As railways across Japan make efforts to lure more patrons with luxury coaches and gourmet services, a small operator in Chiba Prefecture has fashioned its own tourist draw with a quirky new nickname linked to hair regrowth.
As part of a naming rights initiative for the stations on Choshi Electric Railway Co.'s rail line, Kasagami-Kurohae Station in the city of Choshi was on Dec. 1 officially nicknamed "Kaminoke-kurohae," the name encouraging the growth of black hair by which Japanese are distinguished.
The nickname was added to official signage and has been used to announce when a train approaches, after Meso Care Plus K.K., a company developing scalp care products, acquired naming rights to the station.