Transport chronicle
Japan loves its trains
Audio 02:30
A Shinkansen bullet train with Hello Kitty branded graphics in Osaka, Japan (illustration photo).
© AP
By: Marina Mielczarek
4 mins
It is a 100% Japanese event.
This Saturday, March 12, in the prefecture of Osaka takes place the great train painting contest.
All day, the candidates will compete in imagination to decorate trains which will then run on the rails of the country.
In Japan, the train is a national pride and for this 100th edition, a good number of registered members belong to train fan clubs.
We call these train freaks, the “Densha Otaku”.
They are two million out of the 125 million inhabitants of the country.
And for us Europeans, a curious social phenomenon.
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Hotel room with a view of the tracks!
A front row seat to see the trains.
For waking up to the sound of station whistles, a
Densha Otaku
(“train fan”) in Japan, is able to spend all his time and spend all his money.
Two million train fans, the
Densha Otaku
It is estimated that two million men and women, young and old, are hyper-passionate.
Hyper because in Japan, it's the whole population which, and, to put it mildly, worships the country's trains.
An island where it is easier to take the train than the car.
The train, television star
The Japan Railways Journal airs every Thursday (translated into English) on NHK (the Japanese public television channel). As for the documentaries of the Tetsudo Channel, they are entirely in Japanese and dedicated to trains and rail networks.
October 14, Railway Day
Claude Leblanc, journalist and professor at the Catholic University of Lille is a specialist in Asia.
Having lived in Japan, he continues to be enthusiastic about this unique phenomenon in the world:
“
Japan is still the only country in the world to have so much media on trains.
But China, Singapore and Taiwan are also starting to have their train fan club, a symbol of the country's modernity and power.
In Japan, there are two sides.
On the one hand, modernity with the
Shinkansen
, the fastest trains on the planet, today in competition with Chinese models, but they are still famous.
On the other, a certain nostalgia for steam trains.
The NHK show shows a lot.
Until the 1970s, the Japanese traveled through their country using these trains.
»
Gastronomic cruise trains
Claude Leblanc also emphasizes the diversity of the themes covered.
One of the passions of the Japanese takes place on board cars: eating on board with the regional
Bento
(gourmet meals to take away). Many Japanese people do tourism in this way.
A train trip for lunch and to discover the products of a region according to the stops of these rail escapades.
Love Train, Hello Kitty Train, Lightning Bird Train!
Galaxy express 999, the main character of this cartoon is a train and it flies through space!
In films, manga or in video games, the train shapes the imagination of the Japanese.
Thomas Sirdey can testify to this, he, the creator of Japan Expo, the largest Japanese pop culture fair in Paris and Los Angeles:
“
The train is a national pride.
The most popular video game today is a train driving simulator.
You choose your own train, you choose your line, its schedules and the region to travel.
One of the most respected professions in Japan is train driving.
I know many young children who dream of it.
»
A driver sanctioned for 1 minute late
Exactly, train drivers, let's talk about it!
With Mathieu Rocher, the author of works on Japanese society including
Japop, le Japon de la Popculture
.
He tells this anecdote: last year, a fast train driver suffered from diarrhea, he went to the toilet.
The train was 1 minute late, the employee was fired:
“
You will see in Japan the gestures of unknown drivers in Europe!
There, the driver wears white gloves and depending on the directions, signs and speeds, he raises his arms and shouts very loudly.
It's a technique that we tried to put in place in France, but the drivers were too afraid of ridicule.
This technique is said to increase concentration and driving efficiency.
But imagine, you have to expect to drive trains of all colors and sizes.
It's so funny to see the trains decorated and painted in the colors of Hello Kitty.
On board, you meet the little cat Kitty (a disguised employee) who comes to greet you.
»
Shopping while playing the electric train
Another phenomenon of society, these department stores where, between the perfume or grocery departments, you will find these spaces of electric trains.
Rental from 10 minutes to half an hour to take advantage of a break during your shopping.
Japan is an island, emerging from its isolation thanks to trains.
There are nearly 10,000 stations in the country.
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