ever been on a train this nice?
believe it or not, the photo above is of a train interior in japan.
with the results looking nicer than most nurseries, the japanese have taken the idea of ‘child-friendly public transport’ to the next level with these 2 beauties, both designed by eiji mitooka. he was the artistic force behind ‘omoden’ (toy train) and ‘ichigo ec’ (strawberry train), a couple of regional trains which travel on a daily basis on the 14.3km kishigawa line in japan. the japanase are intent on making train travel a more comfortable experience for everyone, women and children especially, and the results are incredible.
both trains contain hundreds of toys, tv screens showing cartoons, immaculately clean wooden flooring and cots for younger children. call me cynical but i can’t imagine anything like this emerging in the uk unless it was an attraction at a theme park.
here’s more of the stunning ‘toy train’…
here’s a video of the toy train…
and here’s the ’strawberry train’ which runs on the same line…
incidentally, the last station on the kishigawa line (kishi station) has a stationmaster named ‘tama’. he’s a cat. here he is…
only in japan.
Filed under: art, design, just brilliant, photo, technology, wow | 44 Comments
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as you said… only in Japan…
Certainly curious…wonder how many people are ‘allowed in’ at any given time… tightly packed congestion, body to body, would certainly undercut any seeming ‘benefits’ of this visual/tactile experience … me thinks.
Japan is a very creative place, I like it
I won’t mind spending all day long inside this train.
No; I’ve never ridden on such a nice looking train but I’d love to some day. Great photo at the end. Looks a bit like my calico except that she’d never put up with wearing a hat.
Nice trainy
Interesting that japan’s public transportation is so concerned with kids. This sort of train can’t exist in the US. Here we are so worried about what’s MINE, and how far away can I keep YOU. No sharing or common space, that’s communist!
@lily – i doubt there’d be any congestion; one of the photos shows that the Kishigawa line runs in the un-crowded countryside, far from the nightmare that is Tokyo at rush hour.
This is from the off the end of the scale. That line is in wakayama prefecture which is in the middle of the banana on the sticky out bit. It has a population of about 1 million spread out over 4700km^2.
The reality of trains in Japan is more like the Yamanote line, where they have no seating until 10am. Or perhaps the Inokashira line, where the front car explodes when it gets to Shibuya. (Having commuted on this line, it makes sardines look like they have it easy in their tins.)
I can’t wait until the very soon day a drunk salaryman will ride this train and puke all over it. My countdown is running.
Train looks great. Nice find.
That cat at the end is the conductor! lol seriously though – in japan they have seperate sections of the train for men and women because at night men grope women. It’s weird but they have a really really high rate of molestation against women..and a lot of the women don’t really say anything when it happens. But they’re trying to encourage it..and they have nicer coaches for women, which men are not allowed to enter.
Couldnt do that in America.. Our little darlings would have that whole train tagged with “Crips n Bloods” spray paint..
Beautiful! Makes me want to ride that train regardless of where it is heading
Looks like the Lexington Avenue subway
. And, no smoking too.
But how long would it last in NYC before someone stole the toys, cabinets, window shades, flooring ..?
@ #12 FELINICUS-CAT ENGINEERZ
I live in Tokyo and you’re mostly wrong about the seperate male/female train sections, at least in my experience of using the city lines and express lines out to the countryside.
On Monday-Friday, the first car of the train is reserved for women only, from 7:30-9:30 AM only. A couple lines I have seen also reserve the first car for women from 11:30 PM on (the trains run only just past midnight so this is around an hour).
Nevertheless when I’m riding trains in the morning I hardly ever ride the first car, and there are plenty of women in the remaining 9 train cars (mixed genders). Yes there is a groping problem, but honestly that’s because women let it. I have only been groped once, and I said very loudly “Please Stop Touching Me” and the man was so embarrassed he immediately stopped. The real problem is that Japanese women are generally hesitant to call attention to themselves. But the problem has been more and more publicized recently and the number of incidents is falling.
I’ve never rode a train for my entire life..^^..but I definitely would love to try riding this one..^^
Wow!
Looks exactly like the MTA trains in NYC! Especially the beloved G Train.
All it’s missing is the piss, crap, depressing crowd, and garbage
CORRECTION:
The kishigawa line (kishi station) has a stationMISTRESS named ‘tama’. SHE’S a cat. here SHE is . . .
Calico cats are always FEMALE!!!
GREAT story!
yet another reason to visit japan.
Only japan…WORD
But the kitty was cute on the last picture ^^
awesome! it’s like a dream, hehehe. I’1l believe in santa again
@SANDY #7;
Also, look how well behaved the kids are.
Here is the U.S. they’re raised by angry parents and misbehave.
Maybe the Japanese aren’t so angry.
Of course, they don’t seem to have a bullshit government to divide the country like the excrement in the offal office.
hi…. hebat, bersih ,,, beda sekali dengan kereta di indonesia yang kotor, sumpek… bad..
>in japan they have seperate sections of the train for men and women because at night men grope women.
No lol Don’t confuse Tokyo with NY. The female only trains run in the morning so that they can go to work safely. Why NY subways don’t do this anyway?
I am not trying to be pedantic but I had heard calico cats were 99% of the time female, but that the very rare male calico did appear from time to time…
It was a nice ride. believe me.
I plan going there in Japan again this new year.
Something about filling a train car with toys and then putting them behind glass, where kids can’t get to them, seems a little cruel. Eventually, these kids are going to realize that the they can’t play with the toys and that they are, after all, stuck on a train.
Drew,
when I was a preschooler, my kindergarten had problem with lack of toys. they were too expensive. However, the less we could play with them, the more fun we had when we got them, and the more we had to use our imagination to play as good as whith them. It wasn’t a problem. The same thing with the Toys Museum I once went. In spite of not being able to play with them, I had so much fun I remember it even now.
Thus, I find this train fabulous.
Yeah, pretty cool. I’d be happy with a train that ran on time, didn’t feel like a cattle truck and was a few degrees cooler than a sauna!