Three different One Piece bullet train designs will run on the Sanyo Shinkansen line.
Anime/manga franchise One Piece is a seafaring saga, following the exploits of protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his pirate crew. Really, though, at its core One Piece is about the spirit of adventure and allure of making exciting discoveries in new places, regardless of the method of transportation you use to get there.
So with that in mind, the Straw Hat Pirates are dropping anchor and heading ashore for a trio of One Piece Shinkansen bullet trains!
The One Piece Shinkansen will be running on the Sanyo Shinkansen section of Japan’s high-speed rail network, connecting Shin Osaka station in Osaka City with Hakata Station in Fukuoka City with 17 stations in between, which means you can also take the One Piece Shinkansen to cities such as Kobe, Himeji, Hiroshima, and Iwakuni.
▼ “To the Grand Rail!” declares the One Piece Shinkansen map, echoing the series rallying cry of “To the Grand Line.”
In addition to character artwork adorning the exterior, the One Shinkansen will also have One Piece decorations inside the passenger cars, and Sanyo Shinkansen operator JR West says there will also be special merchandise and other theming at select stations once the pirate bullet trains are running.
JR West has released preview images of the exterior for the first One Piece Shinkansen, dubbed Setouchi Blue, in reference to the Setouchi region near the Seto Inland Sea off the southern coast of the western end of Japan’s main island of Honshu, which the Sanyo Shinkansen line services. Two more One Piece Shinkansen designs are in the works but have yet to be revealed, so it’s not clear whether the three different trains will run simultaneously or one after another, but we do know that the Setouchi Blue is schedule to start zipping around west Japan this coming spring.
Source: PR Times, JR West (1, 2)
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: JR West
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