Bom Jesus, where the silver coffin of Saint Francis Xavier rests. Xavier's remains were first buried on Shangchuan Island, but were later moved to Goa via Malacca, where they are still enshrined, uncorrupted. His remains are apparently displayed once every ten years, with the next viewing in 2014. You wouldn't know such details without going there, which piqued my interest immensely.

India was, without a doubt, the biggest culture shock I've experienced in any country abroad.

I encountered extreme contrasts, such as the stark difference between wealth and poverty, but I would like to revisit places of worship like temples and churches, as well as the World Heritage sites.

I thought I wouldn't get hooked on India, but looking back, I might actually be quite taken with it.
Please enjoy the snapshots above.