Black Ships and Dancing Girls

Shimoda, a city at the tip of the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture, was one of two ports (the other being Hakodate) opened to the outside world in 1854 with the signing of the Kanagawa Convention between the Tokugawa Shogunate and the US government. The first US consular office was located at a temple in the city and manned by Townsend Harris, who was later instrumental in negotiating the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the two countries.

The limited express linking Tokyo to Shimoda is named Izu no Odori-ko, or "Dancing Girl of Izu", which evokes the short story by Yasunari Kawabata and its title character. I can't think of a lovelier or more appropriate name for this train.