In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the current Tochigi Prefecture, trains with illustrations of local strawberries have begun operating on railways that run throughout the prefecture.
The train, named "Very Happy Train" after Tochigi's specialty strawberries, was introduced to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the birth of the current Tochigi Prefecture on the 150th of this month, and in addition to illustrations of six types of strawberries such as "Tochiotome", strawberry designs are also decorated on the seats and hanging leather.
At the departure ceremony held at Tobu Utsunomiya Station, Governor Fukuda of Tochigi Prefecture and other concerned parties cut the ribbon in front of the train, and then the train departed at the signal of the station master.
The train is scheduled to run about five round trips a day on the Tobu Utsunomiya Line and Tobu Nikko Line north of Minami-Kuribashi Station in Saitama Prefecture until May next year.
Naoto Ikeda, General Manager of Tobu Railway's Sales Department, said, "We had more people come to the departure ceremony than we expected, and I think the power of strawberries is amazing.