On March 12th, Sagami Railway (Sotetsu) held a special event for kids and rail-fans at their Sagami-Otsuka Rail Yard named "Sonyan Super-day Festa." What is Sonyan?
Sonyan is Sotetsu's mascot character, which is used to promote their services to passengers. He is a cat, who was born on March 10th on the Sotetsu Line, and a Sotetsu employee assigned to public relations. "Sonyan Super-day Festa" was held to celebrate his birthday. Sonyan came to the event site to communicate the visitors. I saw that many local kids joined in the games and quizzes with Sonyan.
One of the main events for rail-fans was a photo session of old and new Sonyan poster trains. The old one, which was the third generation Sonyan poster train, namely the 11003F of the EMU 11000 series, was retired on that day and will be returned to the standard colors, while the new one, which is the fourth generation Sonyan poster train, namely the 11004F of the 11000 series, debuted on the same day. In addition to the Sonyan characters, we can see the history of Sotetsu on the body of the new Sonyan poster train, because the new Sonyan poster train celebrates Sotetsu's 100th anniversary as well.
For your information, the EMU 11000 series is the newest model on the Sotetsu Line. It was launched in 2008 and a total of 5 sets, 50 units, have been built by Tokyu Sharyo and JR East Niitsu Factory so far.
Sonyan is indeed a flack for the company.
Sonyan is Sotetsu's mascot character, which is used to promote their services to passengers. He is a cat, who was born on March 10th on the Sotetsu Line, and a Sotetsu employee assigned to public relations. "Sonyan Super-day Festa" was held to celebrate his birthday. Sonyan came to the event site to communicate the visitors. I saw that many local kids joined in the games and quizzes with Sonyan.
One of the main events for rail-fans was a photo session of old and new Sonyan poster trains. The old one, which was the third generation Sonyan poster train, namely the 11003F of the EMU 11000 series, was retired on that day and will be returned to the standard colors, while the new one, which is the fourth generation Sonyan poster train, namely the 11004F of the 11000 series, debuted on the same day. In addition to the Sonyan characters, we can see the history of Sotetsu on the body of the new Sonyan poster train, because the new Sonyan poster train celebrates Sotetsu's 100th anniversary as well.
For your information, the EMU 11000 series is the newest model on the Sotetsu Line. It was launched in 2008 and a total of 5 sets, 50 units, have been built by Tokyu Sharyo and JR East Niitsu Factory so far.
Sonyan is indeed a flack for the company.
