Welcome to ICHINOSEKI
Approximately 450km north of Tokyo
There are a lot of anime characters at this station
All pointing toward the Ofunato Line
The line doesn't run very often
About once every 90 minutes
One of these trains have become a big hit
The "Pokemon with you" train
which some call, the Pikachu train
It rolls in at 11AM to the delight of fans
This is a anime rapped train
A popular style in Japan
And I've come to experience
every minute of it to the end
The exterior of the train is all characters
from the hit anime series
Trains in Japan are just...cool
There are other anime rapped trains in Japan, too
In Yonago is the SAKAI Line
The coolest train line in all of Japan
The area is famous for Yokai
Japanese monsters
The train exterior is painted with Yokai
The platform is a horror show
and the interior
It's just as cool
Yonago is the hometown of MiZUKI SHIGERU
An author who brought Japanese monsters back to life
through anime in 1959
The Dr. Frankenstein of Yokai
This train is a tribute to his work
and the anime series, GeGeGe no Kitaro
Catch this train every hour from Yonago
to Sakae Minato station
where there are more Yokai
back to ICHINOSEKI
and the Pikachu train
Anime rapped trains are simply more fun than normal trains
The Ofunato line is mostly just one track
Train stopping at station in route
to let opposite direction trains pass
The passenger car is colorful
Decked out in everything Pokemon
Fascinating to look at for both kids and adults
character shadows in the lights
Characters on and between the seats
"Poke balls" for used as safety handles for walking
See those curtains?
They open to reveal
Pokemon silhouettes
cool
The arts on the walls match the scenery outside
Sort of
Can you find Pikachu?
There he is
and here as well
There are some actions going on in the other car
Let's go have a closer look
Careful, this train is on the move
Take your shoes off
That's right
A dedicated play area
When the train departs
The area opens for all
It's mostly used by kids and their parents
But if you are a kid at heart like me,
Enter another Pokemon world
The train ride goes a lot faster when you're having fun
I bought a Pokemon box lunch aboard the train
for 1080 yen
It came with a covered bag
Let's see what's inside
A colorful box covered with more Pokemon characters
time to peel another layer
The treasure revealed
cute, colorful
Almost totally void of nutrition
Perfect for a vacation
stickers
Also a SHIBORI or a wet towel
and everyone's favorite utensil
The spork
The taste?
Does it really matter?
I'm on a Pokemon train
eating Pokemon food with a spork
Watching Japan roll by the window
Can it get any cooler than this?
What's the rush?
It must be this
Pokemon station stamp card
All passengers get one
And the train makes stops at small stations
on the Ofunato LIne
So you can get a look around
And collect your stamp
I you run and get there first
You don't even have to wait in line
The stamp at the station looks like this
I got it! Now back to the train
It's a nice break
and a great reason to get familiar
with the stops on the way
We've seen a lot
but there is more to this train
like its existence up here in Tohoku
A lot of people might be wondering what this train is doing
in Iwate-ken, in Tohoku, and not in Tokyo
That's because of the March 11, 2011...
The great Tohoku earthquake and Tsunami
This line, the Ofunato line was
pretty much devastated along the coast
and a year later when they rebuilt the line
this train was also launched in a way to
to give the kids something to look forward to
some happiness, something exciting
since then
this train has brought a lot of people to the area
and brought a lot of attention, which is really great
I probably wouldn't have come here
if it weren't for the train
as a result I was able to see a lot of Iwate-ken
This train is definitely awesome because
it's not only a Pokemon train but
I guess it's special because of the meaning behind it
The terminus for this train is Kesennuma
It was hard hit by the tsunami in 2011
and has been rebounding strong from the disaster
I had about 3hours to explore the sea side
Have lunch
and grab a Kaki-gori on the way back
to cool me off
One of the shop owners told me that this flag pole
marks the height of the water
at the point during the tsunami
there are a lot of reminder of what happened that day
We shouldn't forget the past
but the area is moving beyond it
towards a better future
Japanese trains are more than fast, efficient and modern
They are fun, too
So if you are in Japan on the day this train departs
Ride toward the sea on Ofunato Line with Pikachu
and have some fun