It is said that there are 2 million rail-fans in Japan, according to sociological research. It's 1.6 percent of the total population. They 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. This is just out of curiosity, but... "What was the catalyst for them to start enjoying railways?"
I recently found a root of rail-fans. Please look at the top photo. Local nursery school children on the JR East Chuo Rapid line are observing trains accompanied by their teachers. That's one of the important events during strolling. When I pricked up my ears, I could hear children's conversation. "The E233 series is coming." "That's a rapid train bound for Tokyo." Exactly! That's great! Where did you learn that? I am convinced that they are potential rail-fans either way. Their future looks bright.
You may feel like something is missing from this post, so, I'm going to show you one more topic on the Chuo Rapid line. JR East and Ibaraki Prefecture are jointly promoting a regional tourism campaign named Ibaraki Destination Campaign. As a part of this campaign, a train with special plates on the front and back was operated on the Chuo Rapid line from October to December, 2023. After coming across this train, I visited Ibaraki Prefecture, and enjoyed amazing anglerfish hot pot, dried sweet potatoes, fragrant strawberries and rich plum wines. I only talked about foods. Sorry!
