Approximately 450km north of Tokyo

There are a lot of anime characters at this station

All pointing toward the Ofunato Line

The line doesn't run very often

About once every 90 minutes

One of these trains have become a big hit

The "Pokemon with you" train

which some call, the Pikachu train

It rolls in at 11AM to the delight of fans

This is a anime rapped train

A popular style in Japan

And I've come to experience

every minute of it to the end

The exterior of the train is all characters

from the hit anime series

Trains in Japan are just...cool

There are other anime rapped trains in Japan, too

In Yonago is the SAKAI Line

The coolest train line in all of Japan

The area is famous for Yokai

Japanese monsters

The train exterior is painted with Yokai

The platform is a horror show

and the interior

It's just as cool

Yonago is the hometown of MiZUKI SHIGERU

An author who brought Japanese monsters back to life

through anime in 1959

The Dr. Frankenstein of Yokai

This train is a tribute to his work

and the anime series, GeGeGe no Kitaro

Catch this train every hour from Yonago

to Sakae Minato station

where there are more Yokai

back to ICHINOSEKI

and the Pikachu train

Anime rapped trains are simply more fun than normal trains

The Ofunato line is mostly just one track

Train stopping at station in route

to let opposite direction trains pass

The passenger car is colorful

Decked out in everything Pokemon

Fascinating to look at for both kids and adults

character shadows in the lights

Characters on and between the seats

"Poke balls" for used as safety handles for walking

See those curtains?

They open to reveal

Pokemon silhouettes

cool

The arts on the walls match the scenery outside

Sort of

Can you find Pikachu?

There he is

and here as well

There are some actions going on in the other car

Let's go have a closer look

Careful, this train is on the move

Take your shoes off

That's right

A dedicated play area

When the train departs

The area opens for all

It's mostly used by kids and their parents

But if you are a kid at heart like me,

Enter another Pokemon world

The train ride goes a lot faster when you're having fun

I bought a Pokemon box lunch aboard the train

for 1080 yen

It came with a covered bag

Let's see what's inside

A colorful box covered with more Pokemon characters

time to peel another layer

The treasure revealed

cute, colorful

Almost totally void of nutrition

Perfect for a vacation

stickers

Also a SHIBORI or a wet towel

and everyone's favorite utensil

The spork

The taste?

Does it really matter?

I'm on a Pokemon train

eating Pokemon food with a spork

Watching Japan roll by the window

Can it get any cooler than this?

What's the rush?

It must be this

Pokemon station stamp card

All passengers get one

And the train makes stops at small stations

on the Ofunato LIne

So you can get a look around

And collect your stamp

I you run and get there first

You don't even have to wait in line

The stamp at the station looks like this

I got it! Now back to the train

It's a nice break

and a great reason to get familiar

with the stops on the way

We've seen a lot

but there is more to this train

like its existence up here in Tohoku

A lot of people might be wondering what this train is doing

in Iwate-ken, in Tohoku, and not in Tokyo

That's because of the March 11, 2011...

The great Tohoku earthquake and Tsunami

This line, the Ofunato line was

pretty much devastated along the coast

and a year later when they rebuilt the line

this train was also launched in a way to

to give the kids something to look forward to

some happiness, something exciting

since then

this train has brought a lot of people to the area

and brought a lot of attention, which is really great

I probably wouldn't have come here

if it weren't for the train

as a result I was able to see a lot of Iwate-ken

This train is definitely awesome because

it's not only a Pokemon train but

I guess it's special because of the meaning behind it

The terminus for this train is Kesennuma

It was hard hit by the tsunami in 2011

and has been rebounding strong from the disaster

I had about 3hours to explore the sea side

Have lunch

and grab a Kaki-gori on the way back

to cool me off

One of the shop owners told me that this flag pole

marks the height of the water

at the point during the tsunami

there are a lot of reminder of what happened that day

We shouldn't forget the past

but the area is moving beyond it

towards a better future

Japanese trains are more than fast, efficient and modern

They are fun, too

So if you are in Japan on the day this train departs

Ride toward the sea on Ofunato Line with Pikachu

and have some fun