Hoping to attract more visitors to the Noto Peninsula, which juts into the Sea of Japan in Ishikawa Prefecture, a small railway has been reinventing its image by decorating its trains with pictures of Japanese anime heroines and selling goods related to a popular local sumo wrestler.
Since 2012, when railway operator Noto Tetsudo introduced a train with pictures of female characters from the popular animation series "Hanasaku Iroha," fans have flocked to Nishigishi Station in Ishikawa Prefecture.
The anime, set in Ishikawa, tells the story of a 16-year-old high school girl who starts to live in and work at an onsen hot-spring inn operated by her grandmother.
Yunosagi Station in the series was modeled after Nishigishi Station on the Noto Tetsudo's Nanao Line after the anime's production staff fell in love with the station's Showa Era charm.
Visitors first started showing up at the station in droves soon after the anime debuted on TV in spring 2011. When the railway operator decided to put up a signboard for "Yunosagi Station" there, more than 300 people showed up on the first day.
Taking its cue from the popularity of the "Hanasaku Iroha" train, the line introduced new trains last week with illustrations from two other TV anime series — "Glasslip," whose story is set in Fukui Prefecture, and "True Tears," set in Toyama Prefecture, both of which border Ishikawa Prefecture.
Noto Tetsudo has also tapped into the crowd-drawing appeal of popular sumo wrestler Endo, who hails from the town of Anamizu.
Anamizu Station, a terminus on the Noto Tetsudo Line, last month began selling goods related to Endo such as a teacup sporting his portrait.