In 1983, having a variety of stationeries with the drawing of cute characters on them became a fad among Japanese girls. "Tama and Friends" became very popular characters at that time. Tama is a male cat taken care of by a boy, Takeshi. "Tama and Friends" is a story of the daily lives of Tama and his cat and dog friends. This year, Tama marked the 40th year of its debut. In commemoration, Tokyu Railways tied up with Sony Creative Products Inc., the creator of "Tama and Friends", and launched a special poster train on the Setagaya line. That is set 302 (302F) of the EMU 300 series. 302F is the second set of the 300 series consisting of two electric cars. It originally had light-blue-colored monotone bodies, but is currently decollated with cute Tama and his cat and dog friends.
Speaking of the "cat train", we mustn't forget "Happy Maneki-neko" as well. That's also a special poster train, 308F of the EMU 300 series, on the Setagaya line. The design of this poster train came from Maneki-neko, whose birthplace is Gotoku-ji Buddhist temple on the Setagaya line. Maneki-neko is an ornament in the shape of a cat beckoning with a forepaw. It's said that Maneki-neko brings good luck. Happy Maneki-neko was the 110th anniversary train of the opening of the tram route. Although six years have already passed since it debuted, Happy Maneki-neko train is still very popular among local children.
The Tokyu-Setagaya line is currently "the route of the cat trains".
