When I was a boy, rail fans were not that common. They were talked about behind their backs to be unsociable, nerds, weirdos and not fashionable. That was terrible, but the situation has totally changed these days. According to sociological research, there are 2 million rail fans in Japan. It's 1.6 percent of the total population. They are no longer just weirdos, but are very diverse. There are ride-on rail fans, train spotters, rail photo lovers, model train lovers, ticket collectors, sound rail fans, timetable rail fans, train lunch lovers, train driving simulator lovers and so on. Today, I'm going to show you a new trend, "Hansha-tetsu".
Please look at the top photo. A commuter train travels on an elevated track. That's the EMU E233 series on the JR East Chuo Rapid line. It was shot near Kanda station in downtown Tokyo. The stainless-steel train is beautiful reflecting the sunlight. You can see a black-colored signboard of a Chinese restaurant just below the elevated track. The land use is very efficient, isn't it? Wait a moment! Please look at the overhead wire pole just above the train. They're broken... very dangerous! You can also see a strange phenomenon; the white-colored logo of the "JR" group on the train seems like a flipped image.
Now you get it, don't you? The gimmick is the photo below. You can see the reflection of the train on the windows of the building! "Hansha-tetsu" means a rail fan who loves reflection images of trains. I'm also one of them.
